More Volcanoes!

The adventures continue as my parents and I went to explore Poas Volcano. We arrived and the entire area was covered in clouds. It was a complete white-out and we could not see anything! Here is my mom and I taking some photos trying to capture the volcano behind us... haha...

About 30 minutes later the clouds dissappeared enough for us to enjoy the lagoon that lies at the center of the volcano. The water is about 90F-100F, steaming, and sometimes bubling. It was an amazing sight to see! This is Poas Volcano!Here we are capturing the lagoon inside the volcano. We were so happy that the coulds separated long enough for us to enjoy the volcano!This is my mom, dad, and I at the Poas National Park! It was a great start to the day...

Up near Poas Volcano they have lots of vegetation and a unique plant that they call the "Poor Man's Umbrella", This is my parents posing under the umbrella!! After Poas Volcano, we continued to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. This is a neat park area with different animal exhibits and several waterfalls. We passed through exhibits of butterflies, hummingbirds, frogs, monkeys, and lots of others! Here are my parents near a fountain... So pretty!

We came upon an oxcart and decided to take a family photo! How crazy are we!? Inside the bird exhibit, my mom decided to pose in front of the Toucan... Do you see something in common? hahaha... it was a wonderful exhibit!! After visiting the aminals, we came down to the waterfalls. The largest waterfall in the area is known as La Paz Waterfall which crashes down about 230 feet. Here is a preview...This is what you have to do in the rainforest when you get thirsty... hehe!

The end of my parent's trip was incredible. They were able to see one of the more active volcanos, beautiful waterfalls, and also a coffee tour. Costa Rica is famous for their produce and coffee growing.

My parents had a wonderful time in Costa Rica and I am so happy that they came to visit! After they leave, I plan to continue with more adventures! More to come!

Manuel Antonio Beach!

On our way out of town we stopped at La Fortuna Waterfall.. This is a waterfall that is about 200 feet tall in the middle of a large valley. The whole area was covered in rainforest, it was gorgeous!

We continued to Manuel Antonio where we enjoyed some wonderful days at the beach! Here is my parents enjoying the warm water!

This is my mom and dad trying a Pipa - this is a type of coconut where you chop off the top and drink the juice... it is watery, refreshing, and not too sweet! Yum!

Inside Manuel Antonio there are lots of wild animals.. Here are some Red-Backed Squirrel Monkeys. They are very small and super cute!

Later in the day we found some of the White-Face Cachupin Monkeys... they are also adorable!

This was a huge iguana we saw down by the beach... He means business!Here is a racoon we saw running through the trees... There are so many animals to see!! That evening we went out for dinner overlooking the water. It was a wonderful visit to Manuel Antonio Beach in Costa Rica!

Zip Line Adventures!

Our next stop on my parent's visit was up to La Fortuna and Arenal Volcano. We went on a tour that included a zip-line, rapel, and horseback ride. I had done the tour before, but it was still a TON of fun! here we are ready to zip-line and right in front of Arenal Volcano!

So my mom was much more daring that I expected and rode the Zip-Line UPSIDE-DOWN!! Here she is having a lot of fun!

This is my mom and dad in the middle of the rainforest. We took 9 different zip-line cables through the rainforests of Costa Rica!

There is Dad coming in from a zippp!

Dad was the first to take the repel down a 70 foot bank into a river bed!

There is Mom repelling for her first time!

We ended with a horseback ride down by the river. I also learned how to gallop with the horse, it was incredible!

Family horseback ride!

Here are my parents back in the city of La Fortuna. This is the center square in front of the volcano. It was a wonderful trip!!

My parents and I loved visiting the rainforest and volcanoes of Costa Rica. We tried local food, hot springs, and lot more! Zip-lining (known as canopy tours) originated here in Costa Rica and it was an incredible experience! I still have lots more to show the parents! -Deb

Futbol = Soccer!

As soon as my parents arrived, I had a lot of different things planned.. Our first stop was Irazu Volcano. This is the tallest and most interesting volcano in Costa Rica. Here we are at the entrance...This is the top of the volcano with a little bit of clouds rolling in..Here is the lagoon inside the volcano that can be seen from the top. It is so beautiful!Here is my mom and I trying to get a photo in front of the lagoon.After the volcano, we went to the historic city of Cartago. This is the old capital of San Jose that has been destroyed by volcano eruptions and earthquakes. We visited the Basilica on Palm Sunday and it was an amazing sight to see. We really felt like we experienced some of the culture of the Costa Ricans.This is Mom, Dad, and I in front of the Basilica de Los Angeles in Cartago, Costa Rica.After the historic city, we returned to San Jose for a Soccer Game!! This game was the playoffs for the team of San Jose against their rival team in Alajuela (about 25 minutes away). It was incredible to be part of the Futbol of Costa Rica! Here we are inside the futbol stadium!! Go Team!This is us at the end of the game. What a great time!!

We had a wonderful day touring in Costa Rica. We saw a lot of different sights and we loved being in the middle of the crowded futbol stadium! Lots more to come!!

Butterfly Garden

Last night a few pharmacy students took us out to dinner. We are so happy that we got to know some local Costa Ricans that could show us around. They took us out for a dish called "Chi-frijo" which is grilled pork and beans. It was delicious!

Today I went with a couple friends to a Butterfly Garden.

It was pretty incredible!
This is Minera from Switzerland, Bradley from Texas, and me inside of the butterfly garden. It was so beautiful! I met these students at the Bed and Breakfast that I have been staying at near San Jose. It was a wonderful way to spend the weekend!These are the caterpillers getting ready for a cacoon! These are cacoons! So cool!

After about 100 photos.. I caught a picture of a butterfly!

I spent some time in San Jose waiting for my parents to arrive! It was a great day! More to come with my parents visit... bye for now.

Puerto Viejo

We had a fabulous weekend in Puerto Viejo!!

So our trip started out with a bus ride where we were told there was "standing room only". In one word, 'awesome'. We knew that it was going to take us 4-5 hours to get to the beach... and standing was not going to be fun. Luckily, Mags and I were the LAST on the bus and we scored the Cockpit and the Steps! Wooo!

So there is Mags up front

and Debs with her Cheetos, ready to go!

Driving to the Caribbean Coast felt a lot like the Caribbean = HUMID! But, it was beautiful and full of lots of fruit plantations. These are some banana trees, so cool!


So, our first day in Puerto Viejo, we decided to rent bikes. This seemed to be the main way that everyone gets around. So we joined right in...



This is Maggie merging into traffic... haha.
We rode our bikes about 10 miles along the coast. The entire ride was through the rainforest with stops along the beach. We spent some time at Punta Uva and Manzanillo Beach.Mags and I layed out on the beach here at Punta Uva which means Grape Point (not really sure why). But it was an awesome beach. We used someone's snorkel to take a peek in the water and the entire coastline is a coral reef! We saw lots of fish and coral out there!


We continued our ride to Manzanillo where the rainforest meets up with the beach. It was awesome!
Mags and Debs in Manzanillo....

This was part of our trek through the rainforest... The pictures don't even begin to show you how gorgeous it was!!
While on the Caribbean Coast... I decided that I should try some local flavor. All the restaurants rave about their seafood and fish tacos. They were nothing short of amazing!

Mags trying to wipe off the bugs and humidity... haha.

We had a wonderful time riding bikes and exploring the eastern side of Costa Rica. It was a great weekend!!