Mom Comes to Costa Rica

.:{Pinch Me (4/9-4/16)}:.

(This is a long one)

Keeping with the trend of attempting to update everyone on my adventures in the last two months, last week, I finally wrote about my time at the beach during Semana Santa, and am now onto the absolutely WONDERFUL week I spent with my mom in Costa Rica. During her entire week here, my mom and I kept saying how dream-like everything was, and truly, looking back on the trip now, it all seems like a dream.

The dream started as we left the airport and headed to the La Fortuna area of Costa Rica which is famous for the Arenal Volcano. We absolutely loved our hotel, Casa Luna Lodge, as it was the perfect mix of natural and modern comforts. As soon as you stepped inside the hotel grounds you felt like you were in another world. It was so peaceful and beautiful, and the perfect start to the vacation. We spent the first night enjoying a delicious dinner and drinks and just taking it all in. The next morning we hiked to the La Fortuna waterfall [see images below], which was amazing. We actually were able to swim in the water below the waterfall, which was freezing, but absolutely worth it—There is something unexplainable about the feeling you get when you are surrounded by such beauty and wonder that is nature. After our refreshing dip, we hiked back to our hotel and enjoyed hour-long massages! This was my first professional massage ever, and I could not have asked for more. The massage was in a room that opened to the trees and river below, which was already beautiful but was topped off with a rainstorm which provided the perfect calming ambiance to my relaxation. After our lovely massages, we went on a guided-hike in the rain forest at the base of the Arenal Volcano. Even though I had already been so amazed by the beauty of Costa Rica, during this hike I really realized just how awesome our world is, and how important it is that we remember how much our daily choices affect our precious environment that is becoming more invaluable as it is dwindling away.

Our inspiring hike through the rainforest ended at the Arenal Volcano. Now, this is an active volcano so when it is not hidden by it’s usual cloud-cover, you can see lava rocks flowing out. When we got to the volcano, it was cloudy as could be, but our guide had hope. He made us wait at the volcano, just in case, by some miracle, the clouds parted. And wouldn’t you know it, the clouds parted and we were part of the 30% of tourist groups that are lucky enough to see the lava rock (one of the first of many magical moments of the trip). Incredible. And even after all of that loveliness, we got to go to the local hot springs to enjoy the naturally healing waters….ahhh.

The next day was off to Manuel Antonio (a famous beach on the Pacific side of CR) for some beachy-fun. The first day we didn’t do much more than eat and enjoy the ocean view from our enormous balcony at the Costa Verde hotel—which would become a favorite location for the rest of the trip (think costa rican coffee, beautiful views, relaxation, and monkeys galore). After a missed sunset, a longer-than-expected trek to the beach, and the steep hill/insane amount of stairs that you have to climb to get back to our hotel room from the beach, on our first day at Manuel Antonio, I was thinking that we should have stayed at Arenal, but the Universe proved me wrong yet again (as it does daily during my time here in CR).

The next day, we woke up to the pattering of paws running across our balcony roof. We went outside to see what all the commotion was and were greeted by monkeys in the trees right next to our balcony! The mix of the monkey show and fresh coffee was a great start to our first full day at Manuel Antonio. After the monkey-madness, we spent a lovely morning on the beach, followed by a spontaneous dolphin/snorkeling tour. One word: AMAZING. Between the fresh breeze from the front of the boat to the endless supply of Imperial beer, we knew we were in paradise. I had another first here, and went snorkeling for the first time, which was remarkable. So happy. And our daily afternoon rain storm held off just long enough for us to return to shore from the water (another magical moment of the trip).

The next day, we went to Manuel Antonio National Park—enjoyed the beautiful beach inside (1 of 3), saw and stood right next to white-faced monkeys (the beach thieves), stalked a potential celebrity, sweated a lot, and enjoyed more beauty. Afterwards, we went on our other spontaneously-chosen ATV tour—which, like everything else, turned out to be surprisingly magical. Although my mom looked a little nervous to get on the ATV’s, we went and had an experience we will never forget. After a slightly painful, rain-filled, double-seated, palm-oil informative, puddle-dodging ATV ride, we arrived at the Rainmaker’s forest (one of the last remnants of primary rainforest in the Central Pacific. It is home to 60% of all the flora and fauna species found in Costa Rica). Here we had a really informative guided-tour through the rainforest (seeing the plants that make up many of our commonly used products like: Bengay) and finally arrived at a river/waterfall. Our guide informed us, that if we wanted to see a truly amazing waterfall we would have to jump into the water, climb up the little waterfall before us, and hike until we arrived at the “hidden” waterfall about 10min away. At first, only me and one other guy were up for it. But, slowly, everyone agreed and one-by-one we jumped into the chest-high water wondering how the f$@! we were supposed to climb up waterfall before us. Our crazy guide went first, and used the handy rope that was secured into a rock to get up. I went next, slipped and fell at the top, almost sliding back down, but made it. My mom came right after and I was so proud of her. Being taught to avoid slippery rocks as a child, she was definitely not excited about climbing up the very slippery rocks to the top, but she did it! From there we walked through water to finally get to the hidden waterfall. This is a moment I will never-ever-ever-ever forget. The waterfall was in a kind of bowl-shaped rock formation, with a big pool beneath it, so it was like we were in our own private-chilly jacuzzi in the middle of the rainforest. Another magical moment. Suffice it to say, that day was amazing.

