COSTA RICA, HERE WE COME!!!
27th January 2012
We boarded our first plane in the afternoon, a flight from Tucson, Arizona to Houston, Texas to start with. Oh, wait! Houston? Haven’t we been here before? That’s right – a week ago! Never mind! Having two connecting flights simply meant we got an opportunity to meet twice as many flight attendants and twice as many pilots!
Our Texan pilot on the first plane was almost persuaded to let US fly the plane! He showed us around his cabin, which incidentally is not much bigger than the space shuttle’s cabin. Just as many buttons to push (we think). When we asked him is he knows what all the buttons do he said ‘well almost, not sure about the red one that keeps on flashing!’ He was a real fun pilot and so was his co pilot – a really nice lady!
Our second plane from Texas to Costa Rica was a 6 hr flight and all our seats were separated. We confused everybody by changing seats around so that we can sit at least in pairs.
The flight didn’t seem that long and the sunset we watched from the plane was just spectacular!
The last hour of the flight was quite memorable though– the closest comparison would be a rollercoaster. The ‘road’ initially started getting bumpy and turbulent – mummy said not to worry about it – it’s just like going on a rocky road in the Australian Outback. But then the plane started dropping what felt like 20 stories at a time (twice) which was really scary – mummy said to imagine we were on a rollercoaster and have fun – but I don’t think she liked this roller coaster too much because she was totally white and was squeezing my hand way too hard.
Anyway, the rollercoaster finished and we landed half an hour later with a few little jumps like a kangaroo.
We had a chat to the pilot afterward and asked him if this was normal and he said that there is a spot where the plane always loses altitude, sometimes even more so. Ouch!
The pilot was nice enough to show us his plane, which was similar to the last one we flew (ah…looked at).
We finally got out of the airport at 10pm and proceeded to the outside area looking at the many placards with names looking for ours. We had strict instructions from our hotel (which was not far from the airport) not to allow anybody else to drive us.
We looked and looked and looked and found…… nothing. Many people were coming to us and inviting us over to their taxis but our parents just shook their heads saying ‘ no thank you’ in Spanish (which is pretty much all they knew how to say).
We ended up falling asleep on our language while daddy somehow managed to phone the hotel and explain to the Spanish speaking man that they have forgotten us. He did eventually arrive to take us to the hotel …only an hour and a half late!
We never found out why they were late because the next day there were no English speaking people around but they did make up with hospitality. Even though the hotel was a very little and humble, it was clean and our room was very big. Mummy and daddy had a big king size bed and we scored queeny each!
We stayed there for two days getting our bearings right and planning a few days ahead. As we only bought one way tickets we decided not to plan the trip but ‘play it by ear’ as we did in the USA. Fingers crossed it’ll work!
On our second day the hotel found an English speaking person who was very helpful. He even organized a driver to take us to a Costa Rican restaurant and came with us to order food. How nice was that?
The next day we hopped on a bus and drove off to the Arenal Volcano area of Costa Rica – 3hrs North – near the town of LA FORTUNA
ARENAL VOLCANO - LA FORTUNA
We stayed for the first two nights in the Mountain Paradise Resort. Mummy found a last minute deal for a fraction of a price on the internet and so we ‘poshed it’ at the beginning.
The rooms we got were fabulous
Even the showers were spectacular (looked like waterfalls)
And the gardens were just exquisite!
The cleaning lady quickly fell in love with us and surprised us with these magnificent sculptures out of …..towels!
Look at these. She even incorporated the beautiful flowers we picked from the garden. How beautiful are they? We were just squealing with happiness when we saw them! But of course mummy wouldn’t let us take them home.
We very quickly found out that the famous volcano, which in every photograph we have seen, glows beautifully at night with it’s lava overflowing – has been switched off! Apparently 2 years ago it become totally dormant and no longer displays it’s beauty – it become another mountain with its head permanently stuck in a cloud! It probably sticks it’s head in the clouds because it is embarrassed!
Never mind though, there were so many things to do that we totally forgot we came here to see a volcano.
On our first day upon arrival we went Zip Lining! Woohoo!!!
We geared up and after a small practice we hoped on a tuck and were taken up, up, up onto a mountain.
And then we zoomed, zoomed, zoomed down the mountain. From platform to platform we snowballed speed. Lucky Bella was attached to an instructor.
