PJ's travel blog: November 2020

Costa Rica was amazing. So green and colorful. So affordable. So covid conscious.

What an amazing trip.

Leaf cutter ants were so fascinating.

Our room. $23 a night plus $6 for breakfast. For four people!

It kind of had an outdoor/attached bathroom.

We were the ONLY guests there.

Breakfast with a view

Every morning this sweet lady would come and make us a fresh and delicious breakfast. I secretly want to move here!

Here's the outside of our room.

Plenty of schoolwork. Wifi in room was weak so we found a stronger signal in the dining area.

Pretty little arrangement

Pool with a view

I went on a hike

And found this awesome lookout

I sat here for over an hour enjoying the sounds of the jungle.

Ryder wasn't so sure he was going to love this dinner.

Preston loved his.

Schoolwork at night.

Gorgeous butterfly

Upside down Phaedra

A family that zips together, stays together.

Costa Rica is very clean and encourages recycling.

Another empty parking lot. This was our zipline place. They also offered lots of other activities. Hopefully tourism can return and help all of these struggling companies.

Map of cocoa growth, harvest and production.

Cocoa plant

All natural hot cocoa. Just like the indigenous people first learned to make. Delicious.

Not fans of cocoa seeds

They call this 'grandma's tooth' because it has a black center that looks like an old, dead tooth.

Worldschooling involves lots of learning. We took a chocolate tour and learned about how the indigenous people discovered, harvested and improved cocoa plants, seeds and such.

Right outside Manuel Antonio park we found this little restaurant with lots of Christmas swag. The owner said he's stayed afloat selling local food to locals and local prices. We were one of the first tourists they've seen in 8 months (the country just opened up a few days prior). We love these casados. Really yummy.

Another angle of our lunch

Costa Rica needs tourism so they've reopened their country and taken lots of covid precautions. Here's a big park/beaches called Manuel Antonio. After they take your temperature, you wash your hands and then proceed into the park. Masks required, of course. There was nobody there. "If you build it they will come!" Costa Rica is ready to safely welcome back tourism.

Monkey. Cute but vicious.

My men!

So handsome.

My favorite 14 year old

We had the whole beach to ourselves. They discovered this little freshwater stream that ran into the ocean and spent about an hour with little pieces of wood and leaves and practiced their finger surfing skills. I loved watching them "be kids."

I know it's so cliche to take food photos but everything was so delicious, I just wanted to remember it.

So many beautiful flowers.

Yummy yummy!

Lots of covid precautions. Every restaurant requires temperature checks and hand washing before they walk you to your table. Here's a little gift shop. They've got anti-rona foot pads and then hands free pump of hand sanitizer. They really are trying to keep their country safe and healthy.

Temperature checks before entering a park.

Expert hand washers.

We are the ONLY tourists here. Just another empty lot. This was a giant suspension bridge park with views of the Arenol volcano.

After the suspension bridge hikes we at at their fancy restaurant with an incredible view of the (active) volcano. Lunch cost about $5.50 a person plus $1 cokes.

Our lunch

There are lots of hot springs in Costa Rica. Tons of resorts have capitalized on them and charge a lot of money for their guests to use "their" hot springs. Troy researched and found the "free" hot springs. It was a hot river and it was so pretty and a little ghetto. It had a locals only vibe but nobody bothered us.