FYI: since I print my blog I'm going to be going into lots of detail about this amazing vacation! Feel free to skim. ;)
The planning and packing for this trip was full of anxiety. Since we stopped at three destinations in Costa Rica and one of them required us to hop on a domestic flight which only allowed 30 pounds of luggage each, I was stressed. So, a few weeks ago I started mock packing. And by the time Friday rolled around, I had everything ready to go!
I took the full day off Friday so Friday afternoon we headed to Houston (where flights were cheaper) and ate dinner with Terre. We got to spend the night at her house which was less than 20 minutes from the airport. Saturday morning, we hopped on a flight and said goodbye to America!
Even though Costa Rica is Central Time, since they don't recognize Daylight Savings Time it is an hour behind. We landed around 10:15 am and quickly went through immigration and customs in Costa Rica. Our first hotel had sent someone to pick us up, but when we got outside the airport there were so many people it was hard to find him! Such a frenzy!! We finally found our driver and headed to Xandari!
The view from our beautiful room!
Had to use the #selfiestick
After a delicious lunch, we headed out to one of the trails. We wanted to check out some of the 5 waterfalls on the property. The trails at Xandari were well marked and some of them even had rails. This was the perfect way to start our adventure in Costa Rica. It really got us primed for the harder trails that were coming in the Osa!
The views of the valley and mountains were absolutely spectacular!
Map reading
I'm outside. And I'm not dying! What?!?
We stopped to take a selfie. Obvi.
We stopped at the first waterfall and took a few pictures but we knew this wasn't the big one. So we kept on trucking.
2nd waterfall.
The paths were well maintained and well marked. Some parts even had rails for safety.
And then we got to THE waterfall! It was beyond amazing. We decided to sit and enjoy the waterfall for a few minutes and, honestly, I got so emotional. We were finally in Costa Rica - this trip was over a year and a half in the making. We have been through so much and to finally be in this paradise (which was a short 3.5 hour flight from Texas) was extremely emotional. I just remember thinking how grateful I was to finally be here and for us to both be healthy enough to go hiking.
HUGE!!
Cannot believe we're in paradise!
Time to head back!
On our way back, we stopped at this beautiful infiniti pool. Since it was Saturday (normally a travel day) we had this pool to ourselves. There were two other pools on the property (one was right outside our hotel room) but this was the only one over looking the valley. It was so peaceful!
The water felt amazing! And then we tried to figure out the last time we were in a swimming pool together. Pretty sure it was before we got married. :(
Enjoying the view of the valley.
After an afternoon hiking and at the pool we were super hungry so we ordered room service and enjoyed our amazing balcony. And I took pictures of Henderson taking pictures.
This was my favorite flower and it was everywhere in Costa Rica! So beautiful!
Cute little hummingbird
The best view for an afternoon drink.
Before going to dinner at the resort restaurant, we took a few selfies on our balcony.
I loved this cute little garden on the property.
Such a beautiful sunset!
Our view for dinner
Our waiter, Cristian, was the best! He brought me this shawl to keep away the chill. And then he brought us a Costa Rica map and he gave us tips for the rest of our trip! He was so great!
The best seabass I've ever eaten.
Delicious Argentinian wine.
We so enjoyed our day at Xandari. It was the perfect stopover before we continued on our trip and it helped us get in "vacation" mode!
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