Why a Costa Rica Adventure is What We All Need Post-Pandemic?

On February 22, 2021February 22, 2021 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Central America10 Comments

Today we are featuring a post from our friends at POC (Pacuare Outdoor Center) who provide guided adventures in the amazing country of Costa Rica.

With a year of being locked up and spending more time on our couches and opening our refrigerators than any other time in our lives, the one thing we all want to do is travel! Costa Rica is a close and comfortable destination to get us back into our groove. Costa Rica is a country that has grown over the last 30 years with a model of ecotourism and adventure for all levels.

Location

First, Costa Rica is far enough away but at the same time close enough to be a big trip but nothing too crazy. In most hub airports, you will get direct flights into San Jose (SJO) or Liberia Airport (LIR). The flight times from NY are slightly under 5 hours, and the best part is if you are flying from North America, you will not have a drastic time-zone change. Even those who have traveled a lot need to get back into our rhythm at the right place, and taking our first trip in a similar time-zone will have its benefits.

The People

The second is the people. There are fewer countries on the planet that you will find to be as friendly and inviting as the Costa Ricans. While some of us might be experts on cultures and immersing ourselves in other countries, we have to remember we have been sitting on our couches for a year. As mentioned above, we want to make things easy for us, and traveling around Costa Rica is like being in a country that everyone is your friend. It’s a great place to get our international social skills back in tune.

Adventure

Finally, this is probably the most important reason why we think Costa Rica is what everyone needs post-pandemic. Costa Rica is pretty much all open-air, no matter where you go. Visiting Costa Rica is about getting outside and enjoying the natural wonders it has to offer. Along with its natural beauties, Costa Rica is a top adventure destination for many different sports like rafting, SUP, canyoneering, MTB, hiking to volcanoes, and the list goes on.

We lost a year of jolting our mind into the “awe-moments” we refer to when traveling. We need a few good awe-moments on our first trip back, and adding some adventure to the itinerary is a great way to make it happen. Costa Rica offers adventures for all different levels, from those looking for a high adventure to a more relaxed birding tour and everything in between.

Your local adventure experts in Costa Rica are Pacuare Outdoor Center. This is a team of adventure and nature-loving guides that operate set date adventure for small groups throughout the year. You can also customize your own tours, and they will design a package tailored to you and the type of adventure you are looking for.

So there you have it. Your post-pandemic cure for 12 months of not traveling. If you are looking to not change time-zones but still want a big trip then Costa Rica is not too far but located just far enough. Also, we have never been locked up for 12 months before so our social skills might be slightly out of tune in which case the easy option is to travel to the overly-friendly country of Costa Rica, and finally, it’s probably time to get active and involve some adventure in your itineraries and Costa Rica is filled with options for everyone.

Hiding on the Shores of an Amazonian Tributary

On February 12, 2021February 12, 2021 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Photo Challenge, South America5 Comments

When we stayed at the ecolodge in the Amazon Jungle while we were in Ecuador, we canoed on a tributary of the Amazon river every day. The plants that line the water are very dense with a variety of reeds, branches, and hanging vines. The entire time we were in the jungle, including while in our canoes, we had to constantly scan the foliage around us as you never knew when you would see some of the many different animals that live there. The animals are very adept at camouflaging themselves amongst the leaves and branches, so mostly you spent your time looking for any kind of movement and then the guide would stop the canoe and we would use binoculars or zooming in on the camera to find what animals were hiding in the trees. We had to look up into the trees as well as the edges of the water because in addition to the birds, monkeys, and sloths that were in the trees, there were anaconda snakes, large black caiman, and river otters that love to hide in the reeds along the shore. Here are a few of the photographs that we took as we canoed to and from our ecolodge in Ecuador.

There was a Baby Caiman Hiding in the Reeds

Seeing Beautiful Sunsets in Exotic Locations

On January 12, 2021January 12, 2021 By Living The Q Life Travel AdventuresIn Blogging, Travel Tips4 Comments

It doesn’t matter where we travel to, but we always like taking photographs of sunsets. As beautiful as they are wherever you may be, there is something extra special when you are in an exotic location. We don’t always take photographs of them and sometimes just sit and relax while watching the sun descend to the horizon. Also, sometimes we don’t have our camera with us, so we take them with our phones, but that doesn’t diminish the beauty of the image. We have put several of our favorite sunset photographs from some of our more unique travels here.

When we were in Ecuador, we stayed at an ecolodge that was located deep in the Amazon Rainforest. On our first night there, we climbed up to the observation deck and had the opportunity to see this wonderful sunset. You’ll have to use your imagination to hear the monkeys and birds that were all around us in the treetops.

During our three day cruise in Halong Bay in Vietnam, we saw several amazing sunsets. We even saw a few sunrises as well, but the sunsets were much more vivid. It really didn’t matter what time of day it was to enjoy the scenery, but watching the sunset from the deck of the boat was certainly a highlight.

While we were in Bolivia, we visited Copacabana on the shores of Lake Titicaca. The following day we took a boat out to see Sun Island and Moon Island and our day started with rain showers. The gathering clouds during the evening before added to the sunset.

Sailing down the Nile River in Egypt from Luxor to Aswan provided some absolutely stunning sunsets. Something about the sand being blown into the air adds to the way that the sun reflects as it descends. It also signaled that the temperatures were about to drop, which was a massive relief considering how hot it was in Egypt.

View of the Sunset Over the Mekong River in Vientiane, Laos

Sunset from the Rooftop Restaurant in Laos

While in Vientiane, we spent the evening walking along the Mekong River that separates Laos from Thailand. There is a large park along the river and at night people from throughout the city gather to enjoy food and carnival rides.

Beautiful Colors as Sunset Ended in Acapulco, Mexico

Peak of a Sunset on a Twilight Cruise in Acapulco

We saw several wonderful sunsets while we were in Acapulco. We took a twilight cruise where we enjoyed drinks on the ship while we cruised along the coast. We also went to see the cliff divers, who perform shortly after the sun goes down, so we ate dinner prior to the show and watched the sunset. It made for a very relaxing evening.

It could be us, but there is something magical about sunsets with palm trees in the foreground. And any time you can capture the sun’s reflection on the water, it makes for a wonderful photograph. Looking back at some of these photographs makes us long to get to someplace exotic once again in the near future.