This was a wonderful 10-day trip we took over Thanksgiving 2007 with our friends Carol, Shankar, and Naveen. We flew into San Jose, drove through the bustle of downtown San Jose, up over the treacherous (narrow, wet, holy) mountain roads in the rain, through Limon, a little surfer town called Puerto Viejo, and finally to La Bella Sirena, a small, open house in the jungle about 1k from Manzanilla. The last 15 or so miles were some of the worst roads we've ever seen: potholes a foot deep every couple of feet. We spent the next week exploring the jungle, the beautiful pristine beaches, taking zip line tours and guided hikes, and being awoken in the morning by the howler monkeys, unhappy that they were being rained upon.

We then drove past the airport to Vista Del Valle, where we spent two nights in our mountain-top "Exotic Woods" suites overlooking a beautiful lush valley. Blue finally got to use her snorkel gear (in the pool), and several of us went to a nearby zoo. On the way to Vista del Valle, we stopped at a conservatory where we saw at least five types of poison dart frogs, and a typical roadside diner, where we had a wonderful meal and saw a large lizard.