Detour- Welcome to the Jungle- Part I

Dear readers, we are taking a detour as we wind through the country of Costa Rica...I have been pulled away and a dear friend, Marisa Diaz, has offered to allow me to post her tale of adventure from her visit...so...

Welcome to the Jungle...

It was my first time seeing fireflies (sans the one time in Montana when I saw them...but it was nothing in comparison to this scene). My father and I had decided to take a day trip into the jungle in search of the howler monkeys we had heard the night before from our lodge. Accompanying us was our guide, Juan Carlos. We spent all day in the jungle soaking in the exotic wildlife.

Not only did we encounter the infamous howler monkies (which, by the way, sound like gargantuan gorillas even though they are ony a minutia of the size), we saw sloths, a plethora of colorful birds and screech monkies (I can't recall their exact name...but they are the cute ones with little white faces that you just want to kiss..and with the hands that are so adorable), among other creatures.

It was not promised that we would see anything on our venture, but what with the richness of the jungle life, it was unlikely that we would come up barren.

My father, more often than not, sat on the bench seat of the reconfigured "adventure jeep" with his binoculars pressed to his face; I, on the other hand - in part because I have the world's most unsteady hands when it comes to binoculars and in part because my body just couldn't stand sitting still...i had to feel the earth beneath my feet and to touch the plants around me - did double-duty by jumping in and out of the slow-moving jeep when it suited me.

As the day carried on and the night began to set in, per the advice of Juan Carlos, we started the journey back to our lodge. The twilight air was warm and breezy, a welcome change from the muggy weather only hours earlier.

More Pura Vida on its way...

Forgive me for I have sinned, I have broken the caridnal rule of blogging, especially, a story blog.

It has been...ah.... far too long since my last post.

But, please be patient with me...the next blog is being edited - and it will not disappoint (I hope).

It is an actual video clip of a portion of the zipline. Yes, you too will get to feel the excitment - or terror in my case- of what it was like.

And the answer is: NO! Of course I was not filming, that was Steve's hairbrained idea.

Pura Vida III- Kat on a Wire

BLOG NOTE: You can click on the pictures to enlarge Them.

**Two relevant facts that you should know before reading this story:

1. I'm afraid of heights.



2. This is a fact that Steve, to the surprise of many, did not know before booking our next adventure....The one that would have me alone... strapped by a glorified belt and buckle...to, what I still say was a SMALL wire...

But wait...everyone always interrupts this part to ask, "How did he NOT know you were afraid of heights, you've been together 10 years, married almost 5??"

Okay, the shortest answer I can give is that I'm afraid of heights when it's extreme. Where one one slip, one mistake can have you plunging to your death...like standing too close to the edge at the Grand Canyon, (the part where there is no saftey barrier). But for the most part, I don't let it stop me. Besides...I mean really, in our everyday lives, it just doesn't come up that much.

So many of you have already figured out I am descriping a zipline adventure, but not just any zipline...Oh no.

Steve wanted his money's worth...and not knowing I was so afraid of heights...he picked the highest one...

656 feet up.

Wait, did you catch that?

SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY SIX FEET above the earth...

Look at the yellow box-Notice the lake..now notice how high above ground level the zipline actually is...how high up the mountain you are.


Okay, now that you know all this, I can start you off as my adventure did that day. Here we are after the fitting for our - oh so flattering helmets and harnesses, happily taking pictures and chatting with other people in the group...because at this point, I don't really know what I'm about to face...I'm thinking a lovely little zipline, through the trees...not so bad. I have a picture in my mind of ones I've seen, 20-40 feet off the ground, through beautiful forest...la-la-la...

We get into a tram that slowly takes you up the mountain...and we climb higher...and higher....


and higher...oh...
and wait........yes.....

Higher!

Notice me hanging on...gripping the cage?!





Notice how the beautiful lake is getting farther and farther from view...yea, I noticed it too.

By the way, that isn't fog...those are clouds, because we are high enough up now to be in the 'cloud forest'.


Well, we get to the top and I see for the first time what we will actually be doing. As the last member of the group before us is clipped onto the wire and is pushed (literally) off the platform by the 'helpful' guide...I hear screaming, then just this loud whizzing...like the sound your jacket made when, as a kid, you would play with your zipper, pulling it up and down really fast over and over...only this was deeper and more metallic.


My gaze followed that person out over the horizon and someone in our group says, wow that is really, really far to the next platform. (Yea, thanks for sharing). Then they just had to ask, "how long is it". . Then the ever so inquistive person also asks, "so how fast do we go?" Really? You really need to know this? Our guide kindly answers, "1,550 feet long and you'll go 45- 50 mph!"


WHAT? Oh come on now...really?


So, it should be of no surprise that I declare, nope, not gonna do it. No way- no how- not going to do it. Several people in our group agree. Well, while they are still deciding, they form a pow-wow circle to talk it over and the 'pc' version is, should we trust our lives to this little harness and wire?

