Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

Forty-eight hours ago, I was soaking in a curved stone bathtub filled with milk, orange slices and flower petals, looking out over a lush valley and the Pacific Ocean beyond.  Butterflies danced on the soft tropical breeze as puffy clouds floated overhead in the cerulean sky.  A hawk soared high above the treetops, circling unseen prey. 

As I gazed around at the immense beauty of my surroundings, my head lolling against the pillow that had been thoughtfully placed at the edge of the tub, I thought about everything we had seen and done in Costa Rica, and how all of it had affected me.  It's going to sound very Kumbayah, but this trip revealed to me just how much all life is connected, how every single thing in nature relies on some other thing to exist and how every living thing from the moss on the side of a tree to a cicada chirping out its song is driven by the desire just to exist.  To live and to keep on living.  I had a very Buddhist Moment, then, of feeling connected to every living being on earth, and I was amazed at how incredibly fortunate I am to be here, with all this beauty and all this life.

My brimming love for all living things diminished a little bit during our fourteen hours of travel yesterday, which involved a very sketchy plane (more on that later), a layover in which a woman yammered on her cell phone and into my ear interminably, and a wildly turbulent flight over a hurricane (maybe it's a tropical storm now -- I don't know since I haven't seen any news for almost two weeks -- but from above?  it felt like a hurricane).  I am not sure my brain is operating properly today, as I got just a few hours of sleep, and it's possible I am contracting tuberculosis after getting coughed on continuously for the duration of the flight from Tamarindo to San Jose.  But it was all worth it. 

We saw monkeys. 

These are howler monkeys.  We also saw spider monkeys and capuchin monkeys.  They're hard to photograph since they are usually crashing about in the canopy and kind of far away, but they are so cool to watch.  Howler monkeys make a sound kind of like a dog with a sore throat barking, and when particularly agitated they do this thing that sounds like a toilet unclogging.  It's even better than reality TV.

We saw waterfalls. 

We saw frogs. 

We hiked around an active volcano. 

We saw beautiful vistas and stunning sunsets. 

We stayed in really cool places all along (in Heredia, Arenal and Monteverde, respectively), but the ultimate was Los Altos de Eros, which is now possibly our favorite place in the world.  After all the hiking and nature tours and hot springs and going going going, this was where we ended our trip, with four days of doing absolutely nothing but sitting by the pool and having our every desire attended to at every moment and having candelit, wine-soaked dinners with the other delightful couples there -- it was like being at someone's private villa where the staff outnumbers the guests almost five to one, and each night attending a fabulous dinner party with fascinating strangers.  I spent most of Wednesday in the spa (see above re: Indonesian soaking tub) and I nearly dissolved with pleasure.  Do yourselves a favor:  go there.  As soon as possible. 

Our trip had to end sometime, unfortunately, and yesterday we departed Tamarindo in a plane the size of a Buick.  I managed not to burst into tears when it came roaring onto the gravelly runway (the "airport" was nothing but a three-sided quonset hut), but I didn't stop praying the entire time we were aloft.  The mental energy required to keep that little plane in the air was quite exhausting, frankly.  I hope the pilots appreciated my hard work.  Although I have to say, flying in a fold-up aircraft like that does make commercial air travel far less stressful -- after having to weigh everything you're going to bring aboard a regional flight, it's nice to know that with a jumbo jet, someone's extra pair of socks isn't going to make the difference between living or dying. 

In balance, I did have the comfort of knowing that, if I did die in a fiery crash into the mountainside, I'd already glimpsed what Heaven would be like.

Comments

[orangepeacock]

Those pictures look amazing. I have always wanted to travel, and now I have one more place to add to my list of places to see.

...And the teeny frog! Wow!

[Crissy Wagner]

Utterly gorgeous. Now I have one more place to add to my list of where I want to go to before I die.

[lawyerish]

OP - The teeny frog was amazing. They call it the "blue jeans" frog because of its blue legs. It's poisonous if you lick it or eat it.

AW - Definitely, you should go there. It's very tourist-friendly and we saw lots of people with kids there, too. If we ever have kids, I would take them there - it's a great place to learn about the environment and animals and stuff.

[Laura B.]

That looks just amazing, especially the last four days. :)

[Stinkypaw]

Sure reads like you had a great time and what a beautiful location! Nature is so beautiful - It's nice to read something like " I'd already glimpsed what Heaven would be like.", now that's the way to summarize a vacation!

Welcome back!

[hnrjmpr]

I am SO jealous! It looks like it was a wonderful trip.

[lawyerish]

Laura - Oh, you must go. Everyone: Go to Costa Rica! Especially to Los Altos de Eros. :)

Stinkypaw - It really was an incredible vacation. It's good to be back, except for the whole working thing...

H/J - Are you back now, too? We've missed you, traveling woman!

[brian]

i am researching for my honeymoon and was seeking reviews for los altos de eros... which is how i found this site. looks like you really enjoyed it.