CJ's first remembered dream

CJ woke up this morning and said, "Mama, awhile ago, last night, I had a good dream. I dreamed that I was in a race car. It was blue and I was racing you, dada and yaya. We were on the water. I won!"

It was extraordinary. CJ has never detailed his dreams before, although he's reported having bad dreams in the past (but he could not describe them).

BTW, the concept of the past still seems hard for CJ to articulate. Until recently, the past was "last night." It didn't matter when the past was (last November, yesterday, last week), it was "last night." These days, it's "awhile ago."

Howler Monkeys of Monteverde

We saw our first howler monkey during our hike to the base of the Arenal Volcano.  We saw a male howler monkey in the trees.  What was really interesting was his call, which sounds like a deep, long roar.  Howler monkeys are supposed to be the loudest of all monkeys.

We didn't see any howler monkeys in Monteverde, but we sure heard them.  Every morning, between 5:30 - 6:30am, they would begin their ritual calls from the valley.  From way up the mountain, from the balcony of our room, I could hear the howler monkeys announcing their awakening and presumably claiming their territory.

In the video below, IF you turn up your volume, you will hear a male howler monkey right at the beginning of the movie and in the middle.  The view is of Monteverde from our balcony; we were on the 8th level up the side of the mountain.  I took the video on Wednesday, August 13, at 5:42am, local Costa Rica time.

There's No Internet Today

When we go on vacation, I like to be somewhat connected to the office, but not too much.  I want the ability to check e-mail and make calls via Skype, but I don't want to feel obligated to check e-mail every day, reply to e-mails, get proposals, yada, yada.

This trip to Costa Rica was perfect because we had Internet access during the beginning and latter parts of the trip, but no Internet access in the middle.  The Internet cafe at the El Establo Mount Hotel was without access the 4 days and 3 nights we were there.  I checked with the front desk several times, and the front desk person just kept saying, "sorry, there's no Internet."  Which led CJ to announce to Maki, "there's no Internet at all" and I managed to get it on video.  

Videos from Tabacon Thermal Springs

A highlight of our trip to Costa Rica was our couple of days at Tabacon Grand Spa and Thermal Resort.  Here is a short video of one of the hot springs.  You can see the steam rising from the water, which was indeed hot.  CJ refused to go into the hot water, opting instead for the cooler pools.  I just adored the hot springs.

In one of the pools at Tabacon, there was a water slide.  Here's a video of Maki and CJ coming down the slide.  CJ loved the slide and ended up going down a bunch of times.

We Drank the Water in Costa Rica

Yep, we drank tap water in Costa Rica and didn't get sick.  We drank water from all three hotels, as well as from a roadside restaurant and didn't get sick.  The Paradisus Playa Conchal even had a sign in the bathroom that said their water is checked every week and exceeds international drinking water standards.

We did buy bottled water on occasion, especially for hikes and because Maki didn't like the taste of the tap water in at least one hotel, but it's official -- the water is safe to drink in Costa Rica.  Yee haw!

I Finally Got To Go Ziplining!

Maki and Alex went ziplining at the Selvatura nature reserve in Monteverde, while CJ, mom, dad and I visited the treetop canopy and hanging bridges.

So it was a pleasant surprise for me to learn that the Paradisus had min-ziplining over the pool. Not surprisingly, there was a waiting list and the only time slot available was 9:00am on Saturday, the morning of our departure. I really wanted to try ziplining, so I signed up. I was a little nervous, but a pair of 11-year old twins were with me and I figured that if they could be brave and zipline, so could I. Plus, their mom asked me to look after them since she was going to be waiting at the other end.

Ziplining was fun!!! This baby zipline was pretty slow since the line wasn't very steep. It took 20 minutes to get the gear on and get instructions, and 8 seconds to actually go down the line. That's me on the zipline, at right, getting splashed by a boy in the pool; it was common for the poolgoers to throw water at the zipliners. I got pretty soaked. :-)

CJ was pretty bummed that he couldn't go ziplining. He wasn't tall enough, so we promised him that he could go ziplining when he is 11. CJ: Mama, when I'm 11, will ziplining still be here in Costa Rica? Mama: Of course.

Encounters with Animals

Costa Rica is known for its wildlife and we have been lucky enough to catch sight of some of Costa Rica's wonders. Some of our sightings incude:

During the Arenal hiking trip, we saw a couple of howler monkeys in the trees. One male was even broadcasting loudly in his loud, lion-like roar. CJ called him the Monkey King.  Early mornings in Monteverde, around 5:30pm, the male howler monkeys would wake us with their roars.

At Tabacon and Playa Conchal, we saw several coatis, long, black creatures that reminded us of racoons.  We are told that they like to hang out by hotels and eat garbage.

During our boat ride on Lake Arenal, we saw plenty of birds along the shore.

During the tour of the Monteverde Reserve, we saw a black guan, a green toucan, lots of spiders and beetles.  

We also saw a toucan at Tabacon, close to the restaurant aptly named Los Tucanes, and toucans at a roadside restaurant.

On the road to Guanacaste, we spotted a two-toed sloth in the trees, a couple of white-faced monkeys, and lizards. 

At Playa Conchal, foot-long lizards are everywhere.