Playa Conchal

We wanted to snorkel right off the shore somewhere, since we hauled all of our equipment down!  We researched that Playa Conchal was perfect, so we drove almost an hour to get to this secluded bay.  In order to get there, however, we had to drive through a crazy touristy beach with tour guides bombarding us every 5 feet ready to sell us goods, tours, sun umbrellas, you name it.  We have not experienced this so far!  We have lived in non-touristy areas, so this was an unwelcome sight.  So many people! So much congestion and noise!  It was weird.  We're used to being isolated and quiet.   We finally pushed through the chaos and headed to our destination.  We had also read that this bay was perfect for paddle boarding.  We hauled a cooler, 2 paddle boards, and all of our snorkel equipment, just to realize that the weather was windy and the seas rough.  The determination to make it worth it overpowered Adam and he set up the paddle boards anyway and struggled to carry the cooler to a quieter area of the beach. He fell off the paddle board with Lily a few times. It was a little bit hilarious!  He was so determined to make it worth it, so we all tried to have a good attitude!  The beach itself was truly gorgeous and we definitely enjoyed playing in the soft sand!  The snorkeling proved disappointing with the rough water, but we went out anyway and saw a few cool fish, an eel, a sea snake, and got stung by little jellyfish.  We had to drive our van across a river, through a cut-out in the rocks, and across a beach and are so grateful that the van made it!  That thing, with all of its problems, is a rock and has powered through some tough terrain!

These first pictures are actually at a different fishing beach called Playa Lagarto.  We saw some kids out doing their daily family chore of catching fish for dinner, so I asked this boy if he could show me how.  They wind fishing line around a wooden thing that reminds me of a kite string holder, walk out in the water up to their waists, throw the line out with a couple of sardenas on it, and slowly wind it in until they get a bite.  He caught 7 fish that morning and I didn't catch any, haha.  So fun to see how these people live though!  I love it!  They are so simple!

Rincon de la Vieja National Park

We decided to spend Sunday afternoon exploring God's beautiful creations at Rincon de la Vieja National Park.  We walked on a path for a couple of miles through wooded areas alive with the sounds of birds, monkeys, and insects. How fun to see spider monkeys, howler monkeys, and capuchin monkeys!  We also saw a keel-billed toucan, the beautiful one with a brightly colored beak!  This park also contained boiling hot mud springs, sulfur springs, steam vents, and a beautiful waterfall!

One thing I've enjoyed the most is not having a schedule.  We can stop and spend time climbing up vines just because we can!  No one is telling us to hurry, no appointments to make, no one waiting for us.  It's glorious.  The other tourists got a kick out of our adventure and stopped to take pictures.  People usually stare at us and occasionally make comments on how many children we have.  Apparently we are a sight to behold!

  

There is a price to pay to be in the mountains.  The bugs attacked Lincoln and this is what his back looked like the next day!  Yikes!

Rio Celeste and the Hidden Surprise Round 2

We knew it would take a while to get there, but we wanted to show my family Rio Celeste.  There is nothing else like it, especially in the dry region of Guanacaste.  Instead of the 3.5 hours we thought, the GPS took us all the way around a longer way and we finally got there after 4.5 hours.  It was lightly sprinkling and the scenery was absolutely gorgeous!  We've missed the mountains! Linds and Richard rented galoshes, based on the reviews of people coming out of the hike, and it was a good thing!  Sooo much mud!  The slow motion videos of Jade splashing in the mud puddles are awesome.  We hiked the 300 steps to the beautiful waterfall and took in the breathtaking scenery.  On the way out of the hike, the storm hit.  The rain came down in massive drops and we were soaked to the bone in a matter of seconds.  We could mostly avoid the mud before, but it quickly became impossible to walk on the path without our shoes getting entirely caked in mud.  I was surprised that it was cold; we haven't felt cold this whole trip!  

After Linds and Richard poured a cup of water out of their galoshes, we loaded up in the van and headed up the road a bit to the Hidden Surprise.  We weren't sure it could happen with the huge rainstorm, but Grammy and Adam were still determined to go have some fun!  They are so much alike:  always up for adventure. The rain just added to it!  Some of us stayed in the van, some of us went to swim in the turquoise river.  Grammy loved it! The sad thing is that because of the rain, the water wasn't even turquoise; it was BROWN!  Ugh.  

