Day 1: Portland, Oregon --> Dallas, Texas --> San Jose, Costa rica.
We had a long, long day of traveling. We watched a grainy rendition of How to Train Your Dragon, laughed at all of the ridiculous* products in Sky Mall, and slept on each other's shoulders.
(*I did however fall in love with the dishwasher decal that is Van Gogh's Starry Night)
We arrived that night in San Jose. We were picked up by my cousin Agustin and some other family members. They drove us to a local hotel where they surprised us with embroidered safari hats that were pretty sweet.
Day 2: EXPLORE THE CAPITAL CITY AND BUS RIDE TO MONTEVERDE!
 |
Leah, Agustin, & Tony
The next morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then met Agustin for a tour of San Jose. We visited many of the historic landmarks such as the Teatro Nacional. After exploring the city Agustin led us to the bus stop where we bought our tickets to Monteverde. The prices for public transit were unbelievable, for the four hour bus ride it cost less than $10 for both Tony and I to go. Agustin taught Tony a little bit of conversational Spanish to buy the tickets. |
Day 3-5: MONTEVERDE CLOUD FORESTS
The ride up to Monteverde was absolutely beautiful. We stayed in a cute, little, eco-friendly hotel, Poco A Poco. There are many activities in town, it is a known hot spot for 'thrill seekers' to do extreme zip lines and tarzan swings. Tony and I debated all of the options and decided to do a tamer, but incredible suspension bridge tour. 
We traveled through the very top of the cloud forest canopy. It is incredible to see how alive the rainforest is. Each tree is home to hundreds of species of flora and fauna growing on it, in it, around it... you get the drill.
 |
| There are so many different layers of plant life on this tree - it is amazing! |
Day 6-10: MANUEL ANTONIO (best beach in the world)
I swear it is the animal mecca of Costa Rica. Everywhere you turned there was some critter hanging about.
Sloths
White-Faced Monkeys
Howler Monkeys
Lizards
Agouti
Crocodiles
Deer
Turtles
Frogs
(you can see video/pictures in our honeymoon video)
Sadly we did not get footage of the Coatimundi, Kinkajou, and Wooly Opossums, but we saw them :)
Day 11: LEAVE SAN JOSE, COSTA RICA --> PORTLAND, OR
After living large and with barely a dollar in change left in our name we made it to the airport. Tony spotted a donation box to save wildlife on some island and I tossed our last few coins in. We strolled up to the check-in counter where we got asked, "Where are your exit tax forms?"
Huh?
Little did Tony and I know that Costa Rica charges you to leave the country. Uh oh. We literally did not have a cent, or anyway to get money. Our option... miss our non-refundable flight and figure out someway to get a hold of family to wire us money... or... try to beg for $52 from random strangers.
Luckily, Tony had a $50 VISA gift card in his wallet (that was only valid in the U.S.) as a bargaining chip. We felt like such scam artists approaching people trying to ask them to trade this mysterious gift card for $52 in cash. Amazingly, we encountered a philanthropic gang of surfer dudes who were more than happy to help us out.
Tony and I got on board, and many, many hours later made it back stateside. We had an absolutely amazing trip. We can't wait to go again! However this time be a little more prepared...
