Our Crazy Worldschool Year

Costa Rica Week 3: Let the Sunshine In!

We have just about made it through three weeks in Costa Rica, and things are looking brighter, literally and figuratively. Without giving too much away (you’ll have to read on to find out more), we have traded our cold, damp cloud forest home for the warm, sun-drenched Caribbean jungle spot we originally booked. And, thus far, we have not regretted our choice to move homes.

As always, thanks for following along as we share this week’s Highlights of the Week, The Good, Bad, and Ugly, and our Lesson Learned.

Highlights of the Week

The End of “Uncle Joel’s” visit

As noted last week, we enjoyed the company of our first visitor – “Uncle Joel.” Joel’s visit lasted into the early part of this week, and he was a good sport, playing dozens of chess matches, countless rounds of Bananagrams, and untold games of Sushi Go, Skip-Bo, and Uno with us. Not to mention the hours spent trekking through mud, running through rainstorms, and playing “backyard beer can bowling.”

To the Caribbean!

After freezing our butts off for a week and a half in the cloud forest of El Guarco, we made the decision to abandon ship and head to the Caribbean. Luckily, because it was nonrefundable, we still had access to our original Airbnb in Cocles, near Puerto Viejo along the southern Caribbean coast. We were able to get a majority of the remainder of our El Guarco stay refunded and we were thankful for the flexibility of both of our Airbnb hosts as we navigated this decision.

The Ruins of Ujarras

The drive from El Guarco to Puerto Viejo wound through some pretty epic (not to mention windy and narrow) mountain roads, and got the better of Younger Brother’s sensitive stomach. The highlight of our drive was a stop at the Ruinas de Ujarras, the oldest Spanish church in Costa Rica, built in a valley near Cartago in the 16th century. The weather was beautiful, the scenery vibrant, the bathrooms clean, and the ruins epic. And it was definitely one of our top road trip rest stops of the year.

Beach Vibes and Sunshine!

Mom and Dad (if not the children) are beach folk at heart, and we have all enjoyed beaches with MUCH warmer water than those we left behind in Maine. We’ve beta tested a few different beaches so far (each unique and varied), but our favorite so far is Playa Cocles, just down the road from our Airbnb. We’ve enjoyed boogie boarding, body surfing, playing in the waves, and long walks on the beach. No regrets from the adults about leaving the cold, damp cloud forest behind, though the kids don’t always love the oppressiveness of the heat and humidity here in the Caribbean.

The Jaguar Rescue Center

The highlight of our week was a visit to the Jaguar Rescue Center in Cocles, just down the road from our Airbnb. The Jaguar Rescue Center is a rehabilitation center for injured and abandoned animals, although (like Quetzal National Park), there were in fact none of the namesake animals present during our visit. The center housed dozens of injured and rescued animals, including spider monkeys, macaws, toucans, sloths, a caiman, an alligator, and some peccaries. The goal of the center is to “re-wild” their guests, but unfortunately some are either injured beyond repair or incapable of re-wilding. It was a really cool experience that we would highly recommend to anyone in the Puerto Viejo area.

Cooking Class

The kids have occasionally been taking “cooking class” with Mom to help with dinner prep, with a highlight from this week being Mom and Sister’s awesome homemade tortillas.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

The Good

Dad – I am loving life in the Caribbean. Puerto Viejo is so much more our speed than El Guarco, from the laid-back beach vibe to the simplified logistics around food and exercise. I love a daily walk, and my options in El Guarco were limited. Not only did every walk in the woods up there require payment ($10-15 USD a visit) and a high tolerance for mud, but there were pretty limited road walking options. Not so here, and my morning routine now involves meditation and long walks on the beach. 

Older Brother – We went to a new Airbnb that is not cold all the time. I get my own bed room  (for now)   

Sister – We went to a Jaguar Rescue Center. It was awesome but hot. There were not really jaguars, it’s just what it’s called. There were: caimans; a black footed booby; peccaries; turtles; sloths; a crocodile; toucans; parakeets; macaws; agoutis; and monkeys. We saw a monkey pee. It was gross. Also, the beach is awesome.

Younger Brother: The Good: We got apple juice that tastes really good.  Me and Dad are reading The Hobbit. This house is close to a bunch of beaches and so far we’ve been to two of them. I was able to get some chocolate cereal at the store. 

And The Awesome: We went to a Jaguar Rescue Center, where we saw spider monkeys, sloths, an alligator that was blind, and some colorful macaws. We got ice cream at the store today.  The waves at the first beach we went to were awesome for body surfing and jumping over the waves like we were dolphins. Whenever a big wave comes I like to put my head in it. The water temperature was pretty good. 

Mom – This week we decided to take the leap and move from the mountainous area of El Guarco to the Caribbean side a little south of Puerto Viejo. This was a tough decision as we didn’t really know what to expect on the Caribbean side but we did know that we were all cold, sick of walking muddy trails and not feeling quite settled in the town we were in.

