While beach and sun are all well and good, I was eager to make the drive north to the cloud forests of the Monteverde region. Monteverde is located on the Continental Divide, where the Caribbean and Pacific slopes meet. It was about 2.5 hours from Jacó, so with a relatively early start, we were able to have a leisurely drive.

Our visit to Costa Rica had been long-awaited. My good friend Dave and I had actually gotten cheap flights to go back in early 2022, but we decided instead to take our pups out to Atlantic Canada (and as Giz’s last big adventure, I’m so glad we did). But I’d been itching to finally go, and as I usually try to take a trip around my birthday, Costa Rica was the obvious choice.