WELCOME TO COSTA RICA

All righty folks, it is time that I show you all the beautiful country that is Costa Rica.
My dad treated Sir Dan and I, along with my sister and her boyfriend and mom to this trip. He certainly is an amazing man and we are  forever grateful to him for taking us!!!
Today I figured I'd talk about the first day of our adventure. And give you a little debrief on how our vacations work.
My family is not the kind of sit around for 8 days by the pool or on a beach soaking up the sun. Sir Dan and I get too bored too quick, hence why our honeymoon was spent adventuring. My dad has been wanting to travel to Costa Rica for some time now, and has done a ton of research on what to do once there. We are the adventurous types, we all love to see as much as we can and do as much as we can while there. Besides our two traveling days,  we had 2 rest/recover days and the rest were spent  seeing the country. 
Ok debrief is done, sorry for being a bore-  just felt like you all needed a little background story :)
Day Uno: Was our anniversary. Yea yea, that has been stated a million times, come on Nicole move on. Sir Dan and I packed nice and early, got everything settled at the Gilbert palace and headed to my parents. Sir Dan and I had to drive our car to the airport hotel because 6 people plus luggage doesn't fit in one car. Sir Dan calls my luggage Big Bertha, and that she is. Mom has one too, mine is Junior. We headed to a famous burger joint in  New York on the way to the airport for some dinner and boy was it delicious... probably not the best thing to have before an early morning of flying.
Our hotel was right next to the airport and right next to a bar- and we know how to start a vacation.

After a drink and much talking and laughing, we all headed back up to our rooms and relaxed, or really just laugh a lot. The four of us attempted to go to bed around midnight, but most of us couldn't sleep... most were excited about the trip, I was petrified about the flights.
Day Two: Our alarm went off at 3:30am to shower and repack our crapola. Boy let me tell you 3:30am comes up quick when you're having fun. Our flight was at 6am and off we were to Atlanta and then  landing in Liberia at noon, which was 2pm here. I slept most of the time, Sir Dan will tell you that I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime... I'm not a fan of flying so I try to sleep most of the trip.
Papa de Nicole got us a driver for the week because we would be traveling throughout the country, so when we arrived in Costa Rica they were waiting. I believe Sir Dan went to pick up a suitcase and an airport attendant goes: You are white, we will do the work for you (with a smile on his face I might add).
The country was unlike I have ever seen. Beautiful, lush, completely green, hot as hell but not much humidity, cows and horses everywhere, poverty like nothing here in the US.

sugar cane growing

After about a half hour of driving through the country,

we arrived at our resort:

The Hilton Papagayo.

Once we went through the gate,

it was like we entered a whole other world.

Everything was open and beautiful.

There were lizards walking around,

beautiful buildings,

the sound of the ocean.

As we arrived,

we were all greeted by the happiest people

and given cold fresh eucalyptus face clothes 

and delicious juice.

The lobby overlooked most of the main part of the resort

and it was just unbelieveable the beauty of it.

My dad arranged to have a conjoining bungalow

for the 6 of us... 

our own private bungalow!!

They were beautiful and ours was in the best spot.

It didn't take long to walk down to the restaurants, pools, bars, and beaches.

The resort had little trucks to transport people wherever they needed to go,

we liked to walk sometimes, but others we needed the shuttle.

When we got to our bungalow,

we were in shock at how nice they were.

The four of us shared one bedroom

and my parents had the other room.

They were both big and spacious,

with fridges, drinks, and our own private deck that

overlooked the ocean.

The first thing we wanted to do was change,

we were in travel clothes that were not appropriate for the heat.

The four of us immediately changed into swim suits 

and the 6 of us headed down to the pool and restaurant area for lunch.

The rest of the day was spent exploring and getting

burned at that wonderful swim up bar.

Let me just tell you-

a swim up bar is bitter sweet and here is why:

you can drink all you want and then you have to pee.

Ya end up breaking the seal and having to pee,

in a wet bathing suit a million times!

That is just not fun but when you are drinking

it's more of an adventure.

Also let me warn you that when you are basically 

living on the equator,

not even 50 SPF sunblock is going to prevent a burn.

I am still peeling from the burn.

Up next: Our ziplining adventure over waterfalls and through the rainforest.

Ever been somewhere fun and exciting?

Leave your URL or a comment below!!