Ali Visits the Rich Coast!

Back in March, my friend Ali from high school came to experience the rural life (and a little bit of tourist exposure as well!) We started off in the campo, heading to the Cabalgata de Los Ángeles. (LA is home to fellow volunteer Anna, but Kathryn from Ostional is pictured with me and Ali.) A cabalgata is basically a party that you travel to by horse (or on foot if you don’t have a horse, like us!) Ticos will seize any excuse to fiesta! We next hit the beautiful beaches of my area, including Playa Coyote and Playa San Miguel (pictured last entry). After (a little too much) fun in the sun, we enjoyed the Fiestas Cívicas de Jicaral in the evening, where we saw some good ole traditional Tico rodeo. I’ve never been to an “American” rodeo, so I have little to compare by, but often I can’t believe these guys make it without getting trampled. (Ali visited during a time of year in which many towns host local festivities, so we had lots to experience!) We also spent some time with the host family and Ali got plenty of the local cuisine... but trust me, eating rice and beans for a week is not the same as eating them for a year plus! Ali made a guest appearance as an English speaker at my English class in the Escuela Jabillo. The kids got a such a kick out of it, though almost all of them were too shy to talk to her!

A continuación, we left the campo and headed into the rainforest. With Eileen and Dana, I toured the Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve last September, so to explore “new” territory, we took in the majestic beauty of the Monteverde Cloud Forest, a reserve started by a Morman community and protected ferociously, down to its pot-holed trail road! We also visited the Children’s Rainforest, a private reserve funded entirely by those “Save the Rainforest” campaigns. (And you thought your money was going to waste!) There we went on a night hike, on which you see very different wildlife. Pictured is a tarantula, yikes!

Topping off the adventure was an excursion to Volcán Poás, a volcano with a yellow sulfur pool. Go visit if you like to smell rotten eggs! (But really, it’s something else to behold. Volcanoes are simply impressive in every aspect.) We also saw the lake on a nearby hike, a crater of the former exit for the lava of the volcano.

It was a quick and busy week, but we wasted no time, or at least, as little time as possible considering cultural restraints such as “Tico time," rocky roads where 20 miles an hour feels way too fast, and faulty rental cars... but hey, it's the pura vida, right?!

To Ali: Thanks for coming, thanks for sharing, thanks for everything...