traveloehrs

Lianne walked towards the waterfall cascading into the cave. As I took in the scene, an enormous face hurting smile overtook me. It was beautiful and quiet, save for the exploding water. I couldn’t believe our luck in 1. Finding this place and 2. Being able to enjoy it kid free.

The genesis of the whole trip was an evening downtown in La Fortuna. Lennox was mesmerized by a local skateboarder. The skateboarder eventually stopped and asked Lennox if he wanted a go on the board. I helped Lennox do a few laps around the square and we started chatting with the skateboarder. He was a local Costa Rican and had a daughter Juniper’s age as well. As the kids played, we asked about the local area. We were considering a trip to a nearby waterfall and asked his thoughts on it. He clued us in that while it was awesome, there was another a bit further out that was more secluded and well worth the extra effort. I was sold based on his enthusiasm alone.

Unfortunately, (well in the long run it was for the best) the hike was not suitable for younger kids. I was disappointed but Matt and Chelsea graciously offered to wrangle the critters one day to let us go. I was pumped! It’s hard to get a break from the kids while on the road and we hadn’t had any out and about adults only time in almost 2 months.

The hike through the jungle was amazing. We passed a troop of probably 50 monkeys, iguanas, and tons of birds. We also had a few river crossings and pools to swim through to get to the main waterfall. There were several waterfalls and caves to explore and a nice rock jump into a pool. It was surreal driving home and not hearing the phrase “I need a snack.” When we got back to our Airbnb the kids ran up to give us hugs and Matt and Chelsea told us how much fun they had with the kids. I was grateful and I’m not sure they realized how appreciative we really were!