Home again, home again.... boo.

Our last day. Even as of the morning on Saturday, I was still in a strange state of not really believing that we were actually going to be getting on a plane to go home. Bizarre.

After breakfast, we showered and got packed and then Billy took Jenn and I on a drive around their mountain community. Their house is situated in a valley of a mountain and I would say it took us about 30-40 minutes to get from their place to the nearest "main road" which went to anywhere. Can you say "boondocks"? But the scenery both in getting to and within the community where they live is beautiful and picturesque (rolling, green hills as far as the eye could see). We drove up and down more of those roads that I doubted our little car would make and stood out on cliffs overlooking vast expanses of practically untouched land and mountains. Seriously, beautiful.

We went back to the house to collect our things, say our goodbyes to Liz and Billy and all of the animals (that in itself is a major job!) and then headed off for the airport. Just to give us one last kick in the pants to show us who was boss, our GPS got us totally lost in the city. Lots of backtracking, lots of circles, lots of going the completely wrong direction. Good thing we had anticipated it not cooperating and had left pleeeenty of time to get there... and that Jenn has a much better sense of direction than I do!

At this point, Jenn was officially "done vacationing" but, not so fast, we got one more bonus lesson of Latin life and attitude. The line to check in was paaaaaaaainfully slow and inefficient and non-moving. I could have practically walked home in the time it took us to wait in that line. We were starved so broke our own "no American food" rule and ate at Subway while waiting for our flight. And then, just for a little more fun, we got to go through yet another line to go through security (again) to get to our specific gate. None of the other gates had another security screening, just ours. Yay!

Jenn indulged me in one final 'touristy' picture at the airport, I popped my standard pre-flight Xanax and boarded the plane without a care in the world. So much so that the grip-ey lady sitting next to me (who started griping to me even before I sat down, literally) didn't even bother me. Although she did bother Jenn as they nearly came to fisticuffs when the lady interjected herself into OUR conversation and was insistent that what we were saying was wrong and she was right. Not that we had even asked, mind you! She and Jenn's relationship didn't get any better when Jenn moved into an empty seat that she had her eye on for her husband. I got an earful from her about it but, in my Xanaxed state, I couldn't muster up any more concern than to offer a half-hearted "huh" in response.

We landed at 1 am and made it back to Lancaster around 4. Home sweet home. Or not, as it was cold and raining. Either way, it was a GREAT trip and over too soon. Which only leaves me to wonder.... Where to next??

The Beach: Part Two

Another rough day. Rolled out of bed around 8:30, went for another leisurely breakfast at the hotel, chatted it up with our pal Danny and then.... went to the beach. We were so enamored with the beach from yesterday that we had decided that we didn't even need to see another one as we were sure that no other beach could top it. I'm so glad that instead Danny suggested (and kindly took us to) another one for us to visit as it turns out that in fact there is more than one charming beach in Panama: Playa Veraneras.

This one wasn't quiiiite as secluded (there may have actually been, gasp, 10 people on this one!) but it was equally beautiful. This one stretched farther and there was white sand and blue skies as far as the eye could see. There were cute little cabanas lining the beach as well as a little restaurant/bar where you could sit under a thatched roof and escape the rays (since we're only 7 degrees off the equator, it would take me approximately 2.5 seconds to burn to a crisp).

We swam, we drank pineapple juice, we shot the breeze, we swam some more, we marveled at the beauty of the scene, we took a long walk (okay, that was Jenn) and then, as we had to meet someone at 4, we tore ourselves away. Sad times.

A slightly grim sidenote: the picture with the small hill in the background with the cross on top was one of Manuel Noriega's "drop zones", where he would take his enemies in a helicopter to dangle them overboard to get information out of them and then, as the name implies, drop them.

Back to the hotel to shower, pack, say goodbye to our new friends and then.... off to meet Jenn's friend Billy in a town about an hour away. He and his wife Liz had very kindly invited us to spend our last night (is it really the last night?!?!) in Panama at their house in the mountains of Sora. We had told him that he could just give us his address as we had a GPS but he replied with something like "Trust me, this place isn't on your GPS". We had no idea how right he was. We met him in a parking lot of a restaurant along the main road and then we followed him way, way, waaaaaaay back through winding roads which seemed to be in the middle of nowhere. We went through some absolutely stunning mountains and wildlife and, just when we thought we were never going to see civilization again, we passed through a gate that let us into the community and, after surviving some SERIOUS hills that I would have laid money on our car not making (we had to turn off the AC to conserve every ounce of power the little car had), we finally arrived at their house, nestled back in the mountains.

