Montezuma, Costa Rica - Days 14 & 15

Sunday, February 24

Hola from Montezuma! Today is our first full day in this new-to-us town, located on the southern coast of the Nicoya Peninsula. It’s nuts how we didn’t see anything but the smallest Costan Rican villages during our four-hour drive yesterday, and then BAM! At the end of the highway is this vibrant town full of restaurants, bars and hotels. So you mean to tell me all these people traveled on that bumpy, dirt road to get here?! It’s true Montezuma is a bit of challenge to get to, but it’s clearly a destination for tourists and expats alike.

We’re only spending two days in this area, so Andi and I made a list of must-do activities here and planned our schedule accordingly. First up, the Montezuma Waterfalls. This is one of the most popular attractions in town, so we decided to get an early jump on it to avoid the crowds and the heat of the afternoon.

I’m reading a book called Dear Bob & Sue about a couple who visits all 58 United States national parks and in the book, the author shares his tell-tale sign for gauging how close he is to the parking lot during any given hike: Spotting a fresh-faced family with children bouncing and twirling happily while the smiling parents look on & seem to say, “Isn’t this wonderful? How great is this family adventure we’re taking today!”

That was us. We were the fresh-faced family with happy children beginning a walk through the dry tropical forest.

It’s been hard to judge the difficulty of these waterfall hikes based on online reviews. Most reviews for the Belen Waterfalls in Samara said the hike was “moderate” and recommended hiking shoes and a 4x4 vehicle to get there. We found that trail to be easy to navigate, even for our kids. So you can probably guess where I’m going with this, right? All the reviews for the Montezuma Waterfalls said the trail an “easy 20-minute walk along the riverbed,” but I wouldn’t have called it easy by any means. There were tons of tree roots to step over and several small streams to navigate by jumping from rock to rock. It wasn’t hard for Andi and I, but it was like an outdoor climbing gym for Tory and Aden and definitely proved to be challenging in some spots.

We finally reached the lower waterfalls, all hot and sweaty, about 40 minutes later. There were several groups of people already there and a few people jumping from the rocks along the cliff. There are actually three different waterfalls, but the middle and upper waterfalls require more strenuous hiking to access and we knew that wasn’t in the card for our kids.

We cooled off in the refreshing pool of water below the falls and watched others climb and jump off the rocks. I’m always a little leery getting into the water in places like this, but the bottom seemed fairly flat and shallow where we were.

A little while later Aden said he was hungry, so we decided to make the walk back to our car. It’s a dangerous thing, hiking over lunchtime. About 10 minutes into our walk, Aden tripped over a tree root, then firmly sat down in the dirt and refused to walk any further. I tried to carry him, but it was hard to see where to navigate the uneven terrain with him in my arms. I made him walk which made him whimper and whine ever more loudly for the rest of the way. He wasn’t hurt, but he was hot, lazy and hungry. We all were by this point. Eventually we reached the parking lot a lot less cheery than when we left it. In the name of time and quickness, we opted to eat lunch at a Mediterranean restaurant within walking distance of the falls parking lot.

Aden proceeded to whine for the next 30 minutes until our food arrived. Fun times.

Our meal at Puggy’s was excellent though. I had a fresh green salad, the kids had homemade chicken tenders and French fries, and Andi ordered wings. Andi and I also shared a hummus plate with fresh focaccia bread. Oh my gosh, it was good! We stopped for ice cream afterward since we were in town, and well… why not, right? Is it bad we sat indoors? The air-conditioning felt so good — it was hot outside! Tory discovered her new favorite ice cream flavor: dulce de leche.

One last stop by the Super for bread, meat and veggies and then we headed back to Casa Del Rio (our airbnb) for a quick reprieve. The kids cooled off in the pool and I caught up on blogging.

On our way into Montezuma yesterday, we passed by a fair going on in the nearby town of Cobano. The kids were so excited to ride carnival rides, so we promised we’d go back and see if it was still happening. During our quick 10 minute drive to Cobano, we watched the sunset from our road. Beautiful.

The fair was still happening from what we could see, so we parked the car along the side of the road and walked in. Attending a local event like this one is completely out of our comfort zone — we were clearly the only tourists there and all the signs were in Spanish making it difficult to figure out what to do. That didn’t deter us though. All the locals kept to themselves, and we never felt unsafe.

The kids decided they wanted to ride rides first, so Andi gave the lady in the ticket booth 6,000 colones, which is equivalent to $10 US, and she provided him with 5 green plastic tokens. We weren’t sure if one green token was good for one ride, but we figured it out by walking up to the attendant and handing him one. He took it and let Tory pass through the gate. One more token and Aden hopped the ride, too.