I, on the other hand, did it all on my own!
After 10 of those platforms, we came across a…swing. Well, it wasn’t an ordinary swing – it was a Tarzan swing …….. off a massive tree platform. And what do you know? Bella is the first in line – the crash test dummy. As every adults eyes were popping out – out of fear, here is our little Bella getting strapped up – with NO INSTRUCTOR!!! Before you know it, the gate opens up and she gets pushed off the platform! Mummy totally choked! Seeing her little girl being pushed off a platform, which was as high as the trees in a bungee jump fashion was insane! All the grown ups gasped while mummy ran over to see what happened to Bella - she just simply disappeared below. At this stage mummy was going through her second heart attach (first one was when the plane plummeted 20 stories). Everybody went silent as shock spread between the adults. I (Jordi) burst into tears! Where did our Bella go and why have you killed her??? A few seconds passed which seemed like hours and suddenly Bella appeared in our view, up and up she went into the trees! Her little body was swinging back and forth as all bystanders watched her –terrified for what happened to the little, sweet girl.
As the instructors below us managed to finally slow down her swing and catch her little body, everybody watched with tension. As the line got unclipped Bella hopped down, looked up and said “Mummy, this was so much fun! Can I do it again?” Cheers were all around with people suddenly taking a breath of air and mummy just smiled at her and said: “That’s my girl”.
Needless to say, that quite a few people decided to take the ‘chicken run’ and only watch. Since I was still in tears Daddy ‘sacrificed his fun’ and walked me down to the viewing area (wouldn’t have anything to do with the fact that he was VERY white, would it?). Anyway, we made our way down and watched mummy being thrown off the platform with…..a loud scream of course!
After the adrenalin rush we went to a Costa Rican restaurant (here they call them Tico) and while enjoying fabulous meal we met some lovely people from upstate New York. They told us to get in contact with them when we drive through their state – they might recommend some nice things to do. Those Americans are so nice and friendly!
After the dinner, since it was still reasonably early, we hopped into the pool in our resort and met whole bunch of other people on their honeymoons and vacations. They were all very nice and Bella and I entertained them with massages in the swim-up bar!
The next day was also full of wonderful adventure. We decided to go on an organized trip to ‘The Hanging Bridges’ where we met a fabulous tour guide by the name of Johan.
He made us walk through the rain forest pointing out lots of wonderful plants and birds and sometimes even snakes.
We even saw some Tucans up in the trees.
And Macaw in the roof
And the strongest ants in Costa Rica (well, maybe even the world). Check out how this ant is holding the leaf (which incidentally is much larger than you can see on this picture)
We got to walk over about dozen hanging bridges suspended way above the rainforest canopies with fantastic views. It was so lush and green and beautiful!
As it is probably not surprising, we made friends with Johan very quickly. He has three little girls of his own so we won his heart pretty easy, LOL. He asked our parents if we would like him to take us on a private adventure at night, walking through the jungle looking for some creepy crawlies. Our parents didn’t even get a chance to think about it when we started our favorite tune: please, please, pretty please!!!!!!! And so our parents caved in, as always, LOL!
After our Hanging Bridges expedition we went back to our resort and while we sipped lovey cocktails in the pool (ooops…..mocktails that is, i.e. no alcohol), mummy was asking her friend Google where do we go next. After a few hours, she shut her computer with a smirk on her face.
In the afternoon we went for a wonder through the beautiful gardens of our resort. It was a truly spectacular garden with lots of tropical plants. Mummy of course was very happy snapping all sorts of photos of plants and stunning hummingbirds.
In the afternoon we just hang out .....in the hummock
Evening came and we just couldn’t wait to get into the jungle. Johan came to pick us up at 6:30pm and we drove to a private property, which had a large rain forest on it. We were handed a flashlight (torch) and off we went exploring! It was totally…… spooky!
One of our first destinations was a large butterfly enclosure, pitch black, with dozens of large butterflies going crazy at the site of light. We quickly discovered that Jordi, just like mummy, has a very small tolerance for large insects hitting her face – however beautiful they are! As Jordi struggled with appreciation for these beautiful Blue Morphas Bella giggled her head off as they tickled her face.
