Pura Vida!

Hola!!!! Hassan and I just returned from a week in Costa Rica! Our friends Katrina and Justin were married last Saturday aboard the Tom Cat catamaran at sunset in front of 20 family and friends. Needless to say, it was absolutely perfect! Everyone should get married the way they did...laid back, no pressure, small audience, fresh air from the ocean, pictures on the shore, and wearing flip-flops instead of heels!

And yes, these are all real pictures from our trip!

We TRULY enjoyed our time in Costa Rica...after a stressful 6 weeks of studying for my NP boards (yup, I passed!), my jagged nails that I have bitten have now fully grown back! There is no feeling in the world knowing that you are COMPLETELY done with one chapter in your life and ready to start another! Good-bye, ICU and Helllllllloooo, medical office! Enough for now, I'll blog about this later...
















Back to Costa Rica...we spent one week in the Manuel Antonio/Quepos area of Costa Rica on the Pacific side. I'll never forget seeing the beach for the first time...the whole thing unfolded like the set of "Lost"! I immediately noticed the large rocks that rose from the middle of the ocean and that we were enclosed by mountains on either side of us. Instead of high-rise hotels, condos, and board-walks that lined the ocean front, there were the lush tropical jungles! All the hotels were hidden away or carved into the side of the massive hillsides!

This area of Costa Rica was definitely non-touristy...just the way I like it. No annoying spring-breakers drunk in the streets or MTV's "TRL" televising from the pool. We were away from it all! Our hotel room literally had NO phone, clock, or television. Forget about a "continental breakfast"! No traffic in the streets. There was only one main road connecting Quepos and Manuel Antonio. These roads twist and turned with the geography of the mountain we were on.

Manuel Antonio is famous for it's national park and wildlife. Sitting on the beach we saw a group of endangered Squirrel Monkeys literally swing by and play around! Iguanas and three-toed sloths are typical of the region as well.

One of four beaches within the Manuel Antonio National Park

Here are some to the things that we did during the week:

1) Watched NUMEROUS sunsets (how often do you get to watch even one?!?!?!)
2) Napped on the beach (my personal favorite)
3) Boogie-boarded and swam under waves
4) Ate every dinner with an ocean view
5) Rode my own ATV through the local villages and date palm farms (and crashed into an abandoned wood pile!)
6) Jumped off a waterfall (that was Hassan!)

No joke, he jumped!

7) Zip-lined through the jungle and rappelled down trees in the Canopy Tour! (That's Sandro...he has NO fear!)
8) Bought Costa Rican coffee
9) Ate freshly cut pineapples everyday!
10) Enjoyed REAL yogurt (it's SO much richer!)
11) Saw what a real cashew looks like before it's been roasted
12) Watched Costa Rican youths dance the modern salsa and merengue at the discotheque
13) Enjoy fresh seafood: SO fresh that the tuna tastes like chicken and has the firmness of steak!

Pura Vida literally means the "pure life". The Costa Ricans we encountered were very friendly and laid-back. Driving through their villages, they have a simple life. Kids walk home to eat "almuerzo" (lunch) at home. Wet clothes dry on a clothes line with the real "ocean breeze" scent. Even the local dogs are well-nourished and behaved. We spotted one little black dog running long side his owner who was riding a bike down the street. He had a sea-shell collar!

Simple Life

What Costa Rican's call their "guava"

It appears they have a balance of modern day luxuries and rich culture. Unlike their Central American neighbors, they are a self-sustaining country invested in it's own natural resources. They respect the land they live off of. When their main export of bananas fell victim to high heat and sweltering humidity, the Costa Ricans focused their resources on propagating the date-palm tree as an alternative. Not only do these palm trees produce dates, but when refined, become the "palm oil" that we all recognize in major cosmetics and hair products. A local guide even showed us the maturing teak tree farms that will produce millions of dollars in exotic lumbar.
I would definitely visit Costa Rica again! There were barrier reefs to snorkel, volcanoes, and hotsprings that I have yet to visit!

I'll never forget what the real "Pura Vida" is like in Costa Rica. We all should try to remember...

Non-alcoholic, of course!