Costa Rica - Manuel Antonio

New favorite fruit - Lychees

 As I settle in to write about this week the theme that keeps popping into my head is new things.  Simple as that! This week we all tried new foods, went new places, tried out a new sport, tried out new ways of getting around and pushed ourselves to new levels physically and mentally.  It was a good week for us to see what we are truly capable of doing and it felt awesome to put ourselves out there!!
Monday was  grocery day, which is always a long trip into Quepos, so we decided to go in early with the idea to try out a few new soda shops and fill our bellies for lunch.  Sodas are what Costa Ricans call restaurants that are usually in open spaces, smaller and serve local food dishes.  They often look dingy, with that hole in the wall feel but that is what makes them so unique and worth the experience.  The food is amazing and way cheaper than your regular restaurant.  We tried out yucca, chicken empanadas, baked plantains, natural fruit juices and pizza baked in stone outdoor ovens.  The staff were so helpful and had a good laugh at us Canadians trying to figure out what we were actually eating.  We also made our way down to the Marina that day which was very beautiful but very quiet this time of year. With it being low season and not fishing season either, it was like a ghost town!

After a day at home we planned for a day out and about Wednesday.  Made our way by taxi to the next town over, 30 min drive, called Dominical.  A small, laid back surf town was what we found and it was really neat to walk around and checkout the surfing and all of the shops.

From there, we found a taxi driver who would drive us up into the mountains, 17kms, to the Nauyaca Waterfalls, which is ranked in the top 5 for all of the waterfalls in CR. We were a little nervous to be honest when we were dropped off basically in the middle of the rain forest beside a sign that said Nauyaca Waterfalls - 4km!!  Were we prepared for this? Enough water? Enough snacks? Hike 4km there and back, with 3 kids in +30 weather??

  Well, WE DID IT!!! Why not??  We are here for the adventure and the experience, so away we went!  Totally worth the unbelievably hot and sweaty hour and a half hike that was uphill!! Once we arrived at the top and could hear the waterfall in the distance we were all so excited and pumped to see it, we actually forgot how hot and tired we were! There were two levels to the waterfall, the top was very high and dangerous to swim.  The lower level wasn't as strong and you could go in the water if you were careful of the current. I have never been that close to a waterfall of that size and magnitude, it was so amazing.  It was such a powerful force of nature that it was quite overwhelming to me, a feeling that I never expected.  There is so much beauty in this world and we witnessed first hand one small piece of it. We will never forget that 8km hike or that waterfall!!

Bamboo

Hiking trail

Mountainside view on hike

Upper Waterfall

Lower Waterfall

It took us 1 1/2hrs to hike up, 1hr to hike down and then about 2 days to recover!! haha  We were all physically exhausted but the feeling of accomplishment was so strong we all felt good about what we had done and would do it all again!  Good stuff!
After a day day of rest and school we were ready to head out again and this time we chose to try surfing.  The kids have been anxiously waiting to try but Nate had cut his big toe by the pool the last week so we have been waiting for it to heal up before we tried out surfing.  His toe would drag on the board when he was popping up so we didn't want it to break open again if he tried surfing too soon.  We decided to head down to the main beach by Manuel Antonio park and scout out the best deal for surf lessons.

Guys are set up everywhere willing to help you out and all for a "good price!" lol  Found this guy, Oscar, we had talked to last week and he offered to give all 3 kids a lesson for $50 American, pretty good deal!  In the end, the kids had a blast, got up on their boards and gained a ton of confidence out in the water.  We learnt, that Oscar is not a surfer, his helper was about 12 years old and we did get a good price! You pay for what you get though!  He was super nice and great with the kids, which we were happy about.  Part way through the lesson a guy came up to us and offered to help us, since we only had 2 guys teaching us, Doug was in the water with Nate trying to help him until one of the guys could teach him.  This new guy said he wouldn't charge us, just wanted to help.  He ended up spending time with Adison and he was awesome!! And an actual surfer!!  He took her way out into the water and waited for the right waves to come in and she was up and on her board in no time, it was amazing to watch! Even though he said he just wanted to help us we did pay him in the end as well, he was so good and helpful to us! We will be going to him again if we get another lesson, that's for sure!!  After the hour lesson we were able to rent the boards for the remainder of the day for $5 a board.  The kids played around and surfed the rest of the afternoon, came home pretty sore and tired. Great day on the water and a great day learning a new sport!!

Saturday was another recovery/ school day at home.  Nate started complaining about ear pain a couple of days ago and I had a feeling that he had water in there but then he woke up with it discharging fluid and a bit of blood.  Tough kid I tell you!! Our doctor back home had sent us with a few perscriptions as a safety measure in case something came up while we were away. We started him on medicine for an ear infection and he is doing better already.  Not sure if the ear issues in our family will EVER end!! ugh
Ended our busy busy week with another road trip, this time into a nearby city called Jaco.  Our plan was to head to Uvita but we missed our connecting bus so switched up our day on the fly.  Took one of the larger busses, like a Greyhound one back home, and rode the 1 hr 20min to get there.  Interesting place! It was very different from Quepos and Manuel Antonio, it was a busy city with tons of shopping and resturants.  Food was cheaper and in the stores prices were lower, but the beach wasn't as nice or inviting at all, that's just my opinion.  Thought it was a great day to try out something new and go somewhere new, but it was not my favorite place.  Jaco lacked charm and I can't say I felt safe all of the time, I felt we were being watched a lot. We were warned to really watch our stuff and to not be there once it got dark, something we haven't had to do at ALL here in MA. Oh well, we made it home safe and sound with the days experience under our belt.

Jaco Beach

Sorry for this extra long blog this week but it was tough to narrow things down to a small write up when we did so much and went so many places!  New things are sometimes the things that scare us or stop us from doing something we really would love.  Limits are set when we don't allow ourselves to open up to new possibilities.  This week was a true test to all of us on what we can do and how hard we can push ourselves. So, PUSH YOURSELF!! You would be surprised on what you can do!!  I can say this,  the kids set a new record for us this week on how proud we are of them. What they accomplished this week, few will ever do.  No one can ever take those experiences or that  feeling of pride away from them.  What they did, THEY did on their own!!  Our hearts are full!!

PURA VIDA!!