costa rica {things}
September 19, 2012 Besides shooting the wedding, I rarely broke out my camera to snap photos. Most of the photos happened in the last 2 days of our trip after leaving the villa where the wedding was.
fancy cameras + humidity + beach + sand + pool water + open bar 24/7 = a disaster waiting to happen
Here are a few random things I captured on my phone throughout the trip along with a few little tidbits from our adventure.
Getting to Costa Rica goes down as the craziest day of travel ever.
Things of note, but not everything…
- leaving fort collins at 3:40am and running late
- missing baggage check in by 2 minutes at 4:45am
- running with a ridiculously heavy camera gear bag on my back + full sized suit case at 4:47am
- stuffing our full-sized suitcases through the x-ray machine in hopes of gate checking them at 4:50am
- arriving in Dallas with a substantial delay and a final announcement of our plane being “retired”
- 5 minutes out from the Liberia airport in CR when the plane abruptly changes from landing to taking back off
- crazy turbulence
- 10 minutes later the pilot tells us he had to pull up to dodge an earthquake [a few days prior, Costa Rica had a 7.6 mag earthquake that luckily was deep into the earth and miraculously caused minimal damage…there have been around 2,000 aftershocks since]
- also dodged was an active volcano spewing ash 34,000 feet into the air
- the bride + groom were on our flight sitting across the aisle from us
- we land in Managua, Nicaragua to wait things out
- 5.6 earthquake – thankfully, all was okay
- headed back to Liberia
- luggage was there
- shuttle was there
- all was good
The villa.
Typical happenings Saturday –> Thursday with our group of 35. We were the only ones staying on the grounds that week. Pretty spectacular. It’s the “green” season [very wet] in the area where we were so travel really dies down during this time of the year. A lot of hotels + restaurants even close for a few weeks or longer.
A little gem in Tamarindo where we spent 2 nights before departing.
No shortage of vibrant color.
Tacos are not typical in Costa Rica. It was actually really hard to find authentic food beyond gallo pinto. So hard in fact that the gallo pinto was the only authentic food we had.
But these tacos were just perfect.
The guacamole was my favorite of all time.
My friend Sarah took this photo. We don’t know who wrote Costa Rica in the sand, but I love this shot.
Fresh lychees rambutans. Thanks to a commenter for pointing this out! The fruit inside is similar but the exterior shell is not.
Scary looking but sweet + juicy.
There’s that color again.
Good morning.
El perro.
The guy I like.
Hydration.
Just one cup.
Every single day.
The usual for breakfast.
Gallo Pinto + deliciously fresh eggs
Minus the mayonnaise and add a HUGE stack of fruit. Why I have no photos of the fruit is beyond me. Oh wait I know why…because it never lasted more than 1.3 seconds on my plate. Mayonnaise is a big thing in Costa Rica. I am baffled.
Fried plantains.
Fried plantains…
Mini ambulance.
There are no addresses in Costa Rica.
Okay, we heard there are some address but no one uses them.
ALL directions are by landmark. No joke.
“Turn right at the first street you see and drive until you see the green sign. Then turn left and drive for about 20 minutes until you see the gas station. Then turn right and drive until you get there.”
There are a lot of signs with arrows.
Turn left!
The sign that vacation is over.
The dogs stayed at a farm/dog kennel for over a week and were covered in dust + 5 shades lighter when I picked them up.
Kenna was not pleased during outdoor bath time.
Dakota was also not a fan.
This week you will find me back in the thick of doughnutting, trying to get over a travel bug, and swooning over the almost fall-like weather. It’s good to be back!
Ashley
I’ve caught up on comments + emails but if for some reason you asked a question and didn’t get a response please feel free to send it again! Sorry if it was missed!
Reader Comments (35)
Sorry, don't wanna be a know-it-all, but the crazy pink thingy is actually a rambutan and not a lychee ;) it is my most favorite fruit ever!
@Jenny - YES!! That is awesome. Actually, by the end of the trip I kind of fell in love with that quirk in Costa Rica.
hahaha - Dakota looks soooo embarrassed! Maizey gets that same face!
two, WOW! when you said crazy day of travel you MEANT it! glad the trip was still fun :)
I'm a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo (west Africa) and mayonnaise is big here too! People loooove it and normal street food fare includes mamas selling loaves of bread and spreading mayo (or sometimes margarine) allll over it. Yum, right?
Same with addresses- the moto men in my village all know to pick me up/drop me off on the road next to the two big mango trees. Ohhh the developing world...
Costa Rica looks incredible. Sounds like a great time, despite the getting-there hiccups!
@Maija - That is TOO funny. Thank you for sharing. So strange about the mayo thing. They definitely used margarine as well. By the end of the trip I kind of liked the direction system. It felt so simple and seemed to work! It definitely made you LOOK and notice things and not just pay attention to GPS directions.
@Jessica - I should have said "I didn't take many photos in comparison to my usual amount." This is actually not a lot at all. I've always been photo crazy.
@Angela - The crazy travel day makes for such a fun story to tell! I hope you make it to CR sometime!
@Ilan - I'm not sure of the type of rice but it's their traditional "gallo pinto" dish that I mentioned in the post. It was fantastic!
@CourtStar - We didn't get to any of the volcanoes but are hoping to go back at some point and check them out!
@Deva - Yes! The photos will be up whenever I get around to editing them. :) I'll post a link on here letting everyone know when they're up on the photography site. Thanks!!
Also, mayo with gallo pinto? Are you sure it wasn't sour cream, sour cream IS a big thing down here.