Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Rodnitzki Adventures in Central America #2: Tinkerbell, Quakers, Butterflies and Scorpions

Costa Rica has flown by. Beauty and paradise... Simply spectacular and awe-inspiring.

The most beautiful birds just flew by as I write-- Scarlet Macaws, I believe-- brightly-multicolored parrots as far as I am concerned!!!

Wish you could see from where I am writing... in fact, Yuval just snapped a shot, so will send soon. My future me is envious of myself right now!!!

A coconut just fell and nearly hit Paz's head... good it missed, since there is no hospital here on the Osa Peninsula,where we find ourselves now and will seal our Costa Rica component of our travels. Osa is the southernmost part of Costa Rica and deemed the place with the greatest number of flora and fauna of any place on earth. We are staying in this little place right on the bay, waiting for high tide so we can take out the kayaks. Passing time gloriously lazily doing simply nothing. No tv (but finally, internet!!!) Water, boats, birds, sun, breeze, palms... a margarita would be perfection. Yuval is making me a coffee with cardamom, so that will be a great second best. The hotel also has bicycles, hammocks and a puddle-sized pool (perfect for the kids and to cool off). Wifi and electrical outlets on a wooden deck overlooking the bay as butterflies flutter by. Who could ask for more?

The girls are swimming in the small pool and Paz is reading about the Greek gods (mom, do you know who Eros's parents are? he asks me inquisitively.)

Looks like we will head off for a pizza parlor a bit later (I will look on in envy as I continue to heed my Passover abstentions-- thank G-d for fish, beans and rice...), perhaps on the bicycles. Fresh fish for all tonight.

And now that you have a sense of my now, I shall do my best to recount our week's adventures.

To properly describe our Costa Rica adventure, I must back track just a bit to our last few days in Nicaragua, on Ometepe Island. In my last email I hadn't mentioned that we met a wonderful family-- Abigail and Chris, and their two kids Rachel (11) and Aron (4). As we discussed our adventures and plans, it turns out that Abigail, a professor of Anthropology in Central Connecticut University, and a practicing Quaker, is on Sabbatical in Monteverde,Costa Rica, our post-Arenal destination. They graciously and warmly invited us to stay with them during our visit there (just a few days later), in the most welcoming and sincere invitation that I have ever received.

It turns out that, unbeknownst to me (didn't read up enough in Lonely Planet), a group of American Quakers came to Monteverde Costa Rica in 1951-- the pacifist Quakers were being arrested by the American government for refusing to serve in the Korean War, so a group left the US for Costa Rica, which had just abolished its army a few years prior and was (and is today) one of the few countries on earth with no army. The Quakers established a huge dairy farm with an exceptional cheese factory (and killer icecream and shakes, believe me). They also had the vision and foresight to buy up land with the purpose of preserving it in its natural forested state, with the area now being some of the most beautiful and pristine cloudforest in Central America (and some of the most extreme canopy tours as well :-) ) In any case, more on Monteverde in a few, but we left Nicaragua excited by that standing invitation.

Arenal Volcano (and Fortuna, the neighboring town we stayed in) was all we hoped it to be. Our first day, we set out in the late afternoon for a hike to the volcano, where we trekked to the outermost perimeter permitted for hiking (some hikers were killed by a pyroclastic blast that reached the "wrong direction", so hikers are not permitted so close anymore...) In any case, after crossing a very-shaky suspension bridge, dodging snakes and amazing the multi-continental fellow-trekkers (we even had a hiker from the Yukon!!!) with our kids' ability to keep up, we spent a good hour watching boulders the size of trucks, many of which were red and glowing in the darkness, be spewn out of Arenal. This was beautifully complemented by fireflies, which we had Sheleg believe, if not just for a while, were Tinkerbell and her friends. The hike down was done in total darkness with headlamps (by which the other hikers were again amazed at the kids who whizzed by fearlessly) and we sealed the amazing time (which sadly, cannot adequately be captured on film with my simple camera) with a dip in the free hot springs which were just off the road on the way back, accessible to all....

The next day, we learned the Costa Rican motto "LA PURA VIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
!!!" (Wikipedia it for the full definition) as we wildly rafted down the whitewaters of Costa Rica-- we girls on a Class III river, and Paz and Yuval on a Class IV river! This time I was amazed by the girls who proved their prowess in paddling-- well Keshet did, and Sheleg was along for the ride holding on for her life on the wild whitewater with a huge smile on her face the entire time. Towards the end the girls got up front and did what is called "riding the bull" as they were tossed and turned while they held on for dear life at the front of the raft.

Towards evening, we donned bathing suits under our holiday best, as it was the first night of Passover, and went to the (not free) Baldi Hot Springs, complete with the scariest water slides I have ever done in my life into the hottest water I have ever felt in my life (tens of pools with varying degrees of temperatures, with everything from swim up bars and wide screen plasma tvs to waterfalls and beautiful stone lounge chairs in the middle of jungle.) We then headed towards the dining hall with our haggadahs which we brought from Israel, and were amazed as we approached the dining area to hear Passover songs being sung loud and true... another Israeli family was there celebrating!!!! (but was far along, so we did not combine our festivities) We made our makeshift seder plate, pretended to eat matzo, drank some Costa Rican beverage that looked like wine, welcomed Elijah in the open air seating, and joyously sang and read from the Haggadah. In short, a bit unconventional perhaps, but as satisfying a seder as I could have hoped, under the circumstances.

The next day we headed off for Monteverde, to meet our new friends I mentioned above. Unfortunately, our 8am jeep for the jeep-boat-jeep journey that was to take us across the man-made lake to the pastures and cloud forests of Monteverde failed to show. Our tour group guy, who had been so wonderful with our other adventures, came through once again-- he arranged a pick up (it was already close to 10am!) and a private speed boat that blasted across the lake way way faster than any passenger ferry could dream of. We were screaming our lungs out with joy, high fiving la pura vida, and gaping at the amazing scenery of the shrinking Arenal as we apprached the green rolling hills of Monteverde.

Our four days in Monteverde were exceptional. Tarzan swinging and zip-lining through the jungle.... hiking through cloud forest to a remote waterfall... catching our tilapia and then eating it fresh in a remote little restaurant in a valley (as the Ten Commandments was screened on the local tv station in the corner, in dubbed Spanish!!!!).... learning the ins and outs of coffee growing on a collective farm.... surrounded by butterflies in a butterfly garden... we did not have a free moment and loved every one of them there.

Also exceptional was the time we spent with Abigail and her family. Perhaps true to Quaker beliefs, or in the spirit of Monteverde, the Adams' sabbatical home was blissfully free of television and other distractions, (but also of internet and thus my web silence for the last week), but wonderfully filled with conversation, games and cooking. We celebrated our second seder with them, I learned some of the ins and outs of Quakerism (was quite ignorant, now a bit less so) and simply enjoyed their company. The playing cards we brought got a lot of usage those last few days!!! The only downside was the many scorpions which shared their habitat with us and the Adams' household. From the bath to our bed to our freshly washed clothing, we got to know scorpions big and small. To this day, days later, we still shake out our underwear before putting them on!

Our Costa Rican adventure then was complete when we reached the Osa Penisula after a 12 hour journey in local buses... the time passed quickly as we met a wonderful Israeli couple who shared their traveling tales with us and amused the children as we passed the time on the bumpy roads towards Osa.

And thus, that brings me to the Osa Peninsula, whose adventures I will share in my next mail. Will send some of our photos then, too.

La Pura Vida!!!!!!!!!!!

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