Back to the USA

Today we headed back to the USA and our journey started with a flight from Tamarindo to San Jose. For those of you who may not know, I do not like small planes (I don't even really care for big planes even though I travel a lot for work). So, when Scott suggested flying between San Jose and Tamarindo on a 19 seater, I wasn't overly excited. However, the flight from San Jose was nice and relatively smoothly with a half-full plane so it wasn't too bad. This morning, however, we showed up for our return and the plan was a 5 passenger plan with 6 passengers which really didn't thrill me. You'll see in the pictures below that Scott is enjoying the flight way more than me. Also note that the man in the co-pilot's seat is not the co-pilot, but a passenger.

After our flight to San Jose, we flew from San Jose to Ft. Lauderdale and then to Atlanta on Spirit Air and were fortunate to have nice weather and no delays. We had a great time in Costa Rica, but it's always nice to return home.

Tomorrow we are heading to Chicago to celebrate Scott's grandmother's 90th birthday and we are looking forward to spending a little time with family there.

Last Day in Costa Rica

For our last day in Costa Rica, we started off with a walk down to Lola's restaurant for an early lunch. Lola's is a fun restaurant right on the beach. It's about a 45 minute walk from the JW Marriott, but you can only make the walk during the 3 hours before and after low tide so it does require a little planning.

After our lunch, we played another round of golf then headed into Taramindo for a brief shopping trip. We wrapped up our last day with a lobster dinner in one of the hotel restaurants.

Below are some pictures from our final day.

Wedding Photos Take 2

Due to the fact that our Officiant was late, we didn't get to take a lot of pictures around the La Paz Waterfall Gardens Friday because it was dark after the ceremony. So, our awesome photographer offered to take pictures of us near his house in Nosara free of charge. Scott and I woke up and had a late breakfast then headed to Nosara with a driver. He mentioned a river that we would have to cross, but I had no idea he meant we would literally drive through it. Well, we got abut half way, then got stuck. I so wish we had video of the event as it was quite an experience.


Unfortunately, it was pouring when we arrived so the photo shoot did not happen but we did get to have a couple beers with Fernando and enjoy the amazing view from his house (which I also wish we had photos of).

It was a long day, but we arrived back to the hotel with a nice surprise from the hotel with rose petals in our room and candle light.

Zip Lining!

Today we went zip lining! It's something I've been wanting to do since we started planning this trip, but wasn't sure we'd end up having a chance. Well, today we went and we both had a great time! If you come to Costa Rica, it's something I highly recommend.

Below are some pictures of our adventure.

Below is some video of Scott zip lining.

Below is some video of me zip lining that one of our awesome guides took.

Relaxation

Today was all about relaxation. We started off the day with breakfast via room service on our balcony which overlooks both the pool and the ocean. We enjoyed some more time exploring the beach, then wrapped up the day with a massage and some time in the hot tub. Perfect day!

Golf and a Walk on the Beach

Our first full day of our honeymoon was kicked off with a round of golf. The course is beautiful and has 2 holes on the ocean. We took advantage of the fact that we were pretty much the only people on the course by enjoying the wildlife and taking lots of photos. We saw iguanas, howler monkeys, white tail deer, and lots of different birds.

After our golf game, we enjoyed a nice lunch at one of the hotel restaurants that is located on the beach and then wrapped up the day with a nice walk exploring the beach.

The Honeymoon Begins

After breakfast, everyone started heading their separate ways. We said goodbye to Scott's fiends who were staying at the Peace Lodge one more night and we sent my parents off to Arenal Volcano with Carlos who had taken us there in February.

From 11-12-2011 Costa Rica _Carlos

The rest of us headed to San Jose with Daniel, who had driven us from Manuel Antonio to San Jose and from San Jose to The Peace Lodge. We dropped everyone off at the San Jose airport for their flights home, then Daniel took us to a regional airport to catch our flight to Tamarindo.

Below are some pictures from our flight.

We are staying at the JW Marriott Guanacaste for 6 nights for our honeymoon. This hotel is beautiful and is right on the ocean with a lot to do in the area, including a golf course we definitely plan to visit.

Below are just a few pictures from the evening including the view from our room, our greeters (the frog and howler monkey), and our dinner in Tamarindo.

The Wedding

Scott and I parted ways Friday morning after eating breakfast together. I went off and got a manicure/pedicure with my sister then relaxed until it was time to get ready for the wedding. Scott went to the hummingbird feeding and then on the waterfall hike with his friends John and Ellen who arrived Thursday afternoon.

Below are some pictures from the morning.


The ceremenony took place in the Butterfly House and the dinner was at the Trout Lake restaurant. I cannot think the staff of the Peace Lodge enough for making the whole experience a great one.

Below are some pictures from the wedding and dinner afterwards. Please visit our Wedding Lens album for more wedding pictures (http://darleenandscott.theweddinglens.com/).

