Today we flew from Charlotte, NC, to San Jose's Juan Santamaria International airport. The flight was a little sketchy, but it was our own fault since we did not check in the day before OR arrive a full 2 hours before the flight. The flight was overbooked so we almost did not get a seat. Travelers beware -- get there early! Anyway, we got on …

Since we came a day earlier than our Adventure Life tour started, we planned a day trip through the hotel. We'd heard about the Aerial Tram grounds and decided to check it out. The views from the tram were absolutely spectacular. The tram runs on a loop, one below the other, so outgoing you're close to the ground, and on the way back you're way …

Got up early today to meet the driver Jorge. He was there right at 7 a.m., with a big van for just the four of us. We drove out through Braulio Carillo National Park to HWY 32 (stopping for rice and beans along the way, of course!), through Guapiles and Siquirres, through Matina and the banana plantations to a boat dock. After a few minutes …

On patrol we found LOTS of hatchling tracks, but most of them we missed by what must have been less than an hour. At one nest, there was one little turtle who got left behind. His eyes were not yet open, so he wasn't quite ready to strike out on his own and we re-buried him gently back in the nest.

Rained most of the night, keeping us up. We said our goodbyes this morning -- some folks stayed after breakfast to talk with us and we took a group picture. A few people there had been to Selva Bananito and were telling us how cool it was. I really wish everyone there lots of luck. They're doing a great job I was impressed.

We hopped on the …

Today was Rivers, Waterfalls, and jungle trails day! Woke up early to go on the Waterfall hike, with Carlos, his helper Victor, and another family with two kids. The family was from Germany and we got along rather well. This was a hike that spoiled us for all other hikes! We must have crossed the river 20 times, with everyone splashing through …

Today we slept in! After breakfast at 8, we teamed up with same family again. Carlos and Victor led us out to the Canopy tour. There's a 30 minutes hike across some fields and through the jungle to get to the first point. Again, James and I each paired up with one child (the kids didn't weigh enough to get all the way across on their own). …

Time to leave Selva Bananito ... but first, one more adventure we hadn't planned on! The kitchen woke up early for us to lay out some fruit, bread and cereal. Very nice of them. We'd asked for a small snack in the morning but they really went out of their way. So sweet.

It had rained so much the night before that our vehicles couldn't make …

Back to Charlotte today; all four of us were sad to leave! After our last costa rican breakfast -- seriously I'll have to make rice, beans and fried eggs at home -- the hotel arranged a taxi minivan to the airport and our flight home.

We'd come back in a heartbeat. We came in the rainy seasons, but really it only rained a little in the …