Through lots of conversations and attempts at processing just what exactly we are doing here, I think we've finally come up with a pretty concise way of capturing an element of this experience that can be simultaneously frustrating and wonderful. Sometimes, we're in a place where everything, big and small, seems to be somehow wrong (Isla Ometepe, for instance). Not that we had a bad time there - when we're together, strolling or swimming or exploring, we are always having fun. Its those external circumstances that can be a real bitch. On the Isla, we felt unwelcome, and we faced challenges in the form of bugs, dark rocky paths, walks on which we constantly got lost or went the wrong way, and the discomfort of not having a fitted bedsheet (or any vegetables!). In short, things were not going our way. Other times, however, circumstances fall together in our favor to such an extent that it kind of freaks us out - we can't believe our luck. (Example - our ride across the border from Guatemala to Honduras - see earlier post). In those cases, we shake out heads in disbelief and gratitude, and thank our lucky stars about a hundred more times.
So basically, as we go from place to place, a pattern emerges. Things will either diverge, in the sense that we can't get a handle on our surroundings and have a tough time falling into a grove on all kinds of levels; or, things will converge in a perfect, smooth, wonderful way to form an experience that is just too much fun. Our time in Santa Elena/Monteverde falls under the latter category - it has been a total pleasure in every way.
We got in on Wednesday evening, and were immediately able to check in to the coolest (and one of the only) hostel in Santa Elena. There's a kitchen we've made use of to cook ourselves delicious, vegetable-packed meals (there's a supermarket, and they sell veggies! eggplant! spinach! oh the joy!!) and a great indoor and outdoor common area, and the whole place just has a great vibe. Best of all, and in total contrast to the farm we stayed on at Isla Ometepe, the staff here is fabulous. They are all friendly, always present, knowledgeable on all things, and eager to help. Even better, our room was downright luxurious. When we arrived they didn't have any beds available in the dorm, so we reluctantly agreed to stay in a private room, which is obviously more expensive (although realistically, its not actually expensive, just in comparison to what we've been paying so far - which is, clearly, a skewed perspective). Then we say the room - beautiful wooden bunk beds, each of which was a double bed with soft sheets and a white comforter. Our door opened onto a balcony with a rocking chair, and steps down to a grassy courtyard. We couldn't believe out eyes. We haven't seen such accomodations since... I don't even now when. We were geeked like little kids on Christmas morning. Getting into bed has never felt so good!
Yesterday we had a wonderful, fun-packed day in the beautiful outdoors surrounding Santa Elena. In the morning we went on a hike through a tropical cloud forest. The trail was green, lush, with incredible plants all covered in dew. The mist was cool and refreshing, and we took many deep breaths to stock up on all that air, which we agreed was the freshest we'd ever taken into our lungs. We had to remind ourselves to keep walking the trail, because every few seconds one of us would call the other over to look at some strange and beautiful tree or plant. We also saw some crazy birds! There were little ones with yellow bellies, and big black turkey-like ones that had blue iridescent feathers near their beaks, and best of all, we saw a quetzal. The quetzal is a very rare bird in this area, and there are only three in the whole park where we were hiking. The males are especially exotic, and thats what we saw - he had bright turquoise feathers, a burgundy belly, white wing tips, and two really long, wispy feathers coming down from his tail. Amazing!
In the afternoon, after a lovely lunch and siesta, we went zip-lining. This is also known as a canopy tour, because basically you're connected to these steel cables that strung between tree canopies, and as you go zipping down them you get breathtaking views of the forest canopy and surrounding hills. It was so much fun! The last zip-line was a kilometer long, and we got to go down it together. We flew at breakneck speed, with the wind in our faces and giggling like idiots the whole way, and then we got to the end we were laughing so hard we were crying. Thankfully, we managed to get some video documentation on Soph's flip video, which we will share with you all as soon as we can find a computer that loads videos faster than one megabyte an hour.
The night scene has been fun here too, with lots of cool people to meet, and some good live reggae and salsa music to enjoy. This morning has been wonderfully lazy - we are both really enjoying the fact that our bus to San Jose is at 2:30pm, instead of at 6am which is the norm. Oh the joy of sleeping til 8, making breakfast, and relaxing (as opposed to waking up at the crack of dawn when its still dark, hoisting on our insanely heavy bags, and heaving them to the bus stop - and all this when we're barely awake, and have 30 seconds to snag some kind of food for the eternal and infernally hot bus ride ahead). Not that we're complaining!
Now its "on the road again" and we're heading to San Jose. Then its to the beach once more, to a little town called Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica. We'll be sure to keep you posted from there. We miss you all, and think about you in everything we do!
Much love, and sending warmth and sunshine through the interwebs,
Sophisticated Koala
No comments:
Post a Comment