We were greeted not only by Liz but also by 3 huge, slobbery dogs and 3 big cats. Quite the welcome! Billy and Liz lived in Lancaster for a number of years so for dinner Liz had made us what was basically Lancaster County on a plate: roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, peas, coleslaw, cranberry sauce and a scrumptious chocolate cake for dessert. I felt like I was already home! They're a very funny couple so we spent much of the evening laughing and learning a lot more about life in Panama. And other than the parts where I had to keep excusing myself for sneezing fits (did I mention that Jenn has passed her filthy germs on to me?), it was a very chill and enjoyable evening.

Yet another sidenote: For all of you HGTV fans out there, Billy and Liz were on an episode of Househunters International: Panama. They told us the story first and then we watched their episode. Knowing all of the background of it made watching it absolutely hysterical. Sorry to burst the bubble of any true fans of the show, but the whole thing is a complete farce. Not that I had any delusions about reality TV before but let me just say now that it is probably the LEAST real thing on TV these days. But funny nonetheless.

I am a strange mix of feeling like I have been in Panama for waaaaay more than a week but also feeling as if it is completely impossible that we are going home tomorrow. It's almost surreal to me that I'm getting on a plane in less than 24 hours; I truly don't believe it yet. Doh!

Finally.... the beach!

Early last evening we tore ourselves away from our favorite little town of El Valle and made the relatively short drive to the town of Santa Clara. We chose it because the write-ups about it in Jenn's Panama book described it as a beach town "full of white sand beaches where during the week you are likely to have the whole place to yourself, save for a few fishing boats lingering off the coast". Score!

We had called ahead to the place we wanted to stay and when I spoke to the lady about the reservation she asked for my name for confirmation. I was expecting to give her my full given name, passport number and/or credit card information, etc. I got as far as saying "Kathryn..." and she goes "Great. See you Wednesday." Period. I loved the town already. We pulled in through the gate last night and it immediatly looked like a little walled paradise, with an open-air deck/restaurant, a pool, palm trees, cats and dogs roaming the grounds, parrots and other exotic birds all around the place... sweet. The place is actually run by a couple of American expats who have lived here for 14 years but the rest of the staff is Panamanian. One of those girls showed us to our room, then handed us our key and wished us a good night. I was surprised and asked if I should pay her or go see the owner. She said something like "Oh, no hurry. You can either pay us tonight or in the morning or when you check out. Whatever you want.". We had such a good vibe from the place that we immediately decided to extend our stay to two nights!

At some point overnight, Jenn's fever broke so she woke up for the first time feeling bouncy and healthy and full of energy (not that you would have really known the difference as she kept going full force even while at the worst parts of it). We slept until after 8:30... the latest we have slept on any day of our trip so far! Ironic that I have been getting up earlier while on vacation than I do on a regular basis at home. Either way, we made it out to the patio for breakfast, intending to leave right away for the beach. But this place somehow has such a chill vibe that is infectious, we ended up idling away the morning on the patio, chatting it up with Danny, a New-Yorker-turned-Floridian who has been coming to this place for over 10 years and has become "family" with the owners, so much so that he built his own apartment on the grounds. Either way, he's a total hoot and we ended up just sitting around and shooting the breeze until well after 11. Also, sidenote, we were being highly entertained by the parrots on the porch who have a wide vocabulary and speak in both Spanish and English.

After our loooong and leisurely breakfast, he offered to show us his favorite "hidden beach". It doesn't even really have a name and we didn't find anything written about it. It was one of those amazing little finds that we never would have discovered on our own. We owe him BIG-time as it turned out to be one of the coolest, most charming, most memorable little beaches I've ever been to. The road alone that you take to get to it is something in and of itself. It is full of brightly colored little one-room houses that look like they could fall over if you just looked at them the wrong way. People were spilling out of them all over the place and it felt kind of like we were driving through someone's backyard. And then suddenly things opened up and we pulled up to a nearly vacant, totally natural beach, save for a ramshackle little building that serves as the pub/restaurant which is accompanied by a tin-roof outbuilding with a few tables smattered about under it. Hammocks were everwhere and, as promised, we had the WHOLE place to ourselves. Heaven.

