Costa Rica, Pura Vida! | Day 3
Monday, February 3, 2020
La pura vida es la buena vida! Today I woke up very tired, but didn’t let that dampen my spirits! Naomi met me around 9:00 in the lobby, where I ate another delicious Costa Rican breakfast. From there, we walked the South side of Main Street, since yesterday we’d covered the North side. We stopped at another ATM to see if I could get Costa Rican cash, as we tried yesterday, but with no luck. Apparently I am cursed when it comes to ATMs, as this happened to me in Italy, too! But it was no trouble, since most people take cards here. We stopped briefly in a restaurant called the Green Room that had a lot of local art, as well as a really cool layout with hookah bar-like lounge areas. Like many of the storefronts, there were lots of tropical plants around, which I loved.
Then we walked down an alleyway that reminded me so much of Florida, and at the end was the beach. We walked and talked about the unexpected turns of life, about taking risks and traveling, and trusting in God that everything will turn out in the end. Then we set up our towel and took turns swimming in the ocean. The water was warm with mild waves. Nearby, surfing instructors were teaching their students. I dove under each wave before it broke, and floated on my back in between, relishing the stunning views of palm trees at the bases of vibrant green cliffs.
When it was Naomi’s turn to swim and mine to watch our things, I prayed morning prayer on my Kindle and wrote post cards to my family and friends. Naomi then took me to the post office to send them, and we waited in a long line just like I would in the States. Some things are universal! When we arrived, I was very tired and sunburnt. I rinsed off and took a short nap before meeting up with Naomi again for our tour of the day: ATVs!
We were lucky enough to be the only two on this particular tour, so it was as if it were a private tour just for us! Our tour guide was very nice and offered to take some photos and videos of us with Naomi’s GoPro. At first, I was a little scared. I had a hard time turning the ATV and could only think of all the horror stories my parents told me about ATV accidents that killed people! But after a while, I got the hang of it, and had an absolute blast!
Opening a wooden and wire gate, our tour guide announced, “Welcome to Jurassic Park!” The terrain was earthy—lots of dirt, some mud, bumps, and trudging through water. I later learned that it was all one family’s farm! We passed some Costa Rican cows, which had long horns like in Texas, but they looked different. We paused to get a good look, and the tour company’s photographer snapped some photos of us.
Then we turned onto a shaded path that wound through the jungle mountains. Up and down and around we went, sometimes fast, sometimes carefully down steep slopes. At one point, we came into a pasture of cows that ran out of our way as we passed, mooing adorably! That was my favorite scenery. The path wound in all directions through it and then up along the side of a cliff overlooking it. We stopped for a couple pictures.
Shortly after, our tour guide stopped us suddenly to show us a wild white-faced capuchin monkey! He bounced happily from tree branch to tree branch, his long black tail swinging behind him gracefully. A little while later, we stopped again to see a pair of scarlet macaws. Their tails were so long and bright red! Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a good picture. The flew away gracefully over the vast mountain-scape as my guide told me that macaws stay with their mates for life.
Soon, we came to the edge of the mountain so that beyond the trees to our left was bright ocean water as far as the eye could see! We came to a clearing to stop and soak it in, as well as take a few pictures with a Costa Rican flag that was there. I tried to do a handstand, failed, and the tour guide insisted on patching up my bloody knee with his first aid kit. Embarrassing…
Then we began our descent down the mountain. We came to a beach made of volcanic sand, where a few locals were visiting. There, once we’d stopped, our tour guide pointed out a two-toed sloth and her baby sleeping in the tree above us! We really lucked out with the wildlife today! I walked to the water for a bit, and our tour guide took a panoramic photo of us that made it look like we were in two places at once. After a brief rest, we began again, and I could feel that we were coming close to the end of our journey.
On this route, some of the road was paved, and I got to go very fast! The wind felt amazing, and on every side were cow-covered fields that melted into tropical mountains. I felt like I could breathe again! Pura Vida! We returned to where we had started, thanked our guide—who hosed my muddy legs down with what they use to wash the ATVs—and paid to have our pictures emailed to us. Then our transport returned us to Hotel Oceano, where I freshened up for dinner.
For dinner, we went to Tacobar, a restaurant owned by the same person who owns Hotel Oceano. Boy, does he have style! Their logo is a gnarly fish skeleton, and the whole place is fenced in by foliage. Most every restaurant here is open air seating, so the leaves provided some shade and privacy. Inside the little oasis are two parallel bars framing a salad bar and the place where you order. Along these are not stools, but swings! Hanging from long, thick ropes. Everything has a natural and wild feel, but at Tacobar it’s also clean, organized, and elegantly designed. The menu had pictures of every item on it, and somehow managed to keep it from being busy. I was impressed!
On top of an incredible atmosphere, the food was amazing as well. I got two tacos, one with fried calamari in it, and the other jerk chicken with mango. I scarfed it down almost before Naomi and Franklin’s food came out. (They wanted me to start before them so that the food would be warm.) They shared their smoothies with me, and I fell in love with Naomi’s, which was made of a fruit I had never heard of: tamarindo. It’s technically a seed pod, which they mash up to make sauces and other things out of. It was perfectly sweet, tangy, and if I could put a color to the flavor, I would say it was purple! (The actual color is just a muddy brown. We joked that Naomi was drinking dirty water!)
Then, like every plan we’ve made this week, we decided on tomorrow’s activities. I asked if there were any free and easy hiking spots in the area (since I would be alone for a good portion of the day, I figured it might be something I’d want to do), which led to us deciding on a 6 AM departure time for a group hike with the three of us. Oops.
