The Monkey House...Home Sweet Home!

Our tour finished, the next part of our adventure began....we waited, and waited, and waited for our rent car in downtown San Jose. Finally it arrived, with the GPS we had rented, only one problem the GPS only spoke French! A couple hours later we were finally on the toll road over to the Pacific coastline of Costa Rica, to our Monkey House at Shelter from the Storm! We arrived after dark and slowly inched our way up the mountain road in our Bego 4x4, Dale driving and me reading the directions......funny now, but not then!
The Monkey House was great, the decor was so cute, everything was "Monkey".....the large porch surrounded by the jungle was our favorite spot for relaxing. I even found a pair of fuzzy monkey house shoes in the closet. Donna and Daryl welcomed us with a nice gift basket of Costa Rican goodies and made us feel very welcome. The kitchen was equipped very well, a real plus for us since we planned on cooking most of our meals. The Rancho and pool area were just down the pathway, a great place to watch the monkeys pass by up in the trees while floating in the pool. Most mornings we had Toucans up in the trees and Dale even found a sloth up in the tree, just off our porch.

We enjoyed shopping in the local markets, buying fresh fish at the local fish market, and purchasing fantastic fruits and veggies from the road side stands. We enjoyed at pizza one day after some exploring some of the beaches, a yummy Mahi Mahi poorboy after a day in Dominical, celebrated New Year's Eve at a very small French restaurant named Exotica and even had a "Jesus Burger" at the Refuge. We found a really nice restaurant the day we drove up in the mountains to San Isidro with a million dollar view and great food.
On Christmas Day, Daryl dressed in a full Santa outfit started up his motorcycle with a sidecar and loaded up presents and Boomer, his dog.....as a reindeer to deliver gifts to the local children. They roared up the driveway with Boomer barking loudly....for a moment I thought I heard the song "Santa Class Is Coming To Town"! It was quite a site and news spread quickly that Santa was riding around Dominical.
Donna had arranged several excursions for us, the first was a trip to Caño Biological Reserve, an island about 18 miles off the coast. Up early we left at 5:30 am and didn't get back home until about 7:00 pm....but it was a great tour. We saw 4 humpback whales, two kinds of dolphins, a big croc, boa constrictor, four species of monkeys and lots of birds.....and a Jesus Christ Lizard that walked on water. We snorkeled, spotting a reef shark swimming along and enjoyed a picnic lunch on the beach. It was a long day, but one of the best excursions we have ever done. The guide, Caesar, was the BEST!
The next excursion was called "Waves and Caves" a kayaking trip along the coastline...kayaking through caves along the shoreline. It was a pretty good workout and somehow I managed to flip my kayak while trying to get that perfect photo....Dale thought that was pretty funny!! Getting back in the kayak in deep water was no easy trick....but I did!
On my birthday, January 1 we went to Hacienda Baru for our zipline tour "Flight of the Toucan". They put us with five gals from New York, they were lots of fun. We did a lot of hiking, up and down the mountain going from station to station. One of the guides pointed out wildlife along the trail, spotting a two toed sloth up in the trees. The zipline course consisted of eight stations, with us going backwards on the last one. Our guides were great and it was a fun day, even if we were exhausted when finished!

Our final tour was a horseback ride up to Nauyaca Waterfalls up in the mountains called Don Lulos Nauyaca Waterfalls. We arrived to find about 34 horses saddled up and waiting. Dale got a horse named "Paula" and I got one named "Catatoui", both being very short, small, skinny horses....but very sure footed, like a goat....thank goodness. We rode for about an hour before stopping at a Tico house for a nice breakfast, then another hour before we arrived at the falls. The water was cold, but the falls were breathtaking. We saddled back up after a couple hours in the water and headed back to the Tico house for a delicious lunch, then a brief siesta in a hammock before hitting the trail again. The ride back was almost all up the mountain and the horses slowly plodded along, crossing a river before finally reaching the end of the trip.
It was a great trip, but boy was I saddle sore the next day, haven't ridden a horse in a long, long time!
We spent the rest of our time exploring beaches, watching surfers, checking out downtown Dominical, on a thrilling drive to San Isidro and a brief tour along the Pan American highway by a big river. We also went to the Marino Ballena National Park and enjoyed a long walk on the beach, walking out to what is called the Whales Tail. Reading, laying by the pool and checking our email were our pastimes at the Monkey House.
With the jungle just off our porch, we woke each morning to the sounds of the jungle, and sometimes the screech of the howler monkeys.....a real alarm clock! The weather was great, with rain falling mostly at night!
Finally it was time to head back home, we said our goodbyes to our new friends, Donna and Daryl with plans to take a leisurely drive back to San Jose....with Donna's great directions! We arrived in San Jose, turned in our Bego and checked into a hotel by the airport for a good nights rest before our flight home the next day.

Leaving Costa Rica, we felt we had really experienced the country....we had seen the breathtaking beauty of the land, been thrilled with the unusual creatures and felt the warmth and pride of the people (Ticos) of this lush tropical country.