Honeymoon '09: Costa Rica

I am now in Nosara, Costa Rica at the Harmony Hotel and loving it.  Before writing about the hotel and my experiences so far, I would like to dedicate a post to the week Adam and I spent traveling in Costa Rica. We were so busy I did not have time to blog much, but I did take a lot of pictures. We had an awesome trip together and were sad to say goodbye and see our adventure end. 

We spent the first few days in and around San Jose. Then we went to Manuel Antonio, a beach town on the Central Pacific Coast. After that we headed across the country to the Carribean Coast and spend some time in the jungle. Below are some photo highlights:

We decided to treat ourselves to a nice lunch on our first full day in Costa Rica. I ordered the Chef's special fish and Adam ordered the Chef's special pasta. Both were recommended by our waiter. Both of our meals were covered in a creamy orange sauce that was very sweet and kind of disgusting. I ate what I could, Adam finished the rest, and then we asked the waiter what was in the sauce. White Wine. Ketchup. Mayonnaise. I didn't have high hopes for Costa Rican food and I had dinner at Subway.

We took a couple trips into San Jose. It is a busy capitol. I don't have many good or bad things to say -- it was cleaner than I expected but there was a bad homeless problem. It was fast paced and busy but easy to navigate. I took this photo right before a huge rainstorm.

Our friends Phil & Sarah our working at an orphanage outside of San Jose. We visited Volcan Paos (see previous entry) and were able to see right into the crater.

When we arrived in Manuel Antonio we were greeted by a very beautiful sunset!

We stayed at Arenas del Mar in Manuel Antonio. The same company that manages Harmony Hotel manages this property so they hooked us up with a pretty sweet room. It had a jacuzzi so Adam and I were just brushing our teeth before taking a dip.

Adam loves his boots and carried them around everywhere. I was almost jealous.

We visited my friend Erica who is working at Arenas del Mar. She loves the little hermit crabs.

We really enjoyed the beaches, as these next three photos shows. The first two pictures were taken in Manuel Antonio National Park. 

This was a tiny, secluded beach that required some hiking to access. We were there early in the morning and it was breathtaking.
Quality time on the beach.

 
We spent the weekend in Tortuguero with Sarah & Phil. Tortuguero is on the Northern Carribean coast, in the middle of the jungle. It is a charming place with no roads and not much else to do beside explore the canals, hike in the jungle looking for birds and monkey, and enjoy Creole cooking. It was a great time!