PURA VIDA. COSTA RICA.

At the end of September 2011,  I spent 8 days in Costa Rica with one of my best friends from undergrad, Kristine.

Since the beginning of the year, K & I had been wanting to go to Latin America and, after stumbling upon their website, decided to go with Toronto-based G Adventures.

For a variety of reasons, it was one of the most life-changing trips for both of us.

The adventures while traveling were, of course, memorable, as they always are...

Like when we went rappelling down 220 ft waterfalls; cannon-balled our way into the tiniest of water holes - a mandatory to get down the mountain; and stopped the torrential down-flow of mountain water as human shields...

Or when we went on the most treacherous hike of my life, only to be given the opportunity to jump off mile-high rocks into a pool that led into another waterfall...

 

Or when we went Class IV white water rafting, my most favorite hobby in the whole world, and laughed, laughed, laughed as we were smacked by Costa Rican trees, swallowed and spit out by its murky, foaming waters, and gleefully encouraged by our mustached, Costa Rican, guide of a guide, Luis...

 Or when we danced on the ferry ride home: cumbia, salsa, merengue, atop the boat, with the locals - as if it were as normal as buying a hot dog at a baseball game (because it IS normal there!)...

 But of course, the best times were spent with friends.  All the new friends we made on our trip, with whom we bonded as we swung for hours on hammocks in the night, usually humid sky; or when we built bonfires together and swapped stories -- and how to best make s'mores...

PEOPLE are what always make the trip.  Always, hands-down.  I will venture to say that Costa Rica was not unlike any adventure I had while living in Thailand or even Australia; the beaches are surely not as impressive as Thailand, the food not as spicy or obscure; the culture not as wild different as I'd expected.

But on our trip, K and I both met people who will forever be in our lives.  Specifically, two other people who live in different countries, but share the same zest for travel, for doing better in the world, for LIVING.  Our lives are definitely better because of those 8 days and the people we met on that trip.

And we have Cacique to thank.  Just kidding!

PURA VIDA!