We decided last minute to go to Costa Rica for Spring Break. We booked the flights on points and the only flight available to Costa Rica was an overnight in Denver. So we flew to Denver on a late night flight. The flight was delayed so we got into our hotel room around 1:30am and then had a 6am flight the next morning. It was a very quick turnaround with very little sleep! We were also told that we needed to pick up our bags in Denver. Unfortunately, that was incorrect and they were held overnight. So we had no clothes or toiletries for the overnight in Denver and all had to sleep in our plane clothes! The kids were such troopers!
The flight from Denver was long, but we had amazing views of Belize and Nicaragua on the way. It was fun to see a volcano in Nicaragua on the way over!
After waiting a couple hours for the rental car, we were so hungry. San Jose is not the safest city, so we picked a chain restaurant that seemed to be the equivalent of Applebees in the U.S. Our waitress did not speak any english and did not try and say things slowly or work with us at all. They had great kids meals and we were able to point to the pictures for the kids. The adult menu was more challenging. After taking the order she asked questions quickly in Spanish and Michael and I just said "si" every time. We had no idea what we ordered so it was pretty funny. It was good though!
After a late lunch we made the treacherous drive to La Fortuna. It is a very mountainous town and the roads are extremely curvy with lots of potholes. We were told not to make this drive at night, so we rushed out of lunch to make it to La Fortuna before dark. The kids all slept on the way there, which I was very thankful for since two of them get really car sick.
We arrived right at sunset at the Sangregado Lodge. They have the most beautiful rooms that were nestled in the jungle. We headed to dinner that night at the hotel down the street. It was a really pretty setting and really good!
We also saw our first Pizote. He jumped up on the table next to us. The kids thought it was pretty fun to see.
We only stayed at the Sangregado Lodge for one night, so I set my alarm to see the sunrise from the room. It was absolutely stunning.
Mistico Bridges hanging park shares a parking lot with Sangregado Lodge. I scheduled a 7am entry so we could beat the crowds. I knew it would be a tough wake up call after a really long travel day the day before. However, when I polled the kids and told them we could get up early and beat the crowds and the heat or wait in longer lines, they all voted for early morning. It made the wake-up call much easier since they felt like they had a choice.
We saw more Pizote's on our way over to the park. We also saw an agouti and some interesting birds.
I considered getting a guide for the park, but decided we would just do the self-guided tour and have an unstructured morning. I think we would have seen more animals on the tour with a guide, but the kids enjoyed going at their own pace. It's in the jungle and beautiful everywhere you look!
There was also some really cool plants!
The hanging bridges were so fun! Caitie thought they were a little scary!
View of the volcano from the hanging bridge
Hard to see but Caitie and I are way up there on the hanging bridge. They were so tall!
When we finished with the hanging bridges self guided tour, the volcano was completely covered with clouds. I was told that it was a rare sight to see the top of the volcano. Only 30% of visitors ever catch a glance of the top of the volcano. However, we were able to see it so many times. I felt really lucky!
The self-guided tour took us about 2 hours. We had a couple hours before we had to check-out so we let the kids hang in the room while Michael finished up some work. I sat and enjoyed the amazing view from the room. This view would never get old!
The bathroom even had a view!
We took a few pictures on the balcony before checking out.
On the way to the car we saw leaf cutter ants and a few other animals. They did not show up close enough to take a picture, but the hotel had so many animals. It was fun seeing them all.
Next we headed to a tour at North Fields Coffee and Chocolate. It was such an informative tour and we all learned a lot and had a lot of fun. The kids mentioned that they really liked it too.
After the tour we headed to The Springs Resort and Spa. We were so excited to stay at this resort. We were given a tour of the resort and then saw a mom and baby sloth! We had the most gorgeous view from the room.
We decided to go and swim in the pool and check out the hot springs for a couple of hours before dinner. Of course they were dying to get a frozen drink in the pool.
We grabbed dinner at the Treetops Grill beside the pool and then the kids checked out the kids club. It was a really fun day!
