OMG!!! I have just returned from the most amazing adventure since I went to Thiland in 2019.
Originally I had booked a Retreat for 5 days. I decided that 5 days wouldn’t likely be enough time to warrant the time and money to get to Costa Rica. Soooo, I called my friend Nicole at AMA to see what kind of tour I could do, either before or after the retreat I had scheduled. She told me about G Adventures and after checking out the tour on the web I booked it. It was scheduled to be from December 3rd to 10th, and the retreat from Dec 12th to 17th. The plan was perfect. Lots of action and then the quiet and rest of a Yoga and Meditation Retreat, Ahhhh.
I left to be safely in Calgary on December 1. It was so bloody cold out and my flight was really early on the 2nd so I stayed near the Part 2 Go and barely slept a wink wondering if my vehicle would start at 3:30 in the morning. It almost didn’t (Big eyed emoji here). I don’t even know what my next steps would have been…I said, out loud, Please. Not. Right. Now. With one more try, she started, thank goodness.
I got to the airport and all of the Air Canada check in kiosks were out too. Nothing likes that kind of cold I guess. Once all was up and running everything else in the day went quite well. I had a 4 hour wait in Toronto but that gave me time to relax and get to my gate without any panic. Toronto Pearson airport is so very big but very well laid out and pretty easy to navigate through, especially when not in a panic. People watching in airports is a fun pastime too. Once out of Toronto it’s only another 4 hours to San Jose, Costa Rica. The flight arrived at 10pm and I got a shuttle to the Courtyard, by Marriot close to the airport. A night of rest before going to the meetup hotel to start the G Adventure Quest Tour.
I was one of the first people to show up at the meeting place. When I got there, there was one young woman sitting in the lobby. I went to the desk and asked about the G Adventure group. I was told that I was at the right place and the only other person that was there, so far, was the young lady in the lobby. We were asked if we wanted to get our room together, and both said yes. We weren’t assigned room mates but I didn’t care, and neither did she, Carolina, from Italy, with a lovely smile and a beautiful accent in her well spoken English.
We got our room , it was small but perfectly sufficient for one night. Carolina had been up all night travelling so I just put my stuff in the room and gave her the space to have a shower and a nap if she wanted. I went back downstairs to the restaurant and had breakfast and got wifi. The meeting would be later in the evening when more of the group would arrive to the same hotel. A group of strangers that would all become friends by the end of 9 days. When we all met Irene, our guide, we were asked what we most wanted to see on our tour. I was lucky and happy to go first to say that I wanted to see a sloth. I wasn’t the only one, most everyone wanted to see a sloth. We had a little rundown of how it would all go and what time to meet in the morning to head out to our first location, La Fortuna Arenal. En route we stopped at a coffee plantation and had the full tour. Who knew there was so much to now about coffee. It was very informative and ended with a delicious lunch of fresh fish, and coffee of course. We arrived in La Fortuna and got registered into our hostle/hotel room When Irene was saying the names of the room mates and who was together, I stepped up and asked to be kept with Carolina. It was easy with her and we had already formed a nice friendship. The room was comfortable and I slept well. Carolina was awakened in the early morning hours by the loud and somewhat frightening noise of the howler monkeys in the trees close to where we were staying. At breakfast it turns out that some of the others had heard them too. There were 16 of us in total and many of the group members had signed up to go out on adventures like canyon jumping and white water rafting. I didn’t want to do any of those activities so I opted to go for a jungle walk to the volcano. Carolina, Paulina, Saag and Tony came too. We grabbed a cab and spent a lovely 4 hours walking and a little climbing. Got some great pictures, saw the largest tree (and it was very large and very cool), Saag almost stepped on a snake and Carolina screamed when she saw it. It was a long thin neon green ribbon of a snake. I took a picture of it and asked later if it could be poisonous, it was not. The weather was so great. It rained when we first headed out on our hike but it didn’t last long. Saag was a gentleman and let me walk with him under his umbrella. The air and the rain falling in the sunbeams was kind of magical. After that beautiful hike we were hungry and heard that there was a great restaurant where the waterfalls are. The cab driver was kind of a jerk and wanted to take us to a different restaurant. Likely one he’d get a little kick back for bringing people in. Luckily Carolina and Saag speak enough Spanish that the point was put across and we got dropped at the Waterfall entrance. Tony said we’d find another ride home, so dude could just go. We had the most awesome lunch and watched the monkeys in the trees before heading down the 500 steps to the waterfall. Carolina, Saag and Tony all went in for a swim while Paulina and I watched them and the belongings. I did wander over to the calm part down stream and put my feet in the water where it was calm and people were enjoying a swim. Then, we had to climb those 500 plus stairs. Thank god I keep myself fit and able. I managed well but there were others that had to really take their time. By the end of that day my FitBit read read over 14000 steps. Woo Hoo!!
