Stepping out of the plane into the dense humidity of the Costa Rican air I felt a burden lift off my chest: it had been too long since I'd last traveled. As soon as we passed through customs, my parents were pushing me towards anyone speaking spanish, hoping that my 4 years of high school language would be enough for me to translate (spoiler alert: it wasn't). 4 hours and 2 Dramamine later we arrived at our first stop: the Tree House Hotel. Upon driving through a dense rainforest, we were greeted by the two (english speaking) owners, Mark and Lucy. Mark drew us maps of the town and showed us how to get around while Lucy took down any allergies (yep, all me) and helped us locate our house.
The house, while gorgeous from afar, was not quite so glamorous inside. My parents had a large queen bed to themselves on the first floor, but me and Kristen were forced to ascend a 90 degree ladder and crouch under the slanting ceiling in our living quarters. While not the most comfortable conditions, the view made up for it. (looks a little tumblr esq, right?)
We spent our first day settling in and resting, but day 2 and we were on the move. We drove to a nearby ranch that had horseback riding and hot springs where our tour guide matched us up with our horses and set us off to explore the rainforest on our own, a concept both exhilarating and probably illegal in the United States. My dad and I decided it would be a great idea to race our borderline wild horses, although I clearly lost when I face planted into the ground after being bucked off my horse, suffering a few minor injuries. After guilting my mom into paying for massages (but mom, I just fell off a horse!!) we made our way over to the hot springs, which were a series of pools varying in temperature. Kristen ordered una cervesa, not hesitating to assert her newfound legal-ness.
Day 3 was all about hiking. The car ride turned out to me much longer than we planned, and we were all questioning whether or not it was worth it- that is until we reached the top.
Reaching the volcano summit was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of the trip, and we of course had to pause for photo-ops.
Day 4 and we were en route to our second location- Playa Negra! Playa Negra is known for its black sand beaches, desolate beach towns, perfect waves, and of course, surfing. After years of watching Blue Crush and Soul Surfer with glazed eyes, it was time to hang ten. Kristen and I signed up for surf lessons with a local instructor, and despite the frequent head pounding and water swallowing, we made it out alive. I had enough fun to want to do it again, while Kristen opted for tanning on the beach.
Fun fact: The beach at Playa Negra was featured (for all of 5 minutes) in the Bruce Brown documentary, The Endless Summer II.
We spent the remainder of our time in Costa Rica at our beautiful beach house, where we swam, tanned, watched Netflix (I know I know..), ate, and tanned some more. By the end of the week, we were all exhausted and sunned out, but not so much so that we couldn't enjoy one final sunset.
Adios Costa Rica, hasta luego.