Our Intentions Were Simple.

….. Fly into San Jose, Costa Rica.  Spend 4 days in Manuel Antonio National Park before our assignment began on the 11th.   Never.  Let me repeat NEVER did being attacked by monkeys fall into this equation.

I know what you’re thinking….. ‘Oh. No. Not again.’

But, I regress.

Let me re-introduce myself.  It’s been a long time.  Almost… *GULP* over 3 years to be exact.  Could this be true? There have been many forms of this blog.  It all started in 2007 when my husband Ray and I took a 6 month trip around the world.  I wrote about every moment meticulously in a journal and then we would find something called ‘internet cafe’s’ tucked into the towns we traveled through, (Do you remember them?  You know- way back in the stone ages.) & sweat out every moment sandwiched in-between other worldly travelers as I rehashed our story passionately onto the screen, and usually with a ‘reorganized keyboard’ with an alphabet from a different country to make it really interesting.

That trip lit a fire under us…. and by 2011 we set off in a 1971 Volkswagen Van, and quite possibly was the journey of a lifetime.  Bringing us around the world once again,  life got in the way……. and eventually the blog became reminiscent.

I can only explain this feeling of starting to blog again as though I am dusting off the cobwebs in room that has been untouched for quite some time, but still very loved.  Its almost hypnotic how the words rhythmically flow from my pen to paper, as if I run my fingers along the dusty treasures in that unused room, I uncover more of me…. And the stories that I once told.   So stay awhile…..

Wednesday- January 6th:

It all started with a two finger salute out of the airplane window on a dark cold Minnesota morning.  As the lights below grew smaller- our eyes larger with what adventures lay before us……  & then, just 24 hours later we find ourselves snaking in and out of traffic and weaving alongside the narrow coastal roads after a very short overnight ‘nap’ in San Jose.

‘What a difference a day makes.’  Its almost as if you sling that backpack over your shoulder, breathe in the heavy humid air from an unknown environment & walk  forward  into a world that you don’t belong to…… yet.  I can only describe it like a long lost friend.  …. & can’t  wait to catch up over a couple of beers.

……Craft beers that is.  Weren’t we surprised!  We might as well keep up with the Tico’s.  Costa Rica got fancy, folks.  And so have their prices.  When we arrived in San Jose we were blown away.  The country thrives off of coffee, sugarcane, banana’s and fish….. but its its greatest pride and joy is its tourism. Forever flourishing as the country maintains a peaceful attitude and a strong market for the outdoor adventurer.

So of course we were pulled towards Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio to wrap ourselves around our first 4 days.  It was declared a national park in 1972 which we were told was preserved with minutes to spare from being bulldozed and razed to make room for coastal property.   And we cannot imagine if it didn’t exist today….   Busy, yes.  Touristy, oh yes.  But with one of Central America’s top tourist destinations, we knew what we were in for.

So on the 9th we lined up in front of the parks ‘Golden Gates’

(perhaps we shouldn’t have picked a Saturday?) with the masses and patiently awaited our turn as it seems that they only let so many in per hour.  As the local tourists/locals spilled in through the gates, however- we found instantly that many are there for it’s beaches, and not hiking.  So Ray & I virtually had the trails to ourselves!

Imagine, spending the day within the canopy of a Rainforest navigating light hiking trails (you could wear flipflops, simply magical) as you take in the spectacular views, smell the fragrance of the flowers in the trees and by chance spend some time with……

……….it’s White-faced capuchin  ATTACK MONKEYS!  We now have the best monkey claw holes in our backpack to prove it & live to tell the tale.  Ok, perhaps I am getting a bit dramatic.

(Object in picture is exactly is it appeared in real life right before it jumped directly at us). 

So I leave you now with one full blog under my belt.  A bit rusty, but I promise…… its all starting to come back.  As a write on my own personal laptop (with full functioning keys & all in order), outside in the sea breeze overlooking the ocean, I can’t imagine everything I went through back in the ‘stone ages’ cramped in the small internet cafes.  But I think I kind of loved it.

Perhaps it was all a part of the charm.    But that’s traveling, the more bumps and bruises along the way, the better the story in the end.  Do you remember the holiday’s you had that went smoothly?  Or the ones that were a bit more rough around the edges?

Yeah, I thought so.

2 Comments