We had another early departure time, however a little bit later than yesterday, so the only breakfast that made sense was room service (breakfast is included at our resort, so where we got it from didn’t matter much). It was fine, filled our gillets, then we made our way down to Mi Cafecita for a quick espresso (double!), then popped into the lobby to wait for our ride. The van pulled up and the door opened and… Isidro! We had the same tour guide two days in a row!

We had a 1.5 hour van ride along some roads Isidro described as a Costa Rican massage – the roads were so rough that the vibrations felt like a cheap massage. The views during the drive were only a little bit better than what we get in the great state of Indiana (I’m being sarcastic).

We arrived without incident at the Tenorio Volcano National Park and had perfect weather for our hike. Today, we would be visiting the Rio Celeste. The Rio Celeste is a bright blue river that meets up with another river which is perfectly clear and the mixing was beautiful. Isidro mentioned that if the weather is bad (i.e. rain) that that water would turn muddy brown (like we have in Indiana) and it would not be so enticing.

It was a 4 mile round-trip hike during which we saw the Rio Celeste river in three difference places: the mixing basin, a river bend, and the last was a waterfall. We came around a bend in the hike and there was a marker that read, “150m to waterfall”. Unbeknownst to us but knownst to Isidro, this was 150m of only steps. The trip down was bad, downstairs is bad if there are enough of them, but the worst part is knowing that every step you go down you’ll have to come back up.

We made it back up the steps of doom and hit the trail back to the van. On the way out, we stopped as we ran into a coati – this is a long-tailed animal closest in relation to a raccoon. They have a long snout and will eat just about anything. We had been warned not to feed them and, in fact, at the entrance to the park they searched our bags for food.

At the park exit we saw a toucan and finally we were able to get a good look at one! And now, you can too!

We climbed back into the van, legs weary, and made the nearly 1.5hr drive back to La Fortuna. On the trip, Isidro asked where we wanted to eat – they had another restaurant that we could go to or… or we ended up choosing to go back to the same restaurant as yesterday, which he concurred was the right choice. “They are very authentic and they treat us very well” he confirmed.

Apps were the same: ceviche and fried plantains – Isidro and the driver sat with us this time and they ordered the same apps. For lunch, our driver and Chris had fried pork (mucho gusto!) and Adrienne had chicken and rice (pura vida!), and Isidro had the same lunch Adrienne had the day before. This, we knew, was a sign we had ordered the right things. We each had an ice cold Coca Cola in a glass bottle and it was the most delicious Coke we’ve ever tasted.

Chris remembered having a Vanilla Coke after backpacking on Isle Royale that was equally emotionally impactful.

We made our way back to the resort and called for a golf cart (you guys, these hills are something else) and on the way back to our villa the driver mentioned that there was a boa in the trees on the bridge that was just around the corner for our villa – can I take you and show you? Of course!

This boa was wrapped up on the tree limb like Sir Hiss from Disney’s Robin Hood. We were not able to capture an image of it but it was still quite cool to spot.

Back at the room in the early afternoon, we relaxed in the warm pool, caught up (partially) on the blog, and eventually made our way to dinner at Amor Loco.

Amor Loco is Spanish for Love Crazy or, as we say in the States, Crazy Love. It was an odd restaurant to be honest with you. We were seated at a table with two crushed velvet chairs that looked more like something in a 70’s smoking den than in a contemporary restaurant. The chairs were seated on the same side of the table (Chris refers to this as “sitting NASCAR”) and all of the tables were lined up facing a small stage with a single Millennial on it with her guitar. Every time the waiter came to the table, it felt like he was interrupting her show. It was no help that our waiter was every bit of 6’5″. She actually did really well – so often the music is too loud or not loud enough but the volume was just right, and she sung a broad range from John Lennon to 4 Non-Blondes to the Cranberries. Adrienne and I had to have a conversation about who the 4 Non-Blondes were/are and what the meaning of their name was.

For dinner, we started with an Amuse Buche (an amusement of the mouth) which is usually an unasked for single bite pre-appetizer. Then we had a zucchini-crab-atizer. Adrienne ordered chicken curry and Chris the short-ribs. Short-ribs are a really good example of gentrification of foods. 15 years ago short-ribs were considered trash food and could be had for a steal at a meat market. Some hipsters needing money for more tattoos, beard oil, and IPAs came along and said to themselves, “why don’t we make this cheap meat into a gourmet meat and then we could have all the tattoos, beard oil, and IPAs we could ever want!” and then they laughed maniacally.

In all seriousness, there has been a resurgence in short ribs over the past, say, decade, and it is on my list of foods that when I see it I usually order it. The singer put her guitar away, we signed our check, and headed back home for some rest. The trip back to our villa from the front door was literally less than 10m. It was really close.

Joseph went to school today (Tuesday), but Teddy didn’t go to daycare (he goes MWF) so he went to Meijer with Grandma Kim. We call this photo “Ted’s Beerhall”.

Mucho Gusto!

Pura Vida!