This is part 2 of Our Favorite Adventures from Our Travels

We are approaching 1,000 days on the road! That number blew me away. Although we are not an adventure family, we’ve had so many wonderful and fun experiences. We wanted to reflect on what we’ve done so far and look forward to the next 1,000 days.

So, this Part 2 of a two-part post sharing some of our most adventurous and favorite family experiences. Sometimes it’s enough just appreciating all the fabulous things we’ve done so far. We hope you enjoy our 2nd Part of our look back as well. To see Part 1, go here!

6. Miro had his first (and only) surf lesson in Costa Rica.

When in Rome, or Costa Rica, surfing is life. So, as Miro and I visited the beach town of Nasora, we Miro was brave enough to give it a try. We met a local amazing surfer named Adrian who offered to teach Miro how to surf and we thought, why not? This trip is about experiencing many “firsts” and this is definitely one of them. Miro was excited and I was as well, to be able to do this for my son.

So, the morning of his lesson, I awoke to a very excited Miro, already up, anxious for his day to start. We headed down to the beach to meet Adrian, as I took position on the beach, leaving room for the two of them to start. I didn’t want to be one of those meddling parents, the image of a pushy stage mom, hovering over a beauty contestant came to mind. I retreated off into the background, enjoying the sun, waves and sand, providing enough space to my son, but hopefully communicating the support I was feeling.

Adrian and Miro were at it for more than three hours. Miro practiced in the foamy waves, trying to find his balance. Crouched on his knees, he struggled to find his center of gravity on the board. Up and down he went. Up and down on the soft foam at the shore he went, the two making a gameof it. Hours of up and down, knees and stomach, until finally they paddled out beyond the waves…

Read the rest of the experience here on a post called Holler Monkeys Scream, Bats Fly, Moms Cook and Little Boys Surf

7. Playing in the mud like pigs.

The opportunity to roll around like a pig in mud was high on my lists of things to do, so you can imagine how excited I was when I discovered it was possible in Colombia!

Bathing in a mud volcano (Volcan de Lodo) in Colombia, just north of Cartagena sounded like a great idea. This “mud spa” was created by natural gases emitted by decaying organic matter underground. The mounting pressure of these gases pushes the mud upwards where it hardens above ground, creating a miniature mud-filled crater. The volcano’s cool mud runs down into the earth about 2000m. But you float, really (especially if you have boobs)… Read more about our experience here in a post called Bathing in Mud, Oink-Oink Style.

8. High altitude hiking.

Miro and I are not mountain trekkers but we do love hiking in the nature. We stayed for 6 weeks in the beautiful town of Manizales, and knew many travelers visited the town to simply to have a convenient base camp to explore the surrounding mountains. We too, knew we would take advantage of the beautiful mountains and learned that the Los Nevados National Park is located in the central area of Colombian Andes.

Los Nevados National Park reaches altitudes well over 4,500 meters above sea level, being one of the highest mountain ranges in Colombia. In fact, this mountain range is the only place where you can see snow in all of Colombia.

We wrote about our hike, from start to finish, the good, the bad and the stinky. We hiked for 6 hours, ended up hiking to a beautiful natural hot springs and had a bought with the altitude. Be sure to read Hiking the Los Nevados in Colombia for all the details.

9. Hiking among gentle giants

Ok, so they were palm trees, but they were amazing. The 4 hour hike took us 6 1/2 hours and we went willingly. Miro and I set out on our hike. Scores of wax palms dominated the landscape scenery – huge palm trees that grow mainly in this area and which tower over the coffee bushes. We had been told how beautiful the valley was, but nothing compared to actually seeing them for ourselves.

We had rented a pair of rubber boots from the hostel, in preparation for the muddy trails, but we had no idea what actually was in store for us. This post we actually take you along with us, filming little clips along the way. The post is called 6 1/2ish Hours hiking through Valley of the Giant Wax Palms and we want you to go there now and see the clips!

10. Kayaking from the river to ocean.

This is another adventure that took place early in our travels, as we still considered ourselves city folks. We ended up in a south-eastern Caribbean town in Costa Rica that had a wide diversity of wild life. (And not only the kind you are thinking of.) We enjoyed the warm Caribbean sun, clear blue waters and feeling “ire”. One day, we even rented kayaks and explored several vein-like rivers that flowed directly into the ocean. We hired a guide and Miro and I set out in separate kayaks. This was our first sporting adventure together and when we kayaked to the mouth of the river, Miro wanted to try to kayak into the ocean waves.. Well, it was an adventure anyway. Read more about our week in Puerto Viejo in this post called Black Sand Beaches, Psychedelics and Prostitution.