Costa Rica, Pura Vida! | Day 5
Wednesday, February 5, 2020
I cried this morning. I woke up feeling so tired, so sore, so sunburnt, and I’m pretty sure I was PMSing as well. I think I may have been a little butt-hurt that I couldn’t see the monkeys, too, since it was a minimum of four people for that tour. The plan for the day was the waterfall tour, which I thought would involve a lot of hiking and looking at waterfalls, maybe jumping in a few pools. My legs were shot and my ankle was killing me, and I just didn’t think I had it in me. So I wrote to Franklin and Naomi to ask if we could change out the event to something a little easier. Fortunately, they never saw the message in time. I went along and didn’t mention it, and boy am I glad for that.
Franklin picked me up to join him, their private chef Renaldo, Naomi, and her dog Tucker. We were once again greeted by street dogs upon arrival at what appeared to be a small neighborhood. From there, we hiked a short way up a shallow river, where I found beautiful pale purple flowers the size of my palm, scattered on the ground. Then a land rover pulled up from the direction we were heading, and it was like a scene from Jurassic Park or the new Jumanji movie. We climbed aboard the open-air vehicle and began a bumpy journey through the riverbed!
Birds and butterflies decorated the sky as we traveled further into the jungle. The land was all owned by one family, who lived deep in the woods where we parked. Their house looked down on us from its perch on a mountain, and I saw a lady chasing her chickens on the steep slope. A dog came down to greet Tucker.
From there, we walked upstream, and soon the sound of waterfalls reached my ears. Hiking wooden steps and narrow paths on the edge of sheer drops into tropical treetops, we followed the sound of rushing water. Along the way, I saw something I never expected to see in the wild: a black and green poison dart frog! On the way back, we ended up seeing quite a few more, even stopping to catch and hold one. Franklin said it was okay to touch them, which surprised me.
Eventually, the first few waterfalls came into view. They were spectacular! We crossed a bridge or two and came to the first pool that we could swim in. Franklin tried to throw Naomi in, but she wouldn’t let him. He climbed in and I followed suit, gasping as the cold water pushed the air out of my chest. It was so refreshing!
As we made our way further up the mountain, the waterfalls got bigger and the climbing got more and more intense. There were yellow stepping stones to show you where to plant your feet in most places, but not all. In many instances, we had to hold onto a rope and hoist ourselves up the steep and slippery stones parallel to the plummeting water. I did not look behind me as I climbed, and was surprised at my lack of that squirming sensation I usually get in my stomach at the idea of falling—maybe because I refused to think about what would happen if I lost my footing. This was certainly not a stroll in the park… and I loved that about it! We weren’t going there to look at waterfalls, but to be covered in them and to conquer them!
In one pool, Franklin climbed under a smaller waterfall and let it splash all over him. I joined, excited to experience the sensation. It was a lot harder than I thought it would be, though! The water pushed me down with incredible force, and I had to hold onto Franklin to keep my footing. Water filled my eyes—it was very disorienting. On my back, the water pounded like an intense massage: a little uncomfortable in the moment, but it felt good afterwards.
Further up and further in we climbed. I was grateful then for my recent experience rock climbing at the Austin Acro Seasonals. Looking back the way we’d come, we could see two, sometimes three tiers of waterfalls and pools, weaving their way through the terrain. Poor Tucker, who normally loves coming on Naomi’s adventures, was not a fan of the roaring water—but he made it, despite a few scares where he tried to turn back and we were afraid he might slip and plumet down the falls.
The water was felt amazing, and swimming periodically kept us at a comfortable temperature the entire time. Renaldo was cold by the end, but I thought it was perfect. Even in the early morning, the air was warm, and the exertion would have left us sweaty and hot if not for the dips. At one stop, we jumped off a platform into a slightly deeper pool. This was the only time I felt scared, because I wasn’t sure if I could clear the rocks below me; but I did, twice. There’s such an exhilarating feeling when you make it to the top of a climb—not adrenaline, but accomplishment, and a oneness with nature, so powerful and untamed.
