G-ninja power!

Hola!

We have been constantly on the go since I last updated and I finally have about an hour of free time. As I lie here in a hammock on the third floor of our hotel, listening to the rain and the crashing waves of the ocean, I will do the best I can to recount the whirlwind that was the last few days; although, I hardly believe that I will be able to do it justice.

Last I left off, we were getting ready to go on the "extreme volcano hike" and let me say, it certainly lived up to its name. We left at 7am and headed towards the trail. In total, the hike took us 5 hours to hike 6 miles (3 miles up, 3 miles back). This was probably one of the hardest hikes I've ever done. It wasn't dangerous or scary by any means, it was just incredibly difficult to do. We literally climbed up the entire 3 miles with very few breaks. The entire hike was on a very steep incline. Imagine climbing to the top floor of a building that is three and a half times taller than the empire state building...and then slowly walking back down. Our thighs and glutes were on fire.

This may have been a difficult hike, but it was definitely worth it. We started the hike climbing up a path that was lined with flower bushes and Ginger plants. After about a mile we got to the beginning of the forest and stopped to get a picturesque view of La Fortuna. Our tour guide, Jose, was great at pointing out plants, bugs, animals, etc. I don't know how he did it but he didn't even have a drop of sweat on him. Meanwhile, the rest of us looked like we had just jumped of a swimming pool. Climbing through the rainforest was one of those "you had to be there" experiences but I'll do the best I can to describe it. Imagine being completely surrounded at all angles by mossy trees, chirping birds, and a cloudy mist a few feet above your head. If you've ever been to the rainforest cafe in the mall, the soundtrack that they play is actually what it sounds like, except this is surround sound...and real. Once we made it to the top we felt exhausted and accomplished. Jose told us that if we ventured only 150 meters farther, we would see a crater lake. We climbed down to the lake, stripped down to our bathing suits, and jumped in the water. The water was pretty cold but a lot of fun. It was so beautiful. We were surrounded by green mountains with that same mist suspended over the water. After a quick swim and a snack, we climbed back up to where we were before and then started our painful desent down the mountain.

One we got back to the bottom, they set up a delicious lunch for us that included chicken sandwiches, incredibly juicy watermelon and pineapple and, of course, Imperial (costa rican beer). After lunch we went to check out a really beautiful waterfall before heading back to the hotel. By the time we got back to the hotel we were a pack of walking zombies. A couple of us went to a nearby coffee and ice cream shop to get some coffee and ice cream (duh), and then somehow made it back to our hotel rooms for a midday nap.

A few hours later we met downstairs and jumped in the van to go to dinner. We took the van to the countryside and joined a Costa Rican family for dinner. I'm sure very few tourists get this true locals experience. First, the mother of the family taught us how to make our own tortillas. After eating our delicious tortillas, we sat down at a long table in the kitchen and ate like true Costa Ricans. The casado has been delicious the whole trip, however, THIS particular casado was by far the best. We then had some starfruit juice, a cup of coffee, and a scoop of ice cream.

After listening to the beautiful story of how she met her husband, we thanked her profusely for the delicious meal and went back to the hotel. Even though we were completely burnt out from the hike, we figured that it was about time we had a good night out. We met up with Quique, Alberto, and some of their friends at a nearby bar for some very tasty drinks. Quique and Alberto had us taste real Costa Rican rum. Now, I'm not a big rum drinker, but this was delicious. After awhile we felt it was only appropriate that we went salsa dancing. We jumped in Alberto's truck and he took us to a place that he said was a good salsa club. When we first walked in we were a little confused because everyone was singing Spanish karaoke. But once the song ended, the entire bar erupted into a spontaneous salsa party. It was awesome. We did the best we could to join along in the karaoke. Eventually around 2am the karaoke part stopped and it was only a salsa club from that point on. Unfortunately the night had to end eventually and we left bright and early the next morning to drive to Montezuma.

We're about to go do some yoga on the roof of our hotel, taught by our very own Reena. I'll try and update again about Montezuma when we get back from dinner.

Pura vida!

E