Costa Rica: A Little Glimpse of Heaven

I’m not sure if I know one person that hasn’t gone to Costa Rica and come home raving about it. In fact, I know a lot of people that simply don’t come home. Or they come home and immediately start search for property to buy down there as an escape in the winters. Everyone loves Costa Rica.

Me too.

And here is WHY:

Those beaches. Seriously. Take me back. We decided to stay on the west coast in Manuel Antonio for a week of fresh air, salt water, and relaxation. We got it in spades. There were a few beaches walking distance from our rental. Each one was well worth the hike! The sand was on fire, but the trees offered the perfect shady spot to relax or hang your hammock.Sometimes you have company to keep you entertained and appreciating life…
(Photo by Erika)

The not so secret beach (since you can google it…how secret can it be?!?!) I’m pretending to smile here. The actuality is that I’m sweating so much that sunscreen is dripping into my eyes despite my protests…
The National Parks are phenomenal! We didn’t jump into any hiking or volcano adventures this time (we were literally there to just c-h-i-l-l) but we did go into Park Manuel Antonio for a guided tour of the vegetation and wildlife. If you look closely enough…you’ll find that little life is everywhere (crabs, frogs, birds, slothes, monkeys, lizards….and somehow even racoons? That one surprised me).Monkeys, monkeys and more monkeys. Thankfully these guys are friendlier than the ones in Bali…but they’ll still nab your stuff if you leave it unattended.
The sunsets. I mean really, sunsets are beautiful things. Gorgeous. Relaxing. And we have them everywhere….yet somehow in Costa Rica they are even more breathtaking. Maybe it’s the warm breeze in the air, the sound the ocean, or the complete serenity of it all. It was one of the best nights when my girl friend and I decided to hike down to the beach, bring our supper with us, and enjoy the sun set. Pure bliss.This next one was taken on our flight home. Honestly I think I took hundreds of pictures from the plane…and my travel buddy was eternally grateful I had the window seat, ha ha.
Food, friends, and hamocks. Ok, ok, hammocks doesn’t start with ‘F’ to make it a catching phrase but it’s all I got! Ha ha. The food is fantastic (see that, I made up for it there… :P). Our favourite spot for breakfast was Cafe Milagro (every breakfast item was delicious, try the mango crepes), we had smoothies daily from The Falafel Bar (the BEST smoothies…try the pineapple mint!), and listened to live Jazz at Emilios (who has an incredible selection of cakes…just sayin’).Our at home meals usually consisted of rice, beans, lentils, and plantains. I love plantains. LOVE.
Because really, this view? Ahhhhhhhhh….BLISS.
National air travel. There is SANSA and Nature Air that both operate using Cessna fleets to fly you around Costa Rica. The pricing is reasonable, and booking is easy. Try not to book yourself on the last flight of the day though, these cessnas are landing on smaller ‘airports’ that have no runway lights…so there are no flights after dusk. 😉 If your booked on the last flight and it’s delayed you might have to wait until morning.The great thing about flying around the country is the view from above! I sat right behind the pilot and between the front and side windows…had the best view in the house. 😉