As we walked through the jungle we came across a couple of snakes, which were quite cute. Non-venomous unlike the ones we have back home. After saying g’day to them we left them alone and went for a search of a red-eye green frogs.
It didn’t take us long to find a real beauty. It was just adorable! It really liked Bella’s hair. Like her prince charming got attached to her and was waiting for a kiss!
We then found something else….something which was not quite so beautiful. You know, the creepy, hair-raising, crawly spiders? Tarantulas! Yeah, baby! We saw them…. hiding in logs. They thought they can hide from us explores - oh, no, we were on a mission to track them down! Luckily enough they were in a big aquarium otherwise mummy would be running so fast we would never find her!
We went for dinner with Johan that night which was great but we both got so tired, we both passed out at the table and mummy and daddy had to carry us back to the taxi.
The next day mummy had a surprise for us. We got picked up early in the morning by a driver and we drove (with our language) to an animal rescue center called – Proyecto Asis. Wow! What a nice surprise!
Proyecto Asis is a place (similar to our Healesville Sanctuary in Melbourne), where injured animals are cared for. They also act as a mid way home for animals, which are confiscated from people who bought them as pets. As it is illegal to have exotic animals as pets in Costa Rica, if rangers or police find out someone has them as a pet they get taken away and if they didn’t suffer too much damaged from humans – they get released back to the wild once assessed.
Unfortunately in a lot of cases their mums get killed when they are little and they are snatched and sold on the black market. Having lived with humans for a while it is impossible for them to be released to the wild which means they get looked after the sanctuary for life.
We met this wonderful girl – Adriana, who showed us around the sanctuary and also taught us the importance of not having exotic animals as pets.
In the morning we got to feed all the animals. As this was a full day of volunteering work for us, we had to cut up different fruits, then we got to mix some food made up of corn flower, sunflower seeds, corn, cereal, water and some dog food protein. We got to mash it all by hand – it was so much fun! We have a lot of experience in the mashing department – we do it all the time with clay, play-doh and mud, so this part of the job was easy !
We then went over to feed all the animals we met that morning
We fed the Macaws
We fed the monkeys
We fed the Raccoons
And the little Peccaries , which were only weeks old
The monkeys loved our food so much they gave us all some head massages. It was so cool!
Kinkajou woke up to have a few bananas
And so did the sloth, which sleeps most of the day.
The big Iguana was also very hungry
As were dozens of beautiful parrots.
In the afternoon, we went to meet our host Costa Rican family who made lunch for us.
We met Rosi (the mum), her husband and her three children, Oscar 19, Gorge 20 and Laura (15). Well Laura of course become our best friend within seconds even though she did not speak any English. Not only did we manage to finish our yummy lunch within an hour but we also managed to finish full make up on Laura! Our host family were wonderful.
We left our language at our host family’s home and off we went back to work. Our next mission for the day was to make lots of toys for the animals out of bamboo, coconuts, seed pods, string, wire and… love! Well, we added the last bit.
As we were working away, we also met three Swedish girls who were working there for the last three weeks and incidentally were staying with the same family that night. Luckily enough they all spoke English well and could help up by translating into Spanish as well!
We made all sorts of creations with mummy and daddy’s help. Check them out!
After our artwork was completed we went around and surprised all the animals with our gifts! We felt like little Santa Clauses – first working in our ‘Santa’s workshop’ and now gifting the gifts. What a pleasure!
All animals were so grateful! Pidi, the raccoon was over the moon over Jordi’s porcupine and stared chewing on it in seconds.
The Monkeys were just thrilled!
And so were all the birds!
It was certainly a fulfilling day!
We got back in the evening to our host family, just in time for yummy, yummy dinner with all our new friends.
After the dinner, we proceeded to enhance Laura’s beauty by redesigning her make up and adding some nail polish to her hands, ah….nails. No, actually hands, LOL. Also to her toes.
She looked stunning when we finished.
Her mummy, Rosi, also got pampered by us.
The grown ups spent the rest of the night playing ‘Jenga Blocks’. Who needs to speak the same language? They communicated for hours, broke a few records and laughed their heads off!
In the morning, after another lovely meal, we said goodbye to our Swedish friends
And then to Rosi, Laura and her lovely family. We were very sad to leave!
Of course we needed to go and say goodbye to all the animals at the sanctuary.
