Nine Planets Round the Sun, Only One Does the Sun Embrace. Upon this Watered One, so Much we Take for Granted

The themed weekends continue.  Last weekend was all about sight-seeing.  After a very short 3 day work week because of the Easter holiday, I was looking forward to finally spending some time relaxing at home and doing a little exploring with a few day tours around San Jose. 

First up, Friday, with a half day trip to the Poas Volcano.  I was pleasantly surprised to find that my co-worker, Aman had also reserved the same tour, and it was nice to see a familiar face when the tour bus pulled up.  It was a short 1 hour drive to the top with stunning views of coffee plantations, strawberry fields and oriental ferns gardens. Ferns? Yes, ferns. Let me drop some knowledge on you, ferns are actually a leading export of Costa Rica after fruits and coffee.

Our tour guide Oscar was enthusiastic and knowledgeable and give a brief history of the city of Alajuela, which is the second largest city in Costa Rica, and home to Juan Santamaria, the national hero.  We arrived at the National Park ready to be wowed, and we were not disappointed.  The active crater of the volcano called Laguna Caliente, or hot lagoon is one of the most acidic lakes in the world, and has an eerie green glow, not to mention the god awful smell of sulfar that rips through your nasal passage.

After the smell became too much to handle, we decided to move on to the next attraction, Lake Botos.  What we were not prepared for was the trek uphill through the forest to get there. Actually, that sounds way worse than it really was, but it was uphill and it was through the trees.  Aman was clearly in better shape than I was because he barely broke a sweat.  I, on the other hand,was panting and gasping for air for most of the climb.  I may even have stopped once (ok twice!) to take some deep breathe with my hands on my knees. Where are the water stations, dammit! This lagoon better be worth it.  I could tell we were getting close because the smell was back with a vengeance.  I was right, it wasn't long before the trees parted and the sunny sky came back into view.  I was thankful for a chance to sit and relax and enjoy the beautiful view. 

The rest was short lived as we were due back at the tour bus for our ride home.  On our way back we stopped at a local shop to enjoy some deliciously ripe strawberries with chocolate.  I was in heaven and could have stayed all day, but I needed to get some rest for the next day's tour.

I was excited for my tour on Saturday to Laz Paz Waterfall Garden as I'd heard amazing things.  Leo my tour director greeted me and introduced me to my tour mates, an all female group that included a mother/daughter from Mexico and a grandmother/granddaughter from California.  I hit it off instantly with Zoey, the young girl on the tour with her grandmother.  As we chatted about our favorite bands and all the places we'd visited in the US, I came to learn she was only 15! and on spring break from high school (I swear kids these days look much older than they actually are)! Her relationship with her grandmother reminded me of my own and I enjoyed the memory of all the vacations I took with my grandma Bea.  

On our way to La Paz we stopped at this lovely little coffee shop and enjoyed the taste of some local Costa Rican coffee while we sat on the wrap around porch overlooking the coffee fields.  A great start to the day!

It wasn't much longer before pulled up in front and I fell in love instantly.

La Paz is one of the most famous waterfalls in Cost Rica, and the nature park includes different animal exhibits such as birds, butterflies, hummingbirds, snakes, frogs and jungle cats.  We wasted no time jumping in as we entered the aviary with our cameras at the ready. 

We were talking to the parrots when I reached down and touched his tail and casually mentioned I'd never touched a bird before (which now that I think of it, might not actually be true).  That's when my overly flirtatious tour guide grabbed my hand and lead me all the way back to the entrance where the toucans were just hanging out. He said something [in Spanish] to the staff member overseeing the section and a minute later I was holding the most beautifully colorful bird I'd ever seen.  I had a spiritual connection with that bird, who I named Tony, and I didn't want to leave him, but I was eager to see what else this place had to offer.

 I kissed my new friend [the bird, not the tour guide] on the beak and put him back on his perch, vowing to visit again soon. We walked quickly through passing scarlet macaws, wild turkeys and hawks to the next exhibit, the butterfly conservatory.  To a normal person, the thought of being surrounded by thousands of fluttering butterflies would be inviting, but to me, it was anything but.  I started to panic when they began to land on me, so I put my head down and ran through at mach speed.  I did manage to stop to take a few pictures for your viewing pleasure, but was less eager to hang out like so many people seemed to be doing.

