Trip to Costa Rica !

In August, the five of us took a ten-day trip to Costa Rica. It was a great vacation filled with lots of great scenery and fun adventures.

Here are ten highlights from the trip:

1. On the way to Costa Rica we flew through Houston, and to make the trip easier stayed overnight there. We went to a baseball game at Minutemaid Park between the Astros and Rays.

Minutemaid Park

2. Stop #1 - Arenal. Our first (of three) destinations in Costa Rica was Arenal National Park, the center of which is Arenal Volcano, one of the ten most active volcanoes in the world, though it hasn't erupted since 2010. There was a major eruption in 1968 that killed nearly 100 people. No eruptions while we were there, though you could see smoke coming from the top most days.

If you click on the image you may be able to see the smoke coming out of the top of the volcano

Waterfall we hiked to from our hotel

3. Zipline Adventure in Arenal! A huge hit was to do a series of zipline near Arenal. Each run was sevearl hundred feet long and you're several stories above the ground. The views of the mountain and Lake Arenal are amazing.  

Jack getting ready to zip

Jack and then Joseph ziplining above the tree canopy

Henry coming in at the end of a run

4. Canyoneering adventure. The four boys went off on a guided exploration of a canyon near Arenal, rapelling down waterfalls, getting soaking wet, and hiking through a stream. It was amazing - and everyone (pretty much) enjoyed it, as evidenced by these smiles:

We got a little wet

5. Butterflies and Monkeys galore in Monteverde. Destiantion #2 was Monteverde, in the heart of the cloud forest of Costa Rica. There is a wide variety of wildlife there. From our hotel we saw a family of armadillos as we drove up to check in and also lots of butterflies. A family of monkeys passed through on our second day at the hotel.

Butterflies at Monteverde

6. Animal tour with 'Esteban'. The best way to see the wildlife is with a local guide - we hired Esteban, who is an enthusiastic guide who was able to show us sloths (three times!), tarantulas (so cool - twice!), snakes, stick bugs, toucans, quetzals, armadillos, agouti, hummingbirds, leaf-cutter ants, and lots more. Here are some highlights of what we saw:

Quetzal in the tree above us, as seen through Esteban's scope via a smartphone camera

A snake curled up, ready to strike

Hummingbird

Agouti

7. Our third (and final) destination was the beach at Playa Conchal. There was a beautiful sunset right after we arrived:

8. There were lots of animals at the beach as well. Henry found a few friendly cats, there were also monkeys and coati.

Monkeys swinging from the trees outside our room

A coati walking by our room

9. The Westin had a very nice beach as well as a pool - lots of fun swimming!

10. Joseph, Jack, and Dad's Jet Ski Adventure. The last full day in Costa Rica the three of us rented a pair of jet skis for two hour tours to see the local beaches from a different perspective. We also snorkeled off some rocks before heading in. (We didn't have cameras with us because of the water, but these are the jet ski's we took!)