Guanacaste, Costa Rica

Our great luck has returned! The weather during our stay in Guanacaste was absolutely wonderful. It made me realize that I appreciate sunshine much more when it follows two days of rain.

The Hacienda Guachipelin was perfect in every way. None of us wanted to leave. Two nights here just didn’t seem long enough, given the many activities offered.

During our too brief stay, we managed to catch the sunset,

go horseback riding ( it was much more fun when I was younger),

and soak by a waterfall.

As usual, Les was the first one in, followed by Cindy, then me. The others didn’t believe us when we told them there were warm spots in the water. The depth varied greatly—I moved a few inches to my left and I quickly realized the water was going to be well over my head, so I reversed course. But not before the bottom of my hat got quite wet.

That was just the morning activities. In the afternoon, we went to the hot springs where we discovered we could smear ourselves with mud.

I didn’t have my man with me, so Les was kind enough to do the honors. He did my back and I did his.

I left my phone in my locker, but Malo took this photo of Mike, me, Les and Jo-Lynne.

Cindy brought her cell phone protector with her, so she became our official hot springs/ mud bath photographer.

We had a choice: we could rinse off in the river or under the nearby shower. I needed to use both, but ultimately we all cleaned up well.

We ended our day with dance lessons courtesy of Malo. Sadly, the photos don’t show how our mud bath vastly improved our skin. You’ll just have to take my word for it.

Our time at the Hacienda was so magnificent, I skipped right past our activities on the drive from La Fortuna to Guanacaste (Rincón de la Vieja). Clearly, I need to backtrack!

By lunchtime we were ready for a break. Fortunately, a cacao farm was perfectly located in this very remote area.

Not only did we learn we about the multiple steps necessary to produce the chocolate that we all love, we also spent the morning enjoying the beautiful plants — like ginger.

Our guide was exceptional! He pointed out the male and female cacao flowers, and described the pollination process, which I have already forgotten. But I DID remember the female buds are the ones on top.

Here’s our guide, showing us the inside of a mature cacao plant.

We also were able to taste coconut water, coconut jelly, and coconut meat. Probably not the terms he used, but hey, I wasn’t able to take notes.

And yes, we DID consume chocolate. Here’s proof.

Lunch at the cacao farm was delicious—plantains with bean paste, and tamales. Marianne shared this video of the unwrapping the tamale.

For those of you who wonder how I find time to blog, this one was written on the bus on our way to Puntarenas.