What happened next was something I've been waiting a long time for.  Something I've only read and dreamed about.  An encounter with my very first... real... live... sloth!

I couldn't tear myself away, I was completely enamored with these ugly looking creatures. I tried to coax them over to the edge of the cage so I could run my fingers through their thick fur, but I was unsuccessful, so I settled for staring at them while they scratched each other, taking more pictures than a person should of a caged animal. When I finally torn myself away, I found that I was in the middle of the hummingbird garden, which was another amazing site to see.  So many birds buzzing around the sweet nectar stands, it was something you don't get to see everyday.

 
I was less then thrilled to see the snakes, but I did manage to step in quickly to take a quick pic.  Enjoy!

Next up were the jungle cats. There were ocelots, margays, pumas and a very large 200lb jaguar which was too busy sunning himself to pose for any pictures, but maybe that was his pose.

Puma

Jaguar

Sleepy time

 The frog ranarium was hot and humid, the perfect environment for a frog, less than perfect for my hair.  I got a few pics in before exiting stage left!

  After a few photo ops with the ox cart, we set off to embark on a slippery hiking trail along a steep canyon to get the best view of the waterfalls.  You can hear the rushing water before you can see them, but once they come into view they are absolutely breathtaking, and feeling the water spray on your face feels so refreshing, and is not something you'd ever find in Boston, unless of course the kids from the projects down the street kick open the fire hydrant. 

The weekend came to a close much too quickly, but I was grateful for some time to relax at home and catch up on some missed tv shows.  Thank god for Hulu+!


Pura vida!

Might as well jump. Jump! Go ahead, jump. Jump!

Trend alert!!!! My weekends are starting to take on their own individual theme. Two weekends ago the theme was music (Te amo la musica!) and this past weekend the name of the game was adventure!

[Scene 1- Casa 20C, Heredia]

I woke up on Saturday without a plan for the day (yes, very unlike me) but I knew I had a full day activity on Sunday so I thought I'd take it easy, you know, play it by ear.  I found my roomie out in the living room, I asked her what she had in-store for the day and she reminded me that she was going with a group of our colleagues on an adventurous trip.  She invited me along, but I declined.  I had my heart set on a relaxing day, but wait, who am I kidding? I am a New Yorker, I don't know how to relax! "I'm in!! But I'm only going as the photographer". 

So are you on the edge of your seat? Have I drawn out the suspense long enough? Umm.... I think not! What kind of storyteller would I be if I gave it away that easy! Now, what does one were when they are the photographer for an adventurous trip like this? I asked myself the same question, and then I packed a backup outfit just in case.

Some minutes later, we were all gathered, hydrated and boarding the van that would take us to our destination

Put on your happy faces

Some more minutes after that we were all standing outside the adventure office and it dawned on me.  I'm on this adventure for an adventure right? Screw being the photographer, someone hand me a waiver! Wait, pump the breaks, record screeching halt! Waiver? Why do I need a waiver, isn't this safe? Well, of course it's safe, but honey you just paid money to jump off a bridge.  Ohhhh that's right my friends, I was about to bungee jump...265 feet...off a bridge! Someone just dialed the anxiety level up to 10! This just got real!

We all piled back into the van for the short ride to the perfectly good bridge we were supposed to willingly throw ourselves off of.  Who's idea was this?!

The'r she blows!

OK I can do this right? I've jumped out of a plane before! Well, there was that guy strapped to my back, who basically pushed me out, and well, he didn't really speak English, so I didn't exactly know what was going on.  But this, this was different. I would have to walk out on that ledge on my own. Stand there, on my own, and look down at the river below, the river with all those jagged rocks.  Again, who's idea was this?

I watch as a few of my colleagues suit up and fly down, and then Mr. Dreads is calling me over.  Side note: why do these guys always have dreads? Is that like a thing? Should I wrangle this rats nest I call hair into a do Bob Marley would be proud off, quit my job, move to the beach and encourage seemingly insane people to jump off a bridge all day? Hmm actually that doesn't sound half bad. More on that later.

