Where to begin... first off, yesterday morning I had my first warm shower since I arrived in Costa Rica. For those of you who have lost count, that's over 3 weeks of cold showers! Thankfully (or not) I wouldn't have used hot water the past 3 weeks even if it was available. I think I have sweat more in the past 3 weeks than I have in my entire life in total. Before I could finish drying off from a cold shower, I was already sweating again, literally. So, for that reason alone, I'm loving being in the mountains of Monteverde. It was even cool enough last night here to wear jeans! Although it was probably about 75 degrees, felt cool to me!
It was just under a 6 hour trip from the beaches of Santa Teresa to the mountain top of Santa Elena/Monteverde. As luck would have it, I bumped into my friend Kristina on the ferry from the Nicoya Peninsula to Puntarenas. It was great to hang out with her and Larissa during the 2 hour boat ride. I have met so many amazing new friends on this trip from all over the world - definitely one of the best parts of traveling. Thanks to the wonders of facebook, we can now keep in touch (or at least cyber-stalk each other periodically).
Yesterday I went on the Selventura cloud forest zip line tour. 13 amazing zip lines and one massive "Tarzan Swing" aka plunge to your death. The Tarzan swing was the scariest thing I have done in my life. I walked up a ridiculous number of stairs to a small platform where two tico guys quickly hooked my harness up to a bungee cord. I began to get dizzy looking down and before I could take a second breath, one of the guys said something in Spanish and SHOVED me off the platform. This is where the more aptly named "plunge to your death" comes into play. I couldn't believe the freefall and somewhere in the instant when the guy pushed me, I must have managed to take a big breath because I screamed louder and longer than I ever have before. After the free fall, the bunge cord kicked in and I swung far out the other side and even higher than the original platform. After swinging back and forth a few times, two guys at the bottom wrangled me down. My knees were shaking and my heart was racing for at least an hour after I was back on solid ground. I decided that was about as much adventure as I could take and I'm fairly certain I won't be base jumping or any other crazy things in my lifetime. A slow paced solo tour of the suspension bridges complete with amazing views was the perfect activity to follow my near death experience.
The photos I've posted are from the beaches of Santa Teresa, where I was fortunate enough to witness many amazing sunsets, my bungalow in Santa Teresa and zip lining/suspension bridge hike in Monteverde. So far the trip is better than I ever could have imagined. There was certainly the initial shock of the first week in Costa Rica. Corey and Hillary can attest to my "oh my god, what am I doing here" moment where I was on the verge of tears when I thought about them leaving me here all alone in the big, bad 3rd world for more than 3 months. I didn't fully understand that I was going to small towns and staying in hostels that cost anywhere from $5-$12/night, not resorts like I had been to on vacations. My last hostel and the one I'm in now don't have locks on the doors and there are plenty of scary sounds including insanely loud thunder storms and creeky floors. It's laughable now to think about bringing a cell phone for emergencies because there's no one to call. The police were called from my hostel around 4am my 2nd week here because of a fight that broke out (something about paying the prostitute/dealer) and a few guys "the police" strolled in around 7:30am, more than 3 hours later, looked around and left. I've held off painting the full picture in my previous entries because I didn't want my parents to worry more than they already are. I'm sorry Mom and Dad, but I think it's important to write about the bad along with the good. And the truth is, I've been way more petrified of bugs/lizards/crabs I've seen than people! 90% of the trip has been amazing and 10% has been scary or unfortunate (getting sick is definitely no fun, but part of traveling). In the past 3 weeks I feel like I've learned so much and am much more confident in my abilities to take care of myself. Not so dependant, wide-eyed and naive anymore!
Tomorrow morning I'm catching a 6:30am public bus from Santa Elena to the airport in Alujela. I'm told it's about a 6 hour trip and I'm definitely not looking forward to my imminent car sickness while navigating circuitous and steep roads in a 1970's US reject school bus. Assuming I make it there alive, I'll spend the night in a hostel near the airport and will be exploring Quito, Ecuador by the afternoon on Friday - the beginning of the 2nd leg of my trip. Time is flying here!
Hope you are all well at home and enjoying Spring!
