Our Last Trip -- El Caribe, Otra Vez

Dad, this pic's for you.  We saw these huge logs
on our drive down.

Day 1: Punta Uva Beach (where the locals hang out) and Puerto Viejo

Punta Uva - Taking pics of the adults is hard sometimes!  Trying
to make more of an effort!

Stopping at "McDonalds" between Punta Uva and Puerto Viejo :).

Gnarly tree

L sandcastle-building at PU.  E and I swam out to the far point
to look for fish; she is such a tough swimmer.

H getting ready to rope swing into a river feeding the ocean.

Luke in mid-swing over the icy water.  Brr!

Puerto Viejo - This gentleman from Nicaragua cut a hunk off of a log and
proceeded to make souvenir boats in the traditional Costa Rican style.

Of course we had to buy some!

H and L loved watching the man work.

The Ticos are all hanging out in the abundant shade.
We noticed everyone brought giant pots of rice
for lunch -- it is a staple at every meal (and maybe
the meal in and of itself).

His imaginary play usually involves whacks,
ka-thumps, and sounds of attack.  I can
practically hear him when I look at this. 
Love it!

Always creating, touching, fidgeting, exploring . . . being AWESOME!

E taking a break from exploring the coral and tide pools.
This trip, she found several different types of eels
and was able to trap some fish.

Mini-fish habitat created by E.

Que linda!

 

H and L drawing pictures in the sand.

Doesn't get much cuter!

While everyone was getting ready for dinner, H fashioned a
number of different dresses out of this wrap J and E bought me
on their early morning bike ride.  Precious!

We don't have too many photos of all of us together -- it's hard to make them happen. 
This pic was taken at a delicious restaurant called De Paso.  We had a fabulous night!

Our food -- red snapper and pork ribs -- was grilled right next to us. 
The restaurant had no walls and was less than 100 meters from the ocean.

Day 2: Jaguar Reserve and Puerto Viejo Beach.
 

Early morning adventures



The second day started off with a visit to an animal
rescue center.  E was in heaven!  First stop -- pericos.

Finally, we got to see a toucan!  H was ecstatic; this was
the one animal she'd been waiting to see.

This guy was just hanging out while we were on our tour.

Los monos

 This is as close as L got to a monkey.

One little fella just made himself at home on E's shoulder.

Then he decided to hang by his tail from her neck.  Eek!

My turn

H getting up close and personal with a perezoso (sloth).

Hee, hee . . . how cute!

L got into a wrestling match with this deer.

Super cool!

Day 3: Crazy waves at Cocles Beach.