Guest Blogger

Playa del Coco, Costa Rica
Today you get a special treat... a guest blogger. This entry is lifted from the pages of my sister Kyla´s journal (with permission of course) and gives you a different perspective on our travels.

Today is Sunday Feb 25th and tomorrow is our anniversary. Last night I wrote an e-mail back home and after getting off the computer I felt like I missed telling everyone the most important things! I included the highlights on our itinerary but I missed the little things, the essence of our trip, the stuff that´s even hard to capture on film. Like...
The stewardess on the plane who offered the boys as many biscuits as they liked, Shawn`s panic when they started calling our flight and I was still in the washroom with Ben, the patches of desert we could see from the plane as we neared Phoenix, the way the Customs officer in Costa Rica pronounced the boys names Hoel and Benhamin, craning my neck to try and see Steve and Mary waiting for us through the sea of faces and not quite recognizing them right away with their darker skin and Steve´s out of control hair, waiting for the bus with Steve and the boys outside the airport at night, watching everyone, understanding no one, and wondering if I needed to be wary of anyone, we stayed up late those first nights, had a game of Settlers of Catan while Ben slept and Joel played Play-do on the next table, there were deep gutters beside the sidewalks and you crossed the streets at your own risk. It made the 10 block walk to the bus station from our hostel an adventure all its own, the long bus rides lulled the boys to sleep and books or nursery rhymes like Pat-e-cake would often settle Ben when he´d get antsy in a confined space, the heat of the first night in Cahuita that had me worrying about the health of my boys, their hair soaked from sweat, the excitement of spotting our first monkeys and of course attempting to catch them on film, Angela´s appartments where Steve and Shawn helped the older man bring up Joel´s bed and help him put it together, all the secret compartments there that we had to check because Joel and Ben would stash money and other "treasures" in them, Boogie boarding in the ocean and the rush you get when you finally catch a wave just right and ride it in to shore, the awful taste of salt water in you mouth and the sting of it in your eyes, meeting Dwight and Pam with their two boys from Grande Prairie who know Drew and Angela and are good friends with Ray, drinks of pineapple or mango or strawberry or guava con agua or con leche served at every restaurant, coffee served with hot milk, milk in juice boxes not refrigerated until opened, hot showers not necessarily a given, coca cola in glass bottles, reggae type music playing late into the night, endless games of hearts, a bus ride, a private transport, bumpy roads, hot and humid windows fogging up, rain, asking directions, going in circles, weary travellers finally arrived only accomodations for 1 night, raining harder, fording a river, amazing grounds surrounded by jungle, birds eating fruit while we ate breakfast, there´s a Toucan, hike through the jungle, Joel running, Watch out! he fell into a ditch but isn´t phased, dump water out of his boots, make sure he has his hood on don´t want him to get any more wet, new hotel, center square in Fortuna, Shawn and I try to catch a taxi to the waterfall successful on the second attempt, the cab already had a passenger so she was dropped off first and we´re on our way! Steep stairs down green all around us, breathe deeply smells of vegetation and earth, powerful waterfall, beauty captured on film doesn´t do justice, climbing stairs wet from rain, waterfall mist or sweat not sure, 6km walk back to hotel, house of hammocks lure us in - 2 souvenirs to take home, pizza - at least once in each place, riverboat tour, iguana bridge - the owner feeds the iguanas leftover rice and beans and they hang out in the trees, watch out for the large trucks passing behind you there´s only enough width for one at a time, birds, birds and more birds, caimans and a couple monkeys too, bats all in a row on a branch, beautiful scenery! Baldi hotsprings, pools all spread out amidst tropical flora and fauna, waterfalls, rocks, relax, Arenal volcano, clouds cleared just enough to see the top, had the place almost to ourselves for most of the day, depth was great for Joel in most pools and Ben loved to splash or float on his back, Joel made wet handprints on the rock or did splash art which dried quickly and disappeared in the hot sun, one more night and then travel again. Did I mention we got our TV fix by watching SPEED? Jeep-boat-jeep, Gravol, search for a place in Monteverde ended at Treetop Hotel, sleep from exhaustion or drugs, not sure which. Cheerios and bananas and coffee for breakfast, walk over 8 bridges through canopy of cloud forest with Mary and boys, views breathtaking, no animals though, Joel tired halfway through, Ben sleeping in backpack - getting heavy, meet up with Shawn and Steve at lunch exhiliration evident on faces as they describe zipline adventure and Tarzan swing. Hummingbird garden they sound like small airplanes as they zip around close by, butterfly gardens there´s one coming out of his cocoon then he´ll hang from it until his wings dry and they´re stiff enough to fly, the bright ones are poisonous and the others use camoflage as defence against predators, some even take on toxins of their diet to protect against prey! Ben loses it and the boys big and small head back to hotel. Helmet, gloves, harness and rainjacket on Mary and I head out for orientation, sounds easy, heart won´t slow down and my stomach doesn´t feel quite right then I´m on the platform sitting back in my harness, pulley clipped on the line left hand on the ropes in front of me, right hand on zipline and off I go looking down on the tops of trees first ones short, no time to think before clipped ot the next one picking up speed he´s stopping me at the last second, he laughs and jabbers away in Spanish- I think he´s insulting me but not quite sure, not too worried my fear is probably all over my face, this one´s long more than a kilometer the view is amazing but interrupting that is the fear that I wouldn´t want to get stuck in the middle of this one-it´s a heckuva long way down, is it ending already? Nope tarzan jump, wow there is no way I am doing that, there´s a freefall for a second at the beginning before the rope catches you and you swing out. No way! I get in line behind Mary and am calm as I know that I couldn´t possibly do that and will back down when it is time. Then it´s my turn and he´s clipping me in, I´m terrified so is he he says then slides back the bars and gives me a push, I lose my breath and I´m at the far end before I can scream the swinging is fun but back on the ground my hands are shaking and I feel weak. Mary screams all the way and then we´re done! What a rush! I can conquer the world! I feel like I´m in university again giddy from adrenaline and endless possibilities ahead! Dinner at Moon Shiva medittereanean dish and dessert! Shawn and I took Joel and Ben to frog pond, frogs in glass cases and guide used flashlight to point them out Ben was clingy and ended up falling asleep in my arms, Joel enjoyed seeing frogs and learning about suction cups, tonight we´ll go again to see them when they´re more active, afternoon was spent at interesting and informative coffee tour, gave us history showed us the ripe coffee bean and the 2 slippery seeds inside and the process to get us roasted coffee, pizza for supper again then on to the night walk through the jungle, Joel did amazing he was right at the front looking at the pictures the guide was pointing out, getting inches away from the leaf cutter ant with head lamp on to get a really good look and squatting down to look into the hole where the orange and black tarantula was hanging out, we went into a strangler tree to look up at the porcupine hiding there and later a racoon, we saw a clicker beetle with bright yellow eyes, firefly, a paper wasp nest, numerous bugs and thousands of ants which Joel had to stop for each time. Ben didn`t do as well tiring of the backpack early on and complaining if I didn´t carry him, so today Ben and I stayed behind while the others went to explore the jungle in the reserve during daylight hours. It worked out well I was ready for some time to myself to reflect on all our adventures thus far. This afternoon we´re heading to a bakery for lunch planning to do some souvenir shopping back to the frog place tonight and then it´s to the beaches of Playa del Coco early tomorrow morning! Less than a week left but home and snow feel like a long way off!