The final waterfall fell from towering heights into a vast turquoise pool. I swam to the side and climbed into the edges of the waterfall, letting it pelt me with stinging droplets. It was a magnificent end to a magnificent adventure. The four of us gathered for a group photo, and then began our journey back down the mountain. On the way, Tucker chased poison dart frogs, and Naomi and I sat on a twisting vine commonly called “Monkey Stairs.” It was truly wild.
When we returned, we took the rover back to Franklin’s car and they dropped me off at the hotel, where I spent a little time downloading photos and resting. Then I went down to the lobby to borrow Naomi’s bike, and Franklin let me try some little fruit pastries and smoothies he’d gotten for him and Naomi. They were delicious!
Via Naomi’s suggestion, I biked to a place called Jacó Rustico, which was similar to the soda by the hotel she took me to at the beginning of my trip. I got a delicious blackberry juice, and for food I got rice and beans with some massive meatballs and chopped veggies, with plantains and lime. The limes here are orange on the inside with a green rind, and they just call them all lemons.
I sat in a corner by myself and soaked in the scenery. My bike was parked nearby, and birds came to perch on it. Then I noticed something move in the grass, and saw a large lizard, slinking through the yard! I later learned it was a black iguana. I watched him sneak to the edge of the restaurant, probably scouting for scraps.
When I finished, I biked back to Tikopod and Fruity Monkey Poop to pick up more souvenirs. There, I scanned through a book about the wildlife to try to identify a few of the things I’d seen, including the lizard. On my way back I passed Pachi’s Pan, and couldn’t resist picking up another rollo de queso, and grabbed two extra to give to Franklin and Naomi at their desk in Hotel Oceano. They were very grateful for the surprise! Then I walked back to the fruit store by the hotel to get my own smoothie, and got passion fruit with pineapple and mango. It was actually a little too sour for me, so I never finished it.
I went back to my room to finish downloading my GoPro photos, and enjoyed the view from my balcony. I’ll never get tired of that view! Layers of mountains in all hues of green, framed in tropical foliage and bright blue sky. Later, Naomi and I met up to go to a free latin dancing class at Señor Harry’s, where we got fancy drinks—a mango daiquiri and something called guipipia, a frozen fruity punch—and guacamole that they made right in front of us. It was slightly different than the TexMex guac I’ve had, but delicious.
Our dance instructor taught us a casino wheel, which I had done once before at Latin Night at Rockey’s Piano Bar in Round Rock, TX. There were about 15 of us, some local and some tourists, some Spanish and some English-speaking. Despite our differences, we all came together in dance, flowing in a circle and following the instructor's calls of “cucaracha,” where we’d stomp in the middle, or “goal,” where we’d kick in the middle like we were kicking a soccer ball. One move she showed us involved switching partners without letting go of the previous partner’s hand, so after one or two times of that, all our arms were criss-crossed in the center. It reminded me of the patterns of people in the Lithuanian folk dance festival I went to with my Mom in Boston.
After the class, they had a social. Not a lot of people danced, but I had met two guys—David and Dave, ironically, who were roommates—who danced with me a lot. The dance instructor also led me, and she was really good. It felt so good to be able to get my weekly dancing in, and to see how consistent salsa and bachata is even in a different country. We spun and spun in front of a tropical mural painted with the words “Señor Harry’s”!
Dave and David joined Naomi and I at our table, where we all got to know each other better. Dave is a surfer from Canada who went to Texas A&M. He bought a Volkswagen with a buddy after college and road tripped all over California, where he fell in love with surfing and vowed he’d settle in a tropical area one day. David is a photographer with a similar style and interest as my own photography. We swapped instagram follows and shared our work with one another. They were really cool, and I was so grateful they joined us!
Franklin stopped in to say hello, sad that he couldn’t be there with us the whole time. He is quite a hard worker, and with me here and the big group they have coming this weekend, I know he’s had to play a lot of catch up. It was sweet that he came to say hi, and it was probably good for the guys to realize that Naomi is taken. She gets a lot of male attention, and I don’t think she notices it! Dave bought us drinks called michelada, which is lime juice on ice in a salt-rimmed glass, which you pour Pilsen beer into. It was delicious!
The place closed at 10, and despite David’s invitation to go dancing elsewhere, I decided I needed to rest for my last day in Costa Rica. We bid them farewell and walked back to Oceano, where I slept.
