Saturday, February 20, 2010

Discovering Costa Rica

Like most wonderful things in life, discovering Costa Rica was a fluke.

In 2003 we cruised from San Diego to New Orleans through the Panama Canal.  While transiting the canal was the highlight to the trip, the day before we stopped in Costa Rica.

Caldera is a non-descript place - a cement pier near the major commercial port of Puntarenas - and we spent the day "white water rafting on the Corobici River" - where no one has ever heard of rapids, but the scenery and wildlife are spectacular - but there was the sense of something very special - engaged and educated people, lush surrounding, interesting and active lives, and a sense of quiet.  Before returning to the ship that day, we knew we needed to see more.

We returned to Costa Rica the following year, travelling the country in a whirlwind tour of two weeks.  No where have we seen the diversity of places and activities, animals and plant, so accessible and in such a small area.  In the 6 years since, we have travelled banana plantations, boated through the mangroves, flown through the rainforest canopy on a zipline, swum under waterfalls, hiked on lava flow, squirmed through caves, been up close with monkeys, rafted the rapids of the Pacuare River, snorkelled, been certified for open water diving, ate well, drank well and snoozed under the almond trees on a desert beach.

Oh ya - and bought a little piece of this paradise to keep!


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