From Rio Celeste we drove to Monteverde, which didn't look very far on the map but ended up taking hours on the winding, pothole-filled dirt roads. We were surprised when we arrived to a chilly, bustling town in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. We had heard fantastic reviews about the Canopy tours here and went on a ziplining excursion which definitely lived up to the hype. What a rush - and a VIEW! (Jenn2E - Jody wore the orange Fernie shirt just for you)
We drove down the Pacific coast of the Nicoya Peninsula until the dirt road turned into a river that our little Bego couldn't cross :( We ended up in a little town called Jicaral where we were the only foreigners at the local rodeo & fair. Needless to say, I loved it! After riding the bumper cars like 5 year old kids, we watched the rodeo which consisted solely of bull riding the night we were there; it was ridiculous - guys were riding 'no-handed' and it took an average of 20 minutes with a combination of man and horse power to get the bull out of the arena after each ride. Ten riders took about 2.5 hours... it was definitely no Calgary Stampede but entertaining all the same
The next day we drove down to Quepos, the gateway to Manuel Antonio National Park. It was extremely hot so we didn't last very long in the park but were able to see loads of monkies, swim and make lunch on the pretty beaches, and hike to a 'Mirador' overlooking the Pacific coastline. It was also St. Patrick's day so afterward we put on all of our collective green clothing and enjoyed some beverages at the closest thing to an Irish pub we could find - oh ya, and Jody's now sporting a handlebar mustache...
A lovely sunset in Quepos capped off a fantastic week of cruising around Costa Rica.
We're now in San Jose attempting to get our Brazilian Visa's at the embassy (to no avail) and catching up with our families on Skype. Tomorrow we're heading to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica for a few days before heading down to Panama. Hopefully everyone had a great St. Patty's Day weekend :)
I love love love the Diego the Bego-story!! Oh, we had such a great time! X
ReplyDeleteLooks amazing! Wish I was with you soooo bad! xoxoxoxo
ReplyDeleteyou two look so cute crammed in your little bumper car, burn and all! The zip lining looked amazing, thats something I think I might even try! Playo Carillo looks like a beach you shouldn't tell anybody about,so you can go back again and again and it won't be filled with tourists. You might consider taking that bull with you to the embassy where they wouldn't give you a visa, They may be persuaded with that bit of leverage! Love you so much Mama xoxo
ReplyDeleteWOW!! Playa Samara looks awesome!
ReplyDeleteSo does Jody's handlebars. ha!