Costa Rica Hello Again: Reconnecting to the Magic of Pura Vida

–My Costa Rican Adventure

OMG DID WE HAVE A FABULOUS TIME! This was trip number 4, and it was truly Costa Rica Hello Again: Reconnecting to the Magic of Pura Vida. We left sad yet refreshed and it was a good thing too, because we returned to utter chaos!

While away and without a word, our landlord did MAJOR repairs to an area walkway to our apartment, there was dust all over the place, lights not replugged (I almost broke my neck missing the last step ’cause I couldn’t see) and MORE. Changed the gate which has all kinds of issues…sigh. The aggravation of our return and how we dealt with it was definitely a master class in mindfulness, PHEW!

Luckily we did miss out on the construction, our neighbors told us there was so much dust and noise, we probably wouldn’t have been able to be there anyway, The alternative was much much MUCH more to our liking–spending time in Costa Rica. I’d be remiss not to mention that Vulcán Poás (Poás Volcano) was erupting for the first time since 2019. And YES, we were keeping our eye out! The park at the crater site was closed to visitors.

Where Did We Go and What Did We Do???

Ate WAY WAY WAY WAY TOO MUCH! Great googa mooga! We gorged on fresh fruit and all the stuff we don’t normally eat in the way of fried foods and sweets like batidos (smoothies), desserts-mannnnn that pecan pie with ice cream was downright ILLEGAL! So needless to say, I ate all my favorites like watermelon, pineapples, pargo rojo (red snapper) and patacones (fried green plantains).

When we weren’t eating we were hiking and sightseeing all the immense beauty that is Costa Rica. We stayed at Bio Thermales Hot Springs, with our hosts and friends Kathleen Dyer and Bernie Zabel. WE LOVE THOSE GUYS! And we hung out with our guide and friend extraordinaire, Frank Herrera of Frank Tours CR Aguas Zarcas.

This trip we went to Sarchi, a crafts town and the most beautiful thing happened! We were sitting out front and this little one year old girl started waving to me as she and her parents passed by and blew me kisses! This went on for about 5-6 minutes. It would’ve been longer until her mom picked her up so they could continue on their way. I don’t have any pics or video of the encounter, both Sly and I were too busy being in the present moment and taking it in.

In addition to Sarchi, we visited

Dinoland (WAY COOL!)

San José the capital (day trip)

Did the Maleku Indigenous Tour (AWESOME!)

The Mystico Hanging Bridges in Arenal and shopping in La Fortuna (OUR FAVES)

Braulio Carrillo National Park (new to us, we dug it, but got rained out)

The Sarapiqui River Boat Tour (revisited, this time it was even better!)

Campo de Girasoles Sunflowers Tour (Very Cool man!)

Lake Arenal Boat Ride (Just sublime)

Got in and out of the hot spring pools at our home away from home, Bio Thermales Hot Springs. (THE ABSOLUTE BEST!)

We ate at our favorite Q’rico restaurant, Matiz, the Iguana Cafe, Rancho de Ceci and the La Fortuna Gastro Club. We like to eat where the locals eat, so if you’re going to the Arenal/Aguas Zarcas/La Palmera areas, check those places out. Tell ’em I sent you lol! The funny thing about that, is even though they don’t know my name they remembered me from last year!

I will be riffin’ on all these places in the next coming posts so stay tuned! Follow my website for updates!

Arrival Day

We flew into Juan Santamaria International Airport in San José on United Airlines. The flight and service was cool only thing is, they changed our seats at check-in and they were not the seats I chose and paid extra for. They had also done that on the return trip too. Going I had to wait until the agent showed up at the gate and luckily we were able to get our seats changed…only thing it was to a row where the seats did not recline (it was not an exit row). Would’ve been nice for her to have given me the memo.

5 plus hours sitting straight up isn’t too cool. I did do ok but my dude was uncomfortable and the new Hugz pillow I had gotten him didn’t help at all. Ya know when you rave on and on about something and the person you gift is underwhelmed? Yeah, yeah. Luckily he was able to enjoy it on the return flight.

After deplaning without incident, we enjoyed a warm reunion with our guide extraordinare and friend Frank Herrera then off we went to Sarchi. We love Sarchi!

Beautiful Suede Bags from Sarchi Jacquie's Mindfulness Musings Blog

Now you KNOW ya girl had to gift herself right? 2 beautiful suede bags.

After getting kisses blown my way as I mentioned earlier, we made our way toward our beloved Bio Thermales Hot Springs but not before stopping off at Rancho de Ceci for some traditional food. I had arroz con camarones duble y ensalada (rice with double the shrimp and a salad) plus batidas mora con agua (blackberry smoothie made with water instead of milk). YUMMMMMMMYYYYYY!

I have not one photo ’cause I was too busy greazin! My dude had the same thing plus one of his most favorite things, COFFEE COSTA RICA STYLE! What’s also special about this restaurant besides the food and service is Ceci herself! She’s been in business since 1962, and is just shy of 80 at this writing. She greets everyone at their table personally and has loads of energy as she bustles around her establishment seeing to every detail.

Read Costa Rica Hello Again part ll: Dinoland

Links

Bio Thermales Hot Springs +506-8862-0926 (English & Spanish)

Frank Tours CR Aguas Zarcas Whatsapp: +506-8377-6663 (he is fluent in English!)

Q’rico Restaurant

Matiz Restaurante & Café

The Iguana Cafe

Rancho de Ceci

La Fortuna Gastro Club

Mi Cafecito

While You’re Still Here…

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