Villas In Costa Rica

I came back from my trip to Costa Rica over a week ago and I have so many pictures and videos to share! So this year as an early birthday present I decided to travel to Costa Rica. I enjoyed last year's trip to Jamaica so I decided that I would travel each yr for my birthday. I stayed in CR for 6 days and 5 nights. My best friend Myoshi and I chose to go during her spring break which was March 6th to the 11th. My birthday is actually on the 27th but we chose dates convenient for the both of us. Towards the end of this post I will list contact information if you want to book an all-inclusive trip somewhere and you need some great deals. 

So our flight was early in the morning around 8:30 am through EWR airport. That morning we were rushing so much lol literally almost missed boarding the plane. On our way to the airport there was a huge accident which caused the delay. I would always recommend to be at the airport 2-3 hours before when it's and international flight to avoid getting denied boarding. Aside from rushing through the airport we made it on the flight. It was a 5 hour flight. We landed in Liberia, Costa Rica around 1pm in their time (they are an hour behind NJ). We drove to our hotel (Villas Sol Hotel Resort & Spa) which took about 25mins but the views were amazing. It is truly a beautiful country. 

Landed

Balcony View

After checking into our hotel, we took a shuttle to our Villa near the top of the hill and we changed into our bathing suits. We headed to our favorite place whenever we travel which is the Wet Bar. A bar inside the pool is really all you need on vacation with unlimited drinks. lol 

While sipping some drinks from our favorite bartender (Ivan), we started planning out our next couple of days. Monday was a day of rest because we got off our 5 hour flight and we just wanted to relax at the pool for a little bit. Tuesday morning and I mean morning (we literally woke up at 6am everyday), we went to breakfast at the buffet. Only thing bad about breakfast was that they didn't have bacon :( lol but that orange juice was amazing. Our vacation we decided to cheat a little on our diet and eat pancakes and toast and a few other things we haven't been able to eat. That same day we went back to the Wet Bar and got some drinks. Honestly, we haven't been drinking on our diet so we were taking advantage of this all inclusive package. We had one of their specialties in Costa Rica which resembles a Bloody Mary. All I will say is power to the people who can stand that taste. The drink had a mixture of Tabasco sauce and tomato juice. That in itself burned my throat. lol We had a couple of Bahama Mamas, Pina Coladas, Long Islands, etc. Oh and some water of course, you have to stay hydrated ! They also had food there too, burgers, burritos, nachos.

Aside from all the drinking we started planning some excursions for Thursday. We had the whole day set up for zip lining, water slides, horseback riding and mud baths. I have videos from my GoPro to show you guys how that went. But before we get to that, Wednesday we spent time at the Wet Bar and played BEER PONG, which I will admit we sucked at. It was terrible. The cups were super tiny and that beer was strong lol. I swear Myoshi had to drink about 4 to 5 cups of beer. SO you know we lost ! Coincidence is we lost to a group from Jersey who live in Atlantic CIty. That same night we actually met a group of people that were really cool. They were getting a little out of hand with all the damn tequila shots but they were still nice. A lot of people we met were from Canada. We basically spent that night listening to music and drinking with them. But we rushed to bed before a certain time because our excursions started at 7am the next day.

Our excursions really made this trip one to remember. Our tour guide taught us so much about Costa Rican history. We went through Liberia and Guanacaste and learned about how people live. Their currency in comparison to the U.S. is 500 colons equates to $1. He also talked about their agriculture. In Costa Rica there is a lot of open land used to grow the food they eat. We saw fields of rice, sugar cane, plantains, mango trees, coffee bean factories, etc. This is very similar to a majority of the surrounding countries in Latin America that literally live off of the crops they produce. We also learned about the school systems that basically cater to students becoming skillful in their craft, whether it be focused on technology, the arts, writing, linguistics etc. Learning about different cultures is my favorite part about traveling. We don't realize how good we have it in the U.S. until we see how people in other countries have to live.

(WATCH IN HD)

To start off our excursions, we did some zip lining in the rainforest. It took us about 10 minutes to walk up the trail to get to the first line. There was a total of ten. After the 10th one, we have to get ready for a water slide. When I say water slide don't think of a little slip and slide. This one was literally concrete lol and it took us 10 minutes to get to the top of it. Also, you had to wear a helmet and a leather diaper so you don't scrape your bottom lol. I hope when you see my video for the slide you can sense how scared I really was. After that we tasted a couple of Costa Rican flavored snacks (empanadas, cheese, tortillas) with either their coffee or sugar cane water.

Then we had lunch. This food was probably the best thing I ate since my diet lol. I was finally able to eat RICE! Oh and I had beans, I don't even like beans and I still ate it because it was amazing. Along with that there was chicharron, pulled pork, tilapia, salad, veggies, etc.

After eating we got suited up for horseback riding. It's not one of my favorite activities but I didn't want to pass up the opportunity. Afterwards we went to the HOT SPRINGS. This was probably my favorite part. We had the opportunity to get covered in mud and then soak our bodies in water up to about 100 degrees. The mud itself was warm and it is said to leave you skin feeling extremely smooth. I'm assuming that what companies try to imitate in the U.S. with those fake mud masks. Well this one left my skin extra smooth!

After a fun filled day, we took a nap and got ready to go out. Everybody at the resort kept mentioning a place called Coco Beach. It was about 15 mins away from our resort and it had places to eat and a couple of bars. Normally we would be really scared to leave any resort but there was a shuttle from the hotel that specifically went there so we felt a little safe. I think at Coco Beach we had some of our best meals. I was able to try their shrimp ceviche which tasted extremely fresh and Myoshi had their sancocho. We ate this at one of their lounges. The music was great and the drinks were good too, even though at this point we only wanted water.

The rest of our time spent in Costa Rica was all about relaxing and having some drinks and enjoying the scenery. Costa Rica is really a beautiful place and I would recommend it to anyone who appreciates learning about different cultures. 

If you have any inquiries about how I book my trips, then you can contact my travel advisor Ronal Aroca at his email: itradventure@gmail.com