And so begins another adventure for the Smith clan. I love, love, love to travel! New people, smells, food, language. I feel completely out of my element and it is so fun😀

We arrived at our AirBnb in the dark but thankfully our driver, Diego knew where it was. We stopped at the most expensive Mini Supermarket in the area (lesson learned) to get a few things and spent majority of our time in there looking for familiar foods that we would find at home or in Mexico. Then we had the moment of trying to convert CR money to CDN dollars in our heads whilst answering questions from the girls. Sheesh, I have not wrapped my head around the money yet or if I am paying too much for things.

Our Airbnb is awesome! It’s all open air with a stunning ocean view. The bedrooms, bathroom, and kitchen are off the patio and although there is no aircon, the breeze off the ocean keeps it pretty cool. We did have an ant infestation when we arrived, greeters maybe? I went on a killing spree with some toxic chemical while Nick filled the hole in the wall with candle wax. Clever hey?

Normally I research an area thoroughly before I travel there but not this time. I know very little about this country, I feel woefully unprepared and after packing my suitcase in less than 15 minutes I feel even more unprepared. Nick called me at work on Thursday at 2pm and said we had to catch the ferry ASAP as the weather was turning and they were expecting ferries to be cancelled. So at 3pm I left work and raced to take Gigi to ortho and then home to pack. We caught the 5:45pm ferry. For anyone who lives in my area, you know that is a quick turnaround. I basically got home, threw clothes in suitcase, took the garbage out, got the bed ready for the house sitter and left. The things I forgot is about a mile long. Whatever. I can buy the necessities, right? And the ferries were cancelled on Friday.

The area we are in is about a 3 hour drive from Liberia on the Guanacaste coast. It isn’t really that far but the roads are terrible; really, really dusty and bumpy. It is slow going. Everyone wears a bandana when they are driving and for good reason, it completely chokes you. Of course, everyone is driving a quad or dirt bike. Madeline is so wanting to rent dirt bikes and go for a “rip”. Nick and I walked the road early this morning- big mistake. We were dust covered by the time we got back.

Day 1 was very uneventful. We swam, got sunburnt, wandered around to get our bearings and read books. Delightful all in all. Tomorrow looks the same. I remember our friend Greg who lives in Mexico when asked what he does all day, answered, “fuck all, and that doesn’t start till noon.” That is my mantra for this trip.