On Wednesday we had planned a four wheel trip with Vista Los Suenos Adventure Group. We were very excited about the trip but then learned that we would not be going into any water (like last year) that had been so fun for us. We ended up driving on the highway down to Jaco (about four miles) and then Eastward up the mountain on the back road toward Bijagual. It was just a dirt road that we rode up and was super disappointing for Rick and me. The kids didn't know any different but when we got to the top Rick let our guide (Christopher) know that we were expecting something different from just riding on a road. We rode down into the jungle on some private property and hiked down to a place called Jaco Falls. A couple of us (Rick, Brach and myself) enjoyed getting in the water and cooling off. The falls were strong which made the current very strong but it was fun to get in.
After the falls, we hiked back up. Rick and Kendra and I were bringing up the rear when we saw Skylar running back down the trail to us yelling, "Christopher fell!" We all took off to get to the top of the hike and saw that one of the 4 wheelers had fallen into a ravine. It belonged to our second guide who had been driving in the rear. He had forgotten to put the parking brake on, and when Christopher went to turn them all around, the one without the brake on slid down into the ravine. When Skylar had come up to the top of the hike he couldn't see Christopher and then saw the downed 4 wheeler, he assumed that Christoper had crashed. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. He had taken his 4 wheeler to the top of the hill so he could get reception on his phone to call for help to get that downed 4 wheeler out.
After we left the area, Christopher wanted to make our trip better and told us he was going to take us through a river. He got down to the Jaco River and we got to go through a lot of water! It was the best part of our adventure for the day. After that he took us back to the highway and up into the mountains on the west side of the highway. We got up high and took a picture at a beautiful vista of the ocean. We drove through some farms and may or may not have gotten cow poop on us. 😆 It was very muddy and wet from the rains. At one point as we were heading back we were missing Rick. He was in the back of the group so we stopped and waited for him.... but he didn't come. Christopher went back looking for him, and I was worried that he might have crashed somewhere but before long they came roaring up. Rick's machine had just completely died, and he couldn't get it started back up. Christopher got it started and they switched ATV's and away we went.
Here are a few pictures from our ride.
That night we had scheduled a personal chef to come to our house and make us dinner. While Carlos and his girlfriend, Pamela, prepared dinner, Rick got in the pool to relax while the rest of us read our books in the living room. There were some great smells coming from the kitchen!
Dinner was served at 6:00. They had prepared, chicken, pork, and beef tacos, guacamole, pico, and beans. The best thing on the menu in my opinion was the fresh shrimp ceviche that he made. The food was not hot when we sat down to eat, so that was a little disappointing, as well as the fact that we did not have any rice with our meal. Everyone loved the Tres Leches cake that was served afterwards!
After Carlos and Pamela cleaned up and left we played a couple more rounds of Code Names. It was a nice relaxing night at the house.
Thursday was our last full day on the coast
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After breakfast we drove to Manuel Antonio and went through the park with our rented guide. We saw sloths, 2 chameleons, capuchin monkeys, Howler monkeys, 2 For de Lance snakes, and more stuff. After our tour through the park, we decided to have another beach day at Manuel Antonio beaches. It was another great day! These are the only pictures of the beach day that I got. Skylar and Kendra are so cute!!
Fun in the ocean.
On Friday morning Carlos the Chef came back to the house and made up a nice breakfast for us. He provided eggs, tortillas, rice and beans, fresh fruit, bacon, and juice. We ate on the back patio next to the pool and really enjoyed ourselves. Brach was not feeling well so he stayed in bed and got some leftovers later.
We enjoyed spending some time in the pool for a couple of hours. We all got a little sunburned, but it was so fun being in the pool for all of that time just talking and enjoying the water. I didn't want to get out but I could feel myself getting burned so I got out to get ready and pack up to go. Rick stayed in longer and got pretty red. He was uncomfortable for a few days because of it.
We left the house by 2:00 because we were trying to get back to San Jose for a Sealing appointment at the San Jose Temple. We got checked back in to the Fairfield Inn and saw that we had just a short time to get dinner. We went to an Argentine Restaurant across from the hotel which caused us to be late. We ate as fast as we could and luckily the temple workers waited for us. We had brought family names, and the spirit was beautiful during the session. Our Sealer did not speak any English but he put the words of the sealing on the altar so the girls could read it as he spoke. It was really a nice session.
After the session we headed back to the hotel and then the guys returned the cars. We then hopped into bed for a short night's rest. We had to be at the airport by 4:00 to be ready for our 6 AM flight. The flights were uneventful and we arrived home by 1 PM. Unfortunately our bags got left behind in Dallas....again. That was ok. We were glad to be back in Utah and knew that we had plenty of clothes at our homes. Our bags actually were delivered to our home by 8 PM so it turned out ok after all.
It was a great trip, and Rick and I loved being with our married kids enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of Costa Rica.
PURA VIDA, BABY!
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