I know this is going to sound weird, but I really haven’t seen as much of Costa Rica as I would like to. It’s been almost a year since I arrived and yet, with buying the business and the house and settling in…we really haven’t taken much time to be tourists.

In some ways that really makes me twitch. I mean, I did a lot of armchair research before we came down and I know there are a lot of cool things to do.

Actually I want to clarify that statement a bit…I THOUGHT I knew.

Today I did a little deep dive into the Tourist Industry here in Costa Rica. A really, really, deep dive…

…and when I came up for air I was absolutely flabbergasted.

I went to one company’s list of excursions…just one and I spent, quite literally, two hours clicking away. I have discovered a cornucopia of activities. Tours for every taste and speed and budget. It was mind boggling!

You think I’m exaggerating…. I can feel it.

Very well, you asked for it… here are a few of the things you can do in my new home…

You like to cook? Great! Do you want to learn to cook with a chef? Do you want to learn authentic Costa Rican cuisine from a Tico in her home? Do you want to go to the market to buy the ingredients…or go to the farm and pick it yourself??? You can do that too!

Speaking of farms, there are farms with animals, or palm oil, cocoa or coffee farms to choose from and explore.

Want to see some more exotic animals? There are wildlife sanctuaries galore. Some that feature many types of creatures, some - like the sloth or turtle sanctuaries - specialize. There is a Butterfly Conservatory and even a serpentarium… not that you need to go to an actual sanctuary to see wildlife in Costa Rica. There are dozens of National Parks , Wildlife Preserves, and hiking trails that would accomplish the same thing… and that’s not even touching on the marine animals.

Once you bring water into the equation, everything changes once more. Do you want to explore fresh water rivers? White water rafting? Kayaking? Waterfalls? Fly fishing? Yup…got it all.

You want salt water? Inshore fishing? Offshore fishing? Whale watching? Snorkelling, scuba diving? Sea Kayaking? How about jet skiing or waterskiing? Got that too! Oh…and I almost forgot…SAILING!

I still feel like I’m forgetting something…

Let’s see… let’s talk about adventure next. There is everything from ATV-ing to rock climbing… don’t want to climb UP the rock…No problema, you can repel down a waterfall instead. Ziplining, canopy tours, sky trams, Tarzan swings…if that’s not exciting enough you can jump off a cliff into a pool, go spelunking or paraglide.

Too adventurous? How about golf, horseback riding or birdwatching? Hop on a boat and cruise the mangroves looking for crocs…

Still too adventurous? Take a tour through San Jose, visit museums and beautiful old architecture…go shopping…

Or…go visit an indigenous village and learn how about the traditional Costa Rican lifestyle, and that takes us right back to cooking where we started.

I still feel like I’m missing something…

Oh yeah! Volcanos! Remember the 6 active and 61 extinct volcanoes?…. wanna see them? …and all the rainforest around them? Do you want to walk, or ride? An ATV or a mountain bike? Too much work? (I agree) Maybe just clip yourself in and glide through them…

My head is swimming just trying to remember everything that I saw today, and I probably haven’t. Having looked at all the possibilities I’m fairly certain I couldn’t do them all in a decade of trying…and there are some that I don’t really have any interest in.

However there is always one thing that appeals to me, and that my friends…is VARIETY.

I love choices, and in that regard I’m absolutely certain that I have landed in the right place. Now the big question is….where on earth do I start???

I know that when the girls come there will be surfing lessons and horseback riding on the beach…that’s a given…. but what do I want to do?

No matter how I look at it… I always seem to come back around to waterfalls. I have been looking forward to seeing some since we first came down in 2017, so I guess I will start there. Now I have to decide if I want to drive to one, take an ATV, hike, climb straight up it, repel down it….jump off it into the water or just swim around under it… If I’m feeling lazy I can even soak in a hot spring close to it? Coat myself in therapeutic mud?

That reminds me! I forgot about the luxurious past times…like spas! I love a good visit to the spa! Speaking of which, I could really use a massage…

…but I’m getting off topic…

Maybe there is such a thing as Too Much choice… NAH!

Go see for yourself if you think I’m kidding…

https://www.vacationscostarica.com/

I’m going to go hit the pool and pretend its a sparkling pool beneath a rushing waterfall…

Toodles for now and Pura Vida!