That's how I would describe Costa Ricans. I have just returned from an adventure I will always associate with the locals of a beautifully green, picturesque country. The place lived up to its remarkable reputation, providing me with memories full of sincerity, nature, and adventure.
Once safely in San Jose and after Srin managed to survive a plane trip with me yelling "Hasta luego Los Estados Unidos! Vamos a Costa Rica!", our journey began at a local restaurant called Calalu. Interbus, one of Costa Rica's two main shuttle services, was to pick us up here. After stuffing ourselves with plantain-cassava-fried-goodness, we introduced ourselves to the driver (after the incredibly helpful Calalu owner called him for us by his own will--I'm telling you--the NICEST locals). You know it's going to be a great cultural adventure when you say "Hablo espanol un poquito solamente senor" and he says "Si si...hablo ingles un poquito tambien", with emphasis on the poquito combined with a shy smile. So through gestures and broken high school Spanish, Srin and I were well on our way to a Costa Rican week.
First stop: Arenal. After a 5 hour journey from San Jose, through a wooded area at night, up unpaved streets into the rainforest, and a few feet further to the base of the volcano, we managed to find ourselves at the Arenal Observatory Lodge in the Arenal National Park outside of La Fortuna. It was, as promised, the ONLY lodge in the national park and faced the active, lava-showing-off side of the volcano. Imagine, if you will, our faces when we saw this outside our room.
So real it could be fake...Or so fake it could be real...
Or maybe it was inside our room. I forget. Anyhoo, Arenal was amazing. We woke up Turkey day to take a hike on the lodge grounds and spotted a turkey who survived T-day (lucky little guy), a Costa Rican racoon-thingy-majig called a quati, and a serene waterfall that was in fact totally worth it. Oh actually what made it totally worth it was the band of Indian people that also happened to be at Arenal the same weekend. Uncle 'Stache and Ol' Man Kartik Sundareswaran accompanied us on our hike.
Here Quati Quati...
Uncle Uncle Uncle...
"It's just like my trip to Sikkham, India"
My man Srin showed his true colors at least once on this trip. We went ziplining/canopying through the base of the volcano with Ecoglide and had a thrilling time. We came to one stop that was an optional adventure. I knew I was game. Was I scared? Yup! Was I going to do it anyway? Yup! You only live once, and I love thrills! But, perhaps the best part was hands down Srin's expletive that had even the locals laughing (mind you, these locals take people to do this a million times a day and surely have heard it all) . This video shows Srin imitating the one and the only Tarzan, in all his brave might. Money. Sweet money.
After soaking our bodies in the au-natural hot springs of Baldi, we were on our way out of the rainforest and into Guanacaste, the north-western region of Costa Rica along the Pacific. The view changed dramatically, as promised by our Guanacastan local driver Gerardo, and we were greeted by open fields, inundated with tropical fruit farms, and accompanied by some crazy bride who was certain she saw monkeys in the trees lining the Pan American highway. Needless to say, her new husband was vocally scared she was loco, if you will. Or is that loca? Whatever.
So sad...my one and only swimsuit never made it back because I left it at Baldi Hot Springs...
Once in Tamarindo, a small surf town off of the Pacific coast, we were certain that our hotel didn't exist, given that it seemed no one could locate it. It took a fluent Spanish speaker, a couple of locals (once again, the locals came through for us...), and 4-wheel drive to get us to the oasis that was Hotel Tamarindo Yam. It consisted of no more than 6 or 7 rooms and a nice man who spoke little English. As Srin and I lounged on the beach, we said no less than 15 times "This is the life".
So I bought myself a new one at Tamarindo's own 70s swimwear apparel...
Grudgingly, we left the beach and continued on our exotic adventure back to San Jose on this mother of a plane, only after a semi-stressful failed attempt to schedule my own taxi with someone who spoke absolutely no English. We thought I did a great job since she even repeated it back to me. And, I understood it all. She said "Es-ta bi-en" R-E-A-L-L-Y slowly to let me know she copied all. Except no one showed. At all. And we had 10 minutes until we needed to be at the airport. For the only flight back to San Jose that day. And once again, the locals came through. Not only did the owner let us check out late ("Hey! It's Costa Rica. Pura Vida!"), use the internet for free, give us beach towels, etc etc etc, he called a taxi and and instructed the driver that we must be at the airport for a 3PM flight. He and his maid waved to us as we left, leaving me feeling like I had just visited Indians as we did when we were kids. Hasta Luego, la playa. It was real. And spectacular.
Oh heck no this is NOT our plane...
Of course it crossed my mind that I was a potential news story since you always hear about small planes going down in other countries...but it was washed from my pea-sized brain when I was greeted by an amazing aerial tour of Costa Rica. The plane ride from Tamarindo to San Jose was breath-taking. On one side I saw the vast Pacific and on the other side I saw farms and flat lands. The dichotomy was truly incredible. Once in San Jose, we were ecstatic to find that the cheapest hotel ever was a true gem! It was beautiful, quaint, and had the best spread of breakfast. Srin and I were amazed at our journey, and we reveled like only two giddy people could over dinner at Tin Jo.
Hotel Aranjuez in the Aranjuez sector of San Jose...If only we had more time to devour this spread...
After being served more delicious vegetarian food and greeted by the "Gujarati" manager, we both decided this was, in fact, a moment we would never forget. Hasta Luego, Adios, Gracias, y Pura Vida Costa Rica. Cheers!
Oh did I forget to blog about something....What could it be? I feel like something else happened that was "blog-worthy"...
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