Llanos del Cortez Waterfall

The mossy waterfall

Under the falls!

Feeding the fishies

Today we woke up and borrowed Sandra's big truck again.  This time we were going to a hidden waterfall. When we got to the waterfall we had to give a lady a donation to help fix up a school in the area. Then we had to pay a man to watch over the truck. After we payed we went down a little trail to the waterfall. The waterfall was like a big rock with moss all over it with water flowing down. It was really pretty! There also was a little sandy beach in front of the waterfall. The water was really cold but we still went swimming and went right under the falls! Mia and I brought some crackers to feed the little fish in the water. When we were feeding them we heard a big howling sound and looked up and saw howler monkeys in the trees above us! After the waterfall we drove back to El Verde Misterioso and jumped into the pool. When we got out we played with the two puppies that are left, Coco and Licorice. That night we played Apples to Apples again with Sandra. 

Cool fact: when we were at the waterfall we had sushi. 

Malapalito Beach

One of the rivers Daddy had to drive through to get to the beach

Can you see our parking spot?

We got the whole beach to ourselves!

Looking for shells

Hermit crab coliseum

Today we woke up and Sandra lent us her big truck to go to a faraway beach called Malapalito Beach. When we were driving to the beach my dad drove crazy. He even had to drive through a river! When we got to the beach we walked around looking for shells. In the water it was too muddy to see any fish so we didn't really go snorkeling. When we were done at the beach we went back to the town and went to a place called Asia Tico to have lunch. After lunch we did a little shopping in the town. When we got back to our place Sandra was getting ready to give two of the puppies away to two nice men that worked at the bank. We went with her so we could say goodbye to them. When the puppies were gone we went home and had some shrimp for dinner.  

Cool fact: I also made a big coliseum out of old shells for the hermit crabs at the beach. 

Hermosa Beach

Hermosa beach...again!

Hanging with the puppies

Today we woke up and went back to Playa Hermosa with Sandra and her friends. When we got there we took a little swim. Then we went back up to the beach and a guy was selling Copas, a drink like shaved ice and we got it. It was so good. Also when we were at the beach we were looking for little fish in the tide pools but we didn't see any. When we were finished we went back to our place and played with the puppies and chilled. Then we watched the Amazing Race and went to bed. I had a great day! 
Cool fact: when we were at the beach we tried a cold seafood soup called ceviche. It was gross.

The Road to Nowhere

Hermosa Beach

Sunset at The Road to Nowhere

The Road to Nowhere

Sunset

Today we woke up and Sandra lent us her truck to go to the Hidden Art Gallery. When we got there there was a lot of art and some crafts too. Lots of the art was by a guy named Carlos Hiller, who we've been learning about in school.  His art is really cool and realistic. After the art gallery we drove to Hermosa Beach. At the beach there was a restaurant and I ordered nachos. When the nachos got to our table I saw chips with squeezed-out whiz cheese from a bottle with guacamole, salsa and ….. natilla (white stuff like sour cream). Disgusting! I had to try and eat as much as I could because it would be a waste of food.  Disgusting! After that we went down to the water and looked for shells and went swimming in the big waves. We found a lot of nice shells. When we got home Sandra took us up a big hill to a road call The Road to Nowhere. At the top of The Road to Nowhere there was a beautiful sunset. The sunset looked like pink and red air. When we got back to our place we all played a game called Apples to Apples. When we were done playing we went home and went to  bed.

How to play Apples to Apples: everybody gets 7 cards except for the king (or queen) of the round. The king picks up a green card that has a word like funny, cute, wicked or stuff like that. Then the king says out loud what the card says and if it says awkward (for example) everybody would look at their 7 cards and pick the one they thought the king would think was the most awkward. When you are done picking you give your card to the king and he picks the card that he thinks best describes his word. So the person who picked the most awkward thing would get the green card. Whoever get 5 green cards first is the winner.     

Here is a link to Carlos Hiller's website

Attack of the baby bees!

Hanging out with Dad 

Smoothie time

Mad bees!

Today we woke up and Mom, Mia and Sandra went to Liberia to shop. When they were gone Dad and I played in the pool. Then we went up to the house and threw the ball for Mitchell, the dog. We were starting to get hungry so we went inside to make some smoothies. When we were in the house we looked outside and saw a huge nest of baby bees that just hatched and I had to run for it to the pool!!! There were so many of them! Tino had to come up and spray the nest and get rid of them. When we were done at the pool we went back up to the house again and chilled. After 30 minutes of chilling Mia and Mom came back. When they came back Mia had a migraine :( Aaaaaa! She was in a lot of pain. When Mia was lying down on the bed her tooth came out. After a little rest we had dinner and went to sleep.

Cool fact: there were about 3000 bees!

