Volcan Arenal, argu­ably Costa Rica’s most famous place.

What a week. From a whirl­wind of wrap­ping up (or at least catch­ing up) work pro­jects, to a tearful family get together, to the jungles of Costa Rica. Never mind the weather shock of going from cold, dry Canadian spring (still winter) to the muggy, humid scorch­ing sun of Central America. Never mind the culture shock of going from neat and tidy chain-store North America to ram­shackle Pura Vida Costa Rica. Forgetting all that, the sheer dis­tance we’ve come in the last 24 hours has left us a little shell-shocked. The red-eye flights. The uncom­fort­able sleeps on the planes.

It’s so easy to get con­sumed by the day to day stresses of life (and work) at home, and yet so easy to arrive in a new place and to remem­ber that there is a whole wide world out there. Grande Prairie seems very far away indeed.

Upon landing at the San Jose International Airport, we picked up a rental SUV, with only small hiccups (had to get our paper­work printed and have a fuse replaced on the car), and pro­ceeded to hit the winding, narrow, but entirely ser­vice­able Costa Rican road. A few hours later and we were far from the hustle and bustle of city life, staring at the jungle-clad sides of the country’s most famous site: Volcan Arenal.

After scout­ing for a place to stay, we eschewed a couple of expens­ive options (the Los Lagos Resort and Springs Resort — $150USD and $450USD, respect­ively. Ouch.), we chose instead to get back to our back­packer roots and found our way to the little moun­tain village of El Castillo to stay at a great little hippy hostel called Essence Arenal ($28USD or so). Perched on the top of a small moun­tain, this palce has great views, col­lab­or­at­ively cooked dinners, and a whole bunch of easy going people. We’ve decided we’ll chill here for a couple nights and try to get into an easy-going frame of mind, before moving on.

This country is immensely developed for tourism, with every avail­able amenity—at least the parts we’ve seen in the last twenty-four hours, and despite our poor Spanish skills, trav­el­ing here seems like a breeze. Hotel after hotel, adven­ture tours galore, lots of other tour­ists. There are ample ways to spend your money and tons of things to do.

On that note, I will sign off for now. I think we’re going to go and check out some jungle canopy tours and local hot springs. MAybe get lunch int he local tourist town of La Fortuna, before retir­ing back here for the night.

Peace and Love,
Chris (+ Laura)

p.s. — all of these photos are by Laura, except a couple that are noted. And most of them were taken on the grounds of Essence Arenal.

America, fuck yeah! Heartstopping break­fast in the Houston Airport. Cinnamon bun french toast.

By con­trast, our first meal in Costa Rica. Better present­a­tion. Fresher ingredi­ents. Delicious.

Chris’ first couple photos in-country. With sites like these, is bad pho­to­graphy even possible?

Some local life.

Anyone help identify this little guy?

The view from Essence Arenal.

Breakfast, Day 1.

Pineapples growing right outside our room, and another easy view. (photo on left one of the few by Chris)

Some kind of vulture.