Next thing I know I have an insanely tight harness on and 2 equally tight braces strapped to my ankles. Shit! Does this mean it's my turn?! I think I might pee! Nope, false alarm, I was wrong, let's drag this out a little longer, why don't you wait for 40 minutes more, all strapped in, while everyone else goes.  Thank you Mr. Dreads, I'll just sit here, freaking out, peeing, while you video tape my friends taking the plunge.  Oh you heard right! There is a video! But don't skip ahead, read first, then watch.  The book is always better than the movie, has Twilight taught you nothing!?

Ding! Tallest, blondest girl in Costa Rica, you're up!

After a very quick internal pep talk, and a check of my safety lines, I was swinging my legs over the side, holding the bungee cord in my hands and standing up on the ledge.

I think I blacked out for a second, because when I came to, I was standing at the edge, holding onto the rail with one hand, looking down at the river below.

Wait, how much time do I have?  And that's when the countdown began.  5... holy shit... 4.....oh god....3....umm can I still back out?.....2..... f bomb..... 1..... bungeeeeeeee!!! And that's when I dove, head first, off a bridge, into nothing but air.

And it's true, it does feel like you are flying, but only for a second. That's when the bungee stretches and you're pulled back and flung, god knows where, because you've lost all sense of direction, and you're flying again, and pull, and fly, and pull, until now you are just dangling (and spinning) and patiently waiting for the rope that will bring you back to solid ground.  And it's really quite, and you can hear the river below, and you arms are hanging down and the blood is rushing to your head and... where the hell is that rope?! And then it magically appears and you say a little prayer as you hook yourself in and now your right side up and you look around and see the tops of the trees and you think, shit that's the craziest, stupidest thing I've ever done! [end scene].

Roomies!

Survivor pic!

 YouTube: Leap of Faith

[Scene 2- Casa 20C, Heredia]
The next morning, my alarm wretched me out of my sleep at the ungodly hour of 4:30 am. I packed my bag for another day of adventure, but this time, it was an adventure on the high seas, or in this case, a very low river, it is dry season after all! Yup, I was headed white water rafting!

I met Ana Maria and Roberto at the National Theatre in San Jose and we boarded [another] van to the Pacuare River over on the Caribbean side.  It was an absolutely amazing day.  We paddled for 3, very long hours, with a well deserved, much needed 1 hour break for lunch.  We rafted through some beautiful scenery and next to amazing waterfalls.  We swam, we laughed, we hit the deck when we were told, and we even managed to all remain inside the raft as we paddled through a few class IV's.

The memories will last forever, thankfully the pain from padding for 3 hours only lasted a few days!

Pura vida!!!!

Music Makes the People Come Together, Music Mix the Bourgeoisie and the Rebel

Well I've already broken one of my promises (that didn't take long, did it?) It has been way too long since my last post and I have no good excuses.  So with that said let me tell you about last week.  It was a week filled with music.

After much anticipation I was finally able to attend a Republica Fortuna concert.  Who is Republica Fortuna you ask? Well let me educate you! Republica Fortuna is 12 member, high energy, ska band from Costa Rica, who is about to release their very first  CD... oh and my co-worker/friend David is the lead singer.  No big deal!

Check out the video for my favorite song, La Cimarrona
 
The night started out like--what I've come to notice--any typical night.  I spent went to long on hold with the taxi company, only to get frustrated, walk to the main gate, attempt to hail a taxi off the street, only to crawl back with my tail between my legs to my friends at the gate, babble something indecipherable in Spanish about needing a taxi while gesturing wildly with my arms, they laugh and a taxi shows up 2 seconds later (how do they do that?! They didn't even pick up the phone!) An hour and fifteen minutes after that, Clayton, Evie (Clay's friend from college) and I arrived in Desamparados, a part of San Jose, armed with a small map showing the location of the concert.  As usual our taxi driver had no idea where the park that the concert was being held in was, but the more shocking part was that people on the street in town also had no idea.  This! should have sent up some sort of red flag.  But on we charged, lost and turning down random streets, we stupidly believed our driver when he said (after looking at the map for .2 seconds) that the concert would be just down the street, but because of traffic we'd be better off walking the short distance.  Clay jumped out, heard music and said "this must be the place!" As we watched the taxi burn rubber and speed away, it became apparently clear that the "music' we were hearing was not in fact coming from the concert, but was actually that of the zumba class taking place in the building at the corner where were had just been abandoned. Shit! Wait on second thought, no problem, Clay's a geo-spatial analyst and I love maps, this should be a piece of cake.  Wrong.. again! We walked a few blocks in each direction, asked a bus driver, asked random people on the street, but nothing.  So we caved, got in another taxi and as it turned out, we were way off. It was another 10 minutes by car before we eventually arrived at the park.  Since the concert had already started, we made our way quickly to the main stage through a rather rocky path and a pretty sad looking local fair.  But wait, did I just smell funnel cake?

