Spring Break: Costa Rica

          

Getting a break from the daily grind of school and work is absolutely refreshing. In college there are usually two options: save some ca$h, hang out with friends and family at home AKA the staycation, or bust out the moola from under the sofa and find an adventure. Last year, we did the classic Florida vacay, complete with a trip to Disney World, a Strawberry Festival, and of course, Coco Beach.

         

This year we sadly had to spend our Spring Breaks apart because we both had great travel opportunities that we just couldn’t pass up. So this weeks post is going to be a little different because there will be TWO posts, of our two fun Spring Break adventures!

~Ash here~

My mom’s birthday always falls in the middle of spring break. My parents, Sonia (S) and Bryant (B), usually go to Cancun during the first weeks of January while I just go to school. I suggested they postpone their usual Cancun trip till my spring break to do a family vacation. S suggested that we visit Costa Rica and I was all for it!

We stayed at Villas Sol Hotel & Villas for six days. This was my first time experiencing an all-inclusive resort and the view was to die for.  

Day 1:

Since I had a wild week of classes I semi-packed a week early but the night before leaving I had a friends birthday party that I did not want to miss out on. Getting home at a late hour I did not sleep until I boarded my plane at 6:30 a.m. We arrived at 3 p.m. but did not get to our hotel till 4 p.m. The first night, we all were just exhausted from little to no sleep, so we just laid by the pool, ate dinner and somehow when to be at 8:30 p.m. At least the sunset was amazing.

Day 2:

The second day was full of exploring the nearby beach, Playa Hermosa. This day I saw an older man walking with a clear bag of fresh squid he recently caught. Then about twenty minutes later I see him walking around with a cafeteria tray that held cups of ceviche. Ceviche usually contains seafood (squid/fish/shrimp), tomatoes, onions, chili peppers, cilantro and lime juice. This ceviche also had green peppers, and the green peppers in Costa Rica are so sweet, it was amazing! The ceviche cost 2 dollars, which I would’ve paid 5 dollars for this small cup because it was SO GOOD. Sidenote: The Costa Rica currency is called “colón,” and one US dollar is 500 colónes. Nothing could top off this ~fresh~ ceviche, but a piña colada by the beach was a good match.

   

Day 3: Nicaragua!

This was probably the longest day ever! Waking up at 5 a.m in order to be picked up at 6 a.m. by a huge 75 passenger bus, full of tourists from around the world. We had breakfast at 8 a.m. with a beautiful coastal view of Costa Rica. When we finally reached the border of Costa Rica and Nicaragua, we spent nearly two hours getting our bus checked, passports stamped, and shopping--duh. Sidenote: The currency in Nicaragua is called “córdoba,” so one US dollar will exchange to 30 córdobas. The only thing we bought at the border while waiting was of course food! We bought three bags of ~fresh~ roasted cashews and ceviche. This ceviche had fish instead of squid but the flavor was amazing, this man added ketchup to make it even sweeter (this is typical, please don’t think it’s gross).  

   

Then we went straight to see the beautiful view of El Lago de Nicaragua (Lake Nicaragua). This lake is one of the largest freshwater lakes. Although it is freshwater, it does contain sharks but you can see a great view of two volcanos, Concepción and Maderas. Then we got to actually see an actual volcano! We drove to Masaya Volcano National Park and we were able to look down, and when the sun hits it just right you can see the lava! Many people here threw some money and made a wish, like it was a fountain or something, not going to lie it was me, I threw a dollar (hey, you never know when your wish will come true).  

   

Next was LUNCH and holy smokes I had the most tender piece of meat, I was in heaven. After we had about two hours of shopping followed by a boat ride in the shallow side of Lake Nicaragua, where we saw monkeys, this was the highlight of the whole day. Then we had the chance to walk through the main street of the city of Granada, and I saw a beautiful church. The trip back was long and we got back to the hotel a little after midnight.  

              

Day 4:

All we wanted to do was rest and that is NOT at all what we did. My family decided to go snorkeling. We went with the older man from day 2, he and his brother take tourist out to see the fishes. I have never been snorkeling before so I was very scared at first and once I could finally catch my breath I was amazed! I saw a puffer fish, a stingray, and many other fishes!

      

Day 5:

This was the day we actually relaxed. All we did was lay by the pool, talk, nap or read our magazine or book. At dinner, we had another version of ceviche. This was more seafood based on fish and shrimp, it had bigger portions of the peppers, cucumber, and tomato.

          

Day 6:

This day was S’ birthday! S was a tad bit sunburnt so she spent most of her day in the shade while I still laid under the sun. S and I got a therapeutic massage with a seashore view. Then we celebrated by having dinner at a “La Casita del Marisco Bar and Restaurant” (highly recommend, five stars, they have amazing service AND FOOD). To top off the night, there was a beach wedding at sunset and they set off fireworks! So that was a great way to end our trip.

         

Day 7:

Waking up for a 6 a.m. flight was awful but now we are back to reality and ready to finish off this semester.

Keep an eye out for Nic’s post about her spring break! Wait and see what we'll do next.