#1LittleSister is still on East Coast time. In fairness to her, the sun was already up by 5:30AM when she woke me up. I tried to get her to sit outside with me and listen to the sounds of the rainforest, but she was more into exploring Netflix. I’m going to work on that.

I left breakfast in the hands of Amir this morning. We stopped at the supermercado yesterday for some basics. We always pick an AirBnB with a full kitchen so we can eat at home 1-2 meals a day. This not only saves money but lets everyone slow down for a bit rather than being out and about all day.

Amir used the fresh eggs from our chickens along with potatoes to cook a torta española. We’d also done a fruit sweep at the grocery store, grabbing mangos, pineapple, papaya and mini bananas.

We had to be at Jungle ATV Tours in Uvita by 9AM. We rented three, 2-seater ATVs as all the adults wanted to drive. They offer 4-seater options and single rider ATVs as well. We booked the night before, but must have snagged the only three remaining vehicles.

First stop was Café Don Emilio, on top of the mountain, deep in the rainforest. When our guide first pointed at the top of the mountain, my reaction was “We’re going where?!” as it seemed too high to scale in our little dune buggies.

Don Emilio offered a choice between “strong” (first pour) verses “medium” coffee (everything after). There were no shots of syrup or choices of milk. Strong and medium. Black. That was it.

After coffee at Emilio’s, we set off on another ten minute drive to Bamboo Waterfall. We brought life jackets for the two youngest kids just because we don’t quite trust their swimming enough when you can’t see the bottom. I think the old lifeguard in me still lives strong. Add on to that a few bad cases as an ER doc… it’s a real fear of mine.

Overall Jungle ATV Tours was a five star experience. The guides were great, the ATVs well-maintained and the atmosphere jovial and adventurous. I’d say it’s a great activity for anyone over the age of three and without any back pain given the bumpy ride. It’s definitely disability friendly and offers something for everyone.

We were hungry after all that driving, so we set off for Fuego Brewery, 18 minutes north of Uvita. The place is a treetop restaurant and brewery, family friendly with great food but hit or miss service. Fortunately there are no hurries when on vacation.

This morning I walked down to the chickens with #1BigBrother and #1LittleSister. There’s a man who tends to the property here. I heard him this morning cutting brush and feeding the chickens. Apparently they get some free range time on Monday mornings because when we walked down the hill for a visit, they were all over the hillside.

For tomorrow morning, we’ve booked a deep sea fishing charter. We’re doing it early I. The week, hoping that if we yield a decent catch we can cook it all up for dinner the rest of the week. A throw back to Terry’s Grill from our honeymoon in Belize.

All the sun and swimming has us pretty tuckered out. I’m hoping for a 6AM wakeup rather than 5:30 by you know who.

~Steph