Thursday we had the morning to relax at the resort. We woke up, had breakfast and went for another walk along the beach trail. We saw a farmer herding his cows and horses along the path and some strayed onto the beach. Either that or someone was wrestling cows and horses, I’d like to think it was the farmer since there was a little boy helping. We also were able to see howler monkeys in a tree along the path. As we were leaving the hotel at noon we saw a whole family in a tree along with an iguana the size of a monkey!
We traveled further south to the farthest southern point of Costa Rica before Panama starts because there were reefs to check out. We got into the ducky and paddled out to the reef and proceeded to see all kinds of fish. Even though we sunscreened up like crazy, helping each other out, I wore a long sleeve shirt while snorkeling to protect my shoulders, which still hurt from the previous day of kayak surfing. It felt like I was floating in the dean’s salt water fish tank. I saw all types of colors, sizes and shapes of fish – minus the orange Nemo fish. I found this so relaxing to just float and see the fish and coral life. I was even able to use my Reading Rainbow knowledge and identified brain coral in the mix. We worked the hell out of Katie’s waterproof camera taking photos. After we snorkeled, we had a really good lunch of grilled veggies, rice and beans, salad and chicken/pork. It was a good thing our lunches were big because we didn’t get to our hotel until 11:00 p.m. We started our drive back through Limon and on to the Selva Verde Eco Lodge in the northern Caribbean part of Costa Rica. Halfway through the trek – in Siquirres – we switched cars and said goodbye to Jonathan. I gave him my blue WRSI helmet, since he was in need of a new (used) helmet and I had my red one back home. It was around 5 o’clock. We drove for about ten minutes and came to a dead stop. The word was that there were four cars that got into an accident ahead. Costa Rica seems to only have like four major roads so there was no other way around. We sat, sometimes felt joy when we were able to move our car a few inches forward, thinking we would be moving, and then felt angry when we stopped again for another 30 minutes. The worst part was when we were the ones who got picked to stop the line to let the tow truck and cops in. Yulian was screaming Vamos! and beeping the horn. But, we made it through. Our new driver didn’t seem to be able to drive faster than 20 kmh. It was extremely frustrating. I felt like I could have run faster than he was driving. It began to rain and get foggy which made the ride slower. We stopped for dinner and then headed on. Around this time, I began to realize that my lower back was getting really hot. Turns out that the long sleeve shirt I’d worn for snorkeling had hiked up while floating and the sunscreen had not been as thorough on my lower back. My lower back looked like Yulian’s Red Plow and Hearth Staff T-shirt (there are clothing stores that sell second hand American clothing like basketball jerseys and T-shirts. Yulian liked his Plow and Hearth shirt a lot. We asked if he knew what that was and he said no. So we told him that it was just a staff shirt for a store that sells lawn stuff). We arrived at Selva Verde Eco Lodge at around 11 p.m. It is a shame we got here so late as we are staying in a real jungle lodge. There are elevated platforms to get you to your room, everything is eco, you can hear the jungle noises, the bug are huge and come at ya, and there are lizards on the walls. Even though we are exhausted we are going to wake up at 6:30 a.m. to try to enjoy looking around this awesome place. Oh, and the best part were the entry gates; they reminded me of the gates to Jurassic Park.
The howler monkeys started early – 5:30 a.m. – so David decided to go on the bird watch. They sounded like they were right outside the window. I decided to roll over to my left side to continue sleeping. After the unfortunate news that my camera was water logged and not working he went out. Mental note, be sure to remove battery and make sure camera dries out after a couple of hours of snorkeling. He came back before 7 to get me up to breakfast. We went to breakfast and then went on one of the self guided tours around the jungle lodge. We saw howler monkeys that were right above us in the trees. We also went over a suspension bridge over the Sarapiqui River which runs through the river lodge. Katie liked bouncing on the bridge as she walked behind me. I did not, the rules said no jumping on the bridge. Yea, right, and when my back was turned . . . I lightly bobbed up and down for two seconds. I knew it!The morning was full of wildlife as we went on a motorboat ride of the flat section of the Sarapiqui River to see bird, iguanas and small crocodiles. They were still big enough to bite off a hand. After that we went to a snake house which I walked through quickly. I only walked through quickly, because it was hot and our driver was slow. The traveling has started to make me tired and this was just not my thing. We then carried on to the Arenal Volcano area to do what I’ve been waiting for all week – Ziplining!! We stopped for lunch and then checked in to Hotel Los Lagos Spa and Resort. Where everything was fake and everything else, closed at 4pm well after we’d get back from ziplining. Well, not the pools, but we were tired of water. After a hiccup with the zipline people – they were going to not let us go, then they were only going to let one of us go, then as I finished my first zipline solo David joined me, we were able to zipline in a private tour just the two of us. Apparently, they had sold our reservations. Then told us they could only get one of us. I told Katie to go. Julian called Ronald, the tour company owner, who seems like he knows everyone in Costa Rica. He called the owner of the ziplining company. The owner called his employees and got us a private tour. Ronald is the MAN! We sped down the lines and there was a beautiful view of the Arenal Volcano and Lake. The 7th zipline (there was only 8 total) was over a half mile long and actually passed through a tunnel of rainforest trees. It really sucks that my camera wasn’t working because there was a lot of things to take pictures of today. We came back to the hotel and while David souvenir shopped in La Fortuna, I relaxed after a long, adventurous 10 days. I got to visit a grocery store with Yulian where he directed me to chocolates and cookies that he grew up with. I also visited one of the Americana stores, where he buys American pre-owned clothing. I still have no clue how they get the clothing.
This was a great honeymoon with a great tour company in a great country. I would love to come back. The food was great. And we didn’t have to pay for a meal or drink, unless we got something on our own, like a souvenir. The weather was warm and the people were friendly. The only disappointment was that the only sloth I saw was the one on my novelty pen that we bought in the Turrialtico gift shop. David is already thinking of his five day kayaking tour in the near future. Sigh . . . If only I had more vacation time. Pura Vida Costa Rica!
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