Family Tours in Costa Rica – Part II

Fully loaded, Astrid once again made its way over the mountains and cloud forests to reach the central Pacific coast.  There we would bask in the sun, waves and sand (definitely sand), bidding farewell to the old year.  Hidden under the trees in front of the beach we set up the sleeping quarters (tent and van), dining room (newly acquired table with the old chairs) and the lounge room (two hammocks). However since this was holiday season everyone else had the same idea and so the neighbours were plentiful and the beach teamed with activity from dusk till dawn.  After 5 days of beach life we headed back to the hills of volcano Arenal.  The winding drive was stunning, but our expectations of seeing lava spill from a volcano were soon shattered as we approached the cloud enveloped volcano.  However, it was not the clouds but an outdated guidebook that was to blame for this.  Considering we were met by rains and clouds and lack of lava there was no real need to stay any longer.  Our  camp was also getting flooded as the man made lake was about to overspill into our living arrangements, so we bought a postcard and left.  Instead, we figured we would explore the diversity of Monteverde cloud forest. Whether it was the Balkan indoor voices or the fact the wildlife has learned to migrate away from the human intruders, deeper into the forest, our only wildlife sighting was a dead centipede.  As the end of the family shenanigans approached we headed to Nicoya.  There we would enjoy the last meals by our gourmet chef, the end of royal British accents adopted by Jan and myself and the defeat of swimmers ear by Brett, Jan and Goran. Following is a random compilation of carefully chosen pictures from the past few weeks.