Warmth of the sun

It's hard to believe that in just 24 hours it will be 90° colder than the weather in Sámara. Our two week adventure is coming to an end. Thanks to all of you who have been following along as the audience is what makes it worth finding wifi and trying to keep this going. 

Our final adventure was mostly just relaxing at the beach and pool. Dean went for his first and only run of the trip while the girls and I took a really awesome horseback ride with our friendly guide, Luis. It was just us and we hit the beach and the mountain top for some great views. We also saw a monkey family along the way. We really enjoyed the ride and interestingly enough, Luis managed to pick horses to match our personalities. Maia road Negro who didn't particularly like Blanco who I rode and who led the pack. Morgan road Pinta who was basically content with whatever. Luis took up the rear with his horse Pedro. There were a couple of times that Negro tried to take a bite out of Blanco who bucked but nobody was thrown. Maia and I have ridden enough that I wasn't too worried and she did fine. They also took off in a full on cantor at one point as if to race each other. It was nice to get a chance to ride at full speed again as it had been years for me and was a relatively new experience for Maia. Morgan trotted along happily with only a short cantor for her first time. Our final pictures are highlights along the way. I have to say horseback riding and ziplining with Maia were really highlights of my time in Costa Rica. These are a couple of those mother-daughter moments that remind me how lucky I am to have my girls and such great opportunities to share with them. Enjoy!

Long day, good times

We had a great last day in Monteverde. Maia and I went ziplining and Dean and Morgan went on an ATV tour. The ziplines were awesome. I wish we would have had a helmet cam. We went with
Adventure tours and I couldn't count the total number of lines they had but two of them were so long and high up that Maia and I had to ride as a double because she was too light and would have gotten stuck part way through. At the very end she chose to do the tarzan swing which is a 30 meter drop and then swing, a fancy name for what turns out to be bungee jumping. It was quite the adrenal rush for her. Here's the video of her jump. I couldn't get many pictures on the zip line but I bought them at the end so I can add them once I get to a computer where they can be uploaded.

Dean and Morgan enjoyed their tour as well. Morgan rode behind the guide much of the time as the terrain was uneven enough that it was safer with him than with Dean. Towards the end she got to drive in an open field which I think was her favorite part.

After returning to the hotel we headed in to town to grab some lunch at the treehouse restaurant.

Later that afternoon we began our long ride to the beach where we are spending our last couple of days. There were some animals such as monkeys, toucans, other birds and a variety of interesting sittings along our way. 

About an hour after our arrival in Sámara we were picked up to head to Ostional Wildlife Refuge. It's a reserve where they protect turtle nesting. It was about 9 pm when we headed out to the beach to see literally hundreds of large lora turtles. The process takes about an hour as they come to shore, find a spot they like, dig a hole, lay their eggs, cover the hole, compact the sand down so you would never know they had been there, and then turn around to return to the ocean. They lay between 80-120 eggs each the size of a golf ball. It was really cool to watch despite how tired we were. Unfortunately in the dark with only the red flashlight of the guide we couldn't take any pictures so you'll just have to trust me on the cool factor.

We returned to the hotel about 11pm, exhausted, a bit hungry, but happy nonetheless.