And so:
We cuddled the raccoons,
Pidi gave us Hi-5
Monkeys shook our hands
And left daddy with their email address
Little Cocco, the monkey, didn’t want to let Bella go
The Two Toed Sloth opened his eyes for a minute to wave to us goodbye
Even the angry Coati looked surprised to see us go.
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We got back to the town of La Fortuna. Remember our guide from a couple of days ago? Well, Johan has helped us to find a house for a couple of days. It just happens that he looks after this home for an American lady who happens to very rarely come to Costa Rica. And well, the house just seems to be sitting there doing nothing…
Our new home was fantastic: big and spacious and out of town in a very safe area. We needed to rent a car as it sure wasn’t walking distance to anywhere. Adriana from the animal sanctuary has helped us get a car very cheap (she worked in he car rental place prior to this) – so we got ourselves a little Peugeot.
The house was great but it had something missing. Ah, yeah, the balconies! Mummy liked just sitting there in the sun reading a book or writing the blog. Feet dangling and all…
Johan gave us also a lot of tips of where to shop and here to eat yummy local food. He also told us how to save ourselves a fortune and see local sites without paying extra tourist fees. We went to the waterfalls
We also went to hot springs. Johan told us that instead of paying $70 per person, we could simply go to where the locals go, a little off the track, under the bridge and voilà! Hot springs
We spent the rest of the afternoon in the house, catching up on some schoolwork and looking out at the beautiful views.
The next morning we hopped into our Peugeot and relocated to an area called Manuel Antonio, which is a popular beach area. The GPS advised us that it’ll take us 3.5 hrs but it forgot to mention that the ‘whole Costa Rica’ is being upgraded to new roads. The trip took us just over 6 hrs and we escaped having to communicate with too many people as none of them spoke any English.
The drive was very picturesque though…
Adriana, the girl from the animal rescue center, helped us find a house half an hour past Manuel Antonio. Well. It was supposed to be on the beach but as we found out it was about 15 minute drive from the beach…in the rainforest jungle.
We did start to worry a bit when the road which turned into the development (7 houses on 250 acres, LOL) started to look a bit like some of our outback roads: dusty and very rocky. And it started to climb up. Nobody mentioned to us to get a proper 4x4, ooops! Our little Peugeot was negotiating its way into the jungle with full intentions but not a lot of glory. 4 people and a whole lot of luggage certainly weren’t helping the cause.
As we got across the security guard, the road climbed up even more and the car just ….died. We had to roll it down the hill to the reception area and ask for someone to drive us to the house in a 4wd.
The whole area was very pretty but it was surrounded by a real rainforest jungle where you literally had to speak up to hear one another over the extreme noise of cicadas, which we soon found out were the size of small apples!
Oh, yeah…and the grasshoppers were Bella’s head size!
Our bungalow was quite nice, had it’s own kitchenette and a big room with two queen size beds. The hot, humid weather was only fought off by a ceiling fan.
The reception area, which was actually a house of the owner/developer, had a swimming pool and a large dining table where breakfast was served every morning. This is also where they had a communal swimming pool. The developer wasn’t there initially and so we were looked after by Alex, who really reminded us of Johan (who we met in our previous destination). Alex spoke English quite well, which was a relief!
And so mummy had spent the next 10 days walking carefully down the pitch black, steep, rocky road with a little excuse for a flashlight (torch), praying that she did not step on any venomous snakes or colorful tarantulas.
She would sit there (the outdoor reception area) by herself till the wee hours of the morning (until the close of business hours in Australia). Every night she was fighting bugs, which were using her computer screen as a trampoline. She was not a happy camper. Especially when she came back one day with a spider bite (one decided to jump on her from the ceiling).
One night, daddy had to speak to someone through skype and so he walked with mummy to the Internet prone area. Mummy was walking in the front and daddy right behind mummy with a little light. Suddenly daddy yelled for mummy to stop! She froze on the spot just to find out she just stepped over a snake, which nicely curled up and had a striking position ready. Luckily enough it decided to go on its merry way and left mummy and daddy alone. The next morning they have described the snake to Alex and found out that out of 128 snakes in Costa Rica, 13 are venomous. This one of course fell into the killer category. Alex however assured us that it takes about 4hrs to die from the bite and the closest hospital is only 20 minutes drive (well maybe 40 in our little French Box), so we were pretty safe (yeah, right!)
