ATV'ing

This morning's adventure allowed us to sleep in a little bit as we weren't meeting until 9:15a.m.  This time it was only a short drive to our excursion location.  Once we got our lesson on how to operate our ATV we were on our way.  I gladly volunteered to go last as I knew I would probably be the Sunday driver of the group (and I was).  The tour had us going on the roads for a ways before we turned down a dirt path.  Here we stopped so they could give us goggles and mouth masks.  I'm glad we had those . . . boy was it dry and dusty!!  After driving for some time on the dirt road we stopped for a short 10 minute break to have a drink.  Once the pit stop was over our trail took us into the forest and up and down some pretty rocky hills.  I can't lie  . . . this was not my favorite thing to do.  I'm not an overly experienced ATV driver and I didn't really like going up and down over the big rocks.  Once we finally got past those rocky hills we drove through some little streams and before we knew it we were back on the road and right back to where we started.  All in all, not my favorite excursion, but I'm glad we did it.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing at the beach (or in Tom's case in our room taking an hour and a half nap) and pool. Tomorrow is our last full day and I'm looking forward to relaxing and catching as many rays as I can before we have to head back to the Wisconsin winter.

Zip Lining!!!

What an adventure we had today!!!  This morning we headed out around 7:30a.m. for a horseback ride, zip lining, and volcanic mud bath tour.  It was about another hour drive to our destination.  First up, a horseback ride up the mountain to get to the zip lines.  I think this was the first time I've been horseback riding where the horses didn't really stay in a straight line.  The horses kept changing positions and doing their own thing which made it kind of fun.  It was a really scenic ride that took about a half an hour. 

Next stop . . ziplining.  There were 10 zip lines in all and they were so much longer and better then the zip lines we had previously done in St. Martin.  Even the people we were with who had done zip lining in Costa Rica before, said these were better zip lines.  The guys running the zip line were great.  They let several of us girls go "supergirl" style which was us strapped to the guide with us facing down and arms out like we were flying.  Holy adrennal rush!!!  On the last zip which was the shortest and slowest, several in our group went upside down.  Tom said it was kind of scary!  I didn't do it as I had the camera.  After ziplining we had a great lunch.  I had steak fajitas and Tom had a chicken sandwich.  The food was very delicious!!  

Next up was the mud bath.  Before we could cake on the mud, we sat in a sauna that was heated by the volcanic hot spring.  Then it was mud time!  It reminded me of our mud experience at the Dead Sea in Jordan!!  After being rinsed off we sat in three different "hot tubs" to finish the cleansing process.  

Once again, a great day with a great adventure!!  Loved every minute of it.  Can't believe tomorrow is already Wednesday and that we only have a couple of days left.  It's going by much too quickly!!

Gone Fishing!

Our day started early with a 6:00a.m. show time at the beach to be picked up for our fishing trip.  It was cool and calm on the waters.  The small boat held Tom Sr, Pete's Dad Terry, Tom and I, and our two fishing guides.  The guides didn't speak a lot of English and the trip was pretty quiet and relaxing . . . almost too relaxing!!  We saw a sea turtle, dolphins, and some fish jumping in the water long before we saw a fish on the line!

It wasn't until 9:40a.m. that the reel at the back of the boat that nobody was manning finally got a hit!!  Tom jumped up and had the task of reeling him in (although I guess technically that was my pole since I was the one that wasn't currently holding a pole). :)  It only took a couple of minutes to reel in a 10-12lb Amberjack Tuna (at least that's what we think it is).  The catch woke the boat up and we hoped we would see more action, but unfortunately that would be the only catch of the day.  At least we weren't skunked!  Tom was talking to some other tourists at the beach who had gone fishing yesterday and they had come back empty.  The guides fileted the fish and told us the hotel would cook it for us. We came back to the hotel and talked to the chef at the snack bar and arranged that he would cook it for us for lunch.  It was very delicious!!  It wasn't very fishy at all and was very meaty.  

The rest of the day was spent relaxing by the pool and watching the kids play in the waves at the beach. Tomorrow is the zip lining adventure!

River Cruise

We had quite the adventure today. I started my morning by going for a run . . . and even though it was only 1 mile, boy can I feel it in my legs. It is super hilly here!! After breakfast we began the hunt for the tour guide we met on the beach yesterday that we wanted to book some tours with. After running up and down stairs and climbing hills, we found him and booked the river cruise excursion for the afternoon. The excursion took us on about an 1 1/2 hour bus ride to our destination. On our way we stopped for a traditional Costa Rican lunch of chicken, rice, beans, corn tortillas, and salad. It was super delicious. I enjoyed every bite.

The river cruise had us going down the Tempisque River full of crocodiles!! We must have seen at least a dozen, in addition to iguanas, birds, howler monkeys, and white faced monkeys. The tour guide had stopped on our way to the river to buy some raw chicken legs to feed the crocodiles. That was really neat to see the crocodiles up close. Only the tour guide fed them and I'm glad! I can't believe how close he put his had to the crocodiles mouth!!



The highlight of the trip though, was when we finally saw the white faced monkeys and we brought out the bananas we were told to bring. I think we had about 12 monkeys climbing on the boat, on people's heads, and taking the bananas right from our hands. That was so cool!!! What an experience. Overall we had a great day and we were able to book the remaining excursions that we wanted to do. Tomorrow morning we head out bright and early for some deep sea fishing, Tuesday we're going on a horseback/zip line, thermal mud bath adventure, and on Wednesday we are going on an ATV tour. Thursday is left to relax by the pool!!!

Costa Rica!!!

Hola!! We are now blogging from Costa Rica!!! Yesterday we got up at 3:00a.m. to begin our travels. Our flight was supposed to leave at 6:00a.m., but after a delay for deicing, a delay for hydraulics problem, a delay by the airport to clear the runway of a dusting of snow, we were finally on our way an hour and a half after our origial take off. Yes, this meant we missed our connection in Atlanta for Costa Rica. There are 18 of us traveling together and unfortunately Delta could not get us all on another flight to Costa Rica. Several of us went on 3 different flights to Miami to catch a later flight to Costa Rica. Unfortunately Pete, Laurie, and the kids had to stay in Atlanta until today since Delta told us that the later flight to Costa Rica was full. Sad to say what actually happened was that Delta triple book several of us on the later Costa Rica flight which made it look full, but in reality there were several seats open. The Curriers could have joined us . . . errrr. However, they did make it here today.

This morning Tom and I slept in and enjoyed some time by the pool. We talked to a tour guide and figured out the tours we would like to do later this week. I think we may be going on a river cruise tomorrow where we can feed monkeys and see some crocodiles. On Monday we are going deep sea fishing with Tom´s dad and Pete´s dad. Later in the week we plan on doing a horseback riding/zip lining/thermal mud bath tour. I think we will also try to do an ATV tour. The hotel is very nice and weather perfect. Looking forward to a great week. Hope to upload some pictures later, but there is no WIFI in the room and we are using the community computer for now. Buenos Noches!!