costa rica christmas

Definitely a Christmas, Birthday, and New Year's Eve to remember! 

There is no way I can cover every part of the trip (I took 800 pictures & 130 videos to be exact) but I'll just hit the good stories and pictures for posterity's sake (#notpregnant if you are wondering).

But I can't talk about this trip without first thanking my Costa Rica Crew:

@mamabucks3: (MVP) because she made this whole trip possible! 

Grandma Lola aka abuela: (#trooper) because she put up with our craziness & hiked all over Costa Rica like a champ!

Samuel: (Designated Driver & Spanish Rookie) drove us approx. 690 kilometers and practiced his Spanish phrases along the way, it was highly entertaining.  

Megan: (New Zealand Tour Guide) after watching "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" (great movie btw) practiced her New Zealand accent as we went through the cloud forest, also highly entertaining.

Sara: (Back-Back Seat Rider) baby girl was so nice and sat in the very back seat with the luggage for most of the car rides, she had to enter and exit the car through the trunk lol.
Erin: (Itinerary Planner & Navigator) definitely got us lost a few times and only lost my cool a couple times.

Liberia 

The first night I was in the bathroom of our quaint but struggling hotel room in Liberia and the biggest lizard ran across the wall and I lost it. Reptiles are my weakness-they scare me to death. But soon creepy crawly things became a normal occurrence and they didn't bother us as much. We still sprayed bug spray like no tomorrow because Zika is scary and no one wants that.

Monteverde

We started out in Monteverde home of the Cloud Forest, so named because you are in the jungley mountains literally in the middle of the clouds. We stayed at this cute Airbnb with the best windows overlooking the forest and complete with a hammock.  

At the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve we took a hike to a waterfall, the famous suspension bridge, and even walked through the clouds. And of course we all wore our Tevas, best things ever! I am forever converted. We also went zip lining above the jungle which was amazing! I didn't get any photos because they wouldn't let us take our phones but I did sneak some video so that will be in my video coming shortly.

Jaco

We spent the majority of the time in Jaco. Our Airbnb was right on the beach and we had the best ocean view! It was dreamy watching the sunset every night or eating breakfast on the balcony. We went surfing, hit up the pool, laid on the beach, played tons of card games, and ate lots of food.

Meg and I celebrated our 24th birthday in Jaco as well. We had a chill day on the beach and also went to a waterfall. This waterfall was just a little ways from where we were staying but it was an adventure to find. Usually you have to pay $70 per person for a waterfall tour but we found it all on our own thanks to a couple of directions from the locals. The only problem was we didn't know how to say waterfall in Spanish so that made it interesting. It's "cascada" if you were wondering... 

Tortuga Island
One morning we took a boat tour to Tortuga Island complete with snorkeling, tubing, and the new sport subwing-ing, it's all the rage. We failed miserably but most of us survived. Mom almost drowned but that's another story. Basically you are being dragged behind a boat and have to hold on for dear life. The ad made it look so easy and carefree, definitely not the case.  

Also can't forget when Sam tried to pee on us...true story you can even see for your own eyes. We had been on the boat all day and the island didn't have a bathroom so that's what the ocean is for right? 

Manuel Antonio National Park
Manuel Antonio is a National Park famous for wildlife and white sand beaches. We saw some monkeys, sloths and even ran into some missionaries!

We enjoyed New Year's Eve watching a grand firework show on the beach but poor Sammy rang in the new year with food poisoning. It was awful! So proud of Samuel for putting up with us for 10 days! I don't think he will ever do it again hahah. 

Overall everything was amazing and I'm so thankful for my family and the opportunity to travel with them!