The following day we were up early and on the road to Monteverdi. We took a small bus, then a boat, and another bus. Apparently the lake we crossed covered up two towns. They had relocated the towns to make the lake as a water source. The scenery is all so lush and green and breath taking.. We arrived early in the evening to Monteverdi. After settling in our very cute rooms that were like a log lodge, we walked to town to explore, and get something to eat. After the restaurant we found a nice little coffee shop for a coffee and desert. Before heading back to our lodge I stopped to buy a nice long sleeved t-shirt to throw on as it was a little chilly and I needed something to warm up. We also got beverages and UNO and Janga to play after going on our scheduled night walk in the jungle, we planned a little fun time. The night walk was really cool. That was where I saw my first sloth. He was up in a tree (that’s generally where you’ll see them) and the guide shone his flashlight on him. So cool!! There were so many things to see on that walk. Large spiders in large webs, tarantula’s in their little holes, either in the ground on in a tree trunk close to the ground. There were snakes…a few snakes. I also saw the cutest most vibrant little blue bird sitting on a branch trying to sleep. After getting back to the lodge we had fun playing games and getting to know one another a little better. It wasn’t a late night because the next day was ZIP Lining over the rain forest. Big bucket list check for me and I wanted to feel good and be with my wits to do that. No chickening out for this girl…The wind was blowing so hard that night I was wondering if we would even be going zip lining or if it was safe. I hardly slept, thank goodness I hadn’t had too much to drink. Zip Lining was happening today. I was so grateful to have my warm but light weight winter coat to wear. It was chilly in the mountains. We got harnessed up and ready, got another set of instructions and told that we could go to a certain point and then quit if that was enough. The first two weren’t that long and then there was a swinging bridge to cross on foot. The bridge was going well and I was pretty comfortable until Tony got on it behind me and the damn thing started to swing. I was tethered to it, so safe if I did fall, I just didn’t like the feeling of swinging and walking at the same time and falling would have likely hurt something in this 60 year old body. All good, I stayed on my feet and got to the other side to get on the next zip line. There was a sign there that read, “If you take this line there is no turning back”. I too a deep breath and listened very carefully as I was being hooked up to go for a good long zip line ride over the rain forest. That wasn’t the best of it either. There was one more long zip line and then two different ones called the “Superman”, where we changed up our riggin a little and were sent flying, like really flying, over the rain forest. It was definitely one of the biggest thrills of my lifetime and I am so happy I didn’t chicken out and not do it. Following that we went on another walk in the cloud forest and across hanging bridges. I was tired and not the only one that felt we could have omitted that part of the day. The Zip Lining was the highlight and quite an adrenaline rush.
The following day we headed out to Quepos where we’d find a beach and some time to relax. Upon arriving, we checked into our rooms and got situated before meeting to go to the beach which was a 10 minute cab ride to Manuel Antonio Beach close to the National Park. Irene, Caroline, and a girl I hadn’t gotten the opportunity to know, all went for food, beer and then the beach. Others went to the National Park and some went Kayaking. I was so great to just sit on the beach and people watch. I did go in for a swim and the water was great. Forgetting to take off my Fitit though..Oops. It’s been buggered ever since. There were 3 men close to us on the beach. When they saw that Irene and I were drinking beer they came to see if we had an opener they could borrow. We didn’t but I saw that one of them was smoking and asked if they had a lighter. I took the lighter, and like a good prairie girl, popped the beers open for them. That was fun..one never knows when such a talent will come in handy.
Soooo, the last full day of adventure on our adventure tour before heading back to San Jose to say goodbye. At breakfast on this morning Kyle, from Australia, asked if I’d join the group that was going out on a Catamaran that evening. I decided to do that as I had not been out on the ocean yet and I also hadn’t spent very much time with this group of fun folks on any one thing yet. They were a fun group and I was so happy that I joined them for an evening on the ocean for a swim and to watch the sunset and have a good meal with too many cocktails. After the Catamaran we Irene ordered pizza and we grabbed more beverages and took everything to the rooftop of our hotel and have a party to celebrate the birthdays of Tony and Pricilla. A fun time was had by all and the night got to be a late one for some….not me, I called it a night fairly early. The next day we had some extra time at the beach, went out for lunch, and then headed back to the hotel to board the bus and make our way back to San Jose.
Part Two of this great adventure will be at the beautiful Imiloa Retreat.
Stay tuned…:)
