New Year's Eve

Today Mark had a long overdue haircut. It's amazing what you can do with some Christmas stocking scissors!

The boys made a friend and named him Gary.

We then discovered one of Gary's relatives in the lampshade.

We shopped for wine and marshmallows and then swam in the pool.

Cloudier today but still fab.

We watched a super sunset.

                 
                   
Then we had hotdogs, s'mores and sparklers round the campfire with new friends.

Three of us are still awake waiting to watch the fireworks in the valley .

Happy New Year from onebigyearstevensons, can't wait to discover amazing new friends and places in 2017 and catch up with those family and friends who we miss XxXx

Poas Volcano

Today was all about seeing a Poas Volcano. Poas boasts the second largest crater in the world and is one of five active volcanoes in Costa Rica.

Our day starts at the bus stop at 8am.

It's all too much for Fred!

One bus down, one to go.

The bus stops on the way for some delicious local strawberries.

Almost there and then the bus stops for nearly an hour as there's so much traffic into the park. There's mumblings on the bus, people are restless and want to get off and walk but it's forbidden! The clouds are sweeping in. 

Finally we're in, head straight for the main viewing area.

And here's the crater!!!

We wait........

bit longer.....

And there it is. We all shouted 'Wow!' together.

Really amazing sight. 1320m in diameter and 300m deep. It has erupted 39 times since 1828 the last time in 2011.

We were all blown away (literally as well, it was blowing a gale and freezing) staring into the crater until the clouds rolled in again.

We headed for the Botos  Lagoon, the largest volcanic lagoon in the world whose aquamarine waters are almost 1000 ft deep. But the cloud refused to shift.

The park is home to an abundance of wildlife too. We only saw this squirrel!

This sign lets you know what to do incase of volcanic activity. Number 1, stay calm!

The museum was pretty cool too and gave us a chance to warm up. First time we've been cold in Costa Rica.

The journey back to blue sky.

Boys enjoying the bus ride home.

Then a swim and a curry.

Treepee day 2

Freddy gets styled.

Morning goats!

Iguana on the track.

Where's the bus?

Lovely shady park in the centre of Atenas.

The school, boys got a bit worried when they saw this!

We found a skate park but had no wheels.

After a tasty lunch at Kay's Gringo Postres which also has a lending library (fab, Mark and I were out of books) we did some shopping and tried to find a bus stop. Sat for a while at what we thought was a bus stop, the bus whizzed by so apparently not. Another walk and bit if a wait and hoorah we were on the bus.

Cooling off.

The goats looked abit sheepish coming away from our Treepee! 

Freddy fave bed. There are several to choose from.

Treepee day 1

An interesting first night in the treepee. Wind got up in the middle of the night and was blowing through the open mesh panels, nice.  We were also disturbed by our insect bites. Any suggestions for relieving the itching gratefully received. Currently trying out toothpaste.

We all woke at 6am keen to help milk the goats. Not as easy as it looks.

This morning's view.

Then it was across to the Tropical House to use the pool. This beautiful property is rentable with airbnb too.

Cowabunga!

Belly flop!

Wowsers!

The jungle toilet next to the pool.

After lunch we took a little walk in the blazing sun to check out the surroundings. After yesterday's bus journey's was nice just to chill out.

Hobbit door. This cave was used for a workshop until the roof collapsed. There were bats inside.

Jake the goat.

The boys spot something good.

MotMot.

Toucan.

Heading home.

Goodnight from the Treepee.