We made it home! And I forgot to post!

It was brought to my attention I never blogged about making it home. So are you all wondering if we made it home? We  did make it home without much excitement, which was why no blog was posted. There were a couple days at the beach with some shopping included, but we again forgot to take pictures. The beach was nice, but Nicaragua had a much better beach - sorry Costa Rica! Then we headed home. I have now blogged - we made it home as planned... about months ago :-) . Pura Vida!

Next summer the blog will return - the plan is currently somewhere in South America. Probably a shorter trip, but still full of great adventures!

Costa Rica - Pura Vida!

The Ticos (people of Costa Rica) have a famous saying, "Pura Vida", it is an expression that basically means life is good no matter what happens. You ask someone how they are doing, they will respond "Pura Vida". When life is good, you celebrate by exclaiming "Pura Vida". When life is not all as it should be - "Pura Vida". Well, in the spirit of "Pura Vida", we have been having so much fun, that I only have two pictures for this blog. But Pura Vida! I know most of you don't read what I write and just look at the pictures, if that is you, this will be quick (you already stopped reading didn't you?). But for those of you who like to read the brief summary of our adventures, this one will finally have some (not much) narrative!

We arrived in Costa Rica's Monteverde on Saturday and met Nicole's parents. We did a night hike to find nocturnal wildlife. Tyler and Josiah felt it was a success, Nicole and Emma felt we could have avoided finding the three tarantulas and the most venomous snake in Costa Rica (these would have been good pictures, why didn't I bring my camera!?!?!?). We also found various bugs, birds, and a sloth!

Sunday was supposed to be two activities. The horseback ridding went great - and I even got a picture! 

All of us with our horses

Then we were supposed to go ziplining on the largest course in the Americas - including one that is over a mile long! However, a thunderstorm forced the cancellation of the adventure - literally as we were climbing the first platform with all our gear on, so close. But - you guessed it - Pura Vida! So we went shopping instead, not a bad alternative. 

Monday we went to La Fortuna where the famous volcano Arenal is located. I was in Costa Rica 14 years ago with my college (George Fox with professor Viki Defferding). It was 2005 and we went to see this volcano that always has lava flowing (an amazing site at night I'm told). But we were unable to see it because of the clouds. So when we came back on Monday I had hopes that I would finally be able to see the lava flow that I missed. We got a clear day! But, as it turns out, the lava flow stopped in 2008. So as the saying goes - Pura Vida. At least I finally got a picture of the (inactive) volcano!

Volcano Arenal

After the volcano we went on to a hotsprings. A pool that is literally heated by the volcano! The waters flow from pool to pool cooling down at each level. The waters go from scorching hot to just warm at the bottom. There is even a natural sana and water slides. The water slides were the best I have ever ridden - a few with speeds of over 25 miles per hour! Lots of fun! Oh, and the hottest pool was 152 degrees and Tyler went in over his head. Emma went in to her neck. No one else even wanted to put their toes in that water! 

Tomorrow we will head to the beach to finish our short trip to Costa Rica. Very soon our 7 weeks in Latin America will be over. I can't believe it is going so fast! (I also can't believe you are still reading, if you are, let me know on the facebook comments so I know all my work typing about our adventures was not a total waste!) Thanks for reading! and of course - Pura Vida!  

Last days in Nicaragua

Our last days in Nicaragua went fast, we can't believe it is already over. Tomorrow morning we load the bus to head to Costa Rica for a short week of tourism. But first, let me share our adventures from this week! 

Our first adventure was to go bird watching near the town. This was not Tyler and Nicole's favorite activity... but the kids loved it! They really got into all the birds and other wildlife we found. Then there was a great pool for swimming at a resort. I did not do a good job taking pictures, we only got one of Emma sleeping on dad's shoulder on the way back... long day!

Emma sleeping on dad's shoulder

The next fun activity was the zipline tour. We did much better with pictures here. There was one zipline that was almost a vertical drop! Enjoy the pictures from our trip:

The vehicle we took up to the zipline

Suited up and ready to go

Climbing to the top of the zipline platform

Josiah on the zipline

Emma on the zipline

Emma went upside down

Josiah went upside down too!

and so did Tyler!

We had lots of fun - and we didn't die!

Friday was our last day of classes, it was sad to say our final goodbyes to our teachers and hosts that were so wonderful to us the past three weeks

Group picture with all teachers and our host

We had time to make on last trip to the beach. True, we went about 5 times a week for the last three weeks... but we needed to go one last time. We made it special by renting boogie boards. They were lots of fun to ride the waves into the shore!

Three boogie boarders 

Tyler catching a wave

Josiah and Emma caught a good one! 

This brings our adventures in San Juan del Sur to a close. Tomorrow morning we head to Costa Rica and our next update will come from the land of the Ticas! Stay tuned!

Last weekend in Nicaragua

Our last weekend in Nicaragua went fast with fun activities in San Juan del Sur. First, we went horseback riding up a steep mountain. I was glad we didn't have to walk up and down, but it was sad the horses had to do all the work. But it was a fun adventure and the view at the top was worth it!

