Costa Rica - day 3
Since we did not rent a car we had to find creative ways of getting around. Mostly our creativity was limited to taking taxis or buses. When it came to moving from La Fortuna to the Treehouse Hotel located about 30 minutes drive away we were given an excellent idea by the Treehouse Hotel staff - go on a rafting excursion be picked up at La Fortuna and get dropped off at the Treehouse as it's close to the excursion's endpoint. When booking our rafting adventure my companions scoffed at grade 2 and 3 option, saying it's for wusses. I stifled the impulse to object on the basis that I am a grade 5 wuss, deciding to go with the flow (no pun intended). Pura Vida.
Anyone living in US is accustomed to signing waivers to do anything more taxing than jogging. So when we were asked to sign one I was not surprised. However, my spell of bravery did wane a bit when I had to fill in my emergency contact. It faltered even further when we were outfited with helmets and lifejackets which were continually adjusted by no less than three instructors. One of which fashioned a string for my glasses so that they wouldn't fly off too far. Great.
After some basic instructions we were off to our raft with our instructor/guide. All seemed well at first... but then the white water came. I must say I do not enjoy being tossed around and showered with water. It's a stressfull situation. And when one's focus is taken up by trying not fall off the boat one does not have much mental faculties to spare for enjoying the scenery.
As if making our way down the river was not exhillarating enough, the tour operators added extra excitement by having the raft go in a middle of a particular rapid and staying there for a photo op. I have to admit, the pictures came out great. Two out of three of us were fighting for dear life, while the third (the strongest swimmer of the bunch) was having a terrific time.
The pictures capture her enjoyment beautifully and a moment later with the same precision capture her foot sticking out of the water as she went overboard.
Apparently she just swam downstream and was picked up by another boat... but since I didn't see her surface, I was quite certain we lost her. I even composed a touching eulogy in my mind.
When our photo op mercifully came to an end and we were reunited with our lost comrade we plowed on, grade 4 whitewater lied ahead. So did a big rock in the middle of the river. It seemed that our instructor wanted to go around it on the right side, but was either unable to steer that way or changed his mind, we went around on the left side, hit the rock and promptly fell out of the boat. All three of us this time. The instructor, relieved of his burden safely got the boat through the rapids. For a while all was confusion. I suspect it was difficult to coordinate our rescue since we all went in different directions and more rapids were coming up. Somehow we were all picked up and miraculously it was the exact time to break for a snack. When we were comparing our stories trying to reconstruct what happened it surfaced that one of my friends may have pushed the other one off the boat... Sadly we have no photo evidence of this incident, so we will never know the exact sequence of events that led to our delightful swim. But we had a great time re-telling our near drowning episode to each other and anyone who'd listen. The rest of the ride was uneventful, so we walked away from our rafting adventure with a few bruises, some great pictures and a good story.
High on adrenaline and still dripping water we showed up at the Treehouse hotel.
When our host told us of different options for hikes around the area and mentioned that one of them included a waterfall where we could swim we said we've had enough swimming for the day and asked instead for a dinner recommendation.
We spent a little time marveling at the "treehouse" which was to be our home for one night. It had a bathroom, hot shower, electricity and ac. The only part of the experience that could be considered "roughing it" was lugging our bags up the stairs.
After drying off we went for a quick hike around the premises. Made friends with the vicious guard dog and watched the hummingbirds for a while. Then we got back to our room to clean up for dinner and the daily downpour began. It did not relent until 8pm, by which time Costa Rica was quite dark. Thus started our second adventure of the day - walking along a dark road with one little flashlight looking for dinner. The most dangerous part of the evening, it turned out, was being eaten by mosquitos. We found the restaurant with no problems, enjoyed a great dinner and a view of Arenal Volcano illuminated by lightning. I don't remember the name of the place, but I would highly recommend it. It must have terrific views of the volcano on clear days and excellent sunsets. The fish soup is also worth a try.
Anyone living in US is accustomed to signing waivers to do anything more taxing than jogging. So when we were asked to sign one I was not surprised. However, my spell of bravery did wane a bit when I had to fill in my emergency contact. It faltered even further when we were outfited with helmets and lifejackets which were continually adjusted by no less than three instructors. One of which fashioned a string for my glasses so that they wouldn't fly off too far. Great.
After some basic instructions we were off to our raft with our instructor/guide. All seemed well at first... but then the white water came. I must say I do not enjoy being tossed around and showered with water. It's a stressfull situation. And when one's focus is taken up by trying not fall off the boat one does not have much mental faculties to spare for enjoying the scenery.
As if making our way down the river was not exhillarating enough, the tour operators added extra excitement by having the raft go in a middle of a particular rapid and staying there for a photo op. I have to admit, the pictures came out great. Two out of three of us were fighting for dear life, while the third (the strongest swimmer of the bunch) was having a terrific time.
The pictures capture her enjoyment beautifully and a moment later with the same precision capture her foot sticking out of the water as she went overboard.
Apparently she just swam downstream and was picked up by another boat... but since I didn't see her surface, I was quite certain we lost her. I even composed a touching eulogy in my mind.
When our photo op mercifully came to an end and we were reunited with our lost comrade we plowed on, grade 4 whitewater lied ahead. So did a big rock in the middle of the river. It seemed that our instructor wanted to go around it on the right side, but was either unable to steer that way or changed his mind, we went around on the left side, hit the rock and promptly fell out of the boat. All three of us this time. The instructor, relieved of his burden safely got the boat through the rapids. For a while all was confusion. I suspect it was difficult to coordinate our rescue since we all went in different directions and more rapids were coming up. Somehow we were all picked up and miraculously it was the exact time to break for a snack. When we were comparing our stories trying to reconstruct what happened it surfaced that one of my friends may have pushed the other one off the boat... Sadly we have no photo evidence of this incident, so we will never know the exact sequence of events that led to our delightful swim. But we had a great time re-telling our near drowning episode to each other and anyone who'd listen. The rest of the ride was uneventful, so we walked away from our rafting adventure with a few bruises, some great pictures and a good story.
High on adrenaline and still dripping water we showed up at the Treehouse hotel.
When our host told us of different options for hikes around the area and mentioned that one of them included a waterfall where we could swim we said we've had enough swimming for the day and asked instead for a dinner recommendation.
We spent a little time marveling at the "treehouse" which was to be our home for one night. It had a bathroom, hot shower, electricity and ac. The only part of the experience that could be considered "roughing it" was lugging our bags up the stairs.
After drying off we went for a quick hike around the premises. Made friends with the vicious guard dog and watched the hummingbirds for a while. Then we got back to our room to clean up for dinner and the daily downpour began. It did not relent until 8pm, by which time Costa Rica was quite dark. Thus started our second adventure of the day - walking along a dark road with one little flashlight looking for dinner. The most dangerous part of the evening, it turned out, was being eaten by mosquitos. We found the restaurant with no problems, enjoyed a great dinner and a view of Arenal Volcano illuminated by lightning. I don't remember the name of the place, but I would highly recommend it. It must have terrific views of the volcano on clear days and excellent sunsets. The fish soup is also worth a try.