Ice cream in Coco :)

Howler monkey right above our house

Today we woke up and did another day of school with mom. When we were done we went down to the pool. At the pool Mia and I were lifting each other on our shoulders. Then we walked back up to our house and saw that there was a troop of howler monkeys on our roof and in the trees around our house. They were howling really loud! Then we decided to go in to town. In town we walked all the way to the beach and back. When we were walking to the water we stopped for an ice cream. I got straciatella and Snickers. It was really good. Then we stopped at the grocery store to get some groceries. At the grocery store there was a wheel contest and my mom won a container of sangria. Then we went back up to our place and Sandra drove us to a bar in Sardinal to have dinner with her. At the bar we met Sandra's friend, Corby.  For dinner I had French fries and fish. When we were all done we went home to bed.
Cool fact: when we were at the bar Mia and I got a sugary drink called Milory.......mmmmm.

Chill day #2

Chillin' with Buddy, one of the dogs that lives right next door

This is Tino. He works here. 

Today we woke up to a day of school. In school we did math, Spanish, Social Studies and art. We are learning about a local artist named Carlos Hiller who paints realistic underwater scenes. After school we went down to the pool and played with the puppies. When we were walking down to the pool, two of the neighbor's huge Brahman cows got loose and Tino, one of the workers, had to chase them away with a huge stick!  After the pool we came back up to our house and watched Spiderwick Chronicles, a fantasy movie. I really liked it. Then we ate dinner and went to bed.

Cool fact: the twins in the Spiderwick Chronicles are played by the same actor playing both characters.

El Verde Misterioso

Where we are staying

So many puppies!!!

Today we woke up and went down to the pool and played with the puppies. The puppies are very, very, cute! Some of their fur is off because they were born in the street in the middle of a rainstorm and their mom abandoned them. They were very sick when they got here and almost died! The puppies have to stay here a bit longer so Sandra can make sure they are strong and healthy and so that their fur can grow back. When we were done playing with the puppies we went back up to our place. At our place Mia and I decided to watch one of the movies that were in the cupboard. We ended out watching a medium scary movie called The Brothers Grimm. After the movie Mitchell, the dog who lives beside us, came over with his ball and we threw it for him. Then we just relaxed and went to bed.

Cool fact: El Verde Misterioso means The Green Mystery!

The Children's Eternal Rainforest

Viewpoint in the Children's Eternal Rainforest

The Bajo del Tigre trail

Old growth rainforest....definitely worth protecting!

Loads of info in the children's house

Today we woke up to a nice batch of … pancakes especially made for Mia and I since we were leaving to Playas del Coco.  The owners of Villa Lodge, Anna and Heiner, are so nice! When we were done we took a cab to the Children's Eternal Rainforest to go hiking and see some animals. This is a rainforest that children raised money to help save. When we were there we saw an agouti and a praying mantis. When we were done we went back to our cabin and packed our bags and waited for Francisco to come pick us up. When he got to our cabin we loaded the trunk and off we went. When we got to our location, El Verde Misterioso, we said goodbye to Francisco. At El Verde Misterioso the first thing we saw were three dogs and five cats. The second thing we saw were three more dogs and five more cats. The third thing we saw were four puppies and seven more cats! So we asked one of the people who worked at the place why they were there and she said that they rescue homeless dogs and cats and find them homes. Then she gave us our villa key and we went to our little house.  They have lots of movies here, even Avatar. Soooo I decided to watch it while my mom and dad went to the grocery store with another guest named Steve. When I was finished I went outside and saw two more dogs. These dog weren’t hurt or anything? I wondered why but then my dad said that they belonged to the lady who lived beside us.  That means there are 8 dogs, 4 puppies, and 17 cats living here! Wow! 

Cool fact: in our house there are so many high windows that it's like you're outside.

Canopy ziplining

All geared up...and a little nervous!

Riding tandem

Away we go!

Tarzan swing

Today we woke up and had breakfast. For breakfast I had eggs and toast. After breakfast a big van came and picked us up to go ziplining! In the van there were lots of people. Finally after 10 minutes of driving we got to the ziplining place and went to the desk and got our tickets. Then we went in a line up to get our gear. When we were all geared up we hiked up to the first line. How to zipline: first you attach yourself to the cable, then you cross your legs and put your hand on the cable and off you go. It was outrageous! After about 12 lines there was a big Tarzan swing. On the Tarzan swing you go really high and drop off a platform. It felt like you were free-falling! Then there was one last line which was one kilometer long. Everybody had to go with a partner to make sure they made it across.  When you're ziplining across the sky you see all of the animals and rivers and millions of trees.  It's a wonderful view! Ziplining was really fun! After we took the van back to our place and Mia and Dad went and got crepes and me and my mom chilled.  Later on we ordered pizza and had it delivered to our hotel by a taxi! Then we went to bed.
Cool fact: when you are ziplining you are super high.

Monteverde Cloud Forest

Dense, lush, and green in the Cloud Forest

Hanging bridge

Looking down into the jungle 

I'm scared of hummingbirds?!?!?