Tucan Feedings, Waterfall Hikes, and the Welcome Reception

After enjoying a wonderful breakfast that included chocolate chip pancakes, we headed down to the Tucan feeding. We all got the chance to hold and feed a Tucan, which was a lot of fun. After walking through the aviary, monkey house, butterfly house, and snapping a bunch of pictures of hummingbirds, Scott and I headed to the Trout Lake Bar for a snack. There we met up with his family and friends, Tara and Mike, and the boys decided to have a fishing competition.

From 11-10-2011 Costa Rica 1

Below are some pictures from the morning.

After our snack, we all decided to go on the waterfall hike. Part of the trail was closed, so we didn't get to do the full loop like we had hoped, but we did two smaller loops: one loop was a hike along the river with no waterfalls, and the other took us past three of the waterfalls.

Below are some pictures of the hike.

We wrapped up the day with a Welcome Reception and dinner for everyone. One of the highlights was a surprise birthday cake we ordered for Scott's dad, my dad, and my brother who all have November birthdays.

From 11-10-2011 Costa Rica 3

Below are some pictures from the evening.

Irazu Volcano and the Trek to the Peace Lodge

Wednesday morning we all checked out of Hotel Le Bergerac, after a wonderful breakfast, and headed to Irazu Volcano. Along the way we stopped for a few pictures at an overview that looked out over an old mental hospital that is supposed to be haunted.

After our stretch break, we continued on to Irazu Volcano. Irazu is the highest active volcano in Costa Rica and is located near the city of Cartago. On a clear day you can see both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans from the top. We, unfortunately, were not there on a clear day, but were lucky to get a brief break in the clouds to snap a couple pictures where you can see the bottom.

After Irazu, we continued on to the Peace Lodge where we would stay for the next 3 days and have the wedding.

After dinner, we went on the Frog Night Tour. We had a great guide and several people commented it was one of the highlights of the trip. Below are some pictures from the tour.

Monkeys, monkeys, more monkeys...and a sloth

After 2 days of not seeing any monkeys, we woke up to more monkeys than I can count outside our hotel room at Costa Verde. I think everyone received a visit from at least one on their balcony and the highlight was the standoff between Tracy and the two monkeys that visited her.

From 11-08-2011 Costa Rica 1

I love the expressions on their faces.

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This is my favorite picture from the morning.

From 11-08-2011 Costa Rica 1

In addition to the monkeys, we saw a sloth right outside the restaurant as we were heading to Manuel Antonio National Park.

From 11-08-2011 Costa Rica 1

Below are pictures from the morning at Costa Verde.


Around 7:30am, we went to Manuel Antonio National Park. The park entrance fee is $10 USD, but for $43 USD you can get a guided tour which includes transportation to/from the hotel and fruit/drinks at the end of the tour. I highly recommend paying for the tour as the guides help each other out spotting things and we definitely saw a lot of things we wouldn't have seen without the guide, including the rare Helmet Head Lizard which our guide had never even seen before.

We saw Howler, Squirrel, and White Faced Monkeys; Two-toed and Three-toed Sloths, and a bunch of different lizards and iguanas, etc. We were lucky to visit the park on a day when so many different animals were out.

Below are some pictures of our visit to the park.

After our trip to the park, we packed up, ate lunch with Scott's parents at El Wagon, and then headed back to San Jose where we met up with Jeff, Laura, and the kids who arrived that afternoon. We stayed at Hotel Le Bergerac, which is a beautiful hotel in San Jose.
Below are some pictures from the afternoon and evening.

The Beach Hike and Dolphin Watching on the Catamaran

Todjay was all about relaxation. After sleeping in and enjoying breakfast on our balcony (thanks to Scott), we hiked down to the beach. The beach was beautiful and the water was warm.

From 11-07-2011 - Costa Rica

The afternoon was spent relaxing on a Catamaran tour where we saw some dolphins, enjoyed a beautiful sunset, and ate great fish that the crew grilled for us. While Scott and I relaxed on the boat, some members of our group went snorkling. The day wrapped up with dinner at El Avion, a restaurant with a bar and dumb waiter made out of old airplanes.

Below are some pictures from the day.

Welcome to Costa Rica!

From 11-06-2011 - Costa Rica

On Sunday, November 6; Scott and I and the Atlanta crew flew Spirit Air to Ft. Lauderdale where we met up with the Arkansas and Chicago crew and flew into San Jose, Costa Rica. From there, we hired a driver to take us to Manuel Antonio where we are staying at Costa Verde until Tuesday.

Manuel Antonio is located about 100 miles south of San Jose on the Pacific coast and was declared a national park in 1972. It is home to many species inluding the endangered squirrel monkey, white faced capuchin monkey, two-toed and three-toed sloths, racoons, and white nosed coaties.

On the way to Manuel Antonio, we stopped in Jaco at the "Crocodile Bridge" over the River Tarcoles for a stretch break and a few pictures.

From 11-06-2011 - Costa Rica

Below are a few pictures from the day.