Costa Rica Trip!

 We headed to Jaco, Costa Rica with our dear friends the Draytons for a fun vacation! 

We flew into San Jose late on Tuesday night and stayed one night at a hotel there. We got up the next morning and headed towards Jaco. We stopped along the way to see the alligators that hung out under a bridge. 

We arrived at our VRBO and explored the place and the beach just a short walk from our place. So lush and beautiful! 

We went to a local restaurant called Cocoa's for dinner with fresh sea food. 

On Thursday, we headed out on a boat to Tortuga Island for a day trip! There was drinks, lunch and snacks served. We also got to snorkel, ride a banana boat and do a little hike while at the island. It was beautiful! 

That evening, we went to a local sushi restaurant for dinner. 

We had a sweet local lady named Olga come make us breakfast and dinner for 3 of the days at the house we stayed at! She did the shopping, cooking, and cleaning for us and it was all local food. It was marvelous! Example of a prepared breakfast:

On Friday, Dustin, Kelsey and Reece went on a fishing charter for most of the day. They didn't catch any really big fish but they saw a HUGE Sailfish jump right near the boat and had a fun time. The girls and Kade enjoyed playing at the pool. 

We first had to clear the pool of these interesting looking crabs! 

There are iguanas and fresh pipas (green coconuts) EVERYWHERE around where we were. Dustin hacked open some pipas for the kids to drink the coconut water and the kids loved watching the iguanas. 

On Saturday, We headed to Manuel Antonio National Park. Manuel Antonio was the city that both Dustin and I and Kelsey and Jamie went to on our honeymoons. It was fun to visit it again. We saw plenty of monkeys and sloths in the national park. So cool! 

After the national park, we went to El Avion for a drink and a snack. The restaurant is built around an old airplane and Dustin and I went here on our honeymoon. Bonus - a huge group of monkeys came out of the trees near the restaurant and jumped from tree to tree right in front of us while waiting for our food.

On Sunday, we went to a really neat local church. They sang part of the songs in English and part of them in Spanish. 

After church, we walked around town shopping and trying a local bakery (research for Brandy's)

The days were wonderfully sunny! But almost every night that we were in Costa Rica, a thunderstorm moved in at night and gave us an exciting lighting show.

Monday was our last full day in Costa Rica. The whole trip, we had heard and seen the scarlet macaws fly by. This morning, however, they landed to eat in the trees right on our beach. We spent over an hour watching them and getting pictures and videos of these really cool birds.

The beach right by our house was so beautiful and secluded. We spent alot of time exploring and enjoying the area.

In the afternoon, we went to a place to zipline and do an aerial tram through the jungle. The employees did most of the work for us and it was so fun to feel like we were flying through the jungle. We all started together and took the aerial tram up the mountain.

Those of us that were not ziplining got to get off the tram and watch us do the first few zips before getting back on the tram to head down. 

There was a butterfly museum and gift shop you could explore after your adventure. 

This trip was amazing! It was beautiful beyond description. We got to see so many mammals, reptiles, and birds that we don't get to see usually. And go on some really fun adventures while exploring God's creation. We are so thankful for this time with each other and our friends in an amazing place!