The Send Off

So from here is basically where we start our travelling section of the trip.  We said 'bye' to the moms and kids at Casa Luz on Saturday night after baking and decorating some sugar cookies (they ate them, the ones for the hotel staff are to be made later). We managed to paint a good portion of the entrance way at Casa Luz last week and it looks much better. The staff moved into their new offices (unfortunately we forgot to take some finished pictures) and the little daughter of our neighbour in the appartment below us couldn't stop crying when we were leaving Saturday night. It's sad for the kids when people are always coming and going from their lives.

Yesterday we went on an amazing tour to a coffee farm, a volcano and waterfall gardens. At Doka, the coffee plantation, we had breakfast and a very informative tour. We also learned the meaning of the hotel name, Grano de Oro. "Grains of Gold" is what they called the unroasted coffee beans that they shipped to Europe in the 1800's. Many of the beans were red and ripe because it is the beginning of the coffee harvesting season.

From there we went to Parque National Volcan Poas and walked up to view the sufuric acid lagoon in the volcano. The second lagoon was not visible due to the clouds. We tasted some coffee liquor then travelled to La Paz Waterfall Gardens.

The drive up was spectacular: cala lilies growing on the side of the road, lush, green pasture land and gigantic hydrangea growing in abundance (different shades of pink, purple, blue, green and white!!). When toured around La Paz, we saw tropical birds, butterflies, monkeys, Costa Rican wild cats, hummingbirds, snakes and frogs, all within a beautiful garden setting. We had a buffet lunch and walked to 2 waterfalls. There was an earthquake in the area last January which ruined some of the paths and one of the waterfalls (there used to be 5 waterfalls to see). It was a very fun day!

Today we are heading south to Manuel Antonio, another national park on the coast. After a few days we will go north to Playa Tamarindo then into Nicaragua! We fully enjoyed our time at Casa Luz and were a little sad to go, but we are also excited to relax a little after working 6 days a week for 4 weeks!