Day 3: Adventure Day to Palo Verde

I think you can all tell from the previous entry that it was written by Brandon since he mentions running.  This girl is getting enough exercise hauling a little boy up and down the stairs from the pool to the condo.  After two days of soaking in the sun, bouncing back and forth from the pool to the beach, our hot skin needed a break and we decided to leave our sleepy surfing town behind and go on a little adventure.  We met our driver and one other couple at 7:30 a.m. and loaded onto a little bus to head off on a day of searching for animals in the Palo Verde National Park.  The drive was about an hour and a half, winding through tiny towns with gorgeous mountain views.  Junior, our guide, told us about each little town we drove through, saying in Costa Rica you only need four things to be considered a town, and they have to be in this order of importance: A soccer field, a bar, a school, and a church.

The last half of our drive was on dirt roads, I am so glad we did not rent a car on this trip because it seems to take expert skill to wind and weave around and dip in and out of the massive holes in the roads.  The roads were lined with watermelons and cantaloupe fields, and then by sugarcane fields as far as the eye can see.  The sugar cane grows about 14 feet tall so it is almost like being in a tunnel of the tall crops.  Even though we were on our way to look for exotic jungle animals, Caleb was thrilled to see all the cows and horses that wandered on the side of the road.

We made it to the Palo Verde National Park and parked the bus along the Tempisque River and loaded onto our little river boat.  Caleb was pumped to be on the boat and we were ready to see some animals!  Our first animal spotting was a giant iguana perched up in the tree.  We learned all about how they change colors for mating season and that the males were turning orange to attract the green ladies.  Then we heard our new favorite sound, the sound of the howler monkeys!  There were about ten of them up in the trees making their loud guttural calls.  A big splash came down into the water next to us and we realize that the monkey pooped into the water from the tree.  Now when I ask Caleb, "what noise do monkeys make?", instead of saying "eee eee ooo ooo" he just looks at me seriously and says, "monkeys go poo poo".  So, there's that.


We really wanted to see some big crocodiles.  Jorge, our boat captain, slowly navigated around the river looking to spot animals for us.  We saw tons of beautiful birds, lots of herons.  We saw more monkeys and iguanas, and even a couple of crocs!  One opened it's mouth up wide and chomped on a fish.  Jorge tried to let Caleb drive the boat, but he wanted nothing to do with it and just continued to pretend to drive behind him.  This was a great way to keep him entertained and although it wasn't as thrilling as I am sure the zip lining and hanging bridge excursions were, it was great to see another part of the country and check some wild life.

After the boat ride, we drove just about fifteen minutes to the tiny town of Ortega for lunch.  As I always seem to be on this trip, I am so hungry and am so ready for what is promised to be a more authentic Costa Rican cooking experience.  We drove down some crazy steep roads and arrived at a tiny house overlooking some farms and the mountains, it was beautiful.  We were greeted by two ladies and about eight of the smallest cats I have ever seen in my

The kitchen.

Our favorite meal, cooked on a fire, overlooking the mountains.

life.  The air smelled delicious because they were cooking outside on an open fire.  We sat around a big farm table and feasted on corn tortillas, rice, beans, pico de gallo, roasted chicken, fresh pineapple.  It was incredible!  This was exactly the meal Brandon and I have been craving the whole time we were here, something that tasted more like what we were served in the sleepy towns we visited on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica when we came on our honeymoon.  Don't get me wrong, the food has been good on this trip too, but just a little lacking on the exotic feel since there is so much tourism in this area.  Caleb did some good eating as well, but he mostly just wanted to chase the little gatos.  Y'all these cats were so small, they looked like little adorable, rats...if that's possible.  In typical "buy a kid a toy and watch then play with the box" fashion: Pay to be driven to a remote location to see jungle animals and your child will only be interested in the cats.

After lunch, we loaded back into our little van and started the trek back to Tamarindo.  We tried to keep Caleb entertained and eventually Caleb and I both fell asleep for a much needed siesta.  

Caleb only got about an hour nap on the bus so we were hoping he would keep sleeping once we got home, but little Caleb had another plan in mind.  No sleep for Caleb.  He was ready to play!  Brandon strummed guitar, I was attempting to read in the hammock, but Caleb was melting down a bit.  We needed to mobilize and get out of the house because Caleb was starting to climb the walls and drive me crazy.  If we were at home, I would say "go play on your train table" (and leave me alone), but no train table here, so we must keep this boy busy.   There is a brewery down the street we were wanting to check out called Volcano Brewing.  Some dudes from San Diego that came down here in the 90s and found paradise but hated the beer so they opened up their own brewery and stayed.  Sounds like a solid plan to me.  The Pale Ale is called Witches Brew and it's pretty tasty.  We sat at a picnic table on the sand and drank beers and ate some super tasty shrimp cheviche as the sun began to set.

The horses that were giving people sunset rides walked back and forth, so Caleb was always excited to see them, but he was still driving me a little nuts.  If there are any stay at home moms reading this, stop now, you won't like this next part.  Being with your kid 24/7 is hard, right? haha!  He has been a serious momma's boy on this trip and only wants me to hold him, carry him, and on and on.  Give me a little space, little dude!  This is the first day where he has been a little mischievous and really started pushing my buttons.  He still is able to flirt with the waitress and win over her heart, so when we order our last round of Witches Brew to go so we can watch the sunset in the sand, she gives us giant beers.  Alright!

We enjoy another breathtaking sunset.  You just can't get enough of these sunsets, they are insane.  Each one different from the others.


Another day was coming to a close, but we weren't quite ready to throw in the towel.  On the way back from the beach, we decided to do a little night swimming in our beloved pool.  Caleb loved that he didn't have to wear sunscreen, or even a rash guard top.  Night swimming is fun!  Dinner tonight was cooked at home, just some yellow rice, roasted pork, and white wine.  It had been a long day and we were all exhausted so we crawled into bed and slept hard.