But lets go back to when we arrived. Our first evening we drove to the beach. Alex told us which way the locals go and in fact he was playing some volleyball and invited us over to watch. The beach, as beautiful as it was had surprised us a bit as it was……gray/black. Ah, yeah, we forgot Costa Rica is full of volcanoes so most of the west coast was black or grey in color. The sunset however was just spectacular!
The next day we drove to Manuel Antonio, which is where we were hoping our accommodation was going to end up. We went to the National Park there, which everybody was recommending. We walked through a rainforest, spotting some beautiful Macaws, Monkeys and other exotic animals. It was ace! We eventually got to the beach, which was surprisingly light. And since it was right on the edge of the rainforest, it started to….. rain.
That didn’t stop little locals coming up and peruse tourist bags looking for some munchies!
After spending a few hours on the beach we walked back to the main towns beach, which we thought was even nicer (and for free). We found a little restaurant and paid as daddy called it ‘through our noses’ for a very simple meal. The tourist taxes must be very high in Manuel Antonio!
As we were eating we spotted some familiar faces. Our buddy – Kevin- from the swimming pool in the Volcano area had made it with his folks to Manuel Antonio as well. Small world!
They joined us for a meal, which was soon accompanied by a local vocalist singing ‘La Bamba’. Daddy paid him handsomely to…….finish – Johan was right – Costa Ricans can’t sing to save their lives. Well, at least the ones we came across anyway.
On a way out of town we stopped in the local super market to pick up a few essentials. As mummy logged onto internet in the little café which was part of the shop, daddy raced through getting supplies. We stayed back with mummy. After a few minutes we were joined by a Costa Rican couple (the shop only had four tables). They spoke very, very little English but seem quite nice. When daddy returned he struck a conversation with them, a nice lady and a rather LARGE man. During the conversation daddy found out that the big man has a property in town which he can rent of for a whole month for $300. Wow, that sounded like a bargain (considering everything in this town was extremely expensive).
So we hopped in our car and followed them to their place. It was situated in a very good location but as we pulled up we realized it was a falling down two story building. As in really falling down. Broken windows with bars on them, dust and spider webs. Without being rude we followed them into the property. The indoors looked quite scrubby and eerie. And that was before we discovered, that this was their part of the home – not for rent. The lady grabbed a key and told us to follow her to the back of the building (accessed from outside). We reluctantly followed (again more from trying to be polite rather than having any intentions of staying). As she worked her way through the spider webs and broken glass we were starring at her dumbfounded. She opened the doors and exposed a tiny room with one mattress (eaten up by rats) and another concrete room, which apparently was the bathroom (although it missed major ingredients like sink and a shower. Or toilet for that matter). Ad potentially be able to be rented out. Not for us though, thank you very much.
We couldn’t wait to get back to our secluded, rainforest bungalow! Mummy explained to us that this room was a great example of an accommodation for stolen children who wonder off and get kidnapped by strangers. Having this visual prop in our heads we sure will not be wondering off anywhere on our own! No thanks!
*****************
The next day we decided to spend on the beach near to where we were staying. Not a touristy area at all, just the locals and a few expats. And the beach stretching out for miles!
After a recommendation from the hotel we visited a nice couple, who lived on the beach. Betty and Ed. They used to have a massive restaurant on the beach called Tico- Gringo (Tico for Costa Rican, Gringo for American). Unfortunately the restaurant got burned down by the authorities a few years back (something about not paying bribes- not that we know what that means).
Now Ed and Betty still run a very little restaurant from home. They employ a lovely girl called Darling who is cooking for them and their guests and a full time gardener who keeps the grounds spotlessly manicured.
We quickly became friends with Ed and Betty and…. invaded their kitchen to help Darling cook. Not only did we make our own pizza but also we helped Darling clean up the dishes. How is that for good customers?
Needles to say they fell in love with us little munchkins and while Betty was showering us with cuddles, Ed goofed around with us and explored his garden with us to find some turtles and chase iguanas.
It was totally ace!
In the afternoon, Ed set up lounges for us on the beach (right at the end of their garden). What a way to spend your siesta?! Mummy decided that this is as close as one can get to heaven!