Danny hung out with us for a while, swapping stories under the shade of the tiny little pub's tin roof while overlooking the ocean. Aaaaaah. At one point, Jenn and Danny were in the water and I was way up on the beach under a tree, a good 100-150 feet away (the picture with the leaves hanging at the top). As there was NO ONE else anywhere in even the remotest of vicinities, I could hear their conversation almost as if I was right next to them. Amazing. The rest of the afternoon, we spent alternating between swimming (the ocean is like bathwater), hanging around in hammocks, lounging on beach chairs, reading and just soaking it all in. We plan to return tomorrow. Oh yeah.

Also, randomly, as we were driving out the little road, there was a band of kids in the middle of the street playing drums and marching down the road. They didn't flinch when we pulled up behind them, didn't make an attempt to get out of our way or make a path for us to pull around. Just kept playing, oblivious and unconcerned.

This evening consisted of coming back here and getting dinner and... well, that's it. Hands down, no question the MOST relaxing day of the trip to date.

P.S. I miss Monica the Monkey.

Slow Progress

Today was a pretty chill day, relatively speaking. Sadly, due to loudly gabbing and clueless fellow hotel guests, Jenn had another rough night last night so the sickness lingers on. We started off with breakfast at our new favorite little restaurant and had more fabulous homemade yumminess, including the best orange juice I've ever had. And of course Jenn wasn't going to let a little thing like illness keep her from adventure, this time in the form of zip-lining! Not only did she get the adventure of hiking up a mountain then coming back down it in the form of high-speed zip lines (sadly, all of the pictures are on her camera), she also practically got a marriage proposal. The guide was quite smitten, to say the least!

After that we bought some great little treasures at the store below our hotel where nearly everything is handmade, a lot of it by local artists. Then we just HAD to have one last meal at our restaurant (we're total regulars now)... and one last freshly squeezed pineapple juice. Mmmm! Oh, and somewhere in there we said fond farewells to the resident four-legged friends, Sam the Dog who stared us down the whole time we ate, every time, waiting for any spare morsel and, of course, my new best friend, Monica the Monkey. I'm pretty sure I saw a tear in her eye when I told her I wouldn't be coming back. But me giving her one last under-arm rub definitely helped ease her pain (as you can see in the pic).

And then, because you know how stressful vacation can be, we decided today was a perfect day for massages. We had noticed the little spa on the edge of town on our way in yesterday and both had the same idea. We thought it would a locally run, inexpensive little treat. We were mistaken. Turns out it was run by Canadians who had no qualms about charging us full price. But at that point, we were already so into the idea, we decided to just go for it. It was, um, interesting to say the least. Jenn felt she got her money's worth, I felt like I got about half of my money's worth. But hey, can there really be a bad massage??

Jenn had just enough energy left to do one last thing: to go see La Piedra Pintada (The Painted Rock). Basically, it's a big rock with petroglyphs on it. But it's set back in a lovely patch of forest with a waterfall running in the background. And the best part were the three cute little boys who ran up to the car the minute we got our offering to be our "guides". All for a small fee, of course. They were SO cute and SO eager that we couldn't resist. One of the three offered to be the one who would stay and watch our car. I figured he would be off playing with his friends within two minutes of our walking away but when we came back about an hour later he was sitting on the tree stump by our car, watching it intently. Very impressive.

The other two boys came with us and showed us where the rock was and then hiked up a little farther with us to the waterfall. We started back, thinking we had gotten our full tour when one of the boys said to me "Now it's time for me to tell you the story of the rock". Jenn and I sat down solemnly and he got out a big pointer stick and very seriously started in on his lively and clearly well informed presentation. It didn't even matter what he was saying, just watching him be so serious and go through his recitation was so entertaining that Jenn and I just sat with huge smiles on our faces the whole time, nodding accordingly when appropriate. And then, just when we thought we were done, the other boy got up and did his part of the presentation. Equally amusing. There were bravos, applause, laughter and lots of pictures.

