I'm back! What'd I miss? I know I've been popping up now and again, but a recap of any threads I should specifically go check out would be great!
The trip turned out really nice. I mean, it's a real pain in the neck to travel with 6 people (my parents, my brother & his girlfriend, me & FI) when everyone has their own opinions on everything. Especially as I was the only Spanish speaker and the trip organizer. I felt a lot of pressure to make sure everyone was happy, and it was rather stressful. Not my most relaxing vacation, but still good quality time with my family (though boy, was I glad to drop them all off at the airport this morning!)
Highlights included monkeys taking over our backyard every day, the coconuts that grew on the property that the maintenance guy Carlos would cut open with his machete for us each day, family dinners nearly every night at the house we rented - my brother C, his girlfriend S, and FI and I would cook together. Then we'd all sit around the table and have great conversations. Evening board games were fun, too. The first two days it rained hard non-stop. The power went out for the full day, but luckily not at night so we had lights when it got dark and air conditioning to sleep! It rained on and off the rest of the trip, never very sunny, but that was fine - it was cool, comfortable, and we still went out and did stuff. The house was right on the beach, so we'd go for lots of walks and huge waves, so body surfing and boogie boarding were popular activities. FI and I got up much earlier than anyone else, and we did Crossfit work outs on the beach. I pulled a muscle in my instep running barefoot on the sand, so I had to chill for a few days (and will probably have to chill for a few more - still hurts!).
My Mom, taking a nap on a rainy day by the pool
Monkey on our roof looking right at me!
We did three activities - a tour of the Manuel Antonio National Pakr, whitewater rafting, and an ATV trip with a Superman line.
The tour was good. It wasn't raining that morning, but it started raining mid-way through the tour. Got some great pictures of animals and plantlife, and our guide showed us all sorts of stuff - picked up lizards and crabs and bugs, and had us taste plants (who knew cinnamon was bark on a tree??). It was cool!
The whitewater rafting was C, S, FI and me (parents did NOT want to go). Because of all the rain, the rapids were scary. I honestly think they shouldn't have taken us out - it was dangerous! They swore up and down in the beginning that it was normal, and then afterwards they were like, "Wow, I've never seen it like that!" Uh, duh!
All 4 of us (plus the guide) got tossed out at one point in a Class 4 hole, which is particularly dangerous because you basically get recycled by the wave - you can't move forward and you can get sucked under and stuck on a rock and die. No joke. That hole was supposed to be an easy Class 3. Yeahhh.... anyway, we all got tossed, I lost my shoe (which I later found - I had wedged my feet so far into the safety straps that my foot got ripped out of my shoe but my shoe was still in the boat. Luckily none of us got stuck in the hole.
I was freaking out - I'm a good swimmer, we had lifejackets and helmets on, but I was scared shitless. S immediately caught the line on the raft and pulled herself back in (even before the guide got himself back in) and then grabbed my brother and hauled him in (I love S, she's so badass). I had gone the farthest away from the boat, FI was a bit closer but he swam back to me and dragged me to the boat (I am sad to admit I was freaking out a bit and did not respond well - just sort of held the 'safety position' and didn't know what to do). Then the guide tried to pull FI into the boat, but he refused to go, shouting at the guy, "Take her first! Pull her in!" Mind you, we were still in the middle of Class 3-4 rapids, and swallowing water constantly and getting bashed around, our knees banging into rocks as we clung to the side of the boat. I love the fact that he was trying so hard to save me! My hero *gush*!
Anyway, the guide insisted on pulling FI in first so he could help paddle us out of danger, so I just grabbed onto the side and shouted for him to go ahead, I'd be okay. FI jumped in and hauled me up before the guide could, then he shouted, "Resume your positions! Paddle, paddle, paddle!" He basically took over for our stupid guide - leave it to a Marine to take control in a bad situation, right? It was super scary! I've gone whitewater rafting 3-4x before, and I've never been scared for my life, but this trip was petrifying. Anyway, we all made it to the end, and I ended up feeling super mushy towards FI for rescuing me, so that's good!
The other activity was ATVing to a waterfall through the jungle and then a Superman cable ride (like ziplining, except you go on your stomach and it's 1 kilometer long! A full minute ride at around 30 mph!). We all went on that and everyone had a blast. We doubled up on the ATVs to cut the cost down and it was nice that way since we got to cuddle a bit, haha! I couldn't get to the waterfall since it was really slippery and I'm a klutz and I didn't want to bash my head on the rocks, but I took pics of FI, C, and S swimming. Again, the water was super fast due to all the rainfall, so it was hard to climb over the rocks with the water rushing over them.
Me and FI on an ATV
The family before starting ATV - we were splattered in mud by the end!
FI (with C on the left) at the waterfall
My Dad on the Superman ride!
The last night we had a really nice dinner at a restaurant at the hotel Gaia, which is the nicest one in the area. It actually wasn't that expensive - appetizers around $10, entrees around $20, bottle of wine for $24. It was my Dad's birthday, so it was a nice treat and a nice way to wrap up the trip!