The next morning we woke up early. Well, early by our standards — around 7:30am. Uncle Greg and Aunt Susan had been up since 5:30.

They had a big day ahead of them: they had to go to Santa Cruz and set up a bank account and electricity and other accounts to move their up and coming house-building process along. Lauren and I were going to be spending the bulk of the day by ourselves. (more…)

Beth and I set out from Jaco to find the luxurious and remote Playa Negra, where my Uncle Greg and Aunt Susan were renting a house for the week with some of their friends. Part of the reason we had conceived of coming to Central America was because our timing for Costa Rica overlapped with theirs, and so we were excited to finally see them after so many months of planning.

But we had to get there first. (more…)

When we finally settled into Jaco (before the whole witches stuff happened), Lauren and I went out to do the worst errand to ever face women: swimsuit shopping. My swimsuit no longer fit and hers had developed a strange, constant itch. After having been in a dozen different oceans and lakes, it was time to retire our old swimsuits and get new ones.

But that is a task easier said than done in Costa Rica. Apparently, women who go swimsuit shopping in Costa Rica have no need for any support (up top) and no need for any room (down below). What was supposed to be a 1-2 hour errand ended up taking all afternoon during which we probably tried on more than thirty different swimsuits, all in cramped dressing rooms with highly unflattering lights. In the end, by combing pieces from two different shops, I was able to make something work. Lauren gave it her best but in the end, we gave up.

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After much deliberation, we decided to head over to Jaco on the West Coast due to its close proximity to San Jose. Kassie only had a few days left and didn’t want to spend them traipsing across Costa Rica on a bus. I was thrilled to head back to an old stomping ground that my good friend and travel buddy Katie and I had traversed a few years back.

Our experience in Jaco had been interesting, to say the least, and we emerged with one of the travel tales that has gone down in our Greatest Moments collection. I still have the scars from it today… (more…)

Leaving Bocas Del Toro, and Panama, meant grabbing a 45 minute speed boat to the mainland, where we could catch a bus to San Jose. The boat ride was unexpectedly beautiful. We passed through what seemed to be untouched jungle, only occasionally spotting a house or a person peaking out at us from the bushes. At one point, the boat seemed to be speeding ashore, only to turn into a hidden cove at the last minute that turned into a river.

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