Hummingbird garden

This is actually an insect, not a stick!

Today we went on a hike up in the cloud forest. At the cloud forest we were hoping to see a quetzal but we didn’t. L We did see a really cool stick insect that looked exactly like a stick!  It was really green and a really crazy jungle!  We found a hanging bridge that was so high in the air and would swing and bounce when you walked across it.  After the hike we went to a hummingbird garden that had at least 50 hummingbirds. I even touched one with my hand! After the walk we went to a café and got a brownie.  Mmmmmm! Then we went back to our cabin and had a little rest.  When it got dark we left to go on a night walk. On the night walk we saw a big fat sloth, two kinkajous, two pit vipers and a lot of sleeping birds. I also liked to see all the bugs, like crickets and cockroaches. After the hike we were so hungry so we went to a restaurant called Sabor Tico. I got a quesadilla that had really weird cheese in it. Then we went home and went to bed. 

Cool fact: When you touch a hummingbird it feels like petting a fluffy dog.

Jeep-boat-jeep

Part II of the trip - the boat!

Looking for birds with the other passenger

Lake Arenal

Playing around in our cabin at the Villa Lodge

When we woke up this morning we had a humongous breakfast and then went down to the hotsprings one last time. My whole family went under the giant waterfall and it reminded me of Harry Potter where you could walk through the wall in the train station and come out in Hogwarts!! Then we took a 15 minute jeep ride to a dock. At the dock we got on a boat and went on a one hour boat ride across Lake Arenal. Then we took another jeep on a three hour trip through the mountains to Monteverde. The roads were very, very, very, very, very . . . . . . . . . bad and it was SO foggy and pouring rain! When we got to our cabin we unpacked our stuff and left to a restaurant called Morpho. At Morpho I got pasta and a smoothie. For dessert we had a peanut butter pie. Mmmmm! Then we went back to our cabin and went to bed. 

Cool fact: the whole trip to our cabin it was raining.

Tabacon

The main pool at Tabacon Hot Springs

It's like a house under these hot springs!

Tropical and beautiful

Today we woke up and went in our hot springs one last time. Then we went to a beautiful resort called Tabacon that had its own huge hot springs. When we got there we went to our room, unpacked and went down to the hot springs. It was a really huge hot springs that had a restaurant and a water slide and a river that you walk up and a million different pools. It also had a waterfall that you could go under and it's like a house. When we were done looking at the place we went in to the water and relaxed. Later at the hot springs we saw some English kids that were playing Colors. Rules for Colors: someone is it and they stand outside the pool and turn their back to the players and the other players go in the pool and all go to the edge closet to the person who is it and pick a color. When they are ready the person who is it yells out the names of different colors and if he/she yells your color you have to swim to the other side without being tagged. If you get tagged you are it. We asked them if we could play and they said yes. When they left we had dinner at the restaurant and went back to our place and went to bed.

Cool fact: in these hot springs you feel even more refreshed than the other ones. 

El Silencio

Rufous Motmot

Our own private hotsprings

Hot falls

Sweet!

Today we went to a new hotel called El Silencio del Campo.  After we checked in we walked into La Fortuna to expore the town. In the town I got two new shirts.  One is a Costa Rica shirt with a blue-jeans frog on it and the other is a blue muscle shirt. They were special because they were the first shirts we bought from a store for the whole trip, even in Spain! All the shirts I got in Spain were free and were from on the streets when the Gracia festival was on. At our new hotel they have their own private hotsprings. When we went to it we were the only people there! I gave my mom and dad massages and made a movie with Mia. Also when we were in the hotsprings Mia lost her first molar. Good for her! When we were finished we went to dinner at the hotel and then went to bed.

Cool fact: when you are in a hotspring you feel relaxed.

Horseback to La Fortuna Waterfall

Arenal Oasis Ecolodge

Blue Cracker Butterfly

Chrysalis investigation

Luis getting me all saddled up on Palomo

Volcan Arenal

Ha ha! Horse parking!

Head stall!

La Fortuna Waterfall

Today we woke up and went on a hike around the ecolodge. On the hike there was a butterfly enclosure, a tarantula enclosure and a poisonous frog enclosure. After the hike a guy named Luis brought 5 horses to our cabin. One for me, one for Mia, one for Mom, one for Dad and one for Luis. We were going to ride the horses to a great big waterfall. Luis brought his dog Estrella along with us. She wasn't very nice. When we got to the waterfall we got into our bathing suits and went into the water. It was cold! We hung out for awhile and had a picnic and when we were finished we took the horses back to their stables, not our cabin. On the way one of the horse's horseshoe fell off and Luis couldn't find it so we just kept going. When we got to Luis's house we said goodbye and walked back. When we were walking back we found the horseshoe and it was in bad shape so we kept it as a souvenir! When we got home we went out for pizza. 

Cool fact: when you get off a horse your butt hurts for the rest of the day.