I can't believe it is May 1st. Time sure can fly when you work 16 days in a row!
My April was good. Full of some solo adventures and lots of work! The first week of April was my second week off and I decided to go on a solo adventure since everyone I know around here was gone. I've found that I get the most homesick when I'm not moving. I went from the beach to the mountains and decided to check out the highest peak in Costa Rica--Cerro Chirripo. It's a national park nestled in the tiny mountain village of San Gerardo de Rivas. Easily enough, a bus runs up there 3 times a day, so I packed my backpack, put on my quick dry travel dress, and scanned my traveler's spanish dictionary to gather courage (valor) for my first solo adventure in a spanish speaking country.
My first challenge came when after hiking up a gravel road for an hour (a very sweaty, hilly hour) to catch the bus, I saw it drive past the stop I was 30 feet away from...the next one was 6 hours later. Awesome. So I stopped at a soda (roadside restaurant) to cool off (seeing me using napkins to wipe my brow the proprietor kindly told me he had bigger towels if I needed them...how sweet) and heard a man and his son speaking English and watching animal videos on youtube. They seemed like a trustworthy pair. I struck up a conversation, learned we had a mutual connection in the valley and asked him for a ride to San Isidro. My day was looking up. He dropped me off at an air conditioned cafe where I spent some time before the bus to San Gerardo. I was nervous to be at a new bus terminal but lucked out again by stumbling upon the bus first thing. It was a exactly like a school bus in the US (latched windows and all) except it had a string to ring the bell to get off. An hour ride up a bumpy mountain road later and I had made it. I got my own room at a cute family owned hostel and relaxed while enjoying the cooler mountain air.
To climb Chirripo, you've got to do some planning. Only 10 people can get a permit the day of, and the only other office is in San Isidro and hard to get to. So I woke up at 4 to hike to the park office by 5 to wait in line for when the office opened at 6. I'm glad I went early because there were already 6 people in front of me! I started making conversation with the others waiting and was amazed to be surrounded by such a mix of worldly people. A solo traveler/scuba diver from France, a South African man who had been sailing around the world for 5 years already, a fellow West Coasty from California, some Swiss Germans and some Germans. I ended up seeing them all at the top of the mountain where we hiked around, cooked and spent some time together which was nice to have some company! I also checked out this amazing natural reserve that day that had waterfalls, trails and a meditation garden. A couple from the US had hiked up Chirripo, been saddened by all the logging, came back a few years later to buy the land and reforest it. An inspirational place called Cloudbridge Nature Reserve.
My second challenge came when I realized I ran out of cash. I suppose I had subconsciously figured there would be an ATM around when I hadn't grabbed enough cash in the city. Guess what? There are no ATM's in rural mountain villages! I will never forget that again. I had used all my cash to pay for my hostel and the park entrance fee and a giant mug of delicious hot cocoa the night before. My first plan: take the hour bus back to San Isidro. The buses were cancelled due to road construction. Great. Plan #2: Learn how to beg for money in Spanish. No thanks. Plan #3: Hike 2km up the biggest hill ever to eat at the only restaurant that takes cards. Ok, I can do that.
So the next morning I woke up and left at 5 am to start up the trail. It was really nice to hike alone. No one to slow down, no one to hurry me, and I could just be silent. It was 16 km up, up, up. It took me about 6.5 hours to get to the Crestones Base Lodge--a hostel on a mountain! It was soooo gorgeous up there. Nice and cool and lots of interesting people to chat with. The next morning I started hiking at 3:30 am to get to the summit of Cerro Chirripo at sunrise (5:30). It was well worth it. A 360 degree view above the clouds--the Atlantic on one side and the Pacific on the other. I could even see into Panama! I spent 2 nights up there to soak it all in and enjoy what I'd worked hard for.
My next 2 weeks on trail were backpacking to homestays and surfing! A great experience. For backpacking, we hiked 16 km the first day through the jungle, got POURED on and then made it to our first homestay--my co-guide Emma's mom and the house she grew up in. The community is called Pierres Blancas (white rocks) and is the most beautiful place in Costa Rica I've seen. Lush farmland, rivers, mountains...amazing. Very, very rural. You can only get there by hiking or on horse. There is a traveling doctor who comes by once a month and high school students have to move away from home to go in the city. Right now there is one student in the school! We hiked a bit each day and visited more families (where my other co-guide Santiago grew up too). We swam, made sugar from sugar cane, made chocolate from cacao, learned about local medicinal plants, interviewed the families, had spanish lessons, made bread, helped cook, and ate amazing food. The students really liked the week.
Surfing was a cool experience too. We have separate surf instructors so I basically was a student when they were teaching. We would take a 2 hour lesson everyday, we did beach clean ups 3 days, and had stayed at Casa Amarilla (the yellow house) which is our base for surf week. It's right near the beach so we just walked to surf lessons! Surfing is a beautiful sport, but definitely one that takes years of skill to do what we always see in movies and surf videos. I was getting scared with waves 3 feet overhead. I was watching a video today of a guy surfing at least 20 feet overhead...but by the end of the week I could get up on most waves so that's a good first step.
I've had one week "off" (I took a technical rope rescue course with the students and it felt like I was working being around the group the whole week, but it was interesting and good to do!) and now I'm relaxing on my second week off. My next 2 shifts will be rafting and surfing again.
I love being on trail and being in Costa Rica, but there are definitely aspects of being situated where I am on my off weeks that are difficult. It's hard living in a rural community without a car. It's an hour walk to the main road where I can catch an hour bus to San Isidro, or buy a few groceries at a little store and walk an hour back. It's hard to want to do that anytime I want something. It's hard just to do that. It's hard to want to haul a heavy backpack, shove it on a bus and not be sure you're getting off at the right bus stop if I want to go anywhere. It's hard not being able to buy stamps to send letters for 3 weeks (and to do so, I have to take an hour bus, and wait 4 hours for the return bus). It's hard not having many friends to go adventure and play with. It's hard when the internet doesn't work because it's raining or too cloudy. It's hard always sharing space with co-workers (bedroom, kitchen, office). It's hard to be homesick so I don't let myself be.
It's hard to be in one of the most beautiful places on earth and feel isolated and not have loved ones to share it with. Places are incredible, but a lot of the beauty of adventures and travel is the ability to turn your head and see that goofy grin on your face being matched by someone just as stoked as you are.
Ok, ok. I hear you. Yes, I feel incredibly lucky to be here. Yes, I know you would give a lot to be in my position. Yes, before I know it time will have flown by and I'll wish these moments would have slowed down. The hardest things are the most worthwhile. I'm growing. I know. I'm truly glad to be here and I'm glad things are hard. It's all about perspective.
So enough complaining! It's pretty much officially rainy season here! Fewer tourists, a few hours of rain a day sandwiched with sunshine and cheaper hostel prices. Boy do I need to get myself some rain boots and an umbrella! I also already have to leave the country for 3 days to renew my "visa"...how has it already been 60 days?
Well, got to do some yoga and study spanish :)
Pura Vida!