The boys became enamored with our cameras on which they could see immediate images of themselves and soon asked if they could try to take a picture. I showed them how and they went wild, taking pictures of each other, of me and Jenn, of the rock, the flowers, the mountains, and so on. Cute stuff.

We had been told before going that there were always kids around offering to be guides and that if we gave them money, most likely either their parents or any adult who happened to be nearby would take the little bit of money they had made and keep it for themselves. But THEY had earned it so we made sure to pull them out of view by the car when we gave them each a dollar. I whispered to them that they should hide it, that the money wasn't for any adults, but only for them because they had done such a great job both in guarding our car and in giving us the tour. Their eyes got big, they got huge smiles on their faces and then, without even a second of thought or discussion between them, they ran across the little street to the snack shop and bought themselves some goodies. As we were pulling out, they ran back up to our car to show us what they had bought, thanking us and wishing us a good trip. And THAT is the stuff I love most about traveling.

The REAL Panama

Today we finally escaped the clutches of the city, albeit not without some trials and travails (need I mention the GPS again?). The day started off well enough... we had a real breakfast this morning! Instead of just the two slices of toast we've been living on for breakfast since arriving, we had toast PLUS fruit and cereal and juice. Aaaaah, heaven. And when the waitress asked us if we would like some meat to go with it, we nearly fainted with joy. Jenn ordered bacon and I ordered sausage and our mouths were watering with anticipation... and then our orders came. Turns out they eat bacon one hair shy of raw here and it also seems that "sausage" translates to "hot dog". Seriously, a hot dog. For breakfast. Ah well, still better than toast! I think.

After getting out of the city... and then being brought back into the city (the GPS is not our friend).... and then hitting a detour where the whole, entire higway was closed, just closed.... we finally made it to lush green rolling hills and wide open skies. Aaaah. We made our way to a tiny little town called El Valle de Anton which is quite literally a one-street town. No lie, when I called last night to make our hotel reservation, the guy gave me directions by simply saying "It's across from the supermarket". Period, end of directions. I love it here. Within one hour, I had already spoken more Spanish than in the previous 3 days combined. And everyone knows everyone. And life is simple and straightforward and slow and this is where I will learn about how Panamanians really live.

The place we're staying is SO charming I can hardly stand it. Our room is up on the third floor and right outside of our door is a terra cotta patio overlooking the town that is full of rustic furniture and lazy hammocks (I am laying in one as I write this!). The people that run the place are extremely kind and helpful and they have a shop downstairs where they sell things that they make by hand in the back of the building. Oh, and the coolest part for me... the resident titi monkey that lives out back! When I asked the guy about it, he said we could pet it so now me and the monkey are best buds. He realized immediately that I was a sucker for monkeys so when I started petting him, he raised up his one arm just a little... when I caught on and started rubbing under his arm he kept raising it higher and higher until his bliss just became too much to bear and he fell over on his side, arm still raised for me to rub underneath. I have a sneaking suspicion he may be making a secret trip to the US in the coming days.

We went for lunch (which meant leaving the hotel, turning left and walking 10 feet) and had a fabulous meal. The lady that runs the restaurant takes the order, makes all of the food and drinks and handles the money. We ordered pineapple juice and she actually went in the back and made it fresh, right there and then, like from a real pineapple! It was divine. Our entire bill, including homemade sandwiches, sides, tea and FRESH squeezed fruit juice: $11. We already know what we're having for breakfast there tomorrow. And lunch.

And then we went for a horseback ride. The guy came with his horses and picked us up right in front of our hotel. We rode for about two hours up back roads and into the hills. You should also know that Jenn is a true equestrian who owns her own horse and rides approximately 4 times a week. The last time I rode was, oh, 3 years ago. Her horse immediately knew who was in charge: Jenn. My horse also immediately knew who was in charge: him. But it was all good and I was happy to just chill and let him feel like the big man on campus for the duration of our time together. The funniest part of our ride was when we were going down the road and we came upon another horse who was just standing there, no rope or tie, just eating along the side of the road. Our guide Jorge says "Oh, there's my horse. He got away last night and I've been wondering where he got to". And just like that he threw a rope around him and carried on as if losing a horse is just a daily occurence. That seems to be how they handle everything here, with a complete and utter sense of nonchalance, which I TOTALLY dig.

