My first jaunt into the spoils of Central America left little to be desired. The people were incredibly welcoming and friendly, the scenery was breathtaking and the culture was vibrant.
After a grueling week of final exams, I was ecstatic to have my good friend Austin home from London just long enough to grab a bite and give me a ride to the airport. He’s the first person to take me to the airport besides my dad (and Antoine), and I feel so lucky to have seen him and so lucky to have him in my life!
I was the lucky one – my family’s flight to Costa Rica was out of LAX and I was already in town. The rest of the family had no such luck. My mom, dad and Maddie had to wake up early and grab a flight to LAX from Sacramento. Nick was the most unlucky with his 8am flight out of Reno. Unfortunately luck was not on his side and he missed the flight! So, after my reunion with my parents and Maddie, we all had to fly to Costa Rica with the reassurance that Nick would catch the first flight tomorrow, and be just 24h behind us.
Luckily the rest of the journey went off without a hitch and we ended up with a Southwest flight that was almost empty! Both Maddie and I and my parents had a free seat between us, which is such a treat on an international flight! I’m so used to the 11 hour trek to and from Paris that this 5 hour flight felt like nothing!
Soon we landed in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. The airport was unusually small and we were greeted by a man with my dad’s name on a greeting sign. He was very friendly and led us back to our room, just a 20 minute ride away.
The resort was amazing. We stayed at a boutique hotel – El Mangroove. Upon arrival, we were greeted with these revitalizing drinks of ginger and coconut and hot towels. We checked in and were led to where we would be staying – two conjoining rooms in Building 3. Maddie and I went into our room and were very disappointed to see a tiny half room with just a couch and a rocking chair. Our parents opened the door and showed us our room, and luckily my dad found the entrance to the bedroom part of our room – we’d just happened on to our personal porch!
The room was probably the nicest we’ve stayed in as a family. We were all thoroughly impressed. After some guacamole and charcuterie room service, we hit the hay.
Our first day in Central America was devoted to shopping. Nick isn’t the biggest fan of shopping, so we figured his travel day was the perfect day to knock it out. We rented a car after breakfast and hit the roads. Costa Rica does not have the best roads, I’ll be the first to tell you. My dad has driven in Germany on the autobahn in a stick shift with no problem, but the potholed, windy roads of Costa Rica seemed to scare him!
Luckily we arrived to Tamarindo beach in about 45 minutes and found a little town. We stopped for a lunch on the beach, where we enjoyed food and drinks (mahi mahi and a pina colada/mojito for me) and then shopped a bit. The one souvenir I love to get when I travel is a painting of the place. I started this during my summer abroad last summer and I think it makes the best memory to take home! I happened upon this gorgeous watercolor and snapped it up right away. We also picked up a Costa Rican flag (our barn has a flag hanging from the rafters of from every country we’ve visited). Afterwards we went to the mercado for some groceries for the week. I love shopping in foreign markets – it’s so fun to see what’s the norm in the place you’re visiting! Maddie and I were thrilled to find our favorite chocolate brand from Germany, Kinder!
We ate dinner at the resort, and the food was a bit disappointing, at least for my poor mom! She is one who likes familiar foods, so she ordered a plate of nachos. When it arrived and was covered in meat, raw jalapeños and POPCORN, we saw that she’d perhaps have to leave her comfort zone for the week!!
Nick arrived that night and it was wonderful to finally have the whole family together.
The beach in front of our resort had black sand and boats docked close to shore. There were comfy chaise lounges looking out over the gorgeous pool and ocean, and we spent a lot of our time right there, alternating between the hot sun and the cool water. My mission was to sunbathe enough to keep me tanned through the winter. I guarantee that I’ll be the most tan girl in France when I visit in a few weeks!
Sometimes we got a little adventurous and took out the free kayaks provided by the hotel. Maddie and I took one kayak and it was a great workout! I managed to fall out one time, but luckily I’m a good swimmer. We beached our kayaks on a beach and combed all over for the most amazing seashells!
The breakfast at the resort was my favorite meal. They had a pain perdu that I thought I’d try, and although a bit bizarre, it was delicious! It was white bread (think French Toast) covered in a crust of cereal and this Costa Rican whipped cream with a nice sweet sauce drizzled on the top. We also treated ourselves to fresh smoothies, which were divine!
The next day we went to El Diamante, which the concierge had recommended as a wonderful wildlife park. Boy was he right! Maddie, Nick and I all wanted an up-close experience with the wildlife of Costa Rica, and the concierge had said to ask the front desk personnel when we arrived. I did so, and they said that he was mistaken about the up-close experience. However, the manager of the park came out and said she would indeed give us an up-close experience! We were given a personal tour of the whole center! El Diamante is the nicest rescue center I’ve ever seen. You could tell that all the staff was truly passionate about their work, and the facilities were hard to differentiate from nature!
