Costa Rica - Atlantic

The big family trip was to the Atlantic. Missing were my Dad who is always to busy to hang out, my second sister Sandy who had to work and her husband, and my little sis who had to stay in Spain. Other than that the 10 of us that went had a great time.

What can I say, the Atlantic has so much history. The African influence is very strong and the flavor they continue to add to the country is great. They have been in CR since nineteenth century when they migrated freely, unlike many other countries where they were slaves, primarily from Jamaica and British West Indies, to work on the railroad, staying later to work on the banana plantations. The colors of their homes are very Caribbean and the food is delicious. They speak English of the Jamaican dialect.

However, the waves are rough, it is rainy most of the time and it is impacted by the hurricanes from the East Coast.

Playa Manzanillo, CR

A eco-hut we found by the beach so we decided to take camp right there.

My sister

My sister, her husband and her son Gabriel ("Tuto") with my posing beauty on the side.

The waves were so rough but my fearless child loved the challenge. At the main beach she was further out than any adult. Of course we did not take our eyes off from her the whole time. Her golden hair reflects the sun shine that it looks like found gold....wait we did!

Babushka Mami and my niece Andrea. Great kid and she loves her grandma so much.

My sis Anahi, Babushka Mami and Kristina with a flavor of the Caribbean in the back.

"Maxi's Bar and Restaurant" where we had a taste of the local food. It was awesome.

Both dishes below were ordered by my brother-in-law. He was born in Venezuela but by the way he orders you think he was a "Tico". We also had a good meal when we went into town, Puerto Viejo, and at Chile Rojo had a dozen oysters each with soy sauce and ginger for less than $10.00.

This is the hotel where we stayed in Playa Cocles. I post not because the hotel was great but because we had great times there the whole family. Everything was booked due to summer school, this was the only thing available, next time we need to make the decision to go earlier and book ahead. Nonetheless, the hotel was surrounded by jungle full of monkeys, butterflies, all kids of birds even macaws.

The rooms:

The kids enjoyed the pool no matter what.

Babushka Mami hugging (more like squeezing) the wet Kristina.

The boys, my nephews having a conference, plotting something or perhaps just eating some good french fries with mayonnaise and ketchup, the Costarican way.