See and hear the volcanic activity of Rincon de la Vieja National Park: And hear the sounds of the jungle:

“You damn dirty apes, where the hell are you? I can hear your barks, now show yourselves!” I shouted in the middle of the Rincon de la Vieja National Park. When you look at the travel brochures and books for Costa Rica you always see photos of cute monkeys. Okay, so we came to Costa Rica, now where are these promised monkeys? I have only seen monkeys in zoos, and that one sad monkey locked in a cage in the jungle outside Puerto Vallarta, but I »

If you find yourself in the far northwest corner of Costa Rica in the Guanacaste Province and need something to do, as we did, the guide books will tell you to go check out Santa Rosa National Park. So, we did. Costa Rica does not currently have a military, but they have battled invading armies. And each time they met the invaders, it happened at the location of the Santa Rosa National Park. The first time was in 1856 when an ambitious American, William »

We have been to zero star zombie hotels; a creepy hotel that is basically dead and so run down that it is kept alive by some sort of unnatural means and just needs that one last proverbial bullet through its brain to finish it off. We have been to 5 star plastic resorts; a luxurious oasis in a foreign country that guarantees the guest all of the comforts of home and will be safely kept hidden away in an isolated bubble away from the third world scariness »

As I fell from the Tarzan Swing tower, I had to wonder. What exactly did they mean when they yelled, “Not yet, don’t go!” The grand finale of the zip line canopy tour at Selvatura Park in Costa Rica’s Monteverde Cloud Forest was the Tarzan Swing. As we hiked along the jungle trail after the last zip line section everyone in our small group wondered what the details of this final adventure would entail. The guides had told us that the swing »

Let me just say that I have a fear of heights. Not the type of fear that makes you ball up into a fetal position crying for your mommy, but a fear none the less. Maybe fear is the wrong word. Men are not supposed to fear anything, so let’s just say that I have a serious respect for the affects of gravity on the human body from a high elevation. Yes, that sounds better. So when Kerri suggested that we go zip lining in Monteverde it sounded like a »

Upon waking from a brief nap and still feeling the effects of a long sleepless flight from the night before, I didn’t want to do anything but go back to sleep. I am not the most pleasant person to be around when sleep deprived and according to my daughter I sound like, “Rar, Rar, Rar” when in that state. But the best cure for jetlag is fresh air and sunshine, plus we were only going to be in Monteverde for one night and wanted to make the best »

After a long sleepless red eye flight we landed in Costa Rica’s capital, San Jose. San Jose is a big crowded city with your usual big city entertainment, drugs, prostitutes, and debauchery. Since we were visiting Costa Rica for other purposes, mainly an educational family vacation, we went straight to pick up our car rental to head to the Monteverde Cloud Forest for our first night’s stay. At the rental car counter the guy suggested we opt for »

Choosing between having our 6-year old daughter learn about the Costa Rican rainforest by watching episodes of Dora the Explorer on TV, or to experience it in person was an easy one. Let’s go to Costa Rica! With our airline tickets purchased, various lodgings and a 4-wheel drive rental car reserved, we will be leaving next month for a 12 day tour of Costa Rica, and possibly a side trip into Nicaragua. We are very excited about this fun and very »