The Lawsons came to visit us for 10 days starting on March 26th, and ending on April 5th. It was really good to see them and spend some time showing them around the country. They also brought us some American candy and other supplies that are hard to come by here, which was much appreciated.For Jacob's eagle project, he collected donations of money and church clothing to share with the brothers and sisters of the Puriscal branch. They brought 5 duffel bags full of clothing. We went around and visited several families to share the clothing. Then on Conference Saturday we set up shop in the ward building and invited or brought people over to choose clothing that they could wear to church. The project was a grand success!
While they were here we took a three day trip to visit some of the sights of Costa Rica. We started at La Fortuna where one of the most active volcanoes (Arenal) in the world lives. We stayed at the same dumpy cabins with a great view that we stayed at when Randy's family came to visit. There wasn't much volcanic activity, but we did manage to see some boulders roll down the side of the volcano at night. We found out about a free hot springs that passes under the main highway. It is right next to a resort that charges $70 a person for the privilege of soaking in the hot water. We had a great time and saved a LOT of money in the process.
Next, we drove around lake Arenal (which was a really beautiful drive) and headed west to the coast where we stayed at the hotel of some friends in El Coco. We visited La Conchal, which is a beach made up entirely of sea shells. This is in stark contrast to most of the beaches in CR, which contain a lot of dirt that has washed down from the mountains in the rain.
Once back in Puriscal, we took them to our favorite swimming hole on the Turrubares river. However, the water was not nearly as clear as the other times we had gone. Even so, we had a great time. We also paid a visit to the Turubari zip line park. It was way more crowded than when I took our kids thanks to this being Semana Santa (Holy Week). There was no time between rides to chat or visit with the guides. They just whisked us from one cable to the next as quickly as they could.
To top off the trip, we went to Manuel Atonio to swim and see the monkeys. Again, because it was Semana Santa, the park was extremely busy. Rather than wait in the long line to get into the park, we opted to pay a guide $80 to get us in quicker and see all the sites. I can't really say that it was worth the extra money, however, we did end up seeing a lot of things that we would not have seen, had we gone without the guide. For example, he showed us a couple of frogs that were very well hidden, as well as numerous sloths, that I'm sure we have walked right past. The monkeys did not disappoint us, and gave us several shows, including jumping up and down on a trash can trying to get at the goodies inside.
