Costa Rica Roundup

I've been so frazzled of late trying to get back in the Miami groove that I haven't even properly recapped Costa Rica. The truth is that it was SUCH an amazing vacay that words can't describe. Seriously, it was that good. If you ever want to get away to the middle of nowhere—in a five-star fashion—then this is the place for you. Peninsula Papagayo is a private penin owned by a developer, and the Four Seasons ground-leases their space. (Lay Ann is in commercial real estate, so she got the DL.) It's a little confusing, but basically, you've got the Four Seasons and its rooms, spa, resort, private residences, etc. And then you've got luxurious private homes, an Arnold Palmer golf course at Four Seasons, iguanas and all the howling monkeys you want. Also, the peninsula is protected by the Costa Rican EPA, which has much more stringent regulations than ours. So in addition to this being an amazing five-star property, it's also very "green."

Anyway, here are some photo highlights.

This is what you see upon first entering Papagayo.




Each morning you awake to the sounds of the Howling Monkeys. And boy do they ever howl.


One of the daily Cosmopolitan-making trays waiting for us in our room. Good thing we bought ALL that Grey Goose at the DFS; we never even had to crack open the bottle. Our two California friends left our condo the last night with a garbage bag full of goodies that we never got to.




Our first night in heaven.

Our last night in heaven at the steakhouse where they surprised me with this decadent and beautiful birthday cake.



Me, having the time of my life in the middle of the jungle. Who would've thought? Apparently I have no fear of heights.



Isn't it funny how the best photos are the ones where you hold your arm out to capture yourself and friends?

This big daddy is, according to the manager of the golf course, a really, really, really old reptile.


This is the bay side of the Four Seasons beach. All the water sports are launched from here, but there is also an oceanside beach, where we spent more time. We could hear the waves from our room, which is the most relaxing sound on earth to me.


Zipping away again.


We passed over a couple awesome waterfalls.


And walked over a couple precarious suspension bridges. I had a little fun jumping and running on this one behind Lay Ann to freak her out even more. Hee hee.

Lay and I kayaking on our last day. I forgot how fun kayaking is.

Golf carts transported us to and fro our rooms. For some reason we were all obsessed with the golf carts, but Lay Ann took the prize. She almost wet her pants with excitement when she got to drive us around the golf course on our tour. And she nearly killed me a couple times too.

This is one of the features all of us had been super-excited about. It's the ladies' hot tub in the spa; outdoors, overlooking the Pacific. My photo doesn't do it justice, but the one on the web site does.


A view from a high-elevation hole on the golf course.