Speaking of which, every time I come to Central or South America, I am again reminded (whether I want to be or not) of just how much time we waste getting annoyed by the little things in life. We are always in such a hurry that we get truly frustrated when we're slowed down, even a little. Not the case here, to say the VERY least:

When the internet at our first hotel in Panama City kept shutting down, I asked the lady at the desk about it and she said "Yeah, they just shut it off sometimes". No 'Sorry for the inconvenience' or 'Yeah, isn't that annoying, I'm going to call to complain' or even an 'I don't know what's wrong, that's so unusual'. Just a fact of life that it works only randomly and that's that. And yesterday afternoon when one of our new pals went to pay for lunch, he gave a credit card and the waiter came back and said that the credit card machine wasn't working. There were no flinches of shock or annoyance or inconvenience, you just go 'huh' and pay with cash instead. Same thing with ordering in restaurants. Sometimes you find that instead of getting your heart set on something and ordering it only to find out that they don't have it that day, it may just be easier to ask what they DO have. And when I went to pay for a bottle of water in a convenience store, I was third in line. Should have taken about 2 minutes until it was my turn to pay, right? It took nearly ten. Literally. I just started to laugh to myself. No one else was in a hurry, no one else had anywhere else to be and no one else seemed to think it was in any way, shape or form a waste of time to wait 10 minutes in line to pay for a bottle of water.

And just today alone we went to an ATM that didn't work, tried to pay for gas with a credit card only to be told that the credit card machine was down and Jenn tried to use the bathroom in a convenience store and, only after getting the soap on her hands, realized there was no water.

At this point, I laugh about it. You have to just know it coming in, accept it for what it is and not let it frustrate you because you will NEVER change it. Jenn's still working on it.... :-) Speaking of whom, my hearty traveling companion is sick, sick, sick. She is quite the trooper and has kept moving the whole time but called it a night tonight around 6 in the hopes that if she can just get one really great night of sleep, she can whip it! Either way, I have very little doubt she'll be up and at 'em bright and early tomorrow, never one to let a little sickness get in the way of fun!

P.S. Happy Birthday, Mom! And Happy Anniversary Mom & Dad!

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men...

So today we at least TRIED to have a plan. We really did. And that should count for something.

We thought we would leave the city relatively early this morning and head to a town about 45 minutes away named Gamboa to do some light hiking through the rainforest, then do some ziplining and then move on to a beach town a couple hours away. Well, one outta three ain't bad! We made it as far as arriving at the park in Gamboa (again, no thanks to our completely worthless GPS which seems to be plotting against us) and got out of the car to look at the map of the hiking trails. Less than one minute later, a car pulls up and out hop two American guys and a conversation strikes up. They're down here working for a year so know the area pretty well and ended up offering to show us around a bit.

We started with the hike. You need to know that Jenn is a hard-core outdoorsy girl and rugged to the core. She came prepared with everything we might need to hike a jungle, the most important being hiking boots. I showed up in flip-flops. She was kind enough to loan me a pair of sneakers, for which I will owe her eternally. The four of us set off and, no lie, within one minute I was sweating hardcore. SO freakin' humid down here! We stuck to the trail in the beginning and all was well, even for a novice like me. We saw some cool plants (one that shrivels up when you touch it) and some even cooler little critters along the way. I thought hiking was easy. I MAY have even started to think "Hmmph, I could have done this in flip-flops". And then... the REAL hikers heard rushing water and decided we just had to follow it to see where it was going.

