Pura Vida! - Part 3

Monteverde Continued...

So now we're on to the best part about our adventures in the "Cloud Forest!"  Our next, and final, stop was the Zipline Canopy Tour!!  Seriously. So. Much. Fun.

The tour included a series of 15 ziplines (the longest being 1 km long!!) that took us flying through the forest!

Little Brielle and Parker even got to come on this adventure (they rode with their moms) and they loved it!

Helmeted and harnessed... ready to fly!

The crew

Ziplining through the trees

This is the view of the longest segment (1 km long).  It was an amazing experience soaring over the tree tops through the clouds for such a long time!!  The view was breathtaking!

They had a surprise waiting for us at the end of the zipline tour... what they call "The Tarzan Swing."  Pretty much you climb to the top of a really tall tower, get hooked up to the swing, and before you can change your mind, they push you off.

Please enjoy the next series of pictures.... :)  

(in order to fully enjoy, click to enlarge!)

Those who know Jeff, also know that he's terrified (seriously...) of heights - yes, yes ironic I know since he spends much of his life thousands of feet in the air :).  So you can imagine how shocked I was  when he willingly participated in this activity!  He went first so he wouldn't have a chance to chicken out ha ha, but he did it and I was SO proud of him :)

And this is how much he enjoyed it.... ha!

My turn.... They told me to step up to the edge, but I started freaking out.  They didn't even wait for me to get there... they just pushed me off!  Ha ha!  Talk about terrifying!  (as you can see from my face ha)

Sheer terror!

Phew, I survived!

We got pictures of everyone else as well and they are all pretty darn hilarious - though I didn't think they would appreciate me posted them on the internet ha.  Some are more hilarious then others :)  But seriously, whenever I'm in need of a pick-me-up, I just look at all those pictures and I can't help but laugh out loud ha ha!  Good times.

Pura Vida! - Part 2

Our second big excursion was a long drive out to Monteverde - a "cloud forest."  Not to be mistaken for a rainforest.  It looks and feels like a rainforest, but it's up at a higher elevation.. in the clouds ha.  This was definitely my favorite day.  You'll see why :)

 Beautiful scenery on our drive up to Monteverde

Our first stop in the "Cloud Forest" was the Reptile House...

 Lots of cool frogs...

 And snakes... eww!

Our second stop was the Hummingbird Garden which none of us really thought sounded that interesting... but in fact it was actually pretty cool!

 There were hundreds of hummingbirds zooming through the air constantly (often right past your head ha ha!).

In the Hummingbird Gardens with our wonderful tour guide Mark

Next we went on the Sky Walk, which was an easy 2 mile walk through the forest.  It took us over a series of 8 bridges - some closer to the ground, some in the middle of the trees, and others at the treetops and above.

Beautiful scenery - very green!

 This just shows a little of how the bridges were (you can see one of them passing through the trees in the distance...)

 "Hot Lips" flower 

 Lookin' totally stylish in our flashy ponchos :)  We didn't think to bring rain jackets... but at least we had these!

To Be Continued...

Pura Vida! - Part 1

This summer was the Wegner Family vacation that we do every two years.  For this vacation we were all very excited about going to Costa Rica!  We stayed at a beach resort in Playa Hermosa, Guanacaste (west coast).  

This vacation was perfect.  Having three little ones makes it difficult to go out and do a whole lot of activities, but it was perfectly fine.  We ended up doing a couple big excursions, then spent the rest of the time relaxing, enjoying the beach/pool, snorkeling, etc.  Jeff and I fell in love with Costa Rica instantly.  We already started planning our next trip :)  We fell in love with the culture, the food was delicious, cool wildlife, and beautiful scenery!  

** "Pura Vida!" is like Costa Rica's motto and describes their way of life and culture perfectly.  It's pretty much like an "it's all good," "no worries" laid back type of attitude.  There is no rush or sense of being "on time."  The people are just very friendly and laid back.  It's great :)**  

Palo Verde River Cruise:

On the boat with our awesome tour guide Mark

Kristin and I

Colson thought it was pretty fun to drive the boat :)

Brielle got to drive too!

We saw bats...

Lots of birds...

And lots of Iguanas

A beautiful Scarlet Macaw!

The first couple hours were less eventful... I think we were all starting to feel a bit disappointed, because after what we really wanted was a... Crocodile!! 

Finally... We got exactly what we wanted.  And even better than we were hoping!

Not only did we see a wild crocodile, we got up close and personal!!

Our boat driver was crazy!  We finally found this big boy and he lured him over by slapping the water and dangling a piece of trash in front of its face! 

It was an amazing experience that these pictures don't do justice... A wild crocodile was literally inches from us!  Right at the edge of the boat.  It was funny cause I was mostly watching through my camera snapping away, and then I would put down my camera and realize how close he truly was!  Ha ha.  Pretty darn awesome experience.

The croc was focused and determined to catch that piece of garbage (or maybe our drivers hand ha) and spent the next 15 to 20 minutes lunging up out of the water trying to get his target!  It was pretty crazy to watch!

Look at those teeth!

Bye Bye Croc!

 On our way home we stopped for some pictures

And enjoyed watching a bunch of Howler monkeys in the trees above us!  We also stopped at a restaurant and had a very delicious, authentic meal.  Yum.