Did I miss anything?
Anyway…I live in South Florida. Some good friends of mine decided to get married in Costa Rica. Since I love travelling…and they asked…I joined the small group and helped them celebrate.
My dive-trip roommate came, and we spent two days up in the Arenal area.
(Observant Dopers may figure out that he had to scramble to get his passport renewed.) The volcano isn’t currently active, so there was no fresh lava. But we still enjoyed the area - we did the hanging bridges tour, and repelled down four waterfalls. We also did a few random hikes.
Then we drove down to the Manuel Antonio area and joined up with the other 12 or so people in the party. We went zip lining and did a tour of Manuel Antonio National Park.
Finally, we transfered to the Alma Del Pacifico Hotel, formerly Xandari Resort, for the actual wedding. It’s about half an hour from Jaco, so we went to lunch there to see how the surfers were doing.
Along the way, we saw monkeys (howler and spider), sloths (two and three toe), lizard-type animals of all sizes (including really big crocodiles), and a few toucans.
I’ll post a link to some pictures once I get them sorted out.
It was a great week, but I’m glad to be home. I now realize that South Florida is really cool and dry.
Great pictures, it is just as beautiful as I remember it. I went there when I was younger with a large group of people to help teach English to school age children; it was truly a great experience. I love how naturally beautiful Costa Rica is, so much so that basically its whole tourist industry is based around it. Did you get to go to Mount Verde? Its wonderful. Difficult trip up the mountain but at the top is a tiny secluded town with the nicest of people. If you ever get back, you should stop by there. Thanks for sharing!
My friend was there 10 years ago, and says it has changed a ton. But it still has tons of nature, and is a beautiful country. And volunteering while down there is an awesome way to go!
We talked about going to Mount Verde, but we only had two days to explore, and it’s a 4-5 hour drive between Arenal and Mount Verde. We had to pick one.
The Bridge and Groom are doing both - three days each, if I remember right. They get back on Friday, and I can’t wait to hear the comparisons.
I should mention that my camera for underwater diving - I focused on issues like shutter lag when I bought it. I only have a 4x optical zoom, so it is crap for jungle life - that’s why there aren’t many birds or monkeys or sloths in the pictures.
-D/a
