Living the Vida Pura

So, what comes to your mind when you think of Rosh Hashana? Clearly the exciting travel destination of Costa Rica! As a NYC school teacher I´m entitled to some Jewish holidays and I spend them outside the city whenever possible. This place is awesome! Right now we´re not huge fans of San Jose because someone stole $350 from our very own Becca Shim. Kind of a rocky start to a dream vacation?

We left the city after lunch, and, after Christina Kim joined us, went to a little place called La Fortuna. It´s a city near the volcano Arenal. We got a taxi which was really a jumbo van with a dvd player. Our driver provided Transformers for our viewing pleasure. It wasn't pleasurable for very long though. The windy roads and the loud movie and the beautiful scenery all combined to give us motion sickness. I still feel sick writing about it.

We stayed the night in La Fortuna and woke up early to hike through the rain forest to the volcano. I suspected that since it poured (I mean true downpours) all night that we'd be in for some pleasant weather that morning. I was wrong. Rain forests are rainy, for reals. We got drenched and it was so cloudy that we couldn´t actually see the volcano, the guide assured us that it was just beyond the clouds though. Despite the weather (or perhaps because of the weather) the rain forest was still pretty cool. After our hike we headed straight for the hot springs. I can´t even express to you the joy. It was pretty amazing to lie in water that's the perfect temperature while cold rain drips on your face.

After the hot springs we changed back into our wet rain foresty clothes to catch the Jeep-Boat-Jeep across La Agua Arenal, the only thing standing between us and the national forest called Monte Verde. The trip was bumpy and jumpy and slippery and totally awesome. Becca Shim and I sat in the front to avoid that pesky motion sickness. Jen and Christina got to sit next to the Drunken Spaniard (on several occasions actually).

In Monte Verde we stayed in a little place called Sinai Pension where we had a room and a bathroom to ourselves. It was very quaint. We set out that night to the Ranaria which is like a frog zoo. It was there that we all formed a crush on Ramon, who was our tour guide. You can't go to Costa Rica without having a tour guide crush of some sort.

Day two in Monte Verde started as we awoke to the sound of youth practicing percussions as they prepared for the Independence Day Parade. How cool to be in Costa Rica for its independence day! Jen informed us that they really didn't have much to celebrate because the turnover was so peaceful. Nevertheless, there was a parade and Ramon was there. And it was long and the kids were cranky and adorable all at the same time. We had to leave early to catch our ride to the canopy tour, where other tour guide crushes awaited us.

It was amazing! We soared over treetops through the tropical jungle. I don't know if there are words to describe it. Spectacular just doesn't do it justice. It really is a beautiful place. By the time we finished we were exhausted, so we ate and rested until our scheduled night tour in the forest. It was a bit of a disappointment. Our guide was less than friendly and the only wildlife we saw was a daddy longlegs and a mouse in a tree. It probably wasn't the best 10,000 colones I ever spent, but it was an experience.

The next day we woke up early. Jen and I caught a bus for San Jose and Christina and Becca went to the beach. Now I'm back in the city, planning my next out of country experience. Ho hum.