Monday, January 31, 2011

Costa Rica- days 1 - 2 ish.

Our blessed land has been . . . blessed . . . with a storm which has blown away the toxic air (temporarily), which means I am no longer grouchy, so I can finally update my blog with happy pictures.

So without further ado, here is a recap of our first few days in Costa Rica:

We had to fly on 4 different airplanes before we arrived in Costa Rica (oh, the joys of flying standby), so the first night of our trip was spent in the Washington DC/Dulles airport like this:


and this:13 hour layovers are not fun. Especially if your next flight leaves at 6:30 a.m.

Needless to say, once we arrived, we didn't have much energy to go see many sites. So we hung out around the house and played Foosball while the girls pretended to be beautiful mermaids.


The next day, we drove to La Paz Waterfall Gardens. Here are some pictures of some stuff we saw:

Fog (on the drive up there):

Bamboo.
Toucans (and many other birds). I actually held it on my arm and fed it some fruit. It was pretty freaking cool:
Butterflies:
A pretty jaguar:
...who clearly did not like it when my mom meowed at him:
Coati (they were really cute and they let us feed them):
Darling little frogs:
So darling, in fact, that they get 3 more pictures.

Awwww.

And of course, waterfalls:
We also saw monkeys, a puma, lots of hummingbirds, macaws, and we drank fresh dulce agua (and met the cow who so generously donated her milk for that tasty drink).

After we spent a few hours there, we were on our way back to my bro's house.

Traffic was as slow as a herd of cows. Oh wait- traffic was a herd of cows. Hm...


So... that wraps it up for days 1-2. Up next- more waterfalls and some zip lining! WOO HOO!

13 comments:

Schwartz Family said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Schwartz Family said...

I was tempted to not leave a comment and just hate you and be jealous in silence but I decided that you should know how I really feel!

P.S. I love the pic of you and the butterfly

Kristin said...

Oh, I'm happy to see your post and pictures. I am very envious of your trip. Or maybe I'm not, since I am still glad that you went. I just wanted to go too.

That picture of you with the butterfly is great. So I look forward to your next installment.

the mom said...

Yeah! A costa rica post!

I was having a great time with Brandon and family, but it just multiplied by 10 when you arrived. It was so amazing to have all of us together.

Your standby saga was not jealousy-inducing... but I'm happy you made the journey.

La Paz was wonderful. Sure wish I'd gotten a pic of you with the toucan - stupid people who jumped right in front of my camera as soon he hopped on your arm...

Looking forward to the next post.

Meeeooowww!!!!

Ashley Rae said...

Yes, it was SO much fun to have the whole family there... it needs to be an annual or at least a biennial thing.

We suggested to Brandon that, once we move up to Seattle, he can just go to Canada to visit us (so he doesn't use up his U.S. time) and we can meet up in Victoria...or something :)

Raising Helm said...

Sigh! that is so relaxing...well the thought of drinking deliciousness and being surrounded by the beauty of nature. airport and fatigue? not so much.

Sarah said...

oh yay! i have been on pins and needles waiting to hear about your trip! i can't wait to read all the details.

i'm so glad you had so much fun. can't wait to read more!!

are there any future posts about justin's issues with costa rican toilets? :-)

Michelle said...

Gorgeous! Sorry to hear of your yucky flight problems...but your pictures show that it was more than worth it.

Love it all, especially the big kitty kat and those birds and butterflies.

Ashley Rae said...

You know, Sarah- we actually didn't spend much time in San Jose, so we didn't have to worry about the toilets very much (since that non-flushing tp rule seems to mainly apply there). Only once or twice. And he kept his complaints to himself, surprisingly enough. Haha!

Jennifer said...

Beautiful photos Ashley! I especially like the frog photos and that beautiful butterfly on your finger. :)

Sara B. Larson said...

ACK - SO JEALOUS!!!

That is all. Just jealous.

Also, wow that place is gorgeous.

Anonymous said...

I love that picture of you with the butterfly! Hello new Facebook profile picture:)

Brandon said...

Oh, such fun memories!!! Thank you for posting these great pictures - I especially loves the ones of the frogs and butterflies. I'm definitely looking forward to the next time we can all get together.