Lorna's Travel Blog: Dominical

Well it is with trepidation that I write this last Blog from Costa Rica. We left manuel antionio a week ago and headed 45 minutes south to Dominical where 12 of the wedding goers had rented a villa for the week. Dominical is very small - actually the town is virtually non-existent, it is a less touristy part of Costa Rica that attracts surfers and a number of canadian and Americans (all in their 50's and 60's), who have made their money and decided to drop out and live a relaxed life - I definitely can see the advantages.

Our villa is located about 200meters from the beach up the side of a mountain. The villa has 6 bedrooms and six bathrooms, a beautiful kitchen and living areas. The best part is the amazing outdoor area with the most beautiful infinity pool I have ever seen - you just hang over the edge and gaze at the ocean with the most spectacular evening sunsets. The outdoor area has a BBQ, large table for outdoor dining and lots of comfortable loungers - when the area is lite up at night it looks so lovely. If I was ever to have a house in a tropical climate this would be exactly what I would want.

Groom is getting frisky!

Hannah decided to do a bit of body painting - tattoos next????

Since we were about 2.5 hours from the Panama border and we heard there was good shopping there, Aaron, Ashley, Donna and I decided to take the trip one day.

Guy we paid to watch the rental car!

A couple of kilometers of trucks waiting to cross the border - but first inspected by the police.

The markets were much like those in Asia but definitely not Asian prices in fact I could buy things cheaper in the USA. One store had clothes with tags from Ross's Dress for less with the price portion torn off and no they were charging at least three times the price you would pay in Ross's - I should know as I have spent enough time in that store - right Marianne! It was also smoking hot here as we were inland and there was no ocean breeze.

Cemetery just off the highway

Yes people live in these - the roof is plastic in most cases

Sean and Michelle celebrated their 5th anniversary so Aaron put on a fireworks show.

Toucan sighting at the villa - in fact there were so many toucans we thought it must be a toucan flight school!

Dominical has some spectacular falls - this is one of the small ones - some of the bigger ones are a three hour horse ride to get to.

We hired a cook to prepare all our dinners which was a great move as they shopped for the food prepared it and cleaned up after dinner - what a treat. The five guys went deep sea fishing one day and caught about 40 pounds of mahi mahi- so we have eaten fish done a number of different ways and the remaining fish we gave to the cooks to take home.

Aaron, Ashley Donna and I went to and ecolodge for lunch after the falls. The lunch was ok but the views from the lodge were fabulous.

Scorpion found in shower - thank god it was not my shower!

This has been an amazing trip to Costa Rica - not only the adventures of the first week but spending the next two weeks with my sons, Ashley, Michelle and of course miss Hannah and Molly. I will definitely return to Costa Rica - hopefully for my 60th birthday. The people here are so nice, honest and helpful. The food is delicious. The people value their environment and recognize the value of getting an education. Yes there are so are some poorer areas and places to stay clear of but that can be said for most countries including Canada. It is not really cheap here as compared to Mexico or Asia but I like the favour of this country and what I have experienced.

Adventure of climbing this rock face