On the way out of Tico-Gringo, we saw a sign ‘Horse Riding’ so we went to investigate. And this is how we met our new friend, Claudia. Claudia is originally from Switzerland but has been living in Costa Rica for the last 12 years. And since she had some great horses, mummy and Claudia became very good friends instantly.
This is Claudia's little baby....
Claudia also has a 6 year old girl and had some visitors from Switzerland with another 6 y.o. - the four of us hit it off like 'house on fire' even though we didn't understand each other languages. One spoke Spanish, the other spoke German....
But then again, who needs a common language when you have arms and legs and giggles in common?
We 'cooked up' some delicious mud-pies for the grown-ups!
Needles to say, we went horse riding with Claudia for the next three days (our last days in Costa Rica). It was fabulous! We rode for two hours: on the beach, over a river and through the palm forest. We spotted lots of cool animals such as white-faced monkeys, parrots and sloths. We even saw a red, peeling tree and learned that locals call it a ‘Tourist’. Wonder why?
On the last day mummy and Claudia went horse riding by themselves so they could race the horses on the beach. They were so fast! And when they came back the horses were drenched with sweat. Mummy said it was one of the best days of her life as far as the ‘bucket list’ goes.
When we arrived in Costa Rica we had three things on our ‘to do’ list: see the volcanoes, live in the jungle and dig our toes in the white sand beach....
That was before we realized that the western beach in Costa Rica was going to be dark in color. And so with little conversation with our friend Google, we have decided to hop on a plane and check out.......Mexico.
WOOOOHOOOOO!!!! Holla Mexico!!!
OK, so we have heard some disturbing stories about Mexico and hence some due diligence was in order.
Mummy decided to write to our Aussie friends who we have spent Christmas with (and who just got out of Mexico) and they said it was very safe and they loved it. So we organized flights and accommodation for the next day and off we went to check it out!
And man, did we love it!
But first let us tell you about our plane trip to Mexico. As usual we made some friends on the airplane. Bella even wondered off to the business class and befriended a pilot who was being relocated. She asked him if he could introduce her to the current pilot to which he agreed with pleasure. When the plane landed, he promptly got up and led Bella to the cockpit. Within minutes there was an announcement on the speakers for everybody to be seated again as the plane needed to relocate to another parking spot. As we all set back again everybody watched in amazement as Bella strapped herself in one of the pilots seats and helped him move the airplane.
The whole plane cracked up laughing when one of the business class passengers turned around and yelled out to our parents “ I think this is gong to be expensive!”
But she did very well. Didn't crash it or anything! The pilot told her she can be her co-pilot anytime.
Now this part is about Mexico:
Mexico was absolutely superb! Mind you, the area we stayed in (Cancun) is probably more American than it is Mexican. 158 massive hotels spread along the white sand beaches, all with infinity pools, beach umbrellas and lots of ‘snow birds’ from northern parts of USA. Everybody speaks English and prices are certainly set at a rate to make you feel like you are at home ($$$$$$$$) - but man, was it nice!
We stayed in the beautiful Westin Laguna Mar Resort right opposite a shopping mall, which was quite handy. We got a big room to ourselves, with a kitchenette, a laundry and a massive bathroom. There was more storage than we had in the last 7 months, LOL.
Our balcony overlooked one of many infinity pools which gracefully ‘spilled’ onto the white, white sand beaches and turquoise blue water – it was just heaven!
Many of our days were spent around the pool, swimming, sliding down the slides or just soaking in hot tubs while our parents lounged around the pool and were being constantly re- hydrated with some drinks from the bar. The happy hours were turned into a lot of happy days, LOL.
On our third day in Mexico we went on a full day trip to Xcaret. It is sort of a theme park where one can snorkel, see animals and learn a little bit about Mexican culture. It was fantastic!
The first part was a bit scary as they dressed us into life jackets and snorkel gear and made us jump into a cold river, which went through caves and dark tunnels. Some spots were pitch black and all you could hear was people talking all sorts of languages. As we couldn’t see sometimes people were swimming on top of us, sometimes we were bumping into the walls. I (Jordi) got really scared and cold and mummy got a bit claustrophobic too. She just told us to hold onto her hands and she pulled us most of the way. Towards the end mummy ended up getting out through one of the emergency exits with me and walking the rest of the way. Bella and daddy finished the snorkel expedition (all 800 meters/ 0.6 mile).
