Pura Vida!

It was a long journey from Vancouver to Costa Rica through Los Angeles and Guatemala City. We left Whistler at 2am to catch our shuttle so we had already been up 16 hours before catching our first flight. We figured in the end we had been up for 2 days before finally arriving in Costa Rica!!! It was sad to say goodbye to the Allen family but we shared some great memories over the past week! It was also strange to leave Canada knowing that we won’t be back for another 11 months. But very exciting to really begin our international adventure!!!

Reviewing our route from Vancouver to Costa Rica

Unni (Mamor) was anxiously waiting outside the arrival gate in San Jose when we got off the plane in Costa Rica. Many, many huge hugs a few quick stories and we were off to find our rental car. We pulled out in our little Daihatsu Terios and quickly nicknamed her ‘Old Bessy’ because she was slow and a bit rough around the edges. In retrospect she treated us very well and was very reliable considering the crazy roads we experienced – more on that later!

We drove to Puntarenas and took a 2 hour ferry ride across the Gulf of Nicoya. The ferry was filled with salsa music, people dancing and cold Cervezas. Norrie was able to catch up on some sleep before hitting the road again. Our destination Malpais was another 2 hours after the ferry and is located on the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. We were trying to plan our arrival in daylight because we heard the drive to the house where we were staying was a steep climb.  We came to realize that there are poor street signs in Costa Rica and the drive time takes a lot longer than what everyone saids it does. The rule of thumb is at least double your time and triple your frustration!!!  When we finally found the road up to our Villa it was already dark.  Anxiety was at it’s peak, Old Bessy was in low gear, Norrie was silently calm, Kari was nervously guiding, Unni was frozen in fear and the Kai and Vea were chanting ‘Go Bessy Go!!!  After a few near stalls on 45 degree dirt road inclines and cliff drop offs on each side, we finally made it to our Villa and decided to pour some stiff drinks before unpacking the car.

The morning vista in Malpais

Waking up the next morning to amazing 180 degree coastal views was quite spectacular. Norrie felt is was worth the effort of the drive – but he was the only one with that view! It was soon clear to all of us that we wouldn’t be able to happily stay here for the 5 days we had booked originally so we decided to make other plans for where we wanted to be for Kari’s 40th birthday.

We did end up having 2 nice days in Malpais. Our first day was relaxing and a simple beach day. We found a great Tico (local) beach just past Playa Hermosa which we had completely to ourselves for a nice picnic lunch under the Manzanillo trees (we later learned that the leaves from these trees are poisonous!). Our second day in Malpais was quite a different experience. We wanted to do a hike in Cabo Blanco rainforest reserve which is located at the southern tip of the Nicoya Penninsula. The trail maps showed a 5 km hike through the rainforest to a secluded beach, and a 5 km return to the entrance via a different trail. Sounded good to us – so we packed lots of water bottles, nuts and chocolate to refuel! No warnings were posted about the severity of the inclines and the distances were certainly not accurate on the signs!!! We were too far in to turn back and on the return Unni came down with heat stroke. We were extremely worried and didn’t really know if it was heat stroke or something else – so Norrie and Kai went ahead to call a park ranger for assistance while the girls made a comfy bed on the trail for Unni. Long story short – all was good. We got escorted out of the park from an amazing park ranger after hours and a long and slow trek back. Mom was a trooper to get herself out one step at a time!!!

A rest stop during our long day hike at the Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve

On the drive home we stopped at the wharf in Malpais (someone mentioned to us we could get fresh fish right from the boat at the end of the day when the fishermen came in). Unni found an amazing fresh Mahi Mahi for Kari’s birthday dinner the next day. She even asked to get the fish head to make a wonderful stock for the fish soup – the fisherman was rather happy with that request and gave us the whole fish!

We woke up early on Kari’s 40th birthday and had a wonderful drive up the coast of Nicoya. The roads here are hilarious – main highways are like ATV roads and you can only drive 15km/h because of the bends and turns. On many turns we would be surprised to see a huge river up to to the hood of the car, and the only way to continue was to cheer on “Old Bessy” to make her way through!

We had a fantastic birthday lunch stop at a 5 star resort town called Punta Islata. We sat right on the beach with chilled Vino Blanco and Ceviche! After lunch we continued on to our destination of Playa Guiones. This is the place that Tony and Norrie came in 2012 for their surf trip. It is known for beautiful pristine beaches and consistent beach break surf. When we got there Kari was able to catch up on reading some of her birthday e-mails while the rest of the gang got busy preparing an incredible birthday evening and dinner. The table was set – Mom even brought the tablecloth from home!  Vea was amazed that there were no fish eyeballs in the soup!  With a big cheers with Veuve Cliquot champagne that Geir and Laura sent from home – what a way to celebrate a 40th birthday!!! I feel like I am the luckiest person right now to be here and cherishing all the now’s that we are embracing!

