Tuesday - Our final week began with a trip to Playa Hermosa for some beach time and ended with a toast with our homemade wine at sunset on the beach. We spent most of the day at the pool or holding down the hammocks! We also enjoyed visiting with the other guest.
Wednesday - Went down to Dominicalito to see the Shrimp boats unload their catch....wow lots of flounder! Didn't stick around for the shrimp! Our mission today was to find and explore Playa Matapalo....another stretch of beach. With a few basic directions.....a few twist and turns we found it and explored.....I found lots of sand dollars on the beach and some shells. Just about the time we decided to leave the AC went out in car. Luckily Solid Car Rental has an office in Dominical...so we headed there! While waiting for them to look at the car we had lunch in town at Chapy's..yum! They gave us a small car and said our car would be ready the next day.
Thursday - We stayed at the beach house most of the day, went to get our car and were surprised to find they upgraded us to a really nice 4x4, we drove over to Uvita for few items, and relaxed at the pool!
Friday - Today was our last time to visit Playa Hermosa....still our favorite! A stop at Rio Lindo Friday night proved to be a bust, since they played only Rock music!
Saturday - We booked an ATV tour with Diamante Tours and met the guide in Tinamaste. He briefed us on safety and riding....off we went into the mountains. We saw the beautiful Diamante Falls, we hiked to the base of a smaller waterfall, saw beautiful vistas, drove by a organic coffee farm where the plants were in full bloom. I took a dip in a small pool at the base of a small waterfall while Dale and Karl, the guide talked. We even made it to the para-glider field just in time to see someone take off! On the highway portion of our ride we even got stopped by the Policia at a traffic roadblock....after some discussion we were waved on. We ended the ride with a lunch stop for a bite to eat and then back to the starting point....a long day, but lots of fun!
Sunday - Playa Lindo was the plan for today.....Karl the ATV guide had recommended it! It was another beautiful beach with manicured grounds. Very beautiful and well worth the trip! Next we drove down to Sierpe to explore. Africian palm oil trees lined the road and villages where the workers live were scattered along the drive. We got a snack and drink at a restaurant on the river and saw the beautiful macaws in the trees in the town square.
Monday - Hiking Hacienda Barú National Wildlife Refuge was the plan for today. Hacienda Barú’s 330 hectares (815 acres) have a fantastic variety of habitats, from wetlands and secondary rainforests in the lowlands to
primary rainforest on the highland coastal ridge. Seven kilometers of
walking trails and three kilometers of pristine beach are here to be
explored as well as our orchid garden and butterfly garden.We picked a trail and off we went...first we saw a peccary on the trail and finally Dale spotted a sloth high up in the tree. By the end of the hike we had seen two other sloths, both had a baby with them, lots of lizards, and a group of white faced monkeys. I took lots of pictures and we talked with different folks along the trail from all over the world. Packing began when we got back to the house.
Tuesday - Up and packed we said our goodbyes and took off to San Jose. We checked out Jaco on the way back and enjoyed lunch at Jaco Taco! The drive was easy and we made it back with no problems. Checked in to our hotel, we dropped the rental car off and grabbed something to eat at a Denny's. Our time in Costa Rica was almost over!
Wednesday - Breakfast at the hotel and then the shuttle to the airport! Checked in and security completed we waited for our flight back to Houston. We had spent a month in Costa Rica and now it was time to go home....back to the real world! We had lived the good life.....Pura Vida!
I took Mom to San Antonio for a concert with the San Antonio Symphony and the Texas Tenors..... a belated birthday gift. We stopped on the way up and had BBQ lunch at Texas Pride....it was yummy! After we checked into our room at the Omni La Mansion del Rio we walked down to the river walk.....it was a beautiful day and lots of folks were enjoying the Texas sunshine. Dressed for the evening we drove to the Laurie Auditorium at Trinity University for the concert. A great performance...they sang everything from Phantom of the Opera, Righteous Brothers hits, Rascal Flatts songs, and brought the house down with God Bless the USA! After the concert we walked down the river walk to a restaurant for a bite to eat before bed. After a lovely breakfast the next morning we headed back home....driving along the country roads enjoying the wildflowers in bloom.
