August 31, 2025: Welcome to our August cocktail hour. Let’s have a piña colada and pretend we’re drinking it on a rooftop. We can enjoy breezes and sunset views, and maybe we’ll be lucky enough to see Keel-billed Toucans and Red-lored Parrots. You can even come along vicariously on our getaway to La Fortuna near Volcán Arenal. Sunset is is now at around 5:30 every night; twilight brings with it lots of mosquitoes, so be sure to slather on the mosquito repellent.
I have a variety of soda, seltzer water, or bebida de aloe for those of you who don’t drink. Mike can also whip up some excellent smoothies. Thanks for joining us in our escape into a peaceful corner of the world.
August marked our third month in Guanacaste, Costa Rica. It was in some ways a busy month and in other ways a laid-back, homebody-type month.
Our last day in Tamarindo
We left Tamarindo on the 1st of August after taking an early morning walk on the beach. On our way home, we stopped at Panamar for seafood.
Dining out with a few musical interludes
This month we tried out more local restaurants. We ate pizza at Gutierrez Family Pizzeria Express and enjoyed Taco Tuesday at Lake Arenal Brewery while being serenaded by Charly Lopez from Uruguay. We went to the dilapidated-looking Equus for fish fingers and BBQ pork on the 8th. We sampled sushi at Wabi Sabi Sushi on the 9th and ate lunch at Hacienda La Pacifica Eco-Lodge on the 12th after visiting the Puma Sanctuary. Anne and Jack rewarded us for our time, after we spent two-hours witnessing their will-signing in Nuevo Arenal, by treating us to lunch at Restaurante Tinajas on the 14th. On Dia de las Madres (Assumption Day/Mother’s Day), we went with Anne and Jack to a Cuban event at Lake Arenal Brewery with Olsen del Toro singing and his mother cooking Cuban food for a tasting menu. We had a lunch out at Soda La Macha in Rio Piedras and enjoyed dinner and drinks with our friend Carol, who lost her husband Carlos at the end of July, at Plaza Paseo de Viento. We had dinner with our friend from the gym, Darrell and his wife Farida at Restaurante Linda Vista, and the next day, Mike and I enjoyed cocktails on the rooftop at Paseo del Viento while watching a thunderstorm move in. We also enjoyed a dinner at Vento Bistro before attending the last event, a dancing activity, of the Celebramos 102 Años de Cantonato (de Tilarán) del 21-31 Agosto 2025.
Drives, walks and local explorations
We drove on a gravel road to El Silencio, where we found some amazing views. We continued our walks around Tronadora: the gravel road to Santiago’s pitaya farm, two attempts to walk on Peninsula 2, and one walk on Peninsula 1, and the 4-mile loop from our door to Tronadora and back.
Four days/three nights in La Fortuna
On Tuesday (8/19) through Friday (August 22) we took a trip to La Fortuna, the area around Volcán Arenal at the east end of Lake Arenal. We explored new places, activities and experiences that made this one of our best weeks in Costa Rica so far. We enjoyed upscale thermal springs from Volcán Arenal at Baldi Hot Springs; went whitewater rafting on the Class III-IV Río Sarapiqui; descended 517 steps to the Catarata Río Fortuna and swam in the surrounding pools; hiked a boring trail at Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal; enjoyed a mediocre massage at Spa Luz de Luna; and visited Mistico Arenal Hanging Bridges Park in the rainforest of La Fortuna. We really enjoyed our trip to this area.
Desfile de Caballistas (Parade of Horsemen)
Once we returned home, we enjoyed one event of many that comprise the Celebramos 102 Años de Cantonato del 21-31 Agosto 2025: the Desfile de Caballistas (Parade of Horsemen). Before that event, we ate at Iván’s restaurant, Tilatacos. Iván has become Mike’s swimming buddy in the lake for the last several weeks; because Iván is new to open-water swimming, he appreciates Mike’s advice and companionship.
On the last day of the month, we went to the final event of the Celebration: Gran Actividad Bailable de Cierre en el Parque Flaqué Montull (Great Closing Dance Activity in Domino Flaqué Montull Park). It wasn’t all that thrilling, probably because we were there too early.
