Costa Rica

Ok sorry for my absence.  I haven't felt like blogging lately.  So we recently went to Costa Rica for a good friends wedding.  Since we were going so far for a wedding we figured we'd make a good vacation out of it.  I had it all planned out, we would spend 4 days up in the mountains near Volcano Arenal and then go down to the coast for the wedding festivities.  Well all would have been great if it hadn't decided to rain for those 4 days we were in the mountains.  A constant drizzle to almost heavy rain all day and all night long.  The clouds were so low you couldn't even see the volcano.  The best shot we have of it is the last day and we could only see half the volcano from our hotel room.

We tried to make the best of it. On Tuesday we went to an animal rescue center, Proyecto Asis, and got to pet and hold monkeys and other critters. We also had the opportunity to feed them. It was really neat. Wednesday we went ziplining. I heard the views were supposed to be amazing but since the volcano and lake were covered in clouds all I could see were the trees underneath me. Still it was amazing. Flying along a zipline going 45mph and the lines are over 1/2 mile long. w00t! So the worst day was Thursday. I decided, hey lets go hiking in the rain. It shouldn't be too bad and this lake is supposed to be amazing. Its called Cerro Chato and its an awesome blue-green color. What the websites fail to mention the hike to get there is meant to kill you. Only the worthy may pass. I thought Mike was going to pass out. I kept slipping and sliding in the mud and the stairs. Oh my goodness those stairs that never ended. So we finally make it to the look out point and this is what we see...

Needless to say we were highly disappointed. There was another crazy descent if you wanted to go closer to the lake but at that time we were both like forget it, lets get the heck out of here. Going down the mountain was insane, not only were we going down a giant mountain but the steps weren't real steps, they are just tree roots and logs placed strategically on the path and mostly giant mud puddles. Almost fell several times and was completely wet and filthy by the time we got to the bottom. We couldn't wait to leave that area and get to the coast. The last part of our trip was beautiful. The beach was amazing, it was sunny and NO RAIN! The bride and groom had a weekend of activities planned for the guests. On Friday there was a welcome beach party for everyone. Live music, food and drinks. Of course all I could have was soda :( Didn't want to chance drinking the local water. Saturday we lounged by the pool before getting ready for the wedding. A shuttle took us to the wedding location at Villa Caletas. Where they held the ceremony the view was breathtaking.
 
After the ceremony there was the cocktail hour with live music. The bride and groom came out after they were done taking pictures and did a dance together. When the dance finished fireworks went off because why not haaha! After dinner the live band who did the dance music were really good. Of course at this point I'm completely exhausted because I'm pregnant. We finally managed to get a shuttle back to our hotel around midnight :p The next morning we had to really push ourselves to get up for the catamaran excursion. Everybody on the catamaran were wedding guests, there were about 90 of us. It was really nice and relaxing. In this picture you can tell me and Mike are completely exhausted

The next day we got on a plane to come home. Of course the perfect way to end the trip was to get food poisoning from the hamburgers we ate at the airport :p So that was our Costa Rica experience. It was fun but I'm not sure if we'll go back. I would like to go somewhere next time that isn't quite so hot. I think I'm craving some culture, so I think Europe is in our future :) I leave you with this adorable white face monkey who joined us for breakfast every morning :)