This was our second full day in Costa Rica and we planned the longest trip for today. We headed northeast to see the Arenal Volcano and enjoy the hot springs, but our first stop for today was at a combination Butterfly and Toucan House and gift shop. We visited the butterflies first, but saw only a few. Most of the ones we did see were large with a beautiful blue on the top and a grayish brown underside. There were a few others, too, but this was not a particular...

Christmas morning in Puntarenas is warm and beautiful. We had a full day with all the highlights being Costa Rican animals -- monkeys, crocodiles, iguanas, lots of birds and a blowfish. Chico and Andrew picked us up early for the day and we first stopped at a private house that Chico knew about. The lady who lives there lets people come by and feed the family of monkeys that lives in her yard (for two dollars per person). I don't know if she is on the regular to...

It was a very early morning wake-up call to get to the airport for a 6:30 flight. Everything went well along the way. Erin spent the night at our home so we could go to the airport together. We met Shaun and Yvette at IAH and had lunch together before the flight to San Jose, Costa Rica. This was the first time for Erin and Yvette to meet. When we got to San Jose, our smiling driver, Francisco Núñez González, also called Chico, was at the airport ...

After an overnight at the Hilton Heathrow, we are back in the same seats on the plane for the return, first to Houston, then on to Albuquerque. The seat belt sign was on for the first two and a half hours of the flight, for no obvious reason—just a few little bumps. In fact the head of service for the flight said early on that we did not expect any rough weather until possibly over Newfoundland and then as we descend into IAH. I have noticed that non-Amer...