Steve of course is supportive. The guides, sensing a coup, say we can do two test lines to see what its like. The test lines are five feet off the ground and are only 15 feet long. Then, if we decide not to go, we can take what they call, the "cobarde trail" (chicken trail to us gringos) and walk the walk of shame - off the platform (sounds like walking the plank, doesn't it?) - back up to the trams and take one down. BUT, (you just knew there was one right?!) if we decide to go for it, once you take the first non-test zipline, the only way down the mountain from there is to take ALL SEVEN...no turning back.


Okay the circle agrees, we'll all try the test run and THEN decide.

...So the test line wasn't so bad. Feelin' good, feelin' strong...I can do this I think as I turn around, and for the first time come face to face with the actual wire and the crazy height of the platform... off a clif. GULP. Uhhhh...hmmmm....well.....

Maybe not. My fear is palpatable. I can taste it, probably because I've stopped breathing. I think about where I am, the trip, my birthday, (okay, full disclosure...I think about the money I'd be wasting if I don't go), I try to convince myself of all the reasons why I should just go for it.

But, I'm frozen...mired in the most physical expression of personal fear I have ever felt.

And then, a thought pops into my mind...I can hear my good friend Noelle reading what she wrote in last weeks writing group...I hear her say that on her 40th birthday she made the decision not to let fear stop her from experiencing great moments in her life.


Fear - Death.

vs. Life, Joy, and Adventure...



I turn, walk right up and step up on the platform. The pow-wow group is still in their circle deciding. I look at Steve and say, "I've got to go now or I won't." He smiles, I can't. I take several deep breaths as the guide hooks me in. "Ready?" All I can do is nod. He pushes me and I go whizzing down the wire. I clear the trees...I am flying through the air, squeezing the handle...I start praying...please let me make it...please hurry...I am looking straight ahead... its just me, the wire, the harness and air. Halfway across the wire, you are so high up that the treeline of the old forest, (with 200 foot tall trees), is 450 feet BELOW you. There is nothing around you, no saftey net...I peek to the left for a brief second, the lake is beautiful but I can't look anymore...I still am griped by the fear. I may be flying in the face of it, but it has its claws around my heart, and I am trying to make it to the other side.

And I do. I make it.

And while I can't say that I loved it as much as I wanted to, as much as I imagined I would, by the end I did begin to enjoy it, (notice the differnce between the two smiles...the one above, is more like a grimace, clenching my teeth, and this one was taken at the bottom, much closer to the trees and the ground...so a much happier smile!!).

As so often happens in life, I wished I could go back up again and start over. But I am grateful for the opportunity to prove to myself that I can do anything that I set my mind to -
even in the face of fear.

After all, the only regrets we have in life are the risks we did not take.

Sounds like I'm brave, like I've conqured fear and won't let it stand in my way, like I get it- right?

Yes, for one shining moment (captured here, at the very bottom, the victory picture...the- yes- we're still alive- picture... I enjoyed sweet victory over fear...


Until the next day...


Steve Strikes again. (Did I mention he wanted me to have an adventourous trip?).

An Explosive Stay- Pura Vida II

Explosive? Isn’t that hyperbole? That is quite a promise, don’t you think?

Well the Arenal Observatory Lodge delivers.

Starting as a geologists camp to study the Arenal Volcano (yes, I said volcano- notice the smoke rising from the 'mountain' behind me!). The location was specifically chosen in the 1970's by scientists from the Smithsonian Institute, who needed a close vantage point from which to study the volcano...

(close vantage point, what about safe?!!).

The Lodge sits on 870 acres of land, including 270 acres of primary rain forest, and is adjacent to the Arenal Volcano National Park. Thrill seekers from all over the world wanted to come see an active volcano and so the lodge was expanded.

The grounds are exquisite! Laying out by the pool, you are surrounded by lush forest, oh, and yes, a big volcano that is only 1.7 miles away...

never really out of site or your conciousness as the rumbling is continuous. Two pool views:
one shows the smoke surrounding the volcano that sits right above it - the other, the thick vegetation of the dense forest that surrounds you.

Staying in the Smithsonian rooms was amazing...but If you are one for luxury, this is not the accomodation for you (you know who you are!). Still, happy memories of my fifth grade school trip to Hillside Outdoor Education Center (aka survival training 'educational' camp) immediately came flooding back.

Rustic rooms to be sure.

BUT, as you come into your room, a muffled crackling noise and most likely your natural curiosity, draws you out onto your little deck…and there it is. A smoking, exploding, active volcano.

Cool! Tends to be the first reaction.

The second? Wait, that is awfully close... is this safe?! (This picture is of Johnny and I on the deck of my room looking out at the Volcano- oh, and by the way, the foggy morning makes the volcano look farther away than it is, trust me!).

I suppose nothing in life is truly safe. Really, a drive to the airport on a three lane busy interstate, surrounded by trucks that may be hauling just a bit too much product for XYZ company and whose routine break inspection may be just a few weeks too late can be just as unsafe as being on the side of a volcano...right?

