Everyday Favre: Ticos and More

After a night of rest, we were ready to start our adventures and get to know Costa Rica. One morning we were up bright and early to meet our guide, Francisco, and visit the Danaus Eco-center about 25 min from the hotel. Francisco was not only an amazing guide who told us about the country, the plants and animals, but also spoke near-perfect English. We learned the most from him because there was less of a language barrier. During the tour, we saw a sloth "slothing" in a tree, many native plants and animal species, but the most exciting thing for Keira was going through the butterfly garden. I must admit, I have an unhealthy and irrational fear of butterflies, but think I handled myself pretty well so as to not spoil the experience for Keira. She spent a good amount of time trying to catch the creatures and coaxing them to land on her finger. That didn't work out so well, but she got some great photos on her very own camera. Keira was quite the photographer during this trip.

Family photo at the Danaus EcoCenter

Sloth bottom while he/she "sloths" around doing nothing

Hard to tell, but little ants hard at work under the leaves

Beautiful butterfly

A photo of our budding photographer

Taking a little rest after our tour

Following the tour, Francisco was kind enough to take us through the town of Fortuna so we could go to the market and get a little snack before lunch. We went to a little shop called Cosecha. They made the best smoothies. The Ticos, aka the locals, called the drinks milkshakes, but they were more like smoothies. They were delicious and not as thick as American milkshakes. They were the best smoothies I've ever had. If you're ever in Costa Rica and come across a Cosecha, definitely stop in. There are flavors you'll never get in the U.S. that were absolutely delicious! Anyway, we loaded up on snacks and drinks from the market and headed back to the hotel for lunch and a leisurely afternoon and evening of swimming and hanging out in the hot springs.

Our private, little pool

Keira and I saying "hi" to Mark from the main pool

Going behind the waterfall

Learning ping pong in the game room

The following is a video of Keira jumping in the little pool. She did this in every pool. Normally she's a little timid in the water, but with her back float and goggles she was fearless. She was tireless and probably ran and jumped in the water at least a million times.

Another day I woke up, worked out in the fitness center, enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with Mark and Keira and then we all journeyed to the rainforest and took a gondola ride up to the top of one of the mountains. The views of the volcano and Lake Arenal were phenomenal. If we could've, we would've loved to try the zip lines, but had a great time watching the other visitors crossing valleys and going down the mountainside. Maybe someday!