The Long and Winding Road... With Detours.

The day had come.  The day we needed to head back to San Jose so we could prepare to go home the following morning.  We were all very sad to say goodbye to Playas del Coco.  We tried to sleep in but I don't think any of us wanted to waste the time of sleep while we could be up enjoying more hours in Costa Rica.  Either that or we just couldn't sleep at all.

We packed the car and said goodbye to Leo at Toro Blanco.  We pet the dogs goodbye and we were off to pay our bill with Rich Coast.  Kat was going to stay a couple more weeks (lucky girl!) so she was getting more suggestions from Brenda.  Seriously, if you ever go to Playas del Coco for diving, be sure to do it with Rich Coast Diving.  They definitely know their stuff!  We definitely trust Brenda and her suggestions of places to go and eat!  She knows her stuff!  I was so jealous that Kat was going to be traveling longer in the beautiful country!  Anyway we hung out for an hour or so trying to figure out what happened to my booties.  I decided to tell Brenda and Juan not to worry about it.  If they show up, great.  Perhaps somebody else could use a new pair?  We said our goodbyes and were off to our next adventure.

The next adventure included a few U-turns and a very bumpy dirt road.  We were off to Congo Trail!  This was a recommendation from Brenda so we knew it would be worth it.  we finally pulled up and decided that 2 of us should stay with the car and luggage due to past history of thiefs in the area.  Kat and Jen went first while Risa and I chilled in and around the car.  When the girls came back they warned us to take everything out of our pockets and hair because the monkeys will try to steal anything they can get their hands on!

(The snuggle bug.)

(It's like he's telling her a shocking secret!)

Marisa and I paid our entrance fee and was greeted by a young Tico.  He was shy and very sweet as he let us into the cage.  We were immediately greeted by 3 White Faced Monkeys and 2 Spider Monkeys.  These monkeys were once pets and when they tried to release them into the wild, they would just keep coming back to be taken care of.  The male Spider Monkey came right up to me putting his arms up to be picked up and cuddled.  He was the sweetest thing ever!  We were handed sunflower seeds to feed the monkeys and the White Faced monkeys were all over us, playing, inspecting, grooming and eating.  It was hilarious!  After this experience, we decided it would be best to never ever want a pet monkey.  They're worse than children!  We were finally done after the monkeys looked under Marisa's dress and down my shirt.  We checked out the rest of the animals, which included various snakes, a Barn Owl, a Pheasant, butterflies and more.  The Congo Trail was definitely worth the $10 entrance and tip we gave the young Tico!  Next we checked out the souvenir shop, purchased our goods (including cold Cokes) and we were on our way to San Jose.

(They went down my shirt, up Marisa's dress...  They wanted to see it all!)

Time was running short as we drove the one highway that lead us back to the city.  We wanted to make it to the hostel by nightfall since Juan (aka, the Spanish Jemaine from Flight of the Conchords) had told us not to drive in San Jose at night.  We were all falling very tired and decided it best to just stay at the Holiday Inn Express that was next door to the car rental place.  We ate dinner at Denny's since it was within walking distance and then it was shower and bedtime.

We woke up early and were so sad to leave such an amazing country.  We left Kat behind as she decided to stay an extra 2 weeks.  We are all very jealous of her and the adventures she'll be experiencing without us as we return to reality.  Thankfully, she's still emailing us when she can and will be photographing her pictures and sharing with us later!

So now I need to try to convince my boss to let me work from home so I can move to Costa Rica!  Hmmm....