Years ago, pre-duo, the hubby and I went to Costa Rica and I fell instantly in love with this beautiful country full of everything magical and wonderful you go on trips to see and now we’re Costa Rica dreaming again. How can we get back as soon as possible?
How could we not love a country that embraces coffee?
And has such a soft spot for animals. I remember searching for alligators in the swamps and watching monkeys swinging from the trees and beautiful, lethargic sloths hanging high above us in the branches.
We visited the Chiquita Bananas plantation and watched bananas being picked and packed and we saw rhinoceros beetles that like to cling to them for the very first time.
And I love any place that has hammock after hammock to lounge in and read and snooze and repeat.
And now I’ve learned there is a sloth sanctuary. (Of course this tranquil heavenly place has a sloth sanctuary.)
I didn’t even mind the teeny-tiny airplanes, the poisonous snakes, (I still believe we encountered one on a hike. The hubby still believes it was the “non-threatening” kind.) the scary you-might-boil-yourself to death signs near all the hot-springs by the volcano, or those dangle yourself by a rope and swing over big canyon adventures. (Yes, I did this too. Not a fan. But did it, nonetheless.)
I want to go back. I can’t stop dreaming about going back. But how do I bring the kids too?
(PS. We have since taken our kids on this trip to Costa Rica and I’ve written about our trip with our 4 year olds. It was magical and we need to go back. We stayed at a Toucan Rescue ranch and we rented a car. I think we’ll hold Costa Rica in our hearts dearly forever!)
Costa Rica is definitely on our list for a family vacation–it has everything zip lines, rafting, volcanoes , tree houses, jungles, surfing… I think once kids hit about 8 years old they will be begging you to take them!
Costa Rica is one of the places that we would love to go with our kids too. I have friends that have traveled there with kids a little older than yours (I think the youngest was 6 or 7 at the time) and had a great time. It would be a very different trip than the one you did pre-kids but still doable, I’m sure. I’d start by looking at some of the tour companies and see what types of itineraries they have for family trips. Even if you don’t want go on a group tour it would give you some ideas about family-friendly accommodations and activities. Have fun planning and dreaming!!
Thanks so much for your advice, I’m going to look into tours. If you hear of any great ones please let me know. I think we also may wait a couple years after hearing everyone say we should wait. I forgot about drive times.
Costa Rica is on the list here too! It looks like such a great place!
🙂
Hmmm . . . rhinoceros beetles and poisonous snakes? Not so fun. But I really do want to see monkeys in the wild. Sounds way cool.
I’m in agreement with you on poisonous snakes. And probably army ants. And tarantulas. 🙂
It looks like Costa Rica is a fave family travel wishlist here – ours too. It seems so perfect for outdoor fun and for animal lovers. We’ve wanted to go for so long and keep postponing it. We’ve even picked our treehouse near Arenal =) How lucky you got to enjoy all of this.
Friends have told us to wait until our kids were a bit older especially with the long drive in between places. My youngest will be 7 soon so hopefully next year. I’ve seen quite a few family travel blogs with some great CR tips. I’ve looked at this site: http://www.costaricantrails.com/ for some ideas. Good luck with your plans!
Thanks so much for the site idea. I’d love to hear about the treehouse-I love cool hotels. I hear a lot about waiting and I think I may have to take that to heart. I guess the world is big and there are lots of places to go, but Costa Rica is SO beautiful…..
Costa Rica is on my list of places to go! Love the photos. I love the alligator photo especially.
Oh thanks! The hubby and I debate who actually took the photo-him or me, so I’ll just say thank you and pretend it’s mine;)