Pura Vida!
Thursday, January 10th, 2008…as the Ticos say in Costa Rica. It literally means “Pure Life” and is used as a greeting and just to say “life is good” or “cool”, among many other things…
I’ve been in Costa Rica for about a week so far- This country is amazing! In the last week, I did the following with my coguide, Liz: navigated across the city of San Jose at night (by car), drove up the side of a volcano, hiked to the base of a volcano and saw it erupt, saw a raccoon-like animal in the rain forest (turns out many Ticos own animals like this one and keep them like cats), saw some toucans, hiked 600 meters down a steep path to see a waterfall, went kayaking in the pacific, did some snorkeling around a coral reef, got coral rash for the first time, held a starfish in my hand, saw a pelican take a nose dive into the ocean and eat fish, got stranded on an organic farm for a night (this wins the most memorable experience award), drove through a small lake, saw lizards of various sizes, including a large iguana that ran across the road, and saw an armadillo. And that was just in a week!
The first trip we guide starts on Sunday- Looking forward to it!