On the 2nd of September, our plan was to go see the hundreds of turtles coming to lay their eggs on the Ostional beach. We got in the shuttle that was going to take us there and it was private so that was great, and we had to go pick up one couple who were from Germany and got the show on the road. Around ten minutes into the drive we had to stop because there was a problem with the air conditioning and it was making the windows foggy. So foggy that our guide had to call a guy to bring another van but shortly after that we noticed that all it was was that he had pressed the wrong button. Wow what a waste of time!

When we got there we were tired of travelling, after driving through a river and over the worst bridge of all time and I’m telling you it was an actual river. We got out of the shuttle and walked down to the beach. We were amazed at how many turtles were on one beach. There were some laying their eggs, some coming up to the beach and even some going back into the ocean after laying there. It was amazing because we got to see some digging their hole and laying their eggs and managed to even capture some on video. It was also hilarious watching Elise take videos of wild dogs on the beach when there were millions of turtles. We were lucky because there were so many buried eggs that turtles had layed, that when a new turtle layed its eggs in the same spot, they dug up some of the other eggs. So we got to feel and hold them. They felt so mushy and weird it was gross but my sisters kept on holding them. And the reason that they only lay their eggs here is because they only like the volcanic sand that is different than the normal. Wow what an experience!

First blog post, take two!

Post number one drowned in the Costa Rican rainforest along with my Iphone.  Enough about that, other than to say it was an early (and pricey) lesson on saving passwords and the importance of being able to access content on more than one device.

We arrived yesterday afternoon in the little town of Samara on the Nicoya Peninsula, our home for the next 17 days. Surrounded by wildlife, our little villa is equipped with a pool, zipline and hammocks… a perfect setting to clear the webs between our toes and catch up on some much needed laundry.

Six days in the rainforest/volcano region guided by our new friend, Eugenio, was a fabulous start to the trip.  Eugenio is a biologist- incredibly passionate about birds, plants, and preserving and sustaining the environment.  His lessons were rich and I was pleasantly surprised at how he managed to keep the girls interested and engaged, even on day 5 of hiking in the rain! Surely, I can tick “Science grades 2,5,and 6” off the to do list. Butterflies, toucans, monkeys (Howlers, Spider, and White faced) were highlights. Contrary to Steve’s fake news story on Instagram, I have been extremely adventurous and even held the Golden Orb spider for at least 3 seconds.

Best last minute buy for the trip so far are the raincoats, credit to Steve. My plan was to chase the sun for a year- raincoats were not on my list (nor did I have room for them in my carry on suitcase!). One of the biggest storms of the year in Arenal arrived in the midst of our hike up the volcano- the trails became rivers, it was difficult to see through the streams of rain flowing down our faces. The girls were troopers and managed to see the humorous/adventurous side of the experience. I discovered that I don’t really mind tropical rain, it is very different and much more pleasant when it’s not cold (and gray and drizzly for 6 months nonstop).

The food is fabulous.  Amee would tell you it’s “different but not bad”.  Anna is enjoying it and willing to try everything. The two of us got up early one morning for a cooking class at our lodge and helped the cooks prepare breakfast for the guests.  Anna mastered the Tostada and replicated it beautifully for our dinner tonight. Elise…well, she is trying everything, only somewhat reluctantly, and being a good sport.

I do miss Starbucks and my afternoon Tim Horton coffee (with an occasional timbit on the side) but have enjoyed some great coffees here despite the fact that their brewing technique appears as though they are pouring water through an old sock.

Blog post one, take one, would have reported that my children have all embraced traveling without any difficulties and they love one another at all times.  Take two allowed enough time for everyone to finally realize today that this is not entirely the case.  We woke up in this beautiful haven to the sound of Howler monkeys playing in the trees, and I couldn’t wait to spend the day relaxing, reading, playing in the pool and exploring the town that will be our home for this next leg of the journey.  Late nights, early mornings, and exhausting days caught up with all three girls.  Anna and Amee realized how much they will miss their friends.  I think we knew this would happen early on in the trip and that we would need to work through the “togetherness” of this year.  There will be some trial and error in figuring this out, but the girls were able to identify that they do like some structure and planning in our days, as well as protected “free time” that does not involve outings or educational experiences.

The next week will see the girls start 2 weeks at the local school here in Samara, in the hopes of learning some Spanish and meeting some new friends. Steve and I will also seek out some Spanish lessons, to date we have been slowly making our way through the Babbel Spanish App (which really does not approve of my Spanish accent). We are looking forward to a few beach runs, long coffee dates, reading in the hammocks, and more trip planning while the girls are at school.

I think Amee plans to document our coming week in Samara…more posts to come! Steve is posting most days on Instagram @puddy_steve.  Thank you for all the messages and emails, it is so nice to stay connected to our families and friends from home!!

We arrived in Liberia,Costa Rica at lunch time on the 25th.We met up with this Costa Rican man named Eugenio who was going to tour us around Costa Rica for a week.We were all starving so we stopped at a nice restaurant and had lunch there and we even tried plantain for the first time! It tasted weird.

After that we drove for awhile to get to Rinconsito lodge in the mountains of Costa Rica.on our drive we saw lots of birds and a couple of spiders.And my mom even held it but barely survived she was so scared.

The next day we went for a nice walk in the Rainforest.We saw some interesting animals like agoutis, a ton of birds,spiders and even MONKEYS! There were howlers,spider,and white faced monkeys.And we also found geothermal pool it smelt like rotten eggs. But looked so cool!

On the 27th we packed up our luggage and we drove to Faro Arenel lodge.On our drive we listened to Eugenio’s creepy story of when he came face to face with a bushmaster snake.We also stopped at a school it was way different then North Van.Then we stopped at a waterfall and we saw two men playing the xylophone.We had fun making boomerangs and taking magnificent photos with the waterfall.That was definitely one of my highlights in Costa Rica.When we were almost at the lodge my dad spotted the Arenel volcano with a cool cloud over it which turned into a little reunion with some friendly Costa Rican kids so we got out our Canadien pins and they all got one.That night we went out for dinner at a fancy restaurant with live music.The next morning we woke up with a huge day planned.First we would go hike a third of the Arenel volcano then go in the hot spring river.That morning it was pouring so we decided that we should go early before it gets worse.But around twenty minutes into the walk it started to pour cats and dogs we were soaked! the trails became rivers it was more rain in that day then there is in a full week in North Van.But the bad thing was that my mom had put her phone in the backpack that was not water proof so the bag got soaked and the phone got soaked and broke what a good start to our travelling year! It was a rainy afternoon! Later were supposed to go in the river but we negotiated with them to let us go to the water slide hot springs instead so we did. Yes! That night we had a wonderful pizza dinner it was so good!