Kari’s 40th birthday lunch at Punta Islata on the Nicoya Penninsula

The next morning we woke up bright and early to a family surf lesson with Nelson (the same instructor that Norrie had for his surf lessons 2 years ago). Unni was a little apprehensive but was game for a trip to Costa Rica that was filled with adventure! With the water so warm – even Kari enjoyed being in there. We all had a blast and caught some great whitewater waves! For all those that are worrying about too much sun… we have been so good to catch lots of shade and use an abundance of sunscreen!!!

The next few days we enjoyed some early morning strolls on the beach, Vea collected her shells for everyone at home, lots of surfing, mid-day home-schooling sessions and evening sunsets.  Norrie and Kai had another surf session out much further to catch some ‘green waves’ – which is also called ‘the outside’. Kai was a total natural and was catching green waves right away! It scared the crap out of Kari watching him out so far where he can’t touch the bottom and with 7-8 foot waves that he was paddling into!!!

The family that surfs together sticks together.

After 4 days in Playa Guiones were all ready to move on from the coast and head into the interior rainforest. The next stop was Lake Arenal – a man-made lake was flooded over 50 years ago to provide hydro electric power to the country. We learned that combined with the hydro power and windmills in the area (it is the fifth windiest place in the world), this area provides 30% of the country’s power.

Pulling into our spot in Lake Arenal was spectacular! Our villa – Villa Encantada was a refreshing change from the dry hot and dusty coastal conditions. It was cooler at the higher altitude and we welcomed the afternoon rain showers which kept everything green and lush. Villa Encantada has a full time gardener – and it was easy to see why. Located on 40 acres of their own rainforest this place was beautiful. It had it’s own botanical gardens, paths, waterfalls, wildlife and a beautiful view of the lake.

Beautiful sunset light at our Arenal Lakeview Villa.

Lake Arenal is positioned next to the main volcano in Costa Rica –  Arenal Volcano. We spent a great day doing a rainforest hike at the Volcano Lodge and had our staple lunch of peanut butter / nutella sandwiches beside a beautiful waterfall. Our second day in Arenal was another adventure filled day with an early morning start to do a zip line tour. Unni and Vea were unsure and apprehensive about the idea of zip lining some of the longest and highest zip lines in the world – but they both ‘dropped their fears’ and went for it. Pretty amazing views of the rainforest canopy when your travelling 90 km per hour down a zip line run (for those who dared to open their eyes and look down!). Afterwards we were all running high on adrenaline (no need for coffee today!).

Our final destination for the last few days in Costa Rica was Monteverde, which was about a 4 hour drive from Lake Arenal. Monteverde is located in the world famous ‘cloud forest’ region of Costa Rica, and is also known for growing some of the best coffee in the country. We booked ourselves into a wonderful authentic villa 20 minutes outside of Monteverde located on a coffee plantation. The farm-house we were staying in – called Casa Zambala, was beautifully built and had a lot of character.

We spent a day here hiking in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest – a nature preserve which was founded years ago by a group of Swedish school children who inspired other children to raise money in order to purchase and preserve many acres of beautiful rainforest. We enjoyed having Kai and Vea hear this story about kids their age making a real difference in the world and hope this is one of many learning outcomes from our year away.

Kai and Vea climbing a tree in the Children’s Eternal Rainforest

Our final day in Costa Rica was one which we couldn’t have planned – but which was one of the best ways to end our time here (we’re learning that some of the best experiences on our travels are those which are not planned and cost nothing). Kari and Norrie started the day early by heading out for a run together (we knew this would be one of the last chances for a long time to leave the kids with Unni and have some time to ourselves!). Later that morning we went to a local soccer field and started a pickup game with some high school students that were on their lunch hour. Kai loved getting back on the field and having some kids his age to play with. We hope to continue our search of soccer fields to play pickup games through our travels. Later that day we met up with the owner of the coffee farm where we were staying and were taken on a fantastic tour of the coffee plantations and learned a great deal about sustainable coffee growing and harvesting. More on this special experience in a separate post.

Green coffee beans in Monteverde

We said farewell to Unni at the airport the next day while we waited for our flights to Equador for the start of the next chapter in our journey. We’re all very excited about the Galapagos Islands!

We’ve had some great memories and experiences here in Costa Rica with Unni and were so fortunate to have shared these past two weeks with her. Hopefully she can meet up with us again somewhere in the next year.

Whew! We’re now caught up with our blog and hope to get better at making more regular updates in the future.

Here’s a ‘Pura Vida’ photo gallery of our two weeks in Costa Rica.

All 4 now!