We went down hills, we went up hills, over rocks, through water, under branches, over branches, and through mud trenches, all while not being able to grab onto any trees or branches for fear of mistakenly grabbing onto the dreaded "black palm" tree, which has wicked barbs on it which will give you a nasty infection. Finally made it pretty far down and found a gorgeous spot with water falling over the hill behind us. Took our "victory" picture in front of it (I was WAY too hot to carry a camera so all the pics are on Jenn's camera, which means that I can't post any for proof... doh!), splashed some water on our faces and decided to start the hike back up to the trail. With my first attempted step onto a rock to go up the hill, I slipped and slammed my knee into another huge and very unyielding rock. I tried to brush it off but within a few seconds all of the all-too-familiar warning signs of impending fainting came over me (I'm practically a pro at all things having to do with passing out) and I had to sit down for a few minutes. Embarrassing, but not nearly as embarrassing as passing out in the middle of the rainforest with a couple of virtual strangers looking on. But at least I have a cool bruise to show for it!

We eventually made it back to the top and went quite a bit farther along the trail before realizing that the two pieces of toast we'd had for breakfast weren't going to hold us over much longer (yeah, two pieces of toast... guess the words "Free Continental Breakfast Included" vary greatly in meaning from country to country) and we were still thinking we needed to be making a plan for the rest of the day. And we still had to hike back out all the way that we had come in.

Made it out, covered in mud and sweat and feeling good, and decided to have lunch together. Jenn and I have had a strict rule about not eating anything American while here so when we told them to pick the place and we'd follow them and we ended up in a Bennigan's parking lot, we groaned. Loudly. But at least it was located on a gorgeous causeway and we got to eat our meal overlooking blue skies and beautiful water. For this, we can break our own rule... but just this once!

After that we headed up a winding mountain to the highest point in Panama City which offered amazing views of the Panama Canal on one side and of the city bordering the ocean on the other. Sadly, all of those pictures are also on Jenn's camera (I was still too hot to be carrying a camera... stupid raging humidty!) so I can't post them. Sad times, as they would be our best pictures yet, hands down!

By the time we finished with all of our completely unplanned and yet completely amazing activities, it was nearly 5 pm and we decided we didn't feel like driving to another town after all. But we also didn't want to go back into the city. Which is how we now find ourselves at the most lovely little hotel along the causeway, overlooking the ocean and the skyline of Panama City. Doesn't exactly fit into our $25-40 hotel budget, but it has been SO worth every penny. The view is stunning and, as Jenn is coming down with a little something and is trying hard to fight it, we really needed a nice, clean place to spend the evening and get some really good sleep. And, well, the ocean view just can't hurt. The only pictures I took today were of the magnificent view from our balcony but it was too dark for them to turn out well (they're the last 2 posted here). Will take more tomorrow in the light of day.

The Panama Canal, baby!

After sleeping like logs (literally), we finally felt rested enough to conquer our first official tourist activity: the Panama Canal! We had no plans, no direction in what to see, where to go or how to go about it, and yet it turned out to be a great (and, gasp, educational) day.

Despite the best efforts of our GPS to actually get us lost as opposed to getting us to our destination (seriously, only *I* could get lost WITH a GPS), we found our way to one of the 3 locks in the canal, Miraflores Locks. We decided to "splurge" and go for the ultimate tour, which cost us a grand total of $8. I love vacations where the main attraction of the country only costs you 8 bucks to experience. Since we coughed up the full entrance price (as opposed to the $3 cheapskate tour price), we got to go to the museum, see the film and have as much time at the lookouts as we wanted. Eight dollars gets you a lot in this country!

Gotta say, our timing rocked. As soon as walked out on the observation deck, a boat was on its way through. I won't bore you with all the details of how the locks work but it really was amazing and WAY beyond my comprehension of how all the engineering was conceived of and brought to fruition. Especially since construction on it began in the 1880s and a lot of the work was literally done by hand. Pretty ingenious, I must say! I can now officially appreciate why it is considered one of the seven wonders of the industrial world.

We had lunch on a patio there, overlooking the canal. During our meal, it started pouring rain (I'm talking torrential here) so we decided to just chill, ride it out and enjoy the location in the meantime. Turned out to be a good thing as, in addition to the great food, we got to see three more ships go through. Super cool stuff.

After that, we drove over to a beautiful causeway and ate some typical Panamanian food while overlooking the water with the city skyline in the background. Vacation rocks.

Off and Running

One of the beauties of my "new life" without a set 9-5 job is that when a friend asks me off the cuff if I want to go to Panama with her for a week, my immediate response can be "But of course!". Such was the case a few months ago when my friend Jenn brought up the topic and, after rearranging my classes for the week, here I sit in Panama City. Life is good.