We had a long drive home in our wet swim suits, but broke it up with a stop to Walmart.  Nothing kills a vacation like stopping at Walmart!  We'd been  having so much fun living off of what they sell at the little markets in the villages, and going to Walmart made it feel like cheating.  Our little fantasy bubble had burst.  Before my parents had come they asked what we needed and they would bring it.  I couldn't find any face wash, mosquito repellent, notebooks, or chocolate at the village stores, so I had my mom bring some.  Then we went to Walmart and it was all there.  Bah. I felt disappointed. I felt like the challenge of trying to live without stuff was over.  We could just get it at Walmart! I didn't feel like I was in Costa Rica anymore; I felt like I was home, but I didn't want to be home. 

On the other hand, they served a super cheap, delicious meal at their little cafeteria.  My dinner of beans, rice, and squash cost 2 bucks.  Nice job Walmart.

Loving the Locals - Could We Live Here?

We are really coming to love the people, the culture, the weather, and the scenery here.  Even if the morning hasn't gone well (between the 7 of us, someone always seems to have a bad day), any day that ends at the beach is a good day!  It seems to erase anything else that happened that day!  We love the quiet, dirt roads, the secluded feeling at Playa Junquillal, the proximity to so many beaches to surf or snorkel, and how we are getting to know people.  We pay the same parking lot guards day after day and it is fun to say hello each day. We feel like we're getting to know our way around, learning the local surf spots, the prices of food at the different stores and the best place to buy certain things.

The guy who manages our house is our age and also has 5 kids!  We had his family over for dinner, Uno, magic tricks, and homemade popcorn. It's so fun to learn their way of life.  Chuz fishes off the shore for food to feed his family, plus he works as a carpenter fixing up houses like Adam does.  (Adam wants to go to work with him so bad so he can teach him how to properly do things!  There are so many funny things about our house like the backwards faucet handles and the flat shower pan that won't drain.) They are poor and don't have much and are so happy.  I asked if they do gifts for Christmas and Chuz said, "No, we don't need any.  We have what we need."  Wow, so awesome.  All 7 of them pile into a little car to get around, but we've seen the kids ride their bikes on the dirt roads as well.  They go to the beach in the afternoons to surf and relax.  They are so content with their life.

We had been told that we HAD to attend the local rodeo of Paraiso during the week before New Years.  Each little town in this open, pasture-filled, quiet province has their own and wow, what a set up!  As we drove to Santa Cruz each week we'd pass by all the towns getting ready for the big event.  They bring in a bunch of wood planks and set up a stadium by hand - it's quite the ordeal and we were a little nervous about how sturdy it would be!

The night of the rodeo we enjoyed looking at the little carnival rides and food trucks.  We wondered why everything was dark - Adam even lent a guy his headlamp so he could see the chicken kebabs he was cooking!  After listening to blaring loud music for an hour after it was supposed to start, Lily fell asleep in my arms.  Apparently they were having trouble getting the lights to work, so the rodeo couldn't begin.  We decided to take Lily and Eliza home to go to bed with me while the others stayed to watch.  Young bull riders tried their best to stay on the bucking broncos and everyone enjoyed watching them scramble to get out after they fell.  A drunk man trying to get on the angry bull got trampled as it exited!  It was a fun night and we enjoyed seeing how the people here celebrate New Years.

It was a long day for this little guy!

We love it here.  We didn't get a picture of Heidy, the lady who cleans our house and does our laundry, but we love her too.  She is sooo happy and always smiling, but she lives in a dirt floor house with wood walls and a rusty corrugated steel roof.  I have contemplated happiness.  What makes you happy?  What makes this poor woman so happy?  

We love our ward.  The cute sister missionary from Utah said, "You guys are the lifeblood of this ward!  Everyone LOVES you!  What are we going to do without you!?"  We do make up half the Primary....   The kids can't WAIT until Sunday when they get to see their friends in Primary. I love it!  We don't understand much, but the Spirit is strong and I've been very impressed with the teachers and the discussions in Sunday School.  There is a good vibe and a lot of participation.  The Bishop, who is from Utah and was only supposed to be here for a year while his vacation home was getting built, was called to be Bishop after 6 weeks.  He didn't even know Spanish.  They'll be here now for 5 years to serve and are having quite the adventure.  He said, "So, have you considered moving down here?  We moved here for a year when our boys were in high school and it was the best thing ever.  Think about it!"  

Hmmm...I'm thinking we could do a year here!