Karina and Erik's Visit Pt 1

 1As we were getting ready to leave the Nicoya peninsula, Karina and Eric came for a visit.  It was a lovely sight for homesick eyes and we really enjoyed our time with them.  Especially Max who adores his Tios.

It was also soooo nice to have a car! Even just for a week.

The kids got some much needed rest while we drove out of the city ;)

The first thing we did after picking them up at the airport was head toward Paos Volcano.  Unfortunately it was closed when we got there.  Those national parks have some pretty weird hours.

It was a lovely drive though.

 We stopped and checked out some of the greenery.

I discovered as soon as we got closer to the volcano that I am in love with the volcano towns of Costa Rica. They are favorite parts of the country because they are covered in lush green rolling hills, green pastures and farms, lots of waterfalls, and an abundance of plant animal and insect life.  The weather isn't so hot either and it doesn't rain as much as it did on the peninsula.

It was starting to get dark after we drove up to Paos so we headed a ways back down and looked for a place to stay.  We landed in this lovely little cabana.

It is actually pretty chilly when you're near the top of Paos, we actually needed a blanket at night.  It was quite refreshing after a month of Montezuma's sweltering heat.

 Ivan Max and I sept in a cute little loft on platform beds.  Our cabana was sparsely furnished but it was clean and had potential, a certain charm.  Originally they had told us they were booked before "digging up" these beds for us, so I got the feeling the other cabanas were nicer inside.

The view in the morning was really lovely.

Each volcano has it's own crop, or multiple crops that are widely grown in that area.  You found out quickly what it was by driving down the road and seeing signs and stands advertising it everywhere. On Paos it is strawberries.  There are tons of them everywhere and they are ripe and juicy and delicious.  They are 2 or 3 dollars for 2 kilos.  Ivan said "this is what a real strawberry tastes like and Erik said it was the first strawberry he ever enjoyed.  They also produce a lot of cheese on Poas.  

Okay, where was I...

So we spent the first month in a little neighborhood called delicias, 5 miles from Montezuma beach.  Our overall conclusion; Montezuma beach itself is quite beautiful with a great variety of natural attractions including sandy beaches, rock formations and ponds, lime trees, mango trees and monkeys and some incredible overlooks on the way in.  The waterfall swimming whole, which we discovered shortly before we left is lovely and really a lot of fun, we wish we had spent more time there.

The small town center of Montezuma, while it does have some personality to it, it  is a little too touristy and overpriced for our taste.

While are apartment in Delicious was lovely, clean and spacious, and we had wonderful neighbors who became good friends, it was 6 miles down one of the worst roads I've traveled on.  Too far from the town or the beach to make it convenient to get anywhere on our bikes, though we tried.  We ended up feeling a bit isolated and immobile without a car.

We were ready to try something new when by the time the month was over.