With the first trip to Central America, I was unsure what to expect. We had arranged a condo in Tamarindo, Costa Rica through friends of the family, which was absolutely the preferred way to do it. We were right across the street from the beach and near a small grocery store. It was hot out. Like 90sF all day. And for some reason, the store owners here apparently don’t understand that you need to have an “exhaust” for like twenty indoor refrigerators, causing the stores to be at least 100F (I’m serious).

We did a number of organized tours, and these are

1.Catamaran, Snorkeling and Sunset Cruise with Blue Dolphin Catamaran.

2.River Rafting Tour at Canyon de la Vieja.

3.Jungle and Canopy tour including mud bath, hot springs, water slide and zipline at Rincon de la Vieja at the Buena Vista Lodge and Adventure.

4.River tour up Tamarindo River to see crocodiles, iguanas, monkeys and native birds with Victor (pronounced WEEK-tor), who is a for-hire guide.

5.Turtle watching whereby we hiked to a national preserve beach and saw sea turtles making nests and baby sea turtles hatching.

Needless to say, it was a full trip without a moment of calm.