It was really important to me that we make memories this first Christmas in a foreign country so we drove to the coast! We will NEVER take that route again, I can promise you that! Wow- Steep. Dirt Road. 7 mph. Scary. Beautiful. No guardrails. Hairpin curves. Frightening. Breathtaking views. But we made it! It’s very hot and muggy at sea level, so I much prefer the mountains at 4400 ft. above sea level. Christmas Day we boarded the boat for the catamaran cruise. It was beautiful and worth every minute on those horrendous roads! We saw a flying fish that morning on the calm Pacific Ocean. Snorkeling was incredible. I saw an Octopus! If I could have screamed underwater, I would have! Such an amazing sight. I watch so many nature shows that when I see things in ‘real life’ I am thrilled! I continue to remain completely astounded at God’s handiwork! Some of the fish hung around my goggles, just as curious about me as I was about them! We ate a scrumptious typical Costa Rican lunch (casada) of fish/chicken, rice and beans and fresh pineapple.
The day after Christmas we zoomed through the vast forest of las palmas (palm trees harvested for palm oil) on ATVs. Definitely the highlight for Micah and Lilyana. It WAS fun! If I can’t get my adrenaline rush on the ski slopes, I’ll take it on a four-wheeler. We stopped for a short hike up to a waterfall.
I spent a couple hours early in the morning watching birds from the third story look-out at our AirBnB. I saw about a dozen species of birds. THIS was my favorite photo:
Life In The Garden 