How insane were the surprise vacation clues this year? They were INTENSE! My dad took it to the next level, mostly because all of you guys were guessing and he knew he had to step up his game. After weeks of trying to figure it out - we finally cracked the code just in time to pack our bags and jet off to Costa Rica!
Costa Rica was an incredible adventure filled with tons of hiking, exploring, boating, learning and eat - I mean I think I ate my entire body weight in guacamole. NO JOKE. Also, rice and beans for breakfast every day, not upset about it. We went with a private tour company, Wilderness Travel, so everything was booked for us, all we had to do was show up! Same kind of situation as when we went to Alaska with National Geographic and it's amazing!! There's something really nice about not having to worry about finding a car service to take you to the airport and all those little details that pile up over the course of a trip.
Anyways... we started in San Jose and then spent a few days in Monteverde (the cloud forest), Arenal (at the foot of the Volcano) and then on the Caribbean coast! And while we stayed at super cute hotels each nice, it's not called Wilderness Travel just because! We were hiking everyday, ziplining across the canopy, trekking across hanging bridges and always on the lookout for monkeys, sloths, iguanas, birds and all other wildlife that can be found in Costa Rica. We missed turtle hatching season by a few weeks but you can BET that I'm going back to witness that!! BABY TURTLES EVERYWHERE!! OMG I'd freak. If you go, request Frederico as your guide. He's the best in the entire country and he made the trip extra special for us and even got me some of the recipes from our meals to re-create for the blog. WINNING.
Hands down it was an amazing experience that you should totally look into if you're thinking about Costa Rica!! Our photo journal is below, all photos taken by Thomas Dawson.... and I'll leave you with this... Pura Vida (which is basically a synonym of "hakuna matata." Life is wonderful; enjoy it.) Thank you to Urban Dictionary for always keeping me well versed with things I don't understand 🙂
OMG! I love Costa Rica! I went there when I was in college on a two week study abroad program. I too ate so much rice and beans, and all the fresh fruit!
Beautiful photos! 🙂
Amazing photos!!! You really saw some cool wildlife, I'm so excited for you. I enjoyed your packing list post as well and has been filed away for future reference. Thanks for sharing your journey!
Looks like a fun trip. We were there about 7 years ago, and thought it was amazing! Isn't the wildlife insane. One of the resorts we stayed at how outdoor showers and the howler monkeys would sit in the trees and scream at us every time we took a shower.