Still, I guess because its something you don’t see or experience very often, and most of us have probably only seen magma (ha, I got to actually use that word!) while watching all those films in our earth science classes, the question of whether it is safe (and knowing that no one can really answer that) makes you feel alive.

Nature can do that- the pure power of it, the uncertainty, it's truly wondrous… magnificent in fact. And that was all before the real show began.

There is a deck, high enough so that you are above the rain forest…overlooking the tops of trees in the forground, but the star of the show is looming large in the background. At the base, you can see the details of the lava rocks decimation of the forest. In hushed awe, visitors sit out and quietly watch the volcano erupt.

Crackling and snapping, like a camp fire, or the sound of pop rocks that the ice cream man always had in great supply on his truck during the summers of my youth, you hear the volatility that dwells within.

Nighttime is when the volcano comes to life though. It starts. Smoke, barely able to be seen except through the dim light of the moon, drifts from the top. Then the sound that Fourth of July fireworks make when they are being catapulted into the sky…boom…boom…boom. Spectators there for the show lean forward…waiting…waiting.

There! Someone points...

Coming out of the smoky haze that surround the top of the mountain, the first red, fiery spark can be seen. Large rocks had just been ejected from the deep bowels of the volcano and were now crashing down the mountain. (Later we would come to realize that the ‘rocks’ were actually boulders the size of small cars!).

Streaks of red, like the tail from a comet, would follow these boulders. Each time it hit the side of the mountain on its decent, a loud, deep crack could be heard.

Violent, like the sound of one car hitting another. At times, the breeze would blow the smoke in the right direction and the top of the mountain could be seen.

Truly a wonder.

So you would think that staying next to an exploding, active volcano would be more than enough excitement, right? Oh no. Not on this -make sure you're happy to be alive- I don't want to hear you complain about your age- birthday trip.

As much as this got my heart pumping, it was nothing compared to the next morning, a day where fear, nay...terror meets human will and choice... and I would surprise myself.

Hmmm....maybe that is why Steve was smiling so much at breakfast the next morning...only he knew what lay ahead.

Pura Vida, the ‘Pure Life’ of Costa Rica: PART 1

Take off- One last Surprise

Sitting in the Houston airport, the layover city that was the final American stop before taking off on my Costa Rica adventure (one that I had been completely unaware of two days prior, until my sweet husband announced the surprise trip at my birthday dinner), I still felt the familiar tug of intuition that told me that there was something else I did not know. Turning to Steve, I asked one last time, “are you sure that there is no other surprise left?”

I put those feelings to rest though after having Steve’s assurance that once we boarded, my last surprise would be the reaction to the country and the adventures that lay ahead.

Liar.

Always listen to the intuition. Although, to be honest, I really do love surprises, and this one last surprise, a big one, was the only one Steve really was able to get away with.

You see, somehow I had managed to have a good idea of all the birthday surprises he had planned. It’s not that I want to know, it’s my intuition, I’m a good guesser and well, I know Steve pretty well by now.

“Let me take a picture of you before we take off, you know, our last stop before being in another country,” Steve said.

Suspicious yet?

You should be, I however, was not.

“Smile, you’re about to take off for Costa Rica,” Steve says.

I become aware of someone next to me, I dismiss it, the terminal is filling up…

snap, flash…the picture is taken.

Johnny, sidling up to me, devilish smile on his face, and me, obliviously unaware, smiling the perfunctory smile that thousands of people do when posing for vacation photos.

Another second later and an arm falls around my shoulder…

...a familiar giggle sounds in my ear and I turn...

"Johnny," I exclaim!

Steve calls out, “turn over here,” hugging, we turn…

another snap, flash...and the moment is captured.

Now you would think that I would have figured it out right there, right?!

But, I am a gullible and trusting soul and Steve had just told me no more surprises, and Johnny had told me he was going to Peru with his family….so I thought he just happened to be leaving on his trip, on the same day, from the same terminal, at the same time…yea.... see, you get it.

I will simply say that, one: it was morning, two: I had only had a very small amount of coffee (compared to my usual morning pot!), and three: I believe what people tell me!

My reaction? (okay, once I actually figured it out!)…

Hooray, Johnny was coming on the adventure! (Bilingual, born in Nicaragua, and one of the funniest, upbeat and outgoing people you will ever meet, he also happens to be one of our dearest friends who was literally there at the beginning of our relationship, and who then played an integral part of our wedding by performing a portion of the ceremony).

Although there would be amazing, life affirming (life threatening?) adventures to come, one of my favorite moments was captured in two amazing photos, quickly snapped before take off. The hug exchanged and bright smile is the evidence of someone who is starting to realize the excitement of what lay ahead.

Two seconds, two emotions captured forever in film.

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Post Script: Steve - aka - the sneaky mastermind - and I, completely unaware, on the first flight - Phoenix to Houston!