Sunday March 16, 2014
Our last full day here! This morning when we got up, we finally had some monkeys in the trees outside our bungalow – a troupe of squirrel monkeys. We had breakfast and then were picked up by the Canopy Safari bus at 7:15 am. We drove out to their property which took about 40 minutes after a stop at the office in Quepos to sign waivers. The drive wound through a palm plantation and up a rough dirt road to their property.
Mallory had spent much of last night crying and saying she did not want to go zip lining, but we struck a deal with her this morning. We offered her another trip to the frozen yogurt shop across the road from Tulemar if she would at least try it, and she said yes. (Phew! That was some pretty easy negotiating. The thing about Mallory is that she never wants to try anything at first, but always ends up enjoying it afterwards. I didn’t mind letting her opt out of tubing and surfing, but if she didn’t zip line, someone else would have had to sit out too, and we were pretty sure she’d like it if she gave it a chance.)
The next few lines were longer and faster, and Mallory rode about the third or fourth one on her own. This was necessary because after that, we did a Tarzan swing, from one platform to another, and then a long rappel down – both of which she had to do on her own. Then more lines (there were about 10 in all) and another rappel, the Express, at high speed. Mallory finished the remainder of the course on her own, except for one line for which she was too small, and Liam finished his last line upside down. Mallory now says ziplining was the #1 part of the trip for her, and I think it ranks second for Liam, after surfing. After the zip course, we went through the butterfly and snake exhibits they have onsite, and then rode the bus back to our hotel.
I should note that I had wanted to book through a different zip company, but this was the one our hotel recommended and Chad pushed for it. Part of the reason for that was that they offered a free photo package if you booked the excursion online, which we did. They took some great pictures, and I was really pleased with the entire setup. The guides were friendly and great with the kids, everything was very safe, the course was fun and scenic – really glad we went with Canopy Safari in the end.
We got off the bus at the gate and immediately crossed the street to make good on our promise to Mallory. After we ate we came back to our room and got ready to go down to the beach. The boogie boarding conditions were not great, but we played in the water and Mallory attempted a few sand sculptures. Then we said goodbye to the beach, came back to our room to change, and headed out for an early dinner. Though our hotel staff tried to talk us out of it, we went to El Avion. We got there before sunset and ordered drinks, and liked the ambience enough that we decided to take a chance on the food and stay for dinner. And honestly, it was fine! Not the best meal I’ve ever had in my life, but far from the worst, too. After we ate, the kids climbed around the cockpit for a bit before we went back to our room, stopping on the way at the convenience store for a couple of last breakfast items and trying with no luck again to get money out of the bank. Back at the hotel, we went to the family pool for a quick after dark swim before calling it a night. This was the first and only time we used the pool on the whole trip! It was really nice, but the beach was more our thing.
Cook Family Travels 