(Disclaimer: I am quite aware that it has been FOUR months since my Costa Rica trip. And yet, here I am, barely managing to post on the fourth DAY. What can I say? I’m a blog slacker as of late. However, I am determined to catalog this trip. At this point, though, these CR posts are really just for my journaling benefit. I really don’t expect any of you to actually read them. Just so ya know.)
So, Day 4 started off pretty nice and relaxing. I woke up (when I wanted to), moseyed on downstairs, and enjoyed a nice breakfast of cheese omelet and mango juice. Odd combo, I know, but it tasted great.
Most of the members of my group decided that they wanted to go riding on ATVs this day, but a few of us, including myself, decided to go white water rafting. This is something that I have always wanted to do. Well, at least for the past 5 years or so I have wanted to. There just isn't any white water rafting location really close to LA, and none of my friends ever seemed to have any interest in it. So I kinda forgot about it.
Until Costa Rica, that is......
And what better place to go water rafting! I mean, most of the country is covered in lush, green rainforests, with all sorts of crazy wildlife - which would make for quite the picturesque view!
All together, there were five of us who wanted to go rafting.
Again, the tourist van picked us up. But instead of heading straight to the rafting location, we were first brought to the rafting company's office.
Our rafting experience included a meal – which I had assumed would be picnic style once we got up to the rafting location. After all, the trip was supposed to be 4-5 hours long, and we were bound to get hungry at some point during all that. I was wrong, though, and they fed us our meal of chicken and rice at the office. Oooookay. I was already full of omelet and mango juice, but whatever.
After eating, we loaded up our rafts and hit the road. Once driving, our river guides informed us that it would take an hour and a half to reach our destination.
Excuse me?
I'm sorry, but did I get magically transported back to LA in my sleep or something? An hour and a half? The rafting locale was supposed to be in Manuel Antonio. We were currently in Manuel Antonio. How could it possibly take us that long to get anywhere in the city, especially since rush hour traffic was definitely not a factor here.
To make things even worse, the roads to the water rafting location were completely unpaved – and extremely bumpy. Plus, it was like 90 degrees outside, and the van had no air conditioning.
Full stomach, bumpy roads that were jostling said full stomach, intense nausea from said bumpy roads, blazing heat and no A/C. I was sooooo not the happy camper. And I was beginning to question my decision to do this. Like, a lot.
After about 45 minutes (of hell), we arrived at the bottom of a mountain. Were we there? Could the torture finally be over? Alas, we were still only halfway to our destination. At this point, our guides told us to take a bathroom break, as this would be the last time we would see an actual restroom for the remainder of the day (unless you count the river as a restroom......not that I would ever do that). They then loaded us into different vehicles, which I can only describe as Hummer-like. And we started driving. Again. However, this leg of the trip was actually kinda fun. We had to get to the top of this this huge mountain (where we would start our downhill river journey), and it was like we were off-roading the whole way up. Plus, the view at this point was spectacularly beautiful.
We got to the top, and had a short instructional lesson with our hilarious guides.
Here we all are at the beginning (as evidenced by our dry clothes).
And then, SPLASH! We were off!!
And it was everything I had ever imagined.
The water was not too crazy, not too tame, and was sooooooo much fun! Though I am sure that it didn't take my boatmates very long to tire of the screams and yelps that would emit from my mouth each time a huge wave would crash into (and over the side of) our raft.
Here are some of the crazy pictures from the day. So funny.
Melissa’s face in this next picture absolutely kills me. Poor thing.
About halfway through the journey, our guides had us pull our rafts over to the side of the river, and we took a short little nature hike to this gorgeous waterfall just off the beaten path. Since we were already drenched, our guides had us wade into the shallow stream, and then encouraged us to play under and in the waterfall. Though, at times, we were practically being beaten to death by the onslaught of water droplets, I would have to say that this was probably one of my coolest, and most favorite moments during my time in Costa Rica.
I am so not a nature girl. Ask anyone. I would rather clean my toilet than do something like camping. And I think that people who call hiking fun or leisurely are one peach short of a fruit basket. But even I couldn't help but be absolutely mesmerized this day as I took in all of my glorious, breathtaking surroundings. Nature was definitely my friend.
This is one experience I will truly never forget. I am so glad I had the opportunity to do it, and I hope to experience it again someday.
