Pura Vida

Happy Father's Day!!  Breakfast at Hotel Grano de Oro

is a brilliant marketing slogan, Dana determined early on in our trip.  Something like Hawaii's "aloha," the phrase is used as a wish for good tidings (we were sent off on our first zipline above the cloud forest, with an emphatic "Pura Vida!"), as well as a ubiquitous t-shirt decoration.  As slogans go, let's face it, it's rather catchy!  So, after all of our exertion, hiking up steep trails and zip lining across the "longest cables in Latin America," I was more than ready to find the pura vida that exists at the bottom of a glass of jugo pina (my favorite, especially when mixed with mango - who knew?), in the pages of the latest book I'm reading (for me, Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk, for Daniel, Endangered, for Maddie, Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?, and, for Dana, A Visit from the Good Squad), and in the cool water of the pool.

We did venture out long enough to visit Si Como No's butterfly garden, which is housed in a wildlife preserve they maintain just across the road from the resort.  This is one of the community projects that helped earn them such kudos for their environmental awareness.  As guests at the resort, we were entitled to visit for free, though there was not another soul in sight, so I'm certain we could have wandered in off the street and nobody would have been the wiser.  We took a brief trek to the butterfly enclosure, which is surrounded by all manner of other trails, which I'm sure would be interesting to explore if accompanied by a guide.

We followed our visit to the butterfly garden with lunch at a nearby restaurant, then headed off on the mangrove tour we had swapped for our white water adventure.   Daniel was understandably disappointed that he traded another exhilarating adventure for a "bird watching" tour, but they were some lovely birds! (and crocodiles, and bats, and iguanas), and the relaxing boat ride was just what Maddie, who is still dealing with an ill-timed cold, needed.

The largest heron around; he can stand in much deeper water than his brethren

A baby crocodile, first spotted by Maddie (though Daniel insists he saw it first!)

lots of birds in flight - quite lovely really

these are tiny bats on the trunk of the tree, though they're mighty hard to see

This iguana was hiding until we passed.  Love how he peeks over the branch to see if we're still there! :)

Maddie taking in all of those mangrove roots; we now know more about mangroves than we thought possible.

The tour ended to another tremendous rainstorm, which kept us room bound, playing a fun new game called "Heads Up."  Get the app - you won't regret it! :) Heads Up Review (made famous by Ellen)

Luckily, we woke to our final morning at Si Como No to more perfect weather.  We enjoyed one last morning poolside, then packed up for our trip back to San Jose, a return to Hotel Grano de Oro, and a trip into a wild downtown for a delicious pre-Father's Day dinner at a local haunt.  As I write this final post, we have just a couple of hours before our transportation will take us to the airport and we will begin our trip home.

Happy Father's Day, and, of course, Pura Vida!  Thank you for sharing our trip with us.

Views from our balcony.  I would return to Si Como No in a second!!!

and another view from the outdoor lobby