Pura Vida

Our first two days in Costa Rica have been amazing. One of our flights was delayed an hour on the way here, but otherwise everything went smoothly. On arrival to San Jose, I panicked a little bit when we got off the plane and the reality of being in a foreign country hit me. In Europe, I was so used to traveling and winging it, I had forgotten the initial intimidation of arriving in a place you don't the language or culture. We found our ride pretty quickly after getting through customs and I was relieved to see my name on a sign in the crowd of taxi drivers. Enrique loaded us up in the old land rover (think Jurassic Park) and we set off in the dark humidity. The roads here aren't well-maintained or well-lit and as soon as Enrique pulled off on the dirt road to the hotel, I thought for sure we were going to die. Thankfully, that wasn't the case. We made it in one piece to the Vista Del Valle Plantation Inn. 

Before bed, Dillon wanted to rinse off and found company in the shower:

I was almost okay with having a spider experience right away to get it over with. I've been hyping up the spiders in my head since I first started reading my Costa Rica guidebook (I would highly recommend Fodor's Guides), and yes, all of the bugs have lived up to expectations.

I didn't sleep too well, but waking up to this view of the canyon was well worth it: 

Dillon and I did some exploring of the hotel grounds before we had breakfast. I still cannot get over how beautiful everything is...and abundant. Before 10am we had seen lizards, hummingbirds, leaf-cutter ants, and the craziest spiders I've ever seen. Not to mention, there are butterflies every three feet. An orange one took a liking to Dillon and wouldn't stop hovering over him at the pool.

Vista's welcome sign:

Coffee beans! Breakfast was complete with Costa Rican coffee...which I would rank right up there with French espresso:

Lizard pals:

Banana spiders the size of my hand:

The waterfall at the end of our mini-hike:

Bamboo outside our villa:

Yesterday was really relaxing: we explored, had breakfast, went on a hike, got our rental car, spent an hour or two at the pool, and THEN...

We went bungee jumping in a thunderstorm.

Seriously.

I can't believe I did it. Dillon jumped first (250 ft.) and then we had to wait on a rubber mat for the lightning to pass for my jump. It was literally the craziest thing I've ever done. I was just so resolute to not let down everyone watching that I didn't hesitate when our 'jump master' counted down from 5. The jump was exhilarating, so much so that I will never do it again. We took some pictures, but I don't think I'll be able to load them until I get home.

That's all for now. Dillon and I are headed from Grecia to La Fortuna today. We are hiking the Arenal Volcano this evening and hopefully enjoying some hot springs.

xoxo
Caitlin
caitlinboyd72@gmail.com