Last Day in Costa Rica

I would not swim in this river. The crocodiles were huge. We traveled back to San Jose and stayed in Casa Conde again. We ate our last lunch at this hotel and it was delicious. We traveled to a local music school for our last concert. There was a band to play for us on our arrival. The school is a fine arts school for the community. After our concert, there was a dance class going on in the hallway, and they allowed us to join in. They are great dancers. After the fun party at the school, we went for our farewell dinner at El Rodeo Steak House. The boys were very proud of themselves for playing Mary had a Little Lamb with glass coke bottles. We are going to miss Costa Rica and its people.

The Crocodiles were huge.

Everyone gazing at the crocodiles.

Our welcome goodies that were home made.

Our Welcome band.

Inside of the school.

Our shared concert.

Our dance party.

Mary had a little lamb.

Farewell Dinner at El Rodeo.

Beach Day

The most important thing to pack when you travel with a group is flexibility, and we found that to be especially true today. One of our buses wouldn't start this morning, so we ended up putting all the kids and chaperones on one bus (every seat was filled) and our problem-solving tour guides got a large van to transport all the other adults. We started our day with a trip to Manuel Antonio National Park where we took a nature hike and saw sloths, white-faced monkeys, iguanas, howler monkeys, racoons and several species of birds. Then we went to a beach inside the park. We ate lunch, played on the beach a few minutes, and then decided the surf was too big for us to stay and play in the waves. We came back to our hotel and went to the beach connected to the resort. It was much calmer and we had a wonderful time playing on the beach and in the waves. We had dinner at the resort and then had a dance with another school group in the resort's in disco. A great end to a great day.

Trying to jump-start bus #2. (It didn't work. It needed a new starter.)

Dillon McGrath spotting a sloth in Manuel Antonio National Park.

One of the beaches in the National Park.

Ready for a swim!

Madi Harner and a many-legged friend on her arm.

A three-toed sloth posed for us in the Park.

Swimming in the warm water at the beach at our hotel.

Wes Jackman waiting for the surf to come to him.

Hope Collins and Nikki Sarti enjoy the warm Pacific Ocean.

More fun in the waves.

Jumping the waves was a favorite ocean activity.

Our dance party at the disco by the beach.

When the dance was too hot, this group played a game of "Curses" by the pool.

David Fowler shows off his moves at the disco.

Hannah Moty danced the night away with her friends.

Catch up on Videos

Here are just some videos that I have not been able to download.


This hike was at El Silencio trails. They are on the far west side of Arenal Volcano.
Rainy Hike

This is Mr. Spencer swinging on a vine in the rain forest. Such a great Tarzan.
Tarzan Swing

Here is just a view of a rain storm in Arenal. Such great rain there. So noisy, but really didn't last long.
Rain In Arenal


This is our guide Alex. He is demonstrating a howler monkey call for everyone. Alex has been a great guide, and always has all of the answers for us.
Our guide Alex


This last video is of the bell ringer. This was at the church in San Jose that we sang our second concert.
Bell Ringing

Travel Day

Today we said goodbye to the Arenal volcano area. We had not seen the top of the volcano since we arrived because it was always shrouded in clouds, but just before we left this morning the clouds parted and we were able to see the summit. What a view! Sadly, we did not witness any volcanic activity. But we did hear thunder at night that we told ourselves was really the volcano. This was a travel day for us as we made our way to the Mid-Pacific Area. It has rained all afternoon and evening so we do not have any other pictures for you today. We arrived at our hotel in time for dinner and we have done a bit of exploring of the resort in the rain, but nothing really picture-worthy. We'll have more for you tomorrow.

Rafting Adventures

Just thought that we would share some of our pictures from our fun rafting trip. The kids had a blast, and it was the warmest river I have ever been in.