Unfortunately, we had to leave the beautiful Manuel Antonio the next day for my home town La Guacima (which is wonderful itself, but doesn’t have the lovely beach life), and although we debated staying an extra day, decided that going back to La Guacima would be the best choice. It was nice because my mom was able to see my home town and meet my wonderful host family and experience the awesomeness of my host mom’s cooking. The next day, after a tearful goodbye on both parts, my mom left for the states and it was on to more magical adventures in Costa Rica for me.

Like I said many times above, my trip with my mom was absolutely amazing and is definitely one of those life experiences that I will cherish forever.

Our room at Casa Luna Lodge (our's is the top balcony)

La Fortuna Waterfall

Me and my mom in front of the Arenal Volcano

Arenal Volcano (it's hard to see the lava here, but it was awesome in-person)

View of the Pacific from our hotel balcony in Manuel Antonio

Monkeys outside our balcony in Manuel Antonio

Monkey carrying its baby outside our balcony in Manuel Antonio

In Manuel Antonio, probably the best sign I've ever seen

Looks like an ad for Imperial, this was me on the boat before snorkeling in Manuel Antonio

My mom loving life in Manuel Antonio

My mom standing next to a white-faced monkey in Manuel Antonio National Park

Monkey foot : Human foot

My mom and I on the ATV about to start our crazy adventure to the waterfall

In the beautiful Rainmaker's forest

In the background is the waterfall we had to climb up to get to the other waterfall (if you look to the right side of the waterfall you can see the rope hanging)

My mom and I with our guide after using the waterfall as a natural slide to come back down after we had to climb up in the beginning.

An Overdue Update

.:{So, in the last two months…}:.

Okay, so here’s the deal, I realize that it has been about 2 months since my last blog post. This is unacceptable. I know. And actually to me, it really only felt like it had been a month, so I guess that means that things are coming along speedily- which is a good, or bad thing depending on how you look at it.

So, here are my updates over the last 2 months (each update definitely deserves more attention than I’m giving it, but I realize that no one really wants to read THAT much about anything).

1. I never found a swim suit in Costa Rica. However, when my mom came to visit she kindly brought 3 swim suits for me to pick and choose from. Now I have 2 lovely swim suits 🙂 Thanks mom!
2. Speaking of which, my mom came to visit in April!!! We had an absolutely amazing week split between La Fortuna/Arenal Volcano and Manuel Antonio. We kept saying how dream-like this week was and thinking about it now it really does seem like a dream. I will write a separate little blog entry on this to fill everyone in.
3. A couple weeks before my mom came I was lucky enough to spend Semana Santa (the week before Easter, which here is like everyone’s Spring Break) with my host sister, her husband, and two others at the beach in Guanacaste (1 of Costa Rica’s 7 provinces). Spending an entire week, not to mention the hottest week of the year, in Costa Rica, at the beach made me feel as sunny inside as I was feeling outside. The week was so relaxing and I just couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be able to spend an entire week a la playa while I was here in Costa Rica. Not-to-mention it was a great booster for my Spanish because I was with people all day speaking Spanish. Now, you’re probably thinking, wait isn’t that your life in Costa Rica? And yes, it is. But my daily life is spent with 3 year olds, so my vocabulary is very limited with them- and I realized just how much more I would learn if I was around adults all day. Again, like the trip with my mom, I will try to write up a little blurb about this one, or at least post some beautiful pictures for everyone to see.
4. I am still working at Casa Luz, and boy has that been an interesting experience. From feeling frustrated at first, to happy, to confused, to excited, I am constantly learning more about myself and the world around me during my volunteering. Although it has not been anything like I imagined, it has been life-changing. That’s for sure.
5. I was back in the states for long weekend as a surprise visit for Ray’s Graduation. A blog is in order for this 🙂
6. And, as if I wasn’t lucky enough to spend a week at the beach for Semana Santa and a week with my mom in La Fortuna and Manuel Antonio, this last week I was in Puerto Viejo with Ray, Jen, Chayla and Tyler. Like the others, I will be posting a separate blog on this INCREDIBLE experience.

So, there is a little update for you. I am attempting to write as much as possible in my final 3 weeks here (I can’t believe that’s all I have left). Until next time, I hope that everyone is doing well and I am sending a little bit of Costa Rican happiness to all of you!