Horseback Riding Adventures!

I was lucky enough to join Agnes, the sustainability education intern at Latitude 10, and a Norwegian mom and her 5 ½ year-old son on the horsebackriding tour.  We started off on the beach with the horses all set up with saddles waiting for us.  This tour is definitely family-friendly as even the little boy could ride his own horse by himself.  Ultimately, in the middle, he decided he wanted to ride with his mom, and they were very accommodating and switched him over.  So no matter what age your children are, this tour is definitely always an option! 

The people who ran this tour owned a huge ranch, so halfway through, we rode onto their property.  It’s amazing to hear because the couple is also running a million other programs and non-profits.  For example, they hold short classes for high school kids and are starting a semester program in January.  It’s crazy to hear about how much they’re doing to preserve the area and they’re so young!  It really made me think about what I’m doing with my life and if I’d even be half as accomplished as they were in a couple of years.  It was also really cool because she showed us a tree house they were building that they were eventually going to move into.  It’s 40 feet off the ground and currently has a ladder, but eventually they’re going to build a zip-line to connect them to the rest of their property.  That’s basically every kid’s dream!

We rode through some pastures, up some hills to an incredible view.  If you looked to your left, you saw the huge expanse of the beach and to your right was a river, more pastures, and mountains in the distance.  It was truly incredible.  The horses were also working really hard climbing up and down the hills and even crossing some small rivers!  I felt like maybe I should have eaten less for breakfast so I wouldn’t weigh so much!  We also passed some cattle and eventually went back to the beach to head back.  I’ve had some experience with horses, so it was a lot of fun at the end to just trot and gallop on the beach.  I would like to imagine that I looked like those heroines in movies with their hair flowing behind them in the wind as they charged forward on their horses.  HA.  As if.  But overall, this was a really fun tour with not only a lot of activity and a great view, but it was great to hear about all the good that was being done and good to know that you’re supporting such a worthy cause.

Food Blog - Day 5!

It’s my last day here at Latitude 10 so only breakfast and lunch today since my flight left at 3 pm.  I started off with an omelet this morning that had cheese, ham, and tomatoes in it.  I’m not sure how Yvette does it, but the omelet is a lot “thinner” than omelets I’ve had in the past and the egg part tasted kind of “bubbly.”  Okay, I know that isn’t the best word to describe it, but I really can’t think of anything better.  Either way, it was a seriously good omelet.

For lunch, I ordered some delivery from a place simply called Pita.  Since its name was pita, I ordered the chicken shawarma in a pita of course!  Again, it was delivery so it wasn’t warm by the time it arrived and the bottom half of the pita was a bit soggy from the sauce, but it was still okay.  The fries were definitely a bit soggy as well.  I think this would have been a lot better if I had eaten it in the restaurant, so I would definitely recommend that if you wanted to try this.  The sauce for the chicken shawarma was decent, but overall, definitely don’t get this delivered!

Food Blog - Day 4!

I started the morning off with some of Yvette’s delicious French Toast again since I liked it so much last time.  She also added some shredded basil leaves on top this time.  Definitely an interesting twist to the traditional French Toast.  Since I was still feeling a bit hungry, I asked for some fruit as well thinking I just wanted a small platter, but instead, I got the whole fruit bowl with yogurt and granola and honey.  Luckily, there was just a little bit of the yogurt and granola or else I definitely could not have finished it all!  The granola was good as it wasn’t the usual really large grainy kind found back home.

I went on a horseback riding tour after breakfast and came back a bit late so I was feeling pretty hungry despite my huge breakfast, so I decided that I would just eat all of my meals in the resort today.  I decided to start off with the Dulce Passion smoothie which consisted of pineapple, mango, passion fruit, and orange juice.  It was presented with a very cute watermelon heart as well!  For food, I went with the Chicken Sandwich today.  The thick soft bread it came on was delicious especially since it was freshly toasted.  The chicken was so juicy and tender as well.  Usually I’m not a huge fan of chicken sandwiches because the chicken breast is always too dry to my liking, but this was super moist!  It was rounded out with some melted Gouda cheese, tomatoes, and lettuce. 

Dinner at Latitude 10 is ordered early so the chef knows exactly how much to cook and there’s no waste.  There’s always a set appetizer, two choices for an entrée, and a dessert.  Tonight it was yellow fin tuna carpaccio for the first course, I chose the grilled sea bass with dill sauce for my main course, and dessert was crème brulee.  The carpaccio was very simple, but it’s best that way.  It came just with a little bit of olive oil, lemon, and salt and pepper.  Simple, but good.  Then came the sea bass with chopped vegetables, dill sauce, and a potato galette.  The potato galette is similar to a very thin potato pancake.  It worked well with the fish and the veggies.  Last was the crème brulee.  I honestly don’t think you can ever go wrong with crème brulee!  It was very creamy and thick and the perfect way to end a very delicious dinner!

Food Blog - Day 3!

