AMAZING ADVENTURE #2.... MOM COMES TO COSTA RICA!

What a lucky girl I am!  Two days after Greg and Leah headed back to the snowy North, my Mom, the one and only, came to Costa Rica!  In summary, we had an amazing time.  In detail, here we go.....


Thursday: Volcan Poas and Sarchi
After a delicious dinner of arroz con pollo on Wednesday night, Mom and I headed an hour and a half outside of Escazu to see Volcano Poas.  On the way, we found a local coffee farm with the world's strongest coffee.  I couldn't even finish one cup!

The lovely farmer with the oxen let us take a picture with them.  For only $1!  What a bargain!

Views of the Tres Generaciones Coffee Farm

   

Then we made our way up the mountain to the volcano.  Amazing!  Poas' crater is the second largest in the world!  And it was huge.

It was smoking when we got there.  Angry volcano!

The next day, we headed off to the beach!  Quepos here we come!  Take two!  We stayed at a beautiful eco-friendly hotel, Arenas del Mar.  Given that Mom and I seem to take so easily to luxury hotels, this trip proved to be no exception.  With our pineapple-mint-creme de coco drinks in our hand, we toured the hotel and absolutely loved it!  Beautiful views, a jacuzzi on the balcony, and not one but two private beaches, yes please!  The hotel was not only beautiful, but very green as well.  Solar panels on the roof of every building, 75% of the property occupied by jungle, a private wildlife reserve.  Wow!  Even better (and this was Dan's favorite part), the resort is totally car-free, despite being spread out over a large swath of land.  So the hotel provides electric golf cart service from the room to the beaches, to the pools, and to anywhere else you wanted to go on the property.  So cool!

Sadly, Dan was stuck at work on Friday, but thankfully was able to make the adjustment to luxury hotel life upon his arrival.

After waking up to the sound of the waves on Saturday morning, we started our rough day of beach lounging, swimming, and lunching with our feet in the sand.  Then we headed out to find our way back to Playa el Rey, and amazingly, we did!  No crocodiles or making our way over steel beams this time.  Phew.  We got the beach and we were one of five people this time.  It was packed.  Dan and I played in the waves while my Mom took in the sun and the sights.  She tried to get video of us playing the waves, but it didn't turn out so well.  So, instead, here are some pictures.

What a wonderful afternoon!  We even found Ronny's restaurant (and his magical fried whole snapper) again that night.  And yet, given the powers of vacation appetite, still managed to put back a huge and wonderful breakfast the next morning.

Dan trying to pretend that breakfast burritos by the pool overlooking the ocean constitutes a rough life.

After breakfast we headed down to the beach and found.... MONKEYS!!!  The smart little monkeys that they were, they were hanging out in the palm trees and mangroves close to the water.  

Look at his little monkey feet!!

And (drumroll please) I made a monkey video!  Thanks to Shakira and iMovie, I managed to make our very own monkey video.  Here it goes....

[and yes, I know, the African reference doesn't make a ton of sense, but I really like the song.]

Post-monkey watching and swimming, Dan and I got a wonderful belated birthday gift from my mom: parasailing!  It was absolutely beautiful!  Here are some photos of our adventure.

I think people heard me yell "wheeeeee" all over the beach.

  

Not surprisingly, while I yelled/squealed for my entire ride, Dan was super relaxed and sat back (hands free) and enjoyed the ride.  When it came time to land, Dan refused and stayed about 2 feet above the water for a good minute on two.  Finally, he got semi-dunked then flew back up into the air again.  Oh silly Dan!

We closed the day in our favorite pool over looking the beach and so grateful for our wonderful weekend.

Thanks for a wonderful visit Mom!

Next up... Heidi, Andrea, and Cori bring the East Coast to Costa Rica!  Bocas del Toro here we come!