Thank you Costa Rica

Better late than never, but my dreams came true.

August 2017 a few weeks after my birthday, my lovely Mum had 'something' for me. Now when she says something, she is the most passive person ever, and this always brings an overwhelming sense of anxiety over me. I immediately ask if I'm going to cry, like I do, every time she needs to tell me something...

4 envelopes were passed to me and before I knew it, I had solved the puzzle. For my 21st birthday present, my mum was taking me to Costa Rica!!! I was speechless at this point, heart racing, palms sweating *insert Eminem impression* and I couldn't see through my tears anymore. Only downfall was that I had to wait until May this year and wasn't allowed to know anything about the trip and what was planned. And it was painful. But what's so special about Costa Rica?

Sloths. Sloths are the reason I have been dreaming to go there for 4 years. There's no specific reason why, I just love them and am fully obsessed :)

I don't think it really hit me until we were on route to the airport last May (2018). My lovely Nangy and Pops offered to drive us up there for the big birthday trip! After dropping the cases in our overnight bunk-bed room (we had so much fun), it was straight to spoons for a pint.

"The Golden Girls" consists of myself, my mum, Auntie Ra and Nange. We speak on a daily basis and are as close as I could ever wish for. Whilst discussing our trip over an ice cold beer, we began to go into details of the trip. Our Lonely Planet was going to be our best friend. I then received a photo of both my Nan and Auntie in huge beach hats, but dumb me was laughing it off as them taking the mick and before I knew it, they were behind me, cases in one hand and passport in the other, still with the ridiculously huge hats at 7 pm...

So there is me thinking that my innocent Nan and Grandad were just dropping us off when in reality, they had driven round to the South Terminal to pick up my Auntie, who had flown in from Switzerland, to then come back round to the North Terminal. The cheek of it.

I was gobsmacked and as much as I would have loved the time just me and lovely Lis, it being the four of us was the best present ever.

The surprises didn't stop there either... The next morning once we were all through security, we headed to the check-in desks and this is where my heart sank because my girls were treating me to flying business class for the first time. I GOT A BED ON THE PLANE YAY.

12 hours later, we were there.

Our trip was a week-long, meaning that we needed to make the most of our time there, do, see and travel as much as we could. We had 4 main stops:

- La Paz Waterfall Gardens, The Peace Lodge.

- Tortuguero, The Evergreen Lodge.

- Cahuita, The Sloth Sanctuary.

- San Jose The Studio Hotel.

I could talk forever about how amazing every single thing was, but I know people probably don't have the time. So here are some photos that sum up how much fun I had with my favourite ladies and little sloths!