Our flight left the US this morning at 6:30 am (yeah, I was definitely NOT the one who booked that flight) so it meant leaving Jenn's house at 1:30 in the morning, which of course meant NO sleep at all last night. The good news is that it turns out I'm still young enough to pull an all-nighter... yay! Also turns out that I am not young enough to escape the ramifications of it. Let's just say that naps were involved.

Either way, since it's such a short flight (amazing that you can be in another country faster than you can fly to California from PA) we arrived in Panama City around 10:30 in the morning and were kindly met at the airport by a family friend of Jenn's. Got our rental car and we were off to our hotel to get settled in. The jeans and sweater I had on from the trip (it was raining and upper 30s when we left PA... grrr) were suddenly unbearable as it was what I would estimate as nearly 90 here when we stepped out of the airport. Sweat began to happen almost immediately.

After our night without sleep, we were pretty wiped out so only had enough energy to take a nap and then head off for a leisurely walk to a restaurant for dinner. We found a cute little place where we could sit outside and start to take in some of the local air and culture. After the abysmal weather at home the past week, it was SO nice to be able to sit outside again. Aaaaah.

Thus far, as strange as it sounds, I don't really feel like I'm in another country. I have taken longer flights to get to the other side of the US, they use American currency here so I'm not using foreign money and so far everyone we have encountered (car rental guy, hotel lady, waitress) all speak English so I've had very little need for my Spanish. In fact, even when I should be greeting people in Spanish initially, so far I've even been forgetting to do so because I feel like I'm still in the US. I'm looking forward to getting out of the city as I imagine not nearly as many people will speak English in the country regions. Or so I hope... I definitely need the practice!

So, not a super productive day by any means but a great start to the trip. I feel myself relaxing already....

Zip, Zip, Hurrah!

Just because I haven't been quiiiiite relaxed enough during my time in Costa Rica, I decided that I just HAD to have a massage while here at Papagayo. I even got up early to get it (ironic that I get up earlier while on vacation than when at home). It was SO nice and felt SO good, it was all I could do to pry myself off the table when it was done. But somehow I fortified myself for the grueling walk from there back to the pool. I'm telling ya', vacation isn't as easy as it appears!

We spent the morning at the beach/pool, then had to check out by noon so we raced back up to the room around, oh, 11:45 or so to throw all of our things in our bags and make it out on time. And then the real fun began....

.... we went zip lining! In the course of my travels around Costa Rica, the one thing that almost everyone told me we just HAD to do was to go zip lining over the rainforest. They were right. I'm glad it worked out as happening on our last day as it was quite a way to go out! Should there be concern over an activity that requires you to sign a waiver agreeing to possible maiming and/or death? Possibly. But life is short so what's a little maiming here or there. It was SO worth it!

There were 6 of us in our group and, with the guide trying to explain the directions in broken English, we all just looked at each other and said "Huh? What are we supposed to do?". So the first person to go was really and truly a guinea pig... and it was Niki. She figured the directions weren't going to get any clearer, she wasn't going to understand any more so why the heck not. Go, Niki!

For a person afraid of heights, I was surprised at my own complete lack of nervousness as I got strapped up and basically shoved off of a platform to be suspended by a wire cable hundreds of feet in the air over the rain forest. What a view, floating over the trees and being able to look out and see the ocean right next to it. Too cool. I guess by the third line, they figured we were as good as professionals so had us go... upside down! There was a moment of hesitation on my part at the moment where I actually had to flip myself upside down but it was oddly freeing to be hanging that way, not holding on to anything, arms hanging free.
All was going well, having a great time in getting confident in my zipping abilities when they took us across a swinging bridge which ended in another platform... but this one didn't hold another zip line, rather a "monkey walk" where you basically had to WALK across a cable while holding on and balancing yourself with some ropes. I went last and, even after watching everyone else make it, when I went to step down onto the thin little cable, I almost couldn't do it. Just could not make my foot leave the safety of the platform to balance on a tiny little wire. Seriously. But I sucked it up and did it. And then, as if my fear of heights didn't make it scary enough, one of the guides, as well as my own COUSIN on the other end, started shaking the cable I was precariously balanced on. Or should I say my EX-cousin.

