Pura Vida; it means life is good.

Day 1: Thank you to the inventor of sleeping pills. Ashlee and I both took one on our red-eye and we actually slept a little on the packed plane. However, that didn't stop me from doing the unthinkable - actually laying down to sleep on the airport floor while waiting for the three other girls to fly in. I blame the sleeping pill; they last longer than a five hour flight.

Day 2: We found a taxi to our hostel. Stashed our luggage and then started walking, trying to find the bus stop so that we could go see the Poas volcano. Three hours later, we stepped off the bus, into rain. This was our first refresher course in science = It rains in the rain forrest. Like good tourists, we marched ourselves immediately up to the gift shop, bought ponchos, and then decided to go find that volcano.

But we never did. It was just white clouds the entire day shrouding the volcano. At least it was ethereal. Our only option then was to take a picture with the picture of the volcano. And wait inside for hours eating cup o' noodles to warm us. Oh my. How American.

That was not the end of being American in Costa Rica. As we walked back to our hostel, we kept scanning the street for a typical Costa Rican restaurant. Unfortunately, all we were finding were KFCs, McDonalds, and even Taco Bell. Finally, we gave in to our roots and ate at Pizza Hut. We were so depressed though that we decided we could not stay in San Jose one more day. (Plus, our white water rafting was canceled due to high rain volumes which we were witnesses to). Paula, the most helpful hostel owner, connected us with Lands in Love. That name alone sold us.

Day 3: We woke up bright and early which was a struggle coming off our red-eye flight the night before. When we got to Lands in Love, the guides were helping us into our harnesses while it was raining. All of us were looking around questioningly, wondering if we were really going to repel when it was raining. Totally newbies. Of course you could repel waterfalls when it was wet - it was a water-based activity. I loved it, despite the guides swinging me into the waterfall four times. Since we are used to the melted snow water in Utah, we apprehensively eyed the waterfall. But it was warm. Thank you rainforest! Even more than the canyoneering, I liked the guide Jose who was 26 and studying to become an English professor. Unfortunately, there are more than a million Joses in Costa Rica.

Afterward, we were dropped off in La Fortuna where we were staying in a "cabina." It was rustic. Or more appropriate, moist. And I would say gross. It only continued to get grosser, while our clothes continued to get wetter and smellier.

The stairs leading to the top of the canopy where we started zip-lining.

Day 4: Today's adventure was zip-lining above the tops of the trees in the rainforest. It was breath-taking. I've never seen so much green. Once, I didn't quite make it to the other side and had to flip around and then pull myself to the end of the cable. Being suspended in air while pulling yourself on a rope is an extreme ab workout.

                   

 

Where we finally swam across

After the zip lining, we joined another family from the excursion to hike to the waterfall. We discovered that we were on the more remote side of the falls. Across the water was the more popular location and a calmer swimming pool. Plus, it was close to our cabin whereas our hike had taken about 40 minutes. Naturally, we wanted to get to the other side. An hour and a half later, after we had stared at the rapids between us endlessly and I had attempted to cross multiple times, the young boy in the other family made it halfway across and tossed our bags (and iphones) to safety. Then we all swam in the deeper section to the calm side. Although this was not part of the excursion, it was my favorite part of the day. The water was refreshing and I loved the thrill of navigating the rapids.

From there, we went straight to Baldi Hot Springs and relaxed for several hours in a hot springs. We just laid in different positions and places but didn't leave that pool, except for the delicious dinner and a strawberry daiquiri.

Day 5: By this point, I could no longer stand being in cabin. Kellie affectionally nicknamed the bathroom a "hell-hole" and that was not an exaggeration. So I gladly joined Kellie on a spontaneous adventure. We boarded a bus that morning bound for Tilaran. From there we transferred to Canas and finally arrived in Puntarenas. At one point on the bus I searched for my inhaler because the bus had stopped and I felt like I couldn't breathe - that's how hot Costa Rica is. It takes your breath away. We can't complain too much about the bus ride though because we met so many helpful people. One cute man was also going to Puntarenas and would always shake his finger 'no' when a bus pulled up but wasn't going to our city. When it did finally get there, he personally sought us out and saved seats for us on the bus.

 
We found a 'fancy' hotel; my only requirement was that it have air conditioning. For about an hour and half after getting there, we turned the air conditioning down as low as it could go and just laid there. Finally we were ready to head to the beach. Puntarenas is clearly not a tourist destination. We were the only non-latinos there and got quite a few stares. We were both loving the complete cultural immersion though. I felt like I was back in Mexico; it was Spanish all around me. The town was having a festival which we embraced by getting local food from the vendors and eating on the beach. 

Day 6: After coming from the moist, moldy cabinas, all we wanted to do was be by the ocean and that's all we did in the morning. We sat on the beach and read. It was ideal. Until 12. When we had to board our bus (which was always an ordeal because no schedules were posted).

Day 7: We were heading for Manuel Antonio around 11:00 am but I couldn't bear to be in the cabin in the morning. Instead, I stood outside the cabin and took a walk in the rain, then convinced the girls to leave early for the airport. When we got to Manuel Antonio, I reverted to my eight-year-old self on Christmas day; our condo was beautiful and we had a washer and dryer. I may have done a happy dance. We dropped off our suitcases and then headed out for lunch and the beach.

Day 8: We walked through the rainforest to the private beach in a secluded cove by our condo. For a while, I just floated in the water. It feels peaceful to have your head surrounded by water, hearing nothing but the ocean and just being still. Be still and know that I am God.

 

 



When Kellie and I got restless we decided to explore the rocks on the right side of our cove. They were volcanic and surprisingly rough. On the way back, we decided to go mermaid style and swim over the rocks that curved through the water back to the beach. However, an ocean has waves. And those waves are powerful. We were fighting quite un-ladylike to stay on the rocks as the waves washed over us. But we resourceful women were not overpowered; we came up with a strategy. We Kellie found "nodules" to hold on to. Except that a powerful wave pushed her AND her nodule. Eventually we made it back, with some new scrapes.

In the afternoon, Kellie's adventurous spirit came out again and talked me into taking surfing lessons. Dante picked us up, and Jesse and Chris went out into the waves with us. With their pushing and directions of when to stand up, we both were surfing in no time. It was thrilling. I need synonyms for that.

Day 9: It was so great that Kellie and I decided to rent boards the next day and surf again. I only had a slight interruption, two actually. Both called Montezuma's Revenge. Kellie described the feeling well: 'urgent.' So urgent that I couldn't wait the seven minutes for a restaurant to open and opted to use the trees instead. Surfing was significantly harder this day because we were trying to time the waves on our own. Out of about four hours trying to surf, I rode in on some waves at least four times. Trust me, I was proud of that. Later that evening Kellie and I sweated profusely as we walkted to the grocery store. It was worth it though so we could treat the girls to pozookie and a click flick.

Day 10: Kellie and I were ready to enjoy our last day of relaxing and we gave it 100% effort. We slept in, watched a chick flick, donned our bathing suits, and laid by the pool all day until the shuttle picked us up to head back to San Jose. I'm finally ready to work a little now. That's what laying around does for you.