I started the morning off a little lighter than yesterday with just some scrambled eggs and toast and some fruit on the side.  Also, I just wanted to mention the orange juice they have here.  I was surprised to see the oranges as I’m used to the bright orange color of California and Florida oranges.  The ones here are actually kind of green-tinted and have a bit more of a tang to it.  But it’s great that Latitude 10 fresh squeezes the juice every morning.  After watching the staff squeeze it right in front of me, I felt bad for drinking my juice so quickly and not savoring it more!  It’s great exercise for your arms!  I asked and they told me that it takes about three oranges for just one cup of juice.  Wow!

I decided to order from Chicken Joe’s again for lunch, but instead of the chicken, I heard their fish tacos were really good as well, so I decided to try those!  I actually started to regret my decision after ten minutes because I realized that I just asked for something fried and then covered in sauce to be delivered.  It was bound to be soggy by the time it arrived, but it was too late to change.  So I was pleasantly surprised when it arrived that it was still pretty crunchy.  It came as three small soft tacos with a white cream sauce and a marina-like sauce on it.  I’m sure it would have tasted even better in the shop, but they were still really good!  It also came with a small salad on the side that had a very distinct basil taste.  Definitely recommended overall for good food and good value!

For dinner, I decided to try a Lomito Special from Casa Del Mar.  A lomito is an Argentinian and Chilean specialty and can be loosely translated as a steak sandwich.  The one from Casa Del Mar was more a lomito pizza.  The pizzas there are made from wood-ovens so the bottom was crispy while the dough was still chewy.  Overall, definitely a lot of steak on top and glad it came with a side salad to balance out all the meat a bit.  The delivery was a little slower so it wasn’t as hot as I would have liked, but still quite good!

Food Blog - Day 2!

I started off the morning with a gigantic breakfast burrito.  Instead of the normal eggs and sausages found in one back home, this one has mozzarella cheese, eggs, and pinto gallo (rice and beans.)  It was served with thick slices of avocado and some fruit on the side.  Yummy and definitely very filling!  Considering breakfast burritos at home are usually served in foil and hand-held, I realized that a burrito is one of those things that there really is no graceful way to eat with a knife and fork!

Since breakfast was so filling, I just walked into town, Santa Teresa, and picked up some snacks in the grocery store.  I also picked up some “souvenirs” for friends and family.  I’m not a fan of those typical cheesy souvenirs.  Who really wants a magnet or plate from a place they have never been to?  So instead, I bought some Salsa Lizano, a very typical Costa Rican sauce found at most meals, to bring home.  Each small bottle was only around 550 colones (around $1.10) and was in plastic bottles.  Cheap and easy to bring home!

For dinner, I ordered from El Pulpo since I was feeling pretty hungry.  (By the way, they pronounce it “kal-zoe-neh” here, not “kal-zoen.”) I got the Calabrese Calzone which had peperoni, salami, tomatoes, and onions.  People were right to recommend the calzone, it was definitely better than the pizza I had previously!  The calzone was huge; it filled the whole pizza box from top to bottom.  The crust on the edge was thick and doughy while the filling was cheesy and oozed out when I cut my calzone open.  This time delivery must have been faster as well since it was still piping hot when it arrived.  Definitely try the calzone instead of the pizza at El Pulpo!

Food Blog - Day 1!

Cayuga Sustainable Hospitality, Latitude 10's management company, has been fortunate to have a recent Cornell graduate interning at our hotel and our sister hotels for the last few months.  This week, she focused on the culinary experience at our Resort and the restaurant offerings in Santa Teresa!

While I was at Lapa Rios, I was told that I definitely had to try Yvette’s (the chef) French Toast at Latitude 10, so that was the first thing I ordered in the morning for breakfast!  It was definitely worthy of its recommendation.  The toast was still soft and chewy and completely coated with some sort of “batter” like some other ones I’ve tasted.  Also, there were fresh bananas on top that were just what it needed and it was served with maple syrup.  I also asked for some fruit on the side, so it same with some fresh papaya and pineapple as well.  Yummy!

Lunch was served in the Clubhouse, just like breakfast.  I ordered the Ham & Cheese Quesadilla and a Tentacion Smoothie that consisted of coconut milk, pineapple, orange juice, and banana.  All of the food here is focused on a sustainable and healthy cuisine, so the tortilla used was a whole wheat tortilla and it came with avocado on top and a salad.  The smoothie was delicious as well with all the fresh fruit!  It was the perfect amount of food, not too heavy, but filled me up! 

Dinner is ordered everyday by 11 am so the chef knows the exact amount of food to bring to the property and prepare.  I decided to opt out of dinner at the hotel tonight and instead ordered from Chicken Joe’s Rotisserie, a recommendation from the hotel staff.  I ordered the quarter chicken with two sides, the green salad and yucca fries along with some chimichurri sauce.  I thought the quarter chicken would just be the thigh and leg, but it was seriously more like half the chicken.  In fact it was basically half of a chicken, EXCEPT the thigh and leg.  In other words, it was a whole lot of chicken.  The chicken was really moist and I devoured it.  I had originally seen it and thought I would never be able to finish it, but somehow I cleaned the whole plate.  The green salad was a small side salad and probably what you’d expect.  The yucca fries were thick fries kind of like steak.  Since it was delivered, they weren’t hot anymore, but were still decent.  Overall, I would definitely recommend Chicken Joe’s if you’re looking for a hearty meal for a good deal.  As always, the fact they deliver is always a plus!