FYI, I'm pretty sure Niki is the only person in the history of the world to go zip lining in a cute little dress. Can you spell c-h-a-f-i-n-g?

Pura Vida!

We survived the hotel room from hell. Albeit barely. After spending the night trying to sleep without actually making bodily contact with the bedding (I spread a towel over mine), we booked it out of there first thing in the morning. The one nice thing about the hotel was that it was directly across the street from Tamarindo Beach. It was like salty bath water. Aaaaaah. We spent the morning/afternoon beach hopping, as there were a number of them within a few kilometers of each other. We ate lunch at a homey, authentic little place that was set right on the oceawhere they brought a bowl filled with ice water and flower petals for us to wash our hands in. On our way out, some little boys were playing with something and called me over ("Oye, gringa", they said) to come see. It was a couple of crabs they'd found that were fighting and they thought it was the coolest thing ever and wanted to show me; we talked about it at length. I LOVE little moments like that.

Then we headed about an hour more north along the coast and ended up at our ultimate destination; the Papagayo Allegro Resort. When we had been back at the swanky hotel by the volcano, we met up with a couple from Atlanta who was at the tail end of the their trip and happy to share advice/recommendations for us. Among other things, they told us about the Papagayo hotel and even gave us a lead on a special price they were running, which included everything from the room to meals to booze. We decided to live it up and booked it for our last two nights in Costa Rica. After an “interesting” time finding it in the pouring rain (I TOLD you I’m probably the only person that could actually get lost even with a GPS), we pulled up to a beautiful resort tucked into the side of a mountain overlooking the ocean. There were black sand beaches, white sand beaches, a fabulous pool and free food and drinks. Not a bad way to cap things off, I must admit. If you just picture us sitting by the beach/pool, book in one hand, fruity drink in the other (Dirty Monkey is my new favorite), that pretty much sums up our whole time there.

Oh! And there were monkeys swinging from trees, both the white-faced and the howler varieties. Not like in cages or there for the tourists benefit but like we'd just be walking down to the beach and there they would be, playing in the trees or taking naps. It was so funny to see them sleeping up there, their long legs and tails hanging down from the limbs they were precariously balanced on and swinging back and forth. I got some great video of it..... but erased it by mistake. Doh! For some reason I'm totally fascinated by them and could just sit and watch them for hours (just ask Niki, who is still deeply wounded by the fact that she almost floated out to sea in a kayak, never to be seen again, while I was obliviously watching the monkeys). One of the most amazing things I saw them do involved a mother and her baby. They were swinging around, doing their thing (ever seen a baby monkey hang by its tail and try to reach a leaf to eat? Sooo funny. That was almost worth letting Niki float away to Nicaragua!) when the mama jumped over a pretty big space from one tree to another. The baby wanted to follow but there was no way he could make it so he just stopped and sat on his branch, looking forlornly at his mom in the other tree. When she turned around and saw his plight, she amazingly somehow held on to her current tree with her back legs then reached waaaaaaay over to the other tree where the baby was; she was able to get a hold of the very tip of the branch and slowly started pulling it towards her, inch by inch, until it made a bridge the baby could walk across to get to her. He immediately jumped on her back and off they went. That sort of instinct is SO amazing to witness.

I have to say that I had always been very opposed to the idea of an “all-inclusive” resort. When I travel, I want to see what the country is REALLY like and to get to be in and among the local people. Honestly, if I want to hang out with a bunch of loud, pale Americans, I’ll just stay in America (it would be a lot cheaper, too). And the truth is that if this is all we had done on our trip, I for sure would have felt like I hadn't gotten any real sense of the country, that I could have done the very same thing in the US. But because I/we did so many other things, saw so many other places, met so many other people and drove over, under, and through so many different parts of the country, I was happy to spend these last two days here, simply relaxing (as if the rest of our trip was SO stressful in comparison).

Tomorrow is our last full day and we have big plans. I'm so excited! Once again I end with saying that I shall write more later, presuming we survive the experience... (how's that for a cliffhanger?)