This is the second time that I’ve joined the Sparks on an adventure in a far off land. The first was June, 2004, when we met in Tanzania, Africa, for a hike up Kilimanjaro followed by some safaris. For this go around, we wanted something exotic, but accessible. So, Costa Rica naturally came to the top of the list. Lots of wildlife, volcanoes, jungles, beaches, and even the same time zone as home!

Witt and Jen rented a simple house with plenty of bedrooms and a great view of San Jose. You could watch the airplanes take off and land from SJO!

View of San Jose.

Sunsets were spectacular!

On the first day we tried to visit a former military prison that was converted into a children’s museum. Unknown to us at the time, it was Mother’s Day in Costa Rica, and all the museums were closed.

Museo de los niños

This of course lead to some unhappy children!

No museum!

You can fix that by chasing pigeons!

The second day I wanted to see a volcano! Apparently Witt has a job on his permanent vacation, so he didn’t join us for this day trip.

All work and no play make Witt a dull boy.

So, we loaded up the van and headed up the hill to the Poas Volcano. We needed gas in the van and decided to follow the first Gasolineria sign that we saw. Little did we know that it was 4Km down the road. I tried my best navigating on the iPad, however my skills were not as good as Jen’s. We did eventually find the gas station, which was a good thing as we did not see one for the rest of the trip up the volcano. At the gas station, Jen let me in on a secret that she didn’t know how to open the gas tank! The volcano was very cloudy, but occasionally you could catch a glimpse of the lake in the caldera. Afterwards we had a nice hike in the rain back to the van. Luckily, we missed the heavy downpours!

A glimpse into the volcano!

On the third day we headed south to Quepos. We rented a car from the landlord, and we fit right in on the Costa Rican roads! The drive down to the Pacific coast was uneventful. The crocs that are visible from a bridge made for a good rest stop. We waited in town and had a late lunch until it was check-in time at the rental house. I’ll let you guess the first thing we did!

Can’t resist this after a 3 hour drive!

The rental house was great. Good views, the pool, a nice kitchen and even air conditioned bedrooms! We spent a good bit of time just relaxing, drinking, reading, building Legos, and playing Minecraft. One of the main attractions of Quepos is its proximity to Manuel Antonio National Park. We spent a day walking through the park and hanging on the beach. The amount of wildlife that you can see in such a short distance is amazing. We saw monkeys, snakes, deer, woodpeckers, toucans, humans, raccoons, frogs, sloth and lizards.

View of the Pacific Ocean through the rain forest.

Playa Hermosa beach at Manuel Antonio National Park

Jamie, Taylor and myself are not really water people…

For the last day in Quepos, Witt and I went in search of Mountain Bikes to rent.

These aren’t the bikes we’re looking for…

So, we ended up with a kayak and boat trip through a mangrove swamp. By luck, the weather was the best we had while visiting Quepos. It was a perfect day to be on a boat. We got to see quite a few different birds, a snake, a croc, and a few monkeys.

I’m on a boat!

Boat ride for 3!

It was a great trip and good to spend time with the Sparks on the road again. Perhaps we’ll join for another adventure a little further south…

Rolling down the road.