Pura Vida- Costa Rica

After 10 days away from home it's kind of bitter sweet to be back. We had a blast in Costa Rica and were able to see some incredible sights! We flew out of Denver and therefore had to enjoy a lovely 8 hour drive to Colorado before we started our actual vacation. Once we arrived in San Jose the hot humid air quickly engulfed us and we ditched our jackets right off the bat. Since we arrived on a Sunday we thought it would be appropriate to find the temple and walk around. Little did we know it would take us over 2 hours to find it and about 10 people to give us directions. But it was completely worth it and Matt even sweet talked the guard to let us walk around the grounds.

We stopped to eat at the Denver Hard Rock Cafe the night before we left. This is us in front of a Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) outfit....I was trying to imitate him.

The beautiful small San Jose Temple

To officially start off our spring break we decided to do a little white-water river rafting. The other couple we went with (Bryson and Kristy) are way into rafting and were determined to do nothing less than class 5 rapids. Needless to say I thought I would pee my pants but the river wasn't too bad and the water was pretty warm!

Bryson, Kristy, me, Matt

This is the river that we faced...

Our guide named Rambo showed us Costa Rica's "tattoo plant"

One of our guides had this snack table set up when we were done

Part II

After river rafting we hit the beach for the next 3 days. We spent hours and hours boogie boarding on some awesome waves. After those 3 days were up we were glad to move on to a more cloudy area...our sunburns kicked in on about the second day. On our way from one beach to another we came across the famous bridge that is home to many alligators. We fed them my left over roll, but decided to get some real food. After a quick stop to the store we came back with some ham. But little did we know that some tour guide would already be there lowering chicken down... the alligators when wild!

My adventurous hubby ending the day after being in the water too long.

The famous Crocks...we counted at least 24 on our side of the bridge!

We took our rental car for a little off-roading up a hillside to over look the ocean. As you can tell Costa Rica is in its "dry" season.

Costa Rican sunset at our favorite beach

Our next stop was in La Fortuna, home of the Arenal Volcano. We enjoyed hiking down to La Fortuna waterfall and exploring the dense jungle. We also joined some locals down under a bridge where some awesome hot springs are found. To end our journey in Costa Rica we headed over to Monteverde and experienced our very first canopy tour. This included 15 zip-lines, rappelling, and a gigantic Tarzan swing.

The incredible La Fortuna waterfall

Local Hot Springs....amazing!

Arenal Volcano

Tree House Cafe. Way sweet restaurant that has a tree in the center and you sit up in the branches.

Our lovely zip-line attire. Our canopy tour was amazing and we had some incredible views as we zipped over jungle valleys.