Uphill Slalom (In Review)

I can't really put into words just how incredible that trip really was, so I'm just going to give all of you a quick rundown of our itinerary and try to let the pictures do the talking.

Monday

Heather gets into town (sometime around 9, I think).  Gregorio drove me, so she gets her first chance to meet a Nicaraguan within about 30 seconds of leaving the airport.  We go home and try to catch some sleep.

Yes, she always looks this fantastic when she flies.

Tuesday

We catch the 6am bus to Sixaola, the border town with Panama.  It's a total sham at the crossing - tons of people pretending to help you and offering you "the best prices" on cab fares and making you pay fake tourist stamp fees.  They even make you buy a bus ticked back out of Panama in order to prove you intend to leave...pretty absurd, considering Heather already had a flight booked from San José the next week.  Add to that the old fruit bridge you have to cross, and it makes for an interesting if a bit nerve-racking experience.  Eventually, we made it to the coast via taxi, which was just flat out terrifying.  From there, we took a water taxi out to Bocas del Toro on Isla Colón, where we would be staying for the next few days.  We were hanging out at the hotel when Heather made a new friend (Mali), and we decided to have a simple little supper of bread, ham, cheese, a tomato, Ritz, and apples.

Those are actually candles (not beverages).

Wednesday

"Oh thank God...I'm not a guy."

This was our one year anniversary, and I think I'd say we made the most of it.  After breakfast at a little sea-side diner, we went over to Bastimentos island for a zipline (or canopy) tour.  It wasn't as long or high as some of the really big ones in central and Western Costa Rica, but it was really cool to zip through the rainforest and the ropes course was certainly a challenge.  Our guides were very funny and made the prospect of launching oneself off a 100 foot-tall platform much more comfortable than the harnesses (especially for the male participants...I'm wearing some kind of protection next time).

Heather, clinging to that safety strap for sweet life.

Worth it?  Yepsolutely.  Lawyered.

After that little adventure, we finished off our supper from the night before and decided to ride our free rental bikes up to Bluff Beach, which was supposed to be something like 8 or 9 kilometers up the shoreline.  At least an hour and some sandy bike tires later, we made it.  We hung out there for a few hours, then set out for the hostel.  Unfortunately, my bike couldn't quite handle a 200+ pound gringo determined to make it up a pretty large hill and the chain slipped off, lodging itself under the bolts that held the wheel to the frame.  I could still ride it downhill (without any brakes whatsoever), so we decided to ride it to a hotel/restaurant we'd seen on our way with what looked like an incredible view.

The view and rum punch were
equally breathtaking.

We'd brought $50 cash along and decided we'd treat ourselves to a nice supper, it being our one year and everything.  The food was incredible, especially the nachos I insisted we try.  They were very worth the $7 until the check came.  Between those, our two fajita entrées, and our rum punches, the bill came out to $49.18.  Perfect, right?  Except for the fact that we were still several miles and a dark beach away from the hostel.  We called a cab (all the cabs out there are crew cab pickups) and, after a little sweet talking, he agreed to take us to the hostel on good faith.

She wasn't quite this happy about the nachos.

Thursday

Yes, that rope is for a hammock.
Yes, I took a nap in it.

We decided to try and catch a private shuttle to Puerto Viejo instead of taking the same route we had used before in reverse, but we waited for the shuttle at the wrong office and consequentially missed it.  We just rolled with the punches and made our way back to Changuinola, the border, and eventually Puerto Viejo in decent time.  PV is a beautiful little Caribbean town complete with dive shops, a black beach, and plenty of Rastafarians.  I finally got Heather to try a pipa (which she loved) and we spent the day walking around town, laying on the beach, and trying to snorkel (the waves were pretty bad).  I'm sorry we didn't get a picture of the latter two - that black sand was really cool.  We went out for sushi and pasta at a place called Flip Flop which I'd definitely recommend to any potential visitors and then went out for a drink or two.  It would have been really fun with a bigger group, but I think it just kind of made us feel old.  We came back early and got ready for a big day.


Friday

I kept this day a surprise until just a day or two before Heather came down, but eventually I had to tell her because I'm not sure how to trick someone into bringing the right clothes for white water rafting.  We had an absolute blast with Exploradores Outdoors on the Pecuare river - I'd definitely recommend them.  They picked us up outside our hostel at 6:30 and drove us to base camp.  There, we had a few minutes to eat a delicious breakfast before heading up to the entry point.  In total, we rafted for about four hours with an hour lunch break in the middle - I couldn't take any pictures for obvious reasons.  Your free tip on this one: don't wear any shoes other than sandals, no matter how waterproof you think they are.  They may never dry out.

At base camp, wearing the clothes I should have worn on the raft.

After we had dried off (sort of), we hopped in a van and were driven to La Fortuna.  It was a pretty substantial drive, so we stopped at a nice little soda for supper before catching a cab up to Arenal Paraiso, an awesome hotel complex with its own hot springs and zipline (we only tried the former).  The joke about the whole thing was that we added an additional eight hours or so of travel time just so we could see the Arenal volcano, but it was raining when we got into town.  I woke up at around 6am the next morning and saw it, but Heather slept in until about 8:30.  By the time she looked, the clouds had moved back in - she never saw the thing!

Fortunately, she did like the hot springs.

Saturday

We ate breakfast at the hotel, then went into La Fortuna to catch the bus home.  This was probably the least fun 5.5 hours of our trip and one of very few things I regret about it.  The bus ride was obscenely long and twisty for the actual distance we traveled (approximately 75 miles if we hadn't made any other stops).  It took us approximately the same amount of time as the bus to Sixaola, which is about twice the distance.

Our seating was less than ideal, but that ice cream was good.

Eventually, we made it back to San José, where Heather and I learned/re-learned how to make homemade tortillas and arroz con leche (lit. rice with milk, kind of like sweet rice).  We ate with Gregorio's family and met a bunch of the kids in the neighborhood during their youth group time.  Afterward, we went out with a few of my friends from work for a few beers but called it a pretty early night.

Sunday

At Central Park.

We went to church, which starts at 10am.  By "went to church, which starts at 10am," I mean we walked by the church and sat around with Gregorio's family until people started arriving to set up the sanctuary at about 10:20.  Heather did really well with her Spanish, in and outside the church service.  I think everyone (especially the kids) really liked her.  After church, we went into San José to do a little sightseeing, souvenir shopping, and hot chocolate drinking, then we came back to pack and eat supper.  I made a simple little meal of rice, beans, salchichón, yuca, and salad.

Yum.

Monday

Luckily for me, Heather's flight got delayed for a few hours, which meant waking up at 7 rather than 4.  We went to the airport, had one last cup of Costa Rican cocoa, and she was off.  I can't believe that trip lasted a week - it felt like it went by in a blink.  We made some memories we will never forget and some we've already forgotten, but on the whole I can't think of a better way to celebrate a year together.  That happened coincidentally, it being the only time she could come down to Costa Rica with her academic schedule, but there was something ironically appropriate about her hopping on a plane to come see me in a city she had never known to commemorate the miracle that was the birth of our relationship.

It's back to the grind this week - while a vacation was very needed, I think it will feel good to get back in the swing of things.  I'm looking forward to seeing you all again in April or so, but I have plenty of work to do in the meantime.

¡Ciao!