The Awesome: Moving over was the BEST DECISION EVER! The birds, the monkeys, the lizards, the lush tropical plants, the friendly atmosphere, it’s like a little slice of heaven! Plus multiple beaches around us, not to mention that water temp is nothing short of glorious! I finally feel like I’m able to swim comfortably for long periods of time because the water temp is so comfortable! Oh, and stores are WAY easier to navigate and there are actually supermarkets within a few minutes of our stay rather than 45-60 minutes away for something larger than a Seven-Eleven type convenience store.

For those wondering about the schooling side of life, things seem to slowly improving as we find our groove. Younger Brother in particular has really stepped it up! Yes, there is still some negotiating and some resistance about how much we have to do but nothing compared to what it was like initially. 

The Jaguar Rescue Center was such a great place to visit for our field trip! The volunteer that gave us a tour (Luz) was clearly passionate about educating the public about the animals they have onsite as well as how people can help keep animals in the wild safe.

Finally, the kids are no longer asking for junk food snacks!!!! Instead they’re begging for smoothies! Every day I find myself cutting up fresh fruit to put into the freezer to make the next round of wonderful smoothies.

The Bad

Dad – Things got kind of dark at the end of our stay in El Guarco – literally. A heavy afternoon rainstorm (not abnormal) resulted in an hours-long power outage at our place (apparently abnormal). Hours later, darkness began to fall, and so did my spirits. While we had weathered many literal and metaphorical storms in El Guarco (putting up with endless days of damp and cold, a leaky roof, and a busted water pipe), this latest development was the straw that broke the camel’s back. Luckily Uncle Joel trekked down the road to the local bodega in the rain to procure beer and candles; suddenly things didn’t feel quite so dark. And, thankfully, the power came on just before bed, so we could turn on our space heaters and all was right in the world.

Older Brother – There is a weird face on the wall in my bedroom and it can be VERY creepy. Also, the indoor bathroom is in my room so I can just be in my room and people just come in.

Sister – The wild dogs make it hard to like the beach.😡I’m always excited to go to the beach but the dogs ruin the fun. 

Younger Brother – We drove 5.5 hours from El Guarco to Cocles and the car ride was bad because I puked. At the Jaguar place they didn’t have any baby jaguars, no jaguars at all. At the Jaguar place it was really hot! Also, Dad didn’t let me get chocolate cereal with marshmallows at the store.

Mom – While still in El Guarco trying to figure out how/what we were going to eat for dinner the night of our power outage, I had to get creative especially not knowing how long the power outage was going to last. I ended up cooking sausage and chicken nuggets in the fireplace, though they were not a hit with the younger two kids. Luckily we also had a lovely baguette and some local cheeses along with some veggies.

In Puerto Viejo the heat and humidity have been a tough adjustment for the kids and definitely zap some of the surplus energy they tend to have, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing….. We have found that it’s better to do school work in the morning while it’s still a bit cooler and everyone has more energy, and then head to the beach after knowing we don’t need to do much after that. 

The Ugly

Dad – The jungle contains a multitude of creatures, and unfortunately we had a close encounter with a less-than-savory jungle animal this week – the highly venomous Bothrops asper. This particular pit viper is responsible for three quarters of all snakebites in Costa Rica, and the vast majority of snakebite fatalities. He wanted to visit our patio and didn’t get the message that he was not welcome. Luckily someone came by very quickly to dispose of him, and hopefully that’s the last of our encounters with pit vipers in Costa Rica!

Older Brother – It is way too hot and we always have to have the fans and air conditioning on. Also when we came back from a beach one day we got COVERED in sand. 

Younger Brother – NOTHING! 

Sister –  I miss home and my BFF.

Mom – The Ugly: What ugly??????? Ok, finding a small pit viper right along our front patio was not my favorite, however our Airbnb hosts were quick to respond and sent someone over right away to remove it. Some of the extra spiders outside are a little creepy-looking, however Google assures me they are harmless to humans. 🙂 The particular spiders I’m referring to are Golden Silk Orb-Weavers.

Lesson Learned

Sometimes it’s ok to admit you’ve made a mistake. It’s certainly better than doubling down. 

I originally picked Puerto Viejo as our first Costa Rican landing spot after lots of research and the knowledge that it would be a gentler landing spot in terms of tourist-friendliness, weather, and infrastructure. Then in a decision primarily motivated by fear and anxiety (and after nights of tossing and turning after reading news stories about El Niño drenching the Caribbean during its normal dry season and landslides making the road there impassable), I booked us into El Guarco. Don’t get me wrong, the El Guarco place was nice generally, but it was not the tropical experience we signed up (or packed) for, and it definitely lacked grocery and activity selection. The only thing to do was to pay money to hike on muddy trails, and that got old real fast. Beaches here are free, and they are more our speed.

And despite the “ugly” aspects of life here (pit vipers, anyone!?), I am pleased to say our experience has been very positive overall. It didn’t rain until our fourth day here, the availability of groceries here is much better, I love my morning walks to the beach, and English is so much more widely spoken (and I haven’t been called a Gringo once, as I was in El Guarco while out walking the roads).

So I can admit that I made a mistake in booking the second place, trying to avoid rain and pain. I believe I corrected that mistake, and am grateful that I did not allow pride and stubbornness to get in the way of my decision-making process.