Roaming 'Round 'Rica

We headed out for church on Sunday morning, February 24, 2019, but ended up at the wrong place of worship.  However, we found and attended the small Quepos Spanish Branch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just down the street.  More than half the congregation were tourists like us.  We were warmly welcomed and enjoyed the sweet spirit that was there,with Kent and Melita offering occasional interpretation.

Oops!

We didn't exactly keep the Sabbath according to the letter of the law, but did enjoy a "day of rest" together that afternoon.  Lunch was enjoyed at Emilio's in Quepos, with it's large variety of offerings and spectacular view from the balcony.  Upon recommendations of the Ticos, we checked out a local beach, Playa de Biesanz, to lounge in the sun. It was a bit of a walk down the trail to the beach and although the view was nice, the shoreline was rocky and less appealing than others we would visit.

We finished up the day at Sancho's Tacqueria in Quepos where we enjoyed a yummy taco dinner, bringing a beautiful day to it's end.

Our plans  for Monday were to drive south and go hike to the Nauyaca Waterfalls and visit the surf town of Dominical.  This was one of my favorite days, because I loved seeing the Costa Rican terrain and visiting with everyone as we hiked and enjoyed the falls. We drove past miles and miles of African Palm Trees and through research learned that Costa Rica is very successful at palm oil production.  During the 1940, their profitable Panama Banana plantations were being destroyed by blight.  The palms were brought in to replace that business.  Palm oil is used in a variety of foods, cosmetics, candles, soaps, industrial lubricants and more.  The jungles and mountainous landscape reminded me of Bali.

It was a very hot day, but the 2-mile hike to the falls was shaded most of the way. Jim and Shauna opted to ride in the back of a truck to the falls rather than hike. Dave bravely forded streams and steep winding roads to get us down into the river valley where our hike began.  The the rain forest buzzed and chirped loudly with insects and birds.  It was a gorgeous hike!

The waterfalls were two-tiered, with a large pool for swimming at the base of the lower falls.  We had fun swimming, diving and scrambling over the rocks and under the falls.  

We left the beautiful falls and hiked toward our van.  About halfway down the trail, we stopped at a little snack bar for a cold drink of Gatorade and admired the macaws and peacocks.

After our hike, we drove to Dominical - a cute little tourist town where the surfers like to hang out.  While trying to find a restaurant, we found that there was a "Vegan/Free Love Fest" going on there that week.  We did a little shopping and found an awesome mask made from coconut for Bob's collection.  We pulled the van on to the sandy beach and headed out to catch some waves and watch the surfers.

We found a place to eat at Tortilla Flats near the beach where most of us enjoyed fresh seafood.  

When we decided to head home, we piled into the van and revved up the engine to find our wheels spinning and digging deep into the sand.  We became the main attraction on the beach as we tried to launch ourselves off the beach.  With the help of several "hippies" camping out nearby, we were finally able to free ourselves from the grip of Dominical!

 

 Pura Vida, right?!