On our fifth day, Chuck and I got up early to drive around the property to take photos and then go horseback riding. (Jeff and Jacob got up early to golf.) The whole getting-up-early-thing wasn’t specific to this day. The sun rose at 5:30 a.m., and despite being in the Central Time zone, they don’t do Daylight’s Savings, so we were functioning on one-to-two hours behind our normal schedules. Our bodies naturally woke up early based on our own time zones, but it was odd to be seeing one another at 6:30 in the morning while on vacation.
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Jeremy took this photo of Jeff and Jacob when they played the 18th hole, which was essentially in our backyard.
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Reserva Conchal is a sweeping, stunning piece of land, so having golf carts on hand to explore the property was a bonus. Check out this view from above the trees:
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The golf course and group of private homes are flanked by two resorts – the W Hotel and the Westin.
![](https://ffe861.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/DSC_0373-700x467.jpg)
We had access to both for a fee, but the Reserva Conchal Beach Club suited us just fine. (We never swam in the pools since we had our own amazing pool at the house.)
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We ate dinner at the club twice!
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It’s through the club where we access the beach, which was truly one of the most beautiful coastlines I’d ever seen.
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Chuck and I have been horseback riding before, but never on a beach. When in Costa Rica, do the thing you’ve never done!
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My horse was slow 🙂
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But riding behind Chuck gave me the opportunity to photograph him.
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We just took our time.
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![](https://ffe861.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Horseback-riding-in-Costa-Rica-700x491.jpg)
The last perk during horseback riding was finally seeing the howler monkeys we’d been hearing the past few days.
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The rest of our fifth day was spent swimming in the pool and hanging out at the beach so folks could jet ski, swim, and read.
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Costa Rican money is way cuter than American money.
![](https://ffe861.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Sloth-money-700x489.jpg)
At this point, we had one full day left in Costa Rica, so that end-of-vacation sadness was starting to set in. We also had to get our antigen tests done in order to re-enter the U.S. on Thursday. Thankfully, the doctor came to us.
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![](https://ffe861.p3cdn1.secureserver.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/Becky-gets-a-covid-test-700x933.jpg)
We were all negative 🙂