Chilamate, Costa Rica – Life in this part of the country revolves around the river. It has long been an artery for transportation and trade, a source for fishing and – most importantly for our purposes – the go-to destination…
Life in the Rainforest
Chilamate, Costa Rica – Our first stop in Costa Rica is Chilamate, located on the Sarapiqui River in the country’s Northern Lowlands, a rainforest-covered region that was in danger of being completely converted to banana and pineapple plantations. With the growth of ecotourism,…
Journeys & Arrivals
Alajuela, Costa Rica – One of my travel truisms is that all the best places are hard to get to. You can’t just take a direct flight to paradise. It requires multiple flights, perhaps on tiny airplanes. Or – even better – multiple…
Central America on a Shoestring
Somerville, Mass – This beautiful new book showed up on my doorstep recently, featuring a new and improved Costa Rica chapter, written by yours truly. It’s just the thing to get us all excited about our next trip to Costa…
La Casona del Maiz
La Garita, Costa Rica – On our last day in Costa Rica, we had to drive from the Nicoya Peninsula to the airport in Alajuela, and then return the rental car and make our way to the airport for an…
Best Beaches for Kids in Costa Rica
Costa Rica is a famously great surfing destination and you’ll see many lists of the best surfing beaches. But great surfing = not so great for children swimming. So now that I am nearing the end of my research and…
This is the Life
Playa Carrillo, Costa Rica
Playa Carrillo
Playa Carrillo – We are staying in a lovely house in the village of Carrillo, which is about 7km south of Samara. Even besides the swimming pool, this place is paradisaical. This is the view from our upstairs terrace. This…
Puddle Jumpers by Stearns
Playa Carillo, Costa Rica – Does it count as “traveling” if you rent a house with a swimming pool and then never leave the pool? If it does, here’s my expert tip of the day for successful travel with kids:…
Tres Hermanas BBQ
Cañas, Guanacaste, Costa Rica – Travel days are always stressful, but everybody held it together. We had a long drive today, but we also had the pleasure of stopping at Tres Hermanas BBQ, a roadside restaurant that is unmissable for…