Costa Rica Highlights Tour

Steve's Picks:

Nauyaca Falls, Dominical

From Ballena's whale tail, to the cascading waters of Nauyaca, to the sloth filled trees of Manuel Antonio, to the precarious bridges of Rainmaker, to the mosquitoes of Palo Verde, to the jungle trails in Rincon de la Vieja, to the snorkeling in Playa Hermosa, to the mud pots of Las Hornillas, to the amazing falls of Bajos del Toro, to the Hanging Bridges of Arenal, we did our best this July to take in the awesome beauty of Costa Rica.

 Favorite Falls:  Nauyaca Falls outside of Dominical

Favorite Beach:  Playa Blanca (next to Mantas) near Punta Leona

Favorite place to see animals:  Manuel Antonio

Favorite Hike: Rincon de la Vieja to the Cascada

Favorite Restaurant:  Brujas in Escazu

Favorite Ice Cream Sandwich:  Pops

Favorite Pizza by the slice:  Brujos in Escazu

Favorite Hotel: Hotel California in Manuel Antonio

Favorite Eco Lodge: Princessa de la Luna, Arenal

Favorite birds:  Scarlett Macaw, Tucan, and Quetzal

Favorite Animal: Sloth

Ballena National Park

Hanging Bridges Park, Arenal

 Favorite Falls:  Nauyaca Falls outside of Dominical

Favorite Beach:  Playa Blanca (next to Mantas) near Punta Leona

Favorite place to see animals:  Manuel Antonio

Favorite Hike: Rincon de la Vieja to the Cascada

Favorite Restaurant:  Brujas in Escazu

Favorite Ice Cream Sandwich:  Pops

Favorite Pizza by the slice:  Brujos in Escazu

Favorite Hotel: Hotel California in Manuel Antonio

Favorite Eco Lodge: Princessa de la Luna, Arenal

Favorite birds:  Scarlett Macaw, Tucan, and Quetzal

Favorite Animal: Sloth

Hanging Bridges, Arenal

Two turtles mating at Playa Hermosa

Rincon de la Vieja Park

Bajos del Toro

Cuba Libre

With the kids in the U.S., Ilana and I ventured off the beaten path to Cuba. We loved it! 

Old Havana fascinated us with its 50's cars, colonial architecture, live music and dancing. We stayed only one block off the Parque Central in a casa particular room rental.  The location was excellent, the room clean and the air conditioning cold.  As we were walking around looking for a place to eat dinner, we were offered a lobster dinner with mojito included.  It was too tempting to pass up.  We sat out on a balcony overlooking the busy street below and feasted on our first meal.  Little did we know that there were several more lobster feasts in our near future.  

The next day we did our own walking tour of Old Havana.  We were advised to see as much as we could before 11 o'clock because the temperature gets unbearably hot.  We walked and walked and walked and eventually it was 12:30, we hadn't stopped for lunch and we were melting on the sidewalks.  We rested in an old hotel that was connected to the underwater aquaduct system that was used to replenish the water supply on ships at the waterfront.  Fascinating!  

Day 2 in Havana, we took a bus tour (which we do not recommend) and eventually went to the castle and fort to see the museums and traditional canon firing at 9 pm (also not recommended).  It was 3 hours of waiting for a quick blast of a canon.  

We then headed to Vinales.  Take the bus, as the shared taxis are hot, crowded and over-priced.  We stayed at a casa particular that was very comfortable and had an amazing view across farm land toward the giant "magotes" (giant rock outcroppings) in the distance.  While we were told you must take a guided tour, we elected to explore the Valley of Silence on our own, without all the tours of tobacco farms (selling you cigars) and rum distilleries.  We set out early, never got lost, swam in the lake, explored a cave, and made it back by about 11:30.  Had we dawdled, I don't think we could have done the walk in the afternoon heat.  It was unbearably hot!  But, the landscapes were gorgeous and we felt like we got a good sampling of rural Cuba.  

In the town of Vinales we discovered a crab meals and lobster meals for prices that were too good to pass up.  I don't know how close we were to the sea, but the seafood was fantastic.     

Last stop was Varadero, where we spent our 18th anniversary at the Barcelo Solymar All-inclusive, eating a lot, drinking a lot, and enjoying the amazing beach. The sand was white, the water was crystal clear, and the weather was divine.  We kayaked, went out on the catamaran, but mostly just stood in the calm waters, marveling at the beauty, and people watched.  Ilana discovered that she could bring her water bottle down to the beach, fill it with beer and ice, and drink all day.  Steve discovered that every meal should end with a giant ice cream sundae.  

8th Grade Promotion

Amidst as much pomp and circumstance as CDS could muster, Benji and Marina moved up from 8th grade.  Marina looked spectacular in her dress and Benji delivered an impassioned speech about defining yourself as opposed to allowing other to define you.

A few days earlier was the Awards Ceremony and the Blatt kids had many honors.  Marina took home the drama award, the writing non-fiction award and of course, the award for maintaining great grades.  Benji had several awards, as well, including best Spanish in the native speaker Spanish class, a JMUN award, as if he didn't know that he was the king of JMUN, student council award, in case he forgot he was on student council,  a gpa award, and the Leadership award.  We are very proud of our overachievers.

Last night, the kids partied like whirling dervishes and howled like banshees at the Intercontinental.  Ilana and I also let our hair down, metaphorically.  It was a blast of a party, with good food, friends, dancing, and lots of tequila (for the adults).

