Live from Costa Rica

We'll be sending regular updates from Costa Rica over the next couple of weeks.  I'm here with 3 families with kids ranging from 2 to 10, visiting all of the fun things to offer around the country's South Caribbean region.

I arrived with my family and another on a red-eye Friday morning.  While the flight was as rough as you'd imagine with kids, everybody was thrilled to arrive and get started.  We took a quick dip in the pool at La Rosa de America, where we met up with the members of the group smart enough to fly in the night before.  We then passed through Braulio Carillo National Park on the way to the Caribbean, braving driving rain and crazy bus drivers along the way.

The rain let up just as we arrived to Jardin Pierella, one of my favorite places in Costa Rica.  This butterfly farm run by William Camacho, has done an incredible job at restoring diversity to an area of the country dominated by pasture.  William raises butterflies to export to museums around the US, as well as taking care of wildlife confiscated by the Costa Rican's Environment ministry.  He told us about a recent survey that showed a majority of homes here had wild animals.  I knew the problem was bad but had no idea at the scale.  Among the creatures (in addition to butterflies) we saw here were poison dart frogs, a red eye tree frog, walking sticks, peccaries, parrots, and a very friendly porcupine.  After that, we drove the last 3 hours to our cabins near Puerto Viejo and went to bed early.

Bright sunshine greeted us the next morning and the warm Caribbean water was first on the agenda.  After a couple of hour of bodysurfing, we had a great lunch at a local place called Bread & Chocolate.  Our afternoon began with a visit to the Kekoldi Indigenous Reserve and their wonderful iguana farm.  Our indigenous Bribri guide, Lucas, explained the cultural importance of the iguanas to his people, how they use the fat, skin, and meet for different purposes such as medicine, drums, and food.  The iguanas are a favorite local meal, so they're are almost completely gone from this region.  They have released more than 35,000 iguanas from here over the past 20 years, helping to keep the forests alive with these beautiful animals.

As the sun set, we got another shower as we headed to the beach to meet a couple of sea turtles.  Also confiscated by the Environment Ministry from people who had them illegally, this green and hawksbill were being given a second chance at life.  We helped release them back into the ocean just north of Puerto Viejo.  Just north of where we let them go is Cahuita National Park, home to the country's largest coral reef, the preferred habitat for hawksbills.

I'll have a short video to share and more stories soon-

-Brad Nahill