At the end of the river there was a man with a surprise for us – he had some beautiful Macaws for us to hold. They were so adorable!
Then we went to another pool where we helped them release turtles into the wild. We even got a certificate telling us that this little munchkin made it safely to the big blue.
We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the park. There were lots nice animals and gardens all around. We went to a beautiful butterfly enclosure. Jordi found a butterfly that matched her outfit.
We also played with the park’s new addition – a gorgeous little colt.
We also spotted a few little lizards (iguanas). Well, they weren’t really that little…. Mean looking things they are!
We then joined a Mexican family in a jamming session, which was very cool. They let us play their drums and other interesting instruments.
After we were through with the music we wondered off to watch jaguars getting fed – what beautiful animals they are! Daddy said if we ever get a pussy cat, we can get one like this one. Anything smaller, he's going to consume for breakfast.
And our perfect day finished with watching the most amazing show, which through music and dance explained the history of Mexican people.
Interesting how the history of indigenous people seems to be very similar throughout the world - here they are happy and jolly, white man shows up, takes their land, kills them all or forces them into their way of living and somehow becomes a hero along the way....
We are learning that history seems to have two sides to every story, just depends who you are learing from.....
Interesting how the history of indigenous people seems to be very similar throughout the world - here they are happy and jolly, white man shows up, takes their land, kills them all or forces them into their way of living and somehow becomes a hero along the way....
We are learning that history seems to have two sides to every story, just depends who you are learing from.....
After the show we got the opportunity to met a few characters, some scary ones indeed!
The next day we went to the hotel’s kids club for an hour or so and have decided that this was one of our favorite places. The girls there were absolutely awesome! We quickly become Amigos!
They even helped us make some more tie-dye t-shirts which ended up spectacular!
One day, the kids club entertainment group was running a hula competition, which of course we attended. Bella got second place but she was the only one who got stand up ovation for her groovy moves. She sure knows how to mooooove!
Daddy also decided to enter a competition – an ‘Iron Man’ challenge of course! It included swimming, drinking beer and dancing for entertainment. Homer Simpson would've been proud!
And this is the man daddy competed against (yes, no one else had the guts to stand up to them).
And this is the man daddy competed against (yes, no one else had the guts to stand up to them).
We cheered him the loudest! Daddy ended up winning the swimming challenge, losing the beer drinking one and both men were so entertaining while dancing, the judges decided to call it a draw and both men won! They have both received a very expensive bottle of award winning Tequila. We were so proud of our daddy!
Too bad, the expensive bottle of Tequila daddy cherished so much got confiscated at the airport, as the bottle was larger than 300ml allowed on the plane! OUCH, that hurt! Daddy almost cried!
We were so proud of our daddy that we allowed him to go on a scuba diving trip, which he enjoyed immensely!
The club was running all sorts of different activities. One afternoon they even let us cook some S’mors on the beach. Mmmm, they were yummy!
Except for spending lots of time in the pool, we also made a few trips across the road to the outdoor shopping center where lots of interesting activities awaited us.
We met a pirate
We even met a lovely stingray, which came up for a pat and a kiss
But the most memorable experience from Mexico was definitely our encounter with dolphins! We got to spend almost an hour with these incredible animals!
We got to touch them
And kiss them
And make them do some wonderful tricks! It was absolutely ace!!! We will never forget this experience!
Back in the resort, by the pool we had our favorite spot – the hot tub. This is where we met most of our friends, mostly from USA (they were defrosting down here).
One night we went out with two other families and their kids. We went to a Thai restaurant where the parents got themselves their own table and us kids had our own little ‘pavilion’.
A lovely night was topped by a yummy ice cream and an unusual meeting from the ‘movies’.
The eight days in Mexico went pass so quickly. Before you know it, we had to say goodbye to our new friends.
As we were flying out in the afternoon, we had just enough time for lunch
For the last run on the beach
For a final wave surf
And for some jet skiing. Well, the last two were just props, but we had fun anyway.
With all the horrible things we’ve been hearing about Mexico, all proved to be nothing (certainly in this part of Mexico). The only horror thing mummy came across here is that they forgot to put in a colorful umbrella in her drink, LOL.
Bottom line is: WE LOVED MEXICO!
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