Pura Vida! Costa Rica Photos added

[ali-s]

Originally Posted by rubywednesday

what a wonderful trip! genuinely, thank you so much for sharing this. i've never seen anything like it

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You're welcome, I'm pleased you enjoyed it. I've found a few more photos I'll add tomorrow.

[Guest]

Wow this is some trip amazing pics holiday of a lifetime x

[P&S]

What an amazing trip, WOW! Wonderful read

[Melbatb]

Managed to see the photos at last! Fantastic trip! Thank you for taking the time to write it and then add the photos!

[ali-s]

A few more photos, these from DS phone, he took some that put me to shame

cloud forest


at the Toucan Rescue Ranch









random insects






Lake Arenal


At the Jaguar Rescue Centre

[ali-s]

And a few random flora/fauna of mine

[Melbatb]

Wow! Love the parrot one in particular!

[Tink75]

Just stumbled across your trip report and was intrigued as I'm thinking of Costa Rica for our next 'big' holiday. It won't be next year though as I've promised to do Europe so think it's a trip to France! But hoping we can book for the year after - seems ages away but I think the children (girls) will be better ages by then - they'll be 13 and 10. Still not your boys ages and I think we may struggle with some bits that you did but I think it looks spectacular.

I have been looking at accom and think we'll either do a split stay with just two hotels or just the one hotel and do a bit of travelling on tours from there. It's a while away but your trip report has definitely made me want to do it!

Sounds like a holiday of a lifetime - how do you top that though?!

Thanks for sharing!

[ali-s]

Originally Posted by Tink75

Just stumbled across your trip report and was intrigued as I'm thinking of Costa Rica for our next 'big' holiday. It won't be next year though as I've promised to do Europe so think it's a trip to France! But hoping we can book for the year after - seems ages away but I think the children (girls) will be better ages by then - they'll be 13 and 10. Still not your boys ages and I think we may struggle with some bits that you did but I think it looks spectacular.

I have been looking at accom and think we'll either do a split stay with just two hotels or just the one hotel and do a bit of travelling on tours from there. It's a while away but your trip report has definitely made me want to do it!

Sounds like a holiday of a lifetime - how do you top that though?!

Thanks for sharing!

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LOL, like Florida it won't be a 'holiday of a lifetime' , I promised DH we would go back before we'd even stepped off the plane at Birmingham, won't be next year though, I've got South Africa penciled in for that , and again, I've been warned on the Trip Advisor forums that South Africa is rarely a one off holiday , many return time and time again, so at the moment it's back to Costa Rica in 2018 and maybe South Africa a 2nd time in 2019
If you do decide to book Costa Rica for 2018 please have a look at the Trip Advisor forums, they are very friendly and quite busy - all questions get answered. Many Brits are falling into the trap of booking the new package deals with the likes of Thomsons as they have recently started flying direct. Unfortunately they do a whirlwind tour of the well known bits then plonk you in an AI hotel ( RIU hotel - the most hated hotel in Costa Rica due to it's destruction of the environment) in a remote region with very little to do and very little resemblance to the real Costa Rica.
Split stay is definitely the way to go. The roads are a good standard but think our 'B' roads rather than motorways, it takes ages to get anywhere so best move on every 4 nights or so to experience the different areas.And the areas are very different, cloud forests,beach, rain forest, volcano etc , you can't visit all from one place.
There is plenty to do for children your girls age. It's a popular destination for North Americans and many visit with babies and toddlers so everything is child friendly.

[Tink75]

Thank you Ali - that's really helpful. I am on TA quite a bit at the moment as I'm researching for our Thailand holiday - I've found out so much and people are so helpful!

Lol about it being a holiday of a lifetime. Tbh I know I'm in the minority here, but we did Florida last summer for 3 weeks and while we had an amazing time, none of us are in a hurry to go back in the next few years. We prefer to try new places.

I've had a look on booking.com as I'd be looking for a place where the girls have their own room (so bungalow or something) or at least we have a family type room with a partition between sleeping areas.

DH is saying he wants to go to Cuba . So, my plans may not come to fruition but I'll try.

I agree about Thomsons, and prefer to book my own, but one thing I have found with them, for a family of 4 a package often works out quite a bit cheaper than flights alone and separate accom. I priced our stay in Thailand separately and Thomsons were very much cheaper - almost £2,000! I think it's because they market their flight cost tightly within packages. So, I guess if you booked the cheapest package with them, you could then not worry too much about the accom if you wanted to then have a 3-4 night stay away elsewhere etc. It's all new to me - I'd need to do a lot more research on areas. I was just enthralled reading your TR! Thanks for sharing.