From LA we flew 4,5h to Liberia, Costa Rica. After a really quick immigration (we are still traumatized by the 3h LA Immigration) we picked up our rental car and headed to our appartment in Playa del Coco. A fun side fact: This area is in one of the “Blue Zones” of the world where people get older than elsewhere in the world so we were off to a good start 😊We visited the National Park Vieja de la Rincon where we hiked 3km through a volcanic landscape. A large leguaan greeted us at the start and we saw colorful butterflies and birds as well as a monkey family which was playing in the trees. We enjoyed the bubbling mudholes and steam holes caused by the volcanic activity.

A few days later we visited Leo’s coffee- and fruit plantation. We heard how coffee and sugar cane are grown and saw many other fruit trees in the gardens. We learned that mangos are no special fruit to the farmers. It grows everywhere and it seems to be more or less useless for the farmers because they can´t sell it. The tour was even fun for the kids. While the adults were tasting different qualities of coffee, the kids were busy in the kitchen making “empanadas” with the staff. We of course also did some cooking and Lena helped fry cacao beans for a fresh chocolate milk.

After ten days we went to our second destination in CR, Quepos. We stopped at an animal rescue center. It´s kind of tropical zoo where we saw monkeys, toucans, sloths, jaguars, turtles, etc. We did another stop on the way to Quepos at the Tarcoles bridge from which we had a perfect view over the landscape and the local river including the swimming crocodiles!

After one day of exploring the area we did our first excursions. While Melia and Lena went horseback riding, Levin and Felix went out on a catamaran to snorkel and bath in the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, we didn´t see any dolphins or whales but we had lots of fun with observing colorful fishes and using the slide of the catamaran. And Levin proved again that he is a thrill seeker. He jumped 3,5m from the catamaran into the ocean and enjoyed the applause he got from the other passengers!!! Horseback riding was also fun and Melia did her first ride western style. The ride took Melia and Lena into the jungle where they saw toucans and many other animals.

The next day we headed to Manuel Antonio National Park. It is a small but world-famous park with wild animals and beautiful beaches. However, we never made it beyond the park entrance. We arrived at the entrance of the park at 7.30am and it was crowded with hundreds of tourists already. To make things more chaotic multiple fake park rangers tried to coerce everyone into their parking lots and their private tours. We disliked the atmosphere so much that we decided to turn around and leave. Luckily, we had a plan B and went to the “Rainmaker” park, which is very quiet with only a handful of tourists. We spent two hours in the park hiking across suspension bridges and close to waterfalls. For us this was definitely the better park!

h

From South East Asia our world trip leads us to North America. It took almost 2 days to get here but luckily everything worked out just fine. I guess we won’t have such a diverse journey again: Tricycle from Alona Beach to Tagbilaran Port -> Ferry to Cebu Port -> Grab car to Cebu Airport -> Plane to Hong Kong -> Plane to Los Angeles -> Rental Car to our Airbnb.

The first week in LA was to get rid of the jetlag (16h time difference). We visited the natural history museum, the Walk of Fame and the Hollywood sign. We spent a day at Universal Studios where Melia loved being in Hogwarts and Hogsmeade, Felix and Lena enjoyed the thrill rides (Levin was too small and Melia does not enjoy roller coasters) and all of us loved the 4D rides. During the rest of the week we stocked up on warmer clothes (Fleece jackets, Jeans and rain coats) and ate at our favorite “fast food” restaurant: Sweet Tomatoes/Soup Plantation.

• 

• 

We decided to go north up the coast to San Francisco although the forecast was not ideal (cloudy and 13°C). We spent a night in Santa Barbara and in Monterey where we enjoyed watching the seals and sea lions sunbathing. The coastal highway was georgeous so we stopped regularly to enjoy the views. In Santa Cruz we headed to the mystery spot, a place where the laws of physics don’t seem to apply.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Our nex t stop was San Francisco where we walked the Golden Gate Bridge until we got too cold. During our 2 day stay we also enjoyed the Golden Gate Park, Lombard Street (curviest road), visted the cable car museum, the Pier and Firshermans warf. Overall, we walked a lot up and down the hills. The kids were very happy when we finally took the cable car to head back to the hotel instead of walking 🙂 The highlight was a visit to the former prison island Alcatraz, which is located just off the coast. The kids now have many questions about who the most dangerous criminals are, how prisoners can escape and how many people died in Alcatraz. We have decided not to spend much time on formal schooling but let them explore the world and ask questions (many many many questions. I could swear that every day by noon Levin has already spoken his 10,000 daily words and asked at least 100 questions).

• 

• 

• 

After San Francisco it was finally time to hit the National Parks. Given it is January and many parks are up in the mountains, we had to select the parks that can be accessed without full winter gear. We were lucky that it had not snowed for a few days so our first stop was Sequoia National Park. Whilei it was a pleasant 18°C at the foothills visitor centre, the Giant Forest at 4000 feet was covered in snow. The sun was nice and warm, so we enjoyed a beautiful winter hike past giant Sequoia Trees while throwing snowballs. The kids loved the fact that we had snow, which made hiking so much easier. Our second park was the Joshua Tree National Park in the Mojave desert so visiting in the winter was perfect. Temperatures were around 20°C and the landscape was completly different from Sequoi. Instead of lush green, we were surrounded by dry gras and peculiar stone formations that were formed by cooling magma. We did two 1 mile hikes without too much complaining from the kids since they got to climb the rocks while walking (and because I bribed them with chocolate chip cookies). That afternoon we headed towards Desert Hot Springs where we stayed at a hotel with 7 hot spring heated pools. Soaking in hot water was a great way to end the day.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Our last stop was San Diego where we spent 4 nights. Since we liked the seals in Monterey we stopped by La Jolla Beach where the seals and sea lions took over an area that was originally intended as a children’s pool. It was great watching the huge waves crash onto the stone cliffs. We also spent a few hours in old town San Diego, which felt more like Mexico than the US. Our last day we went to Seaworld, which was amazing. It was really empty so we got to watch all the shows and enjoy rides without any lines.

• 

• 

• 

Overall, it was great to be back in a western environment where everything is easy to organize. We love to explore independently and the US is perfect for that. However, it was also by far the most expensive place so far although we stayed only in AirBnB and Motels. We probably also won’t miss the classic motel breakfast, which is guaranteed high sugar and vitamin free 🙂 . The coming 6 weeks we will spend in Costa Rica and Mexico and then return to the US for the last few weeks of our trip.