First we were led to see Lucy the sloth. We were shocked and pleased when the tour guide let only our family actually inside her cage (with the warning “careful, she’s stronger than she looks!”) All we saw was one sleepy, lazy sloth! She kindly opened her eyes in time for us to take some photos of her at an amazingy close distance. We were then handed off to the snake charmer who showed us all the poisonous and non-poisonous snakes of the country. I am terrified of snakes, but the way he talked about them made us all feel like they were something special. We then saw alligators, frogs, crocodiles and iguanas. Then we were led to the monkeys and the man told us a story of how one monkey they had rescued had gotten in a fight and lost his tail. Now all of the other monkeys chase him around his pen! I felt so sad for the poor little guy. Next up were the cats. We saw ocelots that looked just like slightly bigger and wilder house cats. Then we were told the saddest story of the day – about the puma who had come not long ago with his father. The father was old and when he was given the tranquilizer he passed away. The poor puma looked so sad, it was heartbreaking. Finally we were shown the butterflies and birds. The butterflies were beautiful, and we saw how they bought their own cocoons and only live about 3 weeks. Then we saw the birds. There was a friendly toucan that hopped on all of our arms for a picture and a feeding, and it was the coolest experience ever!
If you’re ever in Guanacaste I would recommend El Diamante 100%. It was such a wonderful experience and something not to be missed.
There’s a Hard Rock Café in downtown Guanacaste that’s also a winner. Everyone was thrilled to have some real American food and music. I personally polished off my pulled pork sandwich in no time!
Another fun thing we did on this holiday was completely out of our comfort zone. We had thought that the day would be spent lounging by the famed hot springs, but as we drove to the park the tour guide told us we’d be doing horseback riding, zip lining, a waterslide, a mud bath AND hot springs! We planned to go to another park, but on the tiny, winding road there was a big to-do when we saw a cement truck had fallen into the river! The tour guide called his boss and the driver put the bus into reverse back up the tiny road and led us to another park with apparently identical activities.
First was the horseback riding. I wasn’t too excited about this because I’m horribly allergic to horses (when I had my prick test the horse bump swelled to the size of a softball!) It was my first time horseback riding and it was actually really fun! My horse was really tame. The trail led us right to the zipline starting point. There were 10 lines and this is where my mom and dad bowed out. Maddie, Nick and I listened attentively to the safety presentation. Nick and I had zip lined in Hawaii but this was a first for Maddie. Costa Rican zip lining also seemed a bit more relaxed than Hawaii. We were given a glove and a leather glove thing with which to grip the cable behind us and pull to brake. This was so painful! I forgot how to brake at some points while flying hundreds of feet above the canopy of the rainforest, and then I would brake accidentally and be yanked backwards with all of my weight. It was especially frightening because if you touched the top cable “your hand would be ripped to shreds”. That was enough to keep me scared straight! Maddie had similar issues with the zip lining too. She got so scared that they sent her with a professional because she kept braking prematurely and forcing the workers to crawl out and pull her onto the platform. Nick and I found this utterly hilarious. On one line the tour guide told us to look to the right down at the tree, and sure enough there was a gang of black howler monkeys! This made the whole ordeal worth it, it was truly something else to see real live monkeys in the wild.
10 lines later we were reunited with our parents and it was snack time. We had sugar cane juice pressed by an ox, traditional Costa Rican tortillas and coffee, and a shot of some strong liquor that was apparently not completely legal. Full and slightly buzzed, everyone except my mom headed to the waterslide. This was a huge waterslide through the rainforest. The girls had to put on a leather “diaper”, humiliatingly, because it helps you slide down more easily. Nick went first at the highest speed. Next was Maddie, at a slow speed. I wanted to go slowly too but I forgot to tell the operator so I think I went fast! It sure felt fast! I don’t weigh much so I was catapulted up the sides of the slide and was jostled around. Halfway through, my “diaper” fell off and then my tailbone hit the seam of the slide and I felt like it was the end. It was quite an intimidating slide!
Next we had a traditional Costa Rican lunch and were joined by two friendly parrots! It was so funny to see two beautiful rainbow colored parrots in the wild like that! I wasn’t too much a fan of the lunch, Costa Rican food isn’t really my forté, but it was a nice break from the afternoon’s activities. Next up we had a mud bath with warm volcanic mud that is apparently good for your skin, and then cleaned off in the river. We then were led across the river and up some stairs in the side of the cliff to the most beautiful hot springs! There were masseuses and a bar, so we were happy. My dad got a massage and the rest of us got pina coladas, and sat in the warm natural hot springs with the zipliners screaming overhead. I was happy to be relaxing in the hot springs instead of sailing over the canopy!!
Costa Rica is a truly beautiful country with wonderful people. If you ever get the opportunity to visit this Central American gem, I would not pass it up!
Amy Nicole 
Such a fun vacation ❤