Tomorrow, the kids get on a airplane to go to camp in the U.S.  They will be away from the folks and Costa Rica for 5 weeks.  Holy cow!  Then, they will return for 10 days before we all make our final despedida to Costa Rica. 

The Great Outdoors

Chirripo:

Back at the end of April, I climbed Chirripo with Benji. It was awesome! Great weather, great views, beautiful memories. We spent 2 nights at the base camp, allowing us to summit other peaks besides Chirripo: Cerro Terbi, Crestones and Ventisqueros, the second highest peak in Costa Rica. Benji had to slow down for his old man, but together we did quite well. George Holland, my fellow math teacher, accompanied us in this adventure.

Cerros de Escazu 21K:

Back in the beginning of April, I completed the Carrera Cerros de Escazu 21 Kilometres. It was the hardest and most humbling run of my life. It took 4:17 minutes to complete and I was one of the last people to finish. But, I finished it. It was 4600 feet of vertical gain across 13.1 miles of mountain trails. I got lost once and fell 3 times. But, I did have a strong finish at the end.

Benji ran the grueling 10K and did it faster than I had done the previous year.  You go, boy!

Marina ran the 5K and managed to get lost and then found.  Luckily she finished saftely, with a good time.


Acatenango, Guatemala:


Back in March, I flew to Guatemala in order to climb Acatenango, the 3rd highest mountain in Central America, with my buddy, Chuck.  The day we arrived, I had a surprisingly successful Skype interview with Bellevue School Distict.  Then, the next morning we set out on our adventure.  The climb to the base camp only took about 5 hours and wasn't too hard.  Once there, we had spectacular views of Volcan Fuego.  But, Fuego was unusually quiet.  That night, we hoped to see Fuego doing its usual fireworks show of spewing lava, but on that night, she slept peacefully.  Chuck and I and 2 other men, however we crammed into a tiny tent and tried to sleep through a windstorm at 12,000 feet on the side of a mountain. We woke at 3:30 for our summit hike, but the guides didn't even want to go.  At 4, we set out for the summit, but blistering cold wind, rain, and clouds turned us back.  So, no Fuego and no summit.  But, it was an adventure.




 

Blatts in Panama: Back in Bocas del Toro

We arrived by watertaxi at the Cosmic Crab and met our doppelganger family.  The owners of the seaside hotel were Jews, with 13 year old boy/girl twins.  For 3 days, the twins jumped into the fish-filled ocean, paddled on surfboards and chowed down on junk food at the beach.  

Playa Estrella is still gorgeous-- so nice that we went there twice.  But, sadly, poor care by people and boats have driven the once numerous sea stars away.  We saw about 10-20, when 1.5 years ago we saw 3-4 times as many.  

One day, we took a touristy boat tour to Isla Zapatilla, a white sand island surrounded by turqouse green water.  Our hunt for the perfect beach continued.  As part of the tour, we did some snorkeling at a reef, saw a speedy sloth in a tree, waiting while our guides ate their lunches, and then went to dolphin bay.  The boat driver killed the engine and not 2 minutes later, a group of dolphins emerged from the depths to do what Ilana describes as a "mesmerizing water ballet."  

This was our second time in Bocas and I have to say that it has it's charm.  It's a tropical Venice, with its canals, and waterways, and waters teeming with tropical fish, dolphins, and sea stars.  

Blatts in Panama: Getting Muddy in Santa Fe

Our guide book said that Santa Fe, a sleepy mountain town in the middle of Panama, is a must see.  So, we checked it out. And they were right!

The views on the drive up were spectacular.  We ate a lunch of fresh rice, lentils, Sancocho (a traditional Panamanian soup) at the delicious and inexpensive Cooperativa restaurant. 

Then, we hiked through the forest, jungle, mud and rivers and ate oranges that dripped from the wild orchard trees.  At the Salto de Bermejo waterfall, we jumped into the frigid pools, swam and played.  

Were we to do it again, we'd plan to spend a few days up in Santa Fe, Panama, a pastoral jewel. 

Blatts iin Panama: Having a Brief Blast in San Blas

This was a pricey day trip indeed.  Between the fees to enter the Comarca de Kuna Yala and parking and taxes and boat fee and whatever else they could think of, it cost nearly $180 bucks for the four of us!  

The weather was iffy and the ocean was rough.  Our tiny skff races through the waves, ricocheting around like a tin can in a tornado.  While we all smiled and laughed as the boat crashed down from one wave into the next, we were all thinking of which island we'd swim to when the boat capsized.  

In the end, we arrived at Isla Perro Chico, wet, weary, but excited to see the gorgeous turquoise water and white sand beach.  One of the various highlights was snorkeling in one of the best spots in Central America.  Through the clear water you could see tons of cuttlefish, seargeant majors, parrot fish, needle fish, as they weaved in and out of a old sunken shipwrick that had become a reef off the shore of our tiny island.  This underwater city, just 20 meters off the shore, looked like an aquarium that we were privvy to swim through.

After 2 hours, our time on the island had expired and we had to jump on our trasport back to the shore.  I think we could have used another couple of hours, but we were fortunate to have the experience.  

The drive from the Interamericana to Carti, the embarcadero was an torturous up and down, twisting road that seemed to last an eternity.  Take your motion sickness pills.  Even I, the driver, felt motion sick!