My Summer Bingo Card
I checked off a lot of items on my Summer Bingo Card in August. It’s a good thing since summer ends on September 21. I put smiley faces on the following:
- Beach time (Tamarindo)
- Taco Tuesdays (1 x)
- Kayak in the lake
- Have a pool day (numerous times)
- Make corn soup with shrimp
- Family time (Alex, Jandira & Allie – FaceTime)
- Frozen drink – piña colada – on rooftop at Plaza Paseo del Viento (2x)
- Paddleboard in lake (2x)
- Swim in the lake (2x)
- Visit Centro de Rescate y Santuario Las Pumas in Cañas
- Eat seasonal fruit (added passionfruit – maracuyá)
- Pedicure (white semi-permanent) 1x
- La Fortuna (see above for photos)
- Spa Day (Baldi Hot Springs)
- Whitewater raft (on the Río Sarapiqui)
- Hike a volcano (Volcán Arenal)
- Visit a National Park (Parque Nacional Volcán Arenal)
- Visit a waterfall and swim in it – Catarata Río Fortuna
- Have a massage (Spa Luz de Luna)
- Rain Forest Visit (La Fortuna) – Mistico Hanging Bridges
- Finished 6 books (3 in August)
Identifying birds & flora
We saw Keel-billed Toucans in our tree outside our house two times this month, plus we saw them in captivity at Centro de Rescate y Santuario Las Pumas in Cañas. We have both downloaded the Merlin app to help us identify all the birds that wake us up each morning. So far I have a Life List of 34 species. We’ve had several visits by Keel-billed Toucans, and regulars here at our house include Great-tailed Grackles, House Wrens, Red-lored Parrots, and Cabinis’s Wrens. One morning a flock of Orange-chinned Parakeets descended on the trees surrounding our house. Birdsong is ever-present in our days, except on days when it’s raining.
At Anne’s suggestion, I downloaded “seek by iNaturalist” but I haven’t found it to work for me.
ExperiencingVeranillo in August
Apparently July to August is considered the “little high season” (also known as veranillo or “little summer”) with pleasant weather with minimal rain, moderate crowds and lower prices. We enjoyed an overall less rainy month in Costa Rica than we did our first two months. People say October and November are the rainiest months.
Family happenings
Allie and Jandira arrived safely home from their month-long trip to Angola on August 6. Jandira got a new job as Assistant Manager at a jewelry store close to our house in Oakton, and Allie started going to a new daycare. She also continued taking swim lessons.
In Nicaragua, Cristy bought nail polishes and nail tools so she can practice doing people’s nails.Later, Cristy got her certificate of Manicure & Pedicure for the course she completed.
Homebody stuff
We continued our three times per week workouts at Monster Gym and our Wednesday yoga sessions at Living Forest Yoga. We also run errands for food and day-to-day needs. We cook in quite frequently, trying to limit our dinners/lunches out only to 3x/week. I had a hair hydrating session at the end of August, as well as a pedicure.
I finished 3 books in August, bringing my total to 31/48. I especially enjoyed Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson. We watched three movies: The Penguin Lessons (Argentina), My Oxford Year, and Fall for Me (Mallorca), all of which we enjoyed. We started watching a couple of new series: Territory, Asura no Gotoku, If Only (Si lo hubiera sabido), and Platonic. We finished watching North of North, Tuiskoms, Letters from the Past (Gelecege Mektuplar), and The Survivors (excellent!). We continued watching Younger, Seinfeld, Togetherness, and Pernille. This month we made a decision to stop watching Severance: it’s just too bizarre and not our thing.
On my Costa Rica blog, you can find my weekly recaps of our lives in Costa Rica for the month of August:
- a mini-getaway to tamarindo {week 9/52}
- a week of summer bingo card achievements 🙂 {week 10/52}
- a visit to an animal sanctuary, friend excursions & a cuban-style costa rican mother’s day {week 11/52}
- a trip to la fortuna & volcán arenal – hot springs, whitewater rafting, waterfalls, national parks & hanging bridges – & a “desfile de caballistas” in tilarán {week 12/52}
- a rather humdrum week: hair hydration & a pedicure, comida typica & new friends {week 13/52}
*********
I hope you’ll share how the year is panning out for you, and what plans you have for the summer and the rest of this year.
