Pura Vida

There is no other way to describe it. I have been mulling on my keypad at how to start this post, but Bliss, Stress Free, Relaxed, Perfect, none of them apply. Pura Vida. Meaning  Pure Life.

That sums up our family trip to Costa Rica. This was one of those 'impromptu' plans, well sort of! Over facetime we spoke to cousins and were like, oh wow the girls have spring break together! What are the chances. I followed by, oh you guys are thinking of Costa Rica? Why Not?

Done Sealed. Two days later 6+1 infant plane tickets bought.

The relaxed nature of this planning also resulted in the relaxed nature of our trip. A friend of mine had a detailed post on her trip, another friend had made a trip a month ago. Done. So that was our starting point.

Costa Rica is one trip which needs detailed blogs per me. So, I am hoping to split this post into our highlights.

Here are our broad itinerary of the trip

Total : 10 days

Nuevo Arenal: 1 night

Arenal: 3 nights

Monte Verde: 2 nights

Guancaste: 3 nights

South Beach Miami: 1 night

We landed in Liberia and it was HOT as hell. 97 F hell. Coming from 25F of Chicago, this was a shock, a pleasant shock. Within 30 minutes of us landing we were in shorts, flip flops, hats, sun glasses. I was annoyed at myself for asking for AC after the Chicago Winter, but two sweaty kids and a cranky me= recipe for disaster.

After car rental, I heard a growl and realised its my stomach. We drove to a wonderful Tiki joint en route and had the local food: Casado

My daughter was amazed at my Spanish: No Huevo and No Carne! But the result was a super helpful cook who stopped by our table, understood our food preference and got the first delicious meal on the table.

I knew then, this will be one delicious trip!

The people in Costa Rica are just wonderful, smiling, helpful, kind and above all always willing to adjust and make you comfortable. This trip, we did the non-resorty experience. We wanted to get the cultural experience have the girls see local life, places and understand the subtle true living of other countries.

And trust me, thats what Pura Vida is all about..