Costa Rica "Best Of..."

 In standing with our sporadic tradition of wrapping our trip with a list of the things we want to remember and celebrate about a place, here is our family "Best of..." list for Costa Rica. They are listed in order of age, from Parker to Mike. 

Best...

• Food: 
• Jugo naturale/batido - watermelon (P), pineapple/banana (S), cas (C), watermelon/banana (M)
• Snack - batidos, patacones, and plantain chips (everyone)
• Meal - anything with french fries minus the anything (P), refried beans in a bag w/tortilla chips (S - below), casado con pescado (C)

• Tropical fruit - mango (P), cocao fruit & granadilla (S), guayabana (C), papaya (M)

 

• Nature: 
• Animal siting - beach snails (P), Coatimundi & Iguana (S), Blue Morpho & red-eyed tree frog (C), Capuchin monkeys (M), toucans and scarlet macaws (everyone)
• Tree - Rainbow Eucalyptus (C)
• Beach - Playa Espadilla (everyone)
• Hike - Sendero Fumeroles, Pocosol Biological Station

 

• Pig impersonator - 2 toed sloth

• Travel:
• Hotel/lodging - Valle Escondido in Monteverde (everyone)
• Place to go back to - Pocosol Biological Station, Bosque Eternal de los Ninos
• Pool - Vista Ballena (P & M), Baldi Hot Springs (S & C)

 

• Spanish word/phrase - "unintelligible gibberish" (P), "donde esta el bano?" (S), "buenas" (C), "con gusto" (M)
• Place to take the extended family (looking at you Nana CC/Opa/Nana) - Arenal Observatory Lodge 

• Activities: 
• Way to wait out the rain - do whatever Sybil says (P), play house/school with stuffies (S), doodle in travel journal (C), read (M)

• Way to spend a night - playing family charades (everyone)
• Way to wake up at 4:30 a.m. - scritch-scratching of squirrels on the roof (P), alarm birds (S), goats on the balcony (C), cuddles from S & P (M)

It's not lost on me what a tremendous privilege it is to have the good health and resources to be able to travel to other countries. We try not to take advantage of the responsibility that comes with visiting another country and culture, and we do our best to learn from the people and experiences. I'm always grateful for the new perspectives I come away with after seeing a tiny snapshot of life in another place on planet Earth. I hope our kids find it as mind opening, valuable, challenging, and fun. 

We learned that Costa Rica has tremendous natural beauty and comparatively easy access to a mind blowing array of flora and fauna. The tourist infrastructure is a well oiled machine, and the roads aren't nearly as scary to drive on as everyone says (though expect to go slooooow). Rainfall is measured in feet, not inches, but Ticas (people from Costa Rica) never seem to look wet. The costarricenses we encountered were kind, warm, and formal, and understandably a teeny bit over tourists and the saying "Pura Vida". 

We're heading back to Houston tomorrow morning. We're excited to get back to a regular sleep routine and see friends and family, but all of us agree that we could spend more time here and love Costa Rica. The summer adventures aren't over yet, however! We spend a few days in Houston before returning to Austin for a week to host our nieces Laila and Mia, then we head out to New Mexico and Colorado for our typical summer camping trip.