How did your August go? Did you have any special family gatherings? Have you welcomed any new additions to your family? Did you celebrate any birthdays or anniversaries? Have you read any good books that can inform your worldview, seen any good movies, binge-watched any television series? Have you planned any adventures or had any summer getaways? Have you dreamed any dreams? Have you gone to any exotic restaurants, cooked any new dishes? Have you been surprised by anything in life? Have you marked off activities on your Summer Bingo card? Have you tried out any new water sports like kayaking, paddle boarding, white water rafting? Have you soaked in thermal pools or hiked in any national parks? Have you learned anything new, taken any classes or just kept up with the news? Have you sung along with any new songs? Have you undertaken any new exercise routines? Have you marched or otherwise participated in political protests? Have you been battered, or alternately, uplifted by any news?
Please share your August with me by giving me the plot below, or a link to a post in your blog that tells about your month.
Discover more from ~ wander.essence ~
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
~ wander.essence ~ 
Thanks for the wonderful pictures! What a gorgeous area!
From the picture “Equus BBQ” my first thought was that hopefully doesn’t mean that they use horse meat? 😉😉😉 Well, you explained that it is good old pork they use.
I’m glad you enjoyed such a wonderful time.
LikeLike
Hi Pit, So nice to have you drop by! We are certainly enjoying our time here in Costa Rica. Especially we love this area around Lake Arenal which isn’t touristy and is more temperate than most of Costa Rica (which is too hot for my taste). Funny how you thought Equus served horse meat. Haha! That certainly wouldn’t be a place I could patronize! They actually serve more than just pork, also beef, chicken, and even some fish, but I didn’t see any horsemeat on the menu, thank goodness!
This is our third month living in Costa Rica and we’ll be here for 9 more months, with lots of travels to take us to and fro. We will return to the U.S. for two weeks in early October, but then not again until May 31, 2026. We have a trip to Panama planned in mid-November, and then will return to Nicaragua in January to visit our son and family. Before we leave we’ll explore more of Costa Rica and also go to Guatemala and Belize. By the time we leave, we’ll be done with Central America, except for Nicaragua bc of our son. 🙂
LikeLike
It’s hard to credit you’ve been there three months already. You’re certainly making the most of your time and enjoying some fabulous food. And how exciting to see toucans in your own backyard. August was a very quiet stay at home month for us mostly. We went to Brisbane for a few days to see our darling little grandsons but apart from that we were just enjoying being at home. We watched The Survivors too, all set in Tasmania. Wasn’t the scenery stunning! Have you read any of Jane Harper’s books? They’re all set in Australia and I think if you enjoyed the TV version of The Survivors you would enjoy that and all her other books.
LikeLike
It’s nice you’ve had a kind of homebody week yourself in August, Carol. I’m sure you enjoyed your trip to Brisbane to see your grandsons. As for The Survivors, we loved it! The scenery was stunning and the story was excellent too. I personally haven’t read Jane Harper’s books, but we had a lot of them around our house because Mike has read and loved them. I’m going to have to bring one or two back here to read when we return home in October. I’m hooked now!
Oh, by the way, we’ve also been watching Territory, a rather harsh tale with some evil characters, but we were surprised to see Robert Taylor as the patriarch. We had watched him in Longmire, and we always thought he was an American actor. It’s so amazing to me how Australian and British actors can take on an American accent so easily. Have you seen that show? I’m not that keen on it because so far all the characters seem so greedy and underhanded, but I love watching it just for the harsh and beautiful landscape.
LikeLike
We haven’t watched that one. It didn’t really appeal to me. If you enjoyed The Survivors see if you can find the movie version of The Dry. It is the first of Jane Harper’s books and they did a great job of the movie. Also Force of Nature, which is the sequel to The Dry. We enjoyed both movies.
LikeLike