Josiah with his horse

Emma with her horse

Nicole on her horse

Tyler on his horse

All of us at the top, with the beach in the background

When we got home, our host family had their niece and nephew over to play with their daughter. Our kids joined in the fun and all five played uno together, it was lots of fun listening to these kids speak to each other in Spanish. It is amazing how much the kids are learning!

All the kids playing uno!

Sunday we went on a fishing and snorkeling adventure. It was a lot of fun and we brought home dinner! The pictures below show our adventures:

Josiah and Emma ready to head out!

Tyler and Emma getting ready to dive in!

All of us on the return trip

Josiah caught a fish!

So did Emma, she didn't want to touch it

Tyler brought one in too!

The three fisherman and fish (Nicole took the picture)

We only have 5 full days left (and a few hours on Saturday) here in Nicaragua. The time is going fast. Most of next week will be spent in classes and studying, not sure how many adventures we will have in that time to post on the blog. But Costa Rica starts Saturday and it will be full of fun adventures!

Virgen Del Carmen - The Fisherman's Saint

This week we got to see the most interesting procession I have ever seen. I have seen several processions for various saints in the various Spanish speaking countries I have visited. They have all been quite similar. But for La Virgen del Carmen - the fisherman's saint, they do something special - the image is placed on a boat and the boat goes around the waters where the fisherman fish and all the boats follow. We got to board a small boat and follow it around on its journey along with the rest of the community of San Juan del Sur.

See the image on top in gold? The man in the white shirt is looking at her

All the boats (including ours) following the image

The priest was in a boat near the big boat, but he was going around throwing candy and soda pop at the kids in  the various boats around him. Most of the time they were floating in the water and the boats would try and get to the treats first. It was lots of fun!

The next day we visited another beach. The daughter of the school director came with us, Emma had a lot of fun playing with her on the beach. The two are speaking lots of Spanish together, it is lots of fun to listen to them!

Emma taking her friend along the beach, hand in hand

The kids swam out to a nearby "island" to pose for a picture

Unfortunately, this week we also had to change host families. It was a bit unfortunate, but we packed our bags and moved three houses down to our new host family. They are wonderful! And they used to run a restaurant - so the food is excellent!

Cabbage on pork on yucca - yum!

Weekend in Ometepe Island

Friday we wrapped up our first week of classes in Nicaragua! We are learning a lot, reviewing some, and having lots of Spanish conversations. Below you can meet our teachers at our school, Spanish Ya:

Tyler with his teacher, Yoleny

Emma with her teacher, Jessica

Nicole with her teacher, Silvia

Josiah with his teacher, Maria Jose

The weekend is normally a time for fun and travel. With the crisis (read: approaching civil war if the other nations of the world do not help soon), many parts of the country are not safe to visit. So our choices are limited. But there is an island, Ometepe in the center of Lake Nicaragua. This is no small island, it was formed by two volcanoes that merged in a figure-8 shape. It has an area of approximately 107 square miles! So there was plenty to do.

Us getting ready to board the Ferry to the island

On the fairy we are approaching an active volcano! 

After arriving, with the active volcano in the background

Once on the island we settled into our hotel. With the crisis resulting in a lack of tourism, we got the entire hotel to ourselves. This included the large swimming pool and the owners agreed to cook us whatever we wanted for dinner - they even went into town to buy the ingredients we requested if they did not have them in stock! It was a great hotel - we may go back next weekend! Saturday was our tour day. We had a tour guide, Jorge, who showed us everything on the island.

Traffic on the island was a bunch of Bull... literally!

Aztec drawings

Emma found some turtles!

Carvings of the Aztec Gods

We went Kayaking - this was Nicole and Emma's Boat

Josiah had lots of fun leading Dad's boat

This was my smile before I noticed the sunburns...

One of the best treats, was getting to go to a much smaller island where Monkeys were trapped and have been thriving on the island ever since. We did not have a  place to dock, but from our boat we could feed the wild monkeys bananas. It was lots of fun!

Emma feeding the monkeys 

Josiah feeding the monkeys 

We visited a natural mineral spring called Ojo de Agua or Eye of the Waters. It was lots of fun to swim on a warm day - and now our skin is all soft! Bonus! Josiah and Emma enjoyed the Tarzan rope, Josiah jumped in much faster as the following videos show:

Josiah jumped right in

Emma took some encouragement

Kids playing in the springs

The last place we visited was called Punta Jesus Maria. This is a point that is on the edge of the island. We are here in the rainy season, but this thin bar goes out over 2 km during the dry season (April). 

The edge of the island - Punta Jesus Maria

And now we are back at home with only 2 weeks of studying and 1 week of playing left. The time is going fast. We have been away from home for 4 weeks now! Crazy how fast the time has gone and what great adventures we have had. We look forward to the next adventures in the next three weeks of Latin America!