The scene that came into view was not exactly what I expected. <<Flashback>> to being 16 years old and attending my first ska show with my next door neighbor, I want to say it was Less Than Jake, but god only knows, that was a million years ago.  <<End of flashback>> I'm talking full on most pit,  young boys with long chains hanging from their jeans, pushing one another around, and here comes a tall blond American girl making her way to the front to get a glimpse of her new musical idol.

Thank God I had Evie with me because moments later we were both swallowed up by said mosh pit, but thankfully we only suffered mild bruising.

The show ended, but I was hooked.  Goal update: Learn Spanish so I can sing along to all the songs by Repulica Fortuna.  It wasn't long before we were hanging out with the band "backstage" as we made plans to go out for drinks.  Uno problemo, we don't have a car.  Oh wait, it's not a problem when you are friends with the lead singer.  "Here", he says, "get in the back seat of this random car." Ok, so maybe it didn't go exactly like that, but it might as well have.

Seconds later, with the 3 of us crammed into the backseat we made our way (slowly) back down the rocky path in a low rider, seriously, how did this car get up here?!  After quick introductions it was silence for much of the way, to where, we still didn't know.  But after what seemed like a strangely long time, we pulled up in front of a house.  Umm, I thought we were going to a bar? But there was David, smiling, and telling Clay to get out of the car and go with him in his car, while a long, curly haired boy, we'd come to learn later was David's cousin, jumped into the backseat with us.  And off we went again, with still no idea where we were going, but this time, Evie and I sat a little closer together and I prayed we'd make it out alive.  We soon pulled onto the main strip in San Pedro, where we found out we were meeting David and Clayton at a bar.  We also found out that our car mates actually spoke very good English and clearly understood the conversation we had about being kidnapped.  We had some drinks and some good laughs, made new friends and ended the night eating giant pieces of pizza!

The next morning I was up early to get ready for Festival Imperial, a 2 day music festival with local bands and well known headliners.  I had a ticket for Day 1 and was looking forward to seeing Cypress Hill, The Flaming Lips and Maroon 5.  With the threat of spending 12 hours outdoors (mostly in the sun and being in the "most danger"), I slathered on about a pound of sunscreen, downed a few pints of H20 to hydrate and boarded the bus we rented to drive us to and from the concert.

Gross energy drink, we all kept drinking because it was cold!

Clay & Jose enjoying an Imperial, or 2 in Jose's case!

Crazy gypsy punk band: Gogol Bordello

Clay and I doing something stupid

  It turned out to be an amazing day/night.  The local bands were entertaining; We ate, we drank, we danced (a lot!), we all have a great time, but as you'd expect with any large group, we all had different interests and eventually split up into smaller groups.  As the sun set, Clay, Evie and I fought our way though the crowd to get a good spot for Cypress Hill.

 
Now, growing up in the 90's, you'd have expected me to know more than 1 song by Cypress Hill, but thankfully, I am a proud product of my hippy parents and was only familiar with the famous "Insane in the Membrane" song, still they put on a good show. Next up, The Flaming Lips, who rocked stage 2, and then it came down to Maroon 5.  At this point our small 3 man group had broken down even further and I was sadly on my own.  Having been lucky enough to see Mr. Adam Levine up close and personal two summers ago thanks to a very friendly usher at the BOA Pavilion, not to mention the pain of standing for 9 hours, I was more than happy to find a comfortable spot in the back, laying on the sheet I'd been carrying around for no reason at all at that point.

Later, as I made my way to our meeting spot-- a weird looking cactus tree somewhere near the entrance--I though of how lucky I am to be down here and how unbelievably dirty my feet were.  I came to learn this is known as "festival feet", and I need to find a way to work this phase into everyday conversation!!

My weekend ended with a trip to the Multiplaza in Escazu where I recharged my batteries by spending the day shopping and finally seeing the Hunger Games. All in all another fantastic weekend here is beautiful Costa Rica!

Pura Vida!