If there was one word to describe my family's trip to Costa Rica, it would be speed. First off, we went because my brother qualified for the U-20 PanAmerican Games in the 400 hurdles. Then we only had four days in the country. And finally, we went ziplining at top speeds over the rainforest. While the trip was quick, it opened my eyes to a whole new continent: Central and South America.
Because the trip was so quick, this blog post will also be fairly brief. I'm going to focus on the two categories that were most pertinent to our travel: activities and food.
Activities:
My family and I stayed in La Fortuna which is near the base of the Arenal Volcano. We never actually saw said volcano due to the rainy season and low hanging clouds, but I can only imagine the beauty to be had once the clouds part. Our two main activities were hiking and ziplining. We hiked over hanging bridges first, which are suspension bridges hundreds of feet up from the forest floor that stretch for distances of up to almost 800ft. Then we descended to the forest floor, hiking past a large waterfall and along a winding river. In its entirety, the hike took an hour and a half, although most groups take closer to two hours. Like I said, we were cruising.
Immediately after arriving back from the hike, we were up for ziplining. Originally, we were going to participate in a straight ziplinging tour, but at the last minute decided to switch to a tour that included various different obstacles. In total we had four ziplines, a tightrope walk, a tarzan swing off a waterfall and a rappel down a waterfall, plus a superman zipline at the end (with a couple of other smaller obstacles throughout). Our guides were funny, skilled and safety oriented. It was a fun (and absolutely terrifying) experience.
Our activities were booked through Sky Adventures at $84 for adults and $70 for students, the trip was our most expensive purchase, but worth it when you consider the fact you're hurtling high above the rainforest.
Food:
Full disclosure: Because most of my experience centers around Chinese and German food, I have had very little experience with Central American food. For this reason, my family often asked for the local dish or drink.
First off, I know this comes completely from ignorance, but I didn't really grasp the importance of rice and beans. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, all have rice and beans. While not what I conjure up when I think of breakfast food, I was pleasantly surprised.
Another common dish for the area is Casado. We ordered this at a few different locations and it typically came with a meat selection between chorizo, chicken breast or thigh, and beef, along with rice, beans, salad, tortillas and fried plantains. I enjoyed this dish a lot, especially the friend plantains. In fact, I think I gained a new favorite food on the trip. I returned home and immediately began googling fried plantain recipes.
Finally, if you're looking for a drink, the Guaro Sour is the traditional drink of the area. I'm not big on alcoholic beverages, but this drink came with high praise from my mother.
Overall, I know we didn't get a full experience of Costa Rica. It's a beautiful country with so much more to explore. But we did get a taste, one that I know will have me coming back for more.
And we watched a bunch of track, where my brother placed 7th in all of the Americas!
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