MIA...

That place is outta control... from our restaurant with its belly
dancers and table top dancing to the massive night club of Mansion. My
aunt was not kidding when she said that the party doesn't stop til
5am... And Soo wasn't kidding when she said there are weirdos in MIA.
out... of... control...

--
Sent from my mobile device

The first thing we did when we landed

Starbucks!

Day 14: Adios Costa Rica

We're melting at the airport waiting to get on our packed flight. LIR is definitely the type of airport you don't need to show up early for, especially, since they don't have a closed terminal and just regular fans. I guess it's a reminder of the tropical climate we're leaving.

MIA here we come!

Day 13: Nicaragua Day Trip

Typically, people sleep in and lounge around on their last day of
vacation... Luckily, we're not your typical people. Our day started at
5am since it does take 3 girls a while to get ready. Our trip included
another family from Livermore and a real estate contractor from
Florida with Orlando as our trusty tour guide.

Our hotel is an hour and a half away from the border. After spending
an hour between both immigration offices and grabbing breakfast, we
were finally on our way to see Nicaragua. Our first stop was at Lago
de Nicaragua with great views of Omotepe island with its active
volcano. From there, we stopped by Masaya for some shopping and a
fruit smoothie. At the market, we had these two guys as our escorts
and it felt like we were walking around with bodyguards. We made our
way up to Volcan Masaya and walked up a set of stairs to a vista
point. It was quite reminiscent of our climb up the Great Wall. We
drove another hour or so to the city of Granada for lunch and our last
exploration of the country. Because taemi and I stayed up late
watching a movie, I spent most of our driving time catching up on
sleep.

Lunch in Granada was at the Hotel San Francisco. The back patio was
Tuscan-esque with its fountains, archways, pastel colored walls, and
lush greenery. It was all topped off with a green parrot and a few
green parakeets.

After lunch, we took a horse-pulled carriage ride throughout the city.
We passed 4 churches, Lago de Nicaragua, statue of Cordoba, Parque
Central, the oldest house that's now an antique store, the sections
that separated the Spaniards from the Indians, and the old battery
turned museum. It all felt like a back lot tour just like at Universal
Studios.

And now we're back at Villas Sol after dinner at the 2nd restaurant,
being lazy and just outright not wanting to pack... ::sigh:: can't
wait to sleep in our beds, not ready to face reality aka work.

ps. Go Sharks!

--
Sent from my mobile device

Day 12: when lightning strikes sand, does it turn to glass?

Today was Canyoning Day, but not before we spent 2 hours with the
resort folks pitching us a timeshare-like program. Between the cost
and location, we weren't convinced of the investment.

On our way to Hacienda Guachipelin for our canyoning, we came across a
McDonald's and made a stop for food and an ice cream cone.

Our adventure started off with a horseback ride to Victoria Falls. As
we were learning how to control our horses, one of the cowboys decided
to pull on next to taemi on a bull... A BULL!

Our horses are extremely smart, but they do wanna go at their own pace
and direction. The cowboys have trained the horses so well that they
know where to go automatically, including knowing where to stop to
drop us off and head back to the ranch all on their own.

Our guides strapped us into our harnesses and helmets and we headed
over go the first launch point. To our dismay, the guides thought it
would be fun to do a free fall drop into the river after our first
decline. NO BUENO. Thank goodness we had TaeMi around to translate
since our guides could barely speak a lick of english. We got them to
lower the rope end into the water and I was able to make the first
decline.

Different from reppelling, canyoning is more of a self-managed rope
descending activity. After landing in the water, we ended up climbing
back up on the side of the canyon where the pressure of the waterfall
was less than the main section. They rigged these metal handles into
the rock for us to climb up. It was easily a 30ft climb up to the top
with the weight of our wet gear and gushing water ensuring that it was
not an easy task.

We descended the first rope again and swam to our next launch area.
The second climb down included a bit of reppelling off the rocks to a
rock landing next to the second waterfall. From there, we were tightly
hooked up to a set of ropes and pulleys to do a Tarzan swing across
and into the waterfall. And boy does water fall hard!

The Tarzan swing was the last part and we hiked back up to the top of
the falls. Surprisingly, the falls is 3km away from our original
starting point. After we changed, we drove back to Playa Hermosa for a
quick dip in the ocean right at the end of sunset.

Dinner included a lightning show, so if any of our readers know why
there's always lightning in the northwest region of Costa Rica or how
it's possible to have lightning without thunder or if lightning does
turn sand into glass.. We'd really like to know. Thanks!

--
Sent from my mobile device

Wild Animals at Villas Sol

Especially during meal times, it feels like we're inside a zoo... Behind the cage and glass.

Day 11: Tamarindo and 90s songs

Today we decided to get outside the comfort of our resort grounds
(with its assortment of wild life roaming free including monkeys,
skunks, cats, rats, and lizards) and drove over to the tourist town of
Tamarindo.

We braved the sun and heat, shopping and really trying to find the
closest place with A/C. When we couldn't stand the sweltering sun any
longer, we stopped for lunch at Copacabana. The heat finally dropped
an hour later, so we made ourselves comfortable on some near by beach
chairs.

Between fending off merchants and watching people surf for the first
time, we caught some rays and Z's. A light, cool breeze saved us from
melting in the sun. Playa Tamarindo may not be as beautiful as Santa
Teresa, but it is still a neat place to visit.

--
Sent from my mobile device