Costa Rica - Not Enough Chemicals

Intro:  I went to Costa Rica with two friends - Shala and Jodi - in April 2008. We started off in San Jose, then went up to the Arenal volcano area, then flew in a banana leaf down to Quepos to check out Manuel Antonio national park.

It was a great trip and we learned a great life lesson - when you have a chance to try something new, say Si como no?

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We are in an internet cafe after quite a day. i needed to check my work email and was pleased to learn today that one of my biggest deals for the quarters got a yes from the customer. i should go on vacation in Q4 more often!!!! it wouldn`t be a trip with out an update!

just wanted to drop a note. while only a 4 hour flight, costa rica feels like its on the other side of the world. all i can say is wow, what a place! and we haven`t even been here 24 hours yet! our hotel is amazing, tabacon. it`s right at the base of the arenal volcano and today was clear so we got to see the top of it as it erupts. after we got to the hotel around 10am we went to the hot springs pools area. wow, again. it is paradise. there we indulged in a ridiculously expensive lunch of sandwiches and lounged in the pools, springs, and waterfalls.

we just finished our first adventure. it was awesome. i mean, a third wow. first we rode horses 3km thru the jungle and countryside up to where the canopy tour starts. the views were so beautiful, the landscape here is gorgeous. then we did 10 ziplines over the cloud forest. it was such a rush. i wasn`t really scared except on one that was 3000 feet long and i was going super fast and ended up going backwards so it was crazy!! what i didn`t expect was the ridiculous amount of straight up hiking. i am in terrible shape. the zip lines were so much fun. we met a french girl who is traveling alone right now, it was just the four of us on our trip. our guides were a riot. on the last one, he asked me if i wanted to go last. so i said sure, then he said do you want to do something fun. Again i said sure and he said he will make me supergirl. so he changed up my belay so i my last zip was hanging upside down, basically supermanish when i pulled myself up. it was quite the adrenaline rush!!!!!

one of my favorite things about foreign travel is the people you meet, the locals specifically. on the horse ride back, which deserves whole other story, he and i were talking. he told me in his broken but impressive English  that he was engaged, but he broke it off because there just were not enough chemicals. so cute! i explained the term "chemistry" to him.

so hopefully our butts aren`t so sore tomorrow from the hiking and horseback that we can't go on our next adventure. we get picked up at the hotel at 7am for the canyoning and rappelling trip, then will spend the afternoon at leisure at the hot springs.

we are about to meet up with the frenchie and go find a restaurant here in town in la fortuna. it really is amazing how different a place like this feels from my usual flavor of mexico.

adios and amor,

stefani

Shala took this picture right outside our hotel room - I think we qualify for "room with a view"!