I started 2008 off with a quick trip to Costa Rica with the Sklovens. We had only about 9 days, 7 with the parents and the last two by ourselves. We met up in San Jose, spent a few days up in the mountains (and the rain) and then headed for some sun on the Penensula de Nicoya on the Pacific Coast. It was a nice relaxing trip, just the way to start off the new year.

We started the trip off with an amazing day of whitewater rafting on the Rio Pacuare in central Costa Rica. The entire trip was through nearly untouched forests and featured class IV rapids. We had a great guide, which was nice since not all of us were strong paddlers. Unfortunately it rained most of the trip, but I guess we were going to get wet anyway. Halfway through the trip we pulled over to an old farmhouse and the guides threw on some chef's hats and whipped us up a great meal.

The next stage of our trip was a couple of days up near the Arenal Volcano. Again, we saw lots of rain and nevery really got a good view of the volcano. We did get a couple wet days of hiking in and a trip to the hot springs. In future I would definitely NOT visit Arenal, not because of the rain, but because it is completely overrun with tourists. It might as well be run by Disney.

After a few days of rain I was ready to head over to the beach for some sun, but not everybody was ready for the ride over there in a small six passenger plane. We had a nice does of turbulence and some of us really had a workout gripping their seats. It was a great opportunity to see a big chunk of the country. From the takeoff and landing pictures you can really see how much the weather changed, even though it was a very short flight.

We landed in beautiful sunny weather in the very small town of Punta Islita on the Pacific Coast. The town is built around the Punta Islita Resort, where we stayed. This resort is known throughout Costa Rica as being one of the most responsable. Almost everyone who works ther is local, and the resort does a lot of good work in the surrounding town. It was also beautiful and completely relaxing. We did lots of lying around on the beach, ate some good meals, and were pretty much pampered. This is the kind of place I would only go with parents, but it was fun!

We did manage to fit in some activities while at Punta Islita. Here are some pictures of us doing a zipline through the jungle:

We also enjoyed seeing some of the local wildlife. Iguanas were everywhere!

Well, eventually the parents had to head back to Arizona. Something about work I guess... Anyway, we got kicked out of the resort and headed up to a local town called Playa Samara, just 30 minutes away, where we went back to our usual traveling style. we did managed to find a great little place on a nice beach, with lots of bars and fun things to do. We spent the first day doing some kayaking out along the reef. The second day we rented some surf boards.

Everynight the surf teachers and local guys had a free-for-all soccer game on the beach. During the day this old guy and a couple young kids rode their horses up and down the beach giving people rides.

Here are a few classic Costa Rican sunset shots...

...and a few pictures I took at sunrise on the last morning.