Same, same, but different. What’s so interesting is that people are people no matter where you are. Being at this fair in rural Costa Rica felt exactly like attending the Turtle Lake Country Fair by the cabin. The only difference was the signs were in Spanish.

The kids rode the Ferris wheel, drove the bumper cars, and flew in an airplane ride that took them up and down. We walked through the vendor aisle next to see if there was anything cool or different, but it was mostly clothes for sale and household items. Last, we grabbed an ice cream treat for the kids and Andi and I had grilled meat on a stick for dinner.

It was fun to check out this local event and made me really miss summertime back home!

Monday, February 25

I woke up early this morning to blog and workout before everyone else in the house got going this morning. We planned to drive to Mal Pais and Santa Teresa today, so we wanted to hit the road early and make the most of our last day in this area. Andi had breakfast waiting for me when I finished - what a treat!

We left for Mal Pais shortly afterward and followed a dirt road that wrapped along the coastline on our 45 minute drive there. We stopped a beautiful beach on the way, just to take in the sight. The beaches are much different in this area of the Nicoya Peninsula — more rocky, but still beautiful. On the way, Tory journaled from the back seat about her experience at the fair last night.

Our first stop in Mal Pais was a beach called Playa Cuevas, known for its white sand and excellent snorkeling. We found a shady spot under a tree and set up shop for the next hour. Tory build a sandcastle and Andi and Aden explored the rocks and tide pools for creatures. Aden made his own fishing pole from a stick and a leaf, and was determined to catch a fish in the ocean.

We played on the beach for an hour or so, and then packed it up to grab lunch in Santa Teresa. We’d heard about some awesome tide pools near Manzanillo Beach in Santa Teresa and low tide was at 1:30pm, so we were on a schedule to get there at the right time.

We searched for something fast for lunch and decided on the Taco Corner in Santa Teresa. It was a small place with a big menu. Andi ordered a tuna poke bowl, Aden had homemade chicken tenders, Tory a hamburger, and I ordered the chicken tacos. A bus must have let off as soon as we placed our order because the outdoor restaurant was suddenly packed with 20-year-olds. There were three long tables in the restaurant and Tory and Aden were appalled that they’d have to scooch over to allow other people to sit down next to them. The horror! We were all squeezed in like sardines and the service was sub-par, but the food was excellent. Tory had a Fresca in a glass bottle and it completely blew her mind!

Ziploc bags are the latest fashion accessory, don’t ya know?! ! I didn’t bring a purse on this trip because we typically carry a backpack and Andi has his wallet to pay for things, so this plastic bag has become my way of transporting my phone, the camera and any charging cords. Hey, it works!

After lunch, we set off to find the tide pools near Manzanillo Beach. There was no real “destination” so we parked our SUV on the side of the road next to one of the bigger tide pools we saw and walked down to the beach to check it out.

The four of us walked along the rocks searching for sea creatures and for the first 20 minutes or so, we didn’t really find any. All of a sudden I spotted a slug moving in the water and I called the kids over to check it out. Once we bent down closer, we saw lots of sea slugs moving around in the water. It was amazing actually to see how much moving life there was that normally, you’d step right over.

While we were observing the sea slugs, Tory noticed the leg of a sea star poking out under a rock. Andi moved the rock and we discovered lots of sea stars under there! It was so neat.

The four of us walked all around the shallow tide pools, lifting up rocks and hunting for sea creatures. What made it even more special is that we were the only people there. I loved hearing Tory and Aden tell Andi and I about the sea stars, sea cucumbers, and sea slugs they’d learned about during their time with Nosara Day Camp a few days prior. We had such a blast!

Tide pools are rocky pools by the ocean filled with seawater. During high tide, the crevices between the rocks fill with water and when the tide goes out, sea creatures and little fish get caught between the rocks. That’s why we were racing against the clock to time our visit here at low tide. Today was an incredible experience learning about this environment first-hand, and to see our kids so excited about nature.

Another thing we’ve learned on this trip is that Tory doesn’t handle the heat well. After a few hours of wading in the tide pools hunting for sea creatures, I noticed her hair was sweaty and her cheeks were rosy. It wasn't sunny outside, but it was warm because were weren’t submerged in the water. She snapped at me a few times and that was my cue that it was time to leave. I gave Andi “the look” and we packed up our things.

Back at the airbnb, we re-heated sloppy joes and green beans that Andi had cooked earlier in the day. We all ate al fresco because it was so dang hot in our airbnb living room! No worries though, the kids thought their outdoor picnic was fantastic.

Andi and I wondered if we’d regret traveling all the way to Montezuma for such a short visit, but we really didn’t. This area of the Nicoya Peninsula was really different than Samara, and we made some great memories. Tomorrow, we will pack up and head inland to Monteverde.