For our second day we spent a lot of time on the bus, which really wasn't fun, but along the way we stopped at the LDS temple in San Jose, built in the year 2000, then stopped at the Tárcoles river to look at the HUGE tárcoles (that's crocodile in Costa Rican), then last, but not least by any means, we stopped at Jaco beach. Beautiful beach.
The beautiful LDS temple in San Jose, Costa Rica. Isn't this a gorgeous pic with the clouds in the background?
Had to get a picture with the beautiful flowers on the temple grounds.
Todd trying to get the temple doors open. For some reason they wouldn't open for him... maybe some day. :-)
Beautiful flowers on the temple grounds. Not a big flower expert so I don't know the names.
We were a little disapointed that the angel Moroni isn't in this picture. Our picture taker should have adjusted the view just up a little. He kept insisting that he couldn't get Moroni in the picture. I guess maybe he thought the sidewalk was important to include in the pic.
Our next stop was for lunch at this little cafe. We were all super excited because this cafe served hamburgers. Just a word of warning. There is a distinct difference between American hamburgers and Costa Rican hamburgers. Well, at least the burgers were better than another meal of rice and beans!
A great fruit stand next to the cafe with all sorts of delicious fresh fruit. There were fruit and vegetable stands in every town.
This is what I bought from the fruit stand. Did you know Costa Rica grows cashews? And not just cashews, but yummy, heavenly tasting cashews. I had to take a pictures of these gorgeous, tasty nuts because... well... they were tasty!
Our next stop after the not so yummy hamburger lunch and YUMMY snack of cashews is Tárcoles river. Crossing this river is an unusual bridge, it's an actual two lane bridge, which as I mentioned in my last blog is a VERY unusual sight in Costa Rica. This bridge is popular for tourist because of the large number of tárcoles (crocodiles) that live in the river below. To cross the bridge on foot, you have to walk on a very narrow strip of sidewalk one way, on your return you have to cross the road and return on the opposite side.
We found in the river below at least 15 huge crocodiles basking in the sun on the river banks and nearby in the water. The croc in this picture is about 10 feet long.
There was a sudden, unexpected fight between these two very large crocodiles. We were lucky to capture this photo. It was amazing to see in action.
Enjoy the show!
Now to the really good stuff!! We finally made it to Jaco beach and it was well worth the drive. It's absolutely beautiful. We couldn't have asked for a better day and the water was just amazing and warm. We couldn't wait to get our swimsuits on and had to visit the beach when we first arrived.
Hot guy on the beach!
aaaaah finally got the swimsuit on and ready to kick back and enjoy the day.
Instead of relaxing Todd took the opportunity to rent a surfboard and surf the beaches of Costa Rica! Don't know about that smile of his... looks suspiciously like a courtesy smile. Do you think he was anxious to hit the waves and not sit and pose for the camera?
Couldn't ever get a shot of Todd up and surfing, this is the best I could get with my little digital camera. He did get up and surf and was great at it... he's great at everything. :-)
While Todd's out surfing this is what I did... enjoyed the gorgeous view of the beach. Isn't this just beautiful? Can you just hear the waves, feel the slight breeze and the sun shining, totally relaxed.... aaaahhhh.
Another gorgeous view.
After all the relaxing and surfing, Todd and I decided to take a nice stroll down the beach. Jaco beach is really growing and there was a lot of development going on but we walked past this small little bar that's really more of a large shack and thought it fit more with the scenery than the fancy new hotels.
Too bad I don't know how to use photo shop to make this picture look a little better because it definitely does not do justice to the beauty of the beach at this time. The sun is shining through the spray of water in the air and it's unbelievably beautiful.
Love this picture! It's the perfect picture to end our second day in Costa Rica.
3 comments:
Awsome, awsome pictures. I totally remeber the bridge and the crocodiles. And Jaco is very beautiful. Keep em coming!
Oh, yeah. The burgers there are the nastiest! The meat isnt cow its brauma, if I remeber right! Sick!!!!
More great pics. I remember the hamburger meat was not the tastiest. I actually like their gallo pinto, though (beans n rice). I miss the real, true tropical fruit of central america, so it's fun to see the fruit stands.
The Jaco beach we knew never had those tall buildings, just a bunch of those little shacks you took a picture of.
And the photo of Todd walking with the footprints in the back is priceless!
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