Pura Vida

I'm back from my trip to Costa Rica and am happy to say I survived the adventure to tell about it. Forgive me if this blog post becomes rambly but it is going to serve as my diary of my trip as well.
The decision to go to Costa Rica was as a result of my cousin having her wedding there. 5 years ago on a trip to Costa Rica she met her fiance (now husband). He was her guide for a white water rafting trip. His family is very large (he's 1 of 14).
Let's rewind back to April 24th. Raju woke up at 4:00a.m. to write a story and submit it before the taxi arrived to pick us up at 6:45a.m. We got to the airport in good time and met up with my parents, Camilla, Darryl, and 19 other family members and friends heading to the wedding.
Check in was smooth, clearing security was fine and we even boarded the plane on time. We were all seated and had backed away from the ramp, but didn't go much further. After a few minutes we headed back to the ramp. Apparently there were some technical difficulties but we would be under way soon (1 hour later). That was ok as we had a 2 hour lay over in El Salvador so this just shortened our layover time. We flew on Lacsa, an airline I had never heard of before. In this day when nothing is free on a plane we were surprised to not only receive a meal but also find out booze was free as well.
We landed in San Jose, Costa Rica at our scheduled time of 3:00p.m. We were met with a sign that said "Samantha and Jimmy's wedding", where we all proceeded to board a bus to take us to the hotel we would be staying at in the city for the night.
At the hotel we were greeted by the Bride (my cousin) and her parents and family. Unfortunately our room was not quite ready yet, so we put our luggage in Camilla's room and Raju and I headed to the restaurant for a snack. As we waited for our drinks and snack Raju went back to check on our room. Fortunately he did as they were assigning our room to another guest as well. Everything turns out for the best as the room we did get ended up right beside Camilla's.
That evening there was a welcome reception for all the out of town guests. There were about 80 of us. I didn't realize that so many people had come to the wedding. It was a great turnout. Travelling always makes me tired and Costa Rica is also 2 hours behind our time so I went to bed fairly early. Raju however had some liquid energy and headed out to a club with the cousins and young crowd.

The next morning we were up very early as we were told we had to be ready and checked out to board a bus at 6:00a.m. to start our trek to Mawamba Lodge in Tortuguero. We ran a little behind and didn't get started until about 7:00/7:30a.m. There was one big bus and 2 smaller buses to accommodate all of us coming from San Jose. Another bus was leaving from another part of town bringing Jimmy's family. 3 hours later (and a stop for lunch) we ended up at the Tortuguero canal where we met up with Jimmy's family. It's an interesting experience having Spanish speaking and English speaking people meet. From here we all got on boats for a 2 hour ride to the actual lodge. There were 4 boats for people and 1 for the luggage.
We arrived at the lodge and were assigned our rooms. Think back to summer camp. Very plain rooms with a bathroom and shelves for some of your items. Raju and I even got 2 single beds. We did push them together but it didn't really make a big bed as there was a big crack down the middle where the two beds met. The other thing is there wasn't really any privacy. We realized this when we could hear conversations through the walls and when later in the weekend we heard our neighbours (no one we knew before) fight and then make up (if you know what I mean).
After settling in we decided to take a dip in the pool. We were located near a beach but the waters were not safe for swimming in. Also, we could not go to the beach after 6:00p.m. as it was turtle mating season.
That night many of us congregated in the conference room to help with last minute preparations. With just a break for dinner I stayed until 10:00p.m. and then headed to bed.

The next morning we awoke to very heavy rain. I hoped it would clear up as this was the day of the wedding. It rained until about 11:00a.m. and then it let up and the skies started to clear. As Raju and I were up early we decided to take a walk down by the beach. Rumour had it that a pig was being roasted and they had begun the process at 3:00a.m. Sure enough there was the pig with an apple in it's mouth.
By the time the ceremony started at 12:30 the sun was out and shining on the happy couple. The ceremony was held in the town of Tortuguero by a small church. It would only have been a 15 minute walk on the beach but in our wedding gear all us guests got back on the boat to head to the wedding site.
It was a beautiful ceremony, however as you know Catholic ceremonies can be a little long. One of the bridesmaids was not faring very well and had to sit down and drink lots of water and Pepsi to avoid fainting.
After the ceremony a few of us stayed behind to dismantle the tent and decorations. The sun had really started to shine at this point and the poor guys got very sweaty and soaked through their wedding clothes. I even got in there and helped with getting the tents down. About an hour later we were done and headed back to the lodge where the rest of the guests had started on the BBQ at the beach. The food was pretty good and it was nice just to sit and relax. It was nice to know that we would be able to enjoy the rest of the evening as our part was done (or so we thought). As were heading to the pool for a dip, we were asked if we could help with the decorations. We needed to report to the dining area at 4:00p.m. and it was 3:30p.m.
I still managed to get a small dip and then it was decorating time. At 5:30p.m. I managed to break away and get ready for the reception. It really was all on hands on deck to get everything ready. As great as destination weddings are, sometimes I think it might be more work than having a local wedding.
Anyway, the reception went fine. Speeches were for the most part in English and had parts translated into Spanish for Jimmy's family. I think there must have been at least 100 guests. Quite a bit for a destination wedding. After dinner, the dancing started. Of course there was some Latin music so Raju and I got to practice some of our dance moves. Not great to do when you are dancing beside all these people who grew up Latin dancing.
The next morning we were up early again as we were told the boats were leaving at 9:30a.m. to take us back down the canal where the group would split up depending on their next activities. Unfortunately we were delayed again and did not leave until close to 11:00a.m. Anyway, once we all got to our meeting point the group split up. One set went off for a 2/3 day white water rafting trip, Jimmy's family headed back to their part of Costa Rica, one set headed back to San Jose before heading home and our group headed to Arenal for a day near the volcano. Again it was a long trip and we arrived at our hotel after 5:00p.m. These accommodations were quite nice. We had air conditioning, a TV, a phone etc. Raju and I had dinner at one of the hotel restaurants. I had chicken with mushrooms and shrimp. It was very tasty.

The next morning Raju and I were up early as we were being picked up at 7:15 for an ATV tour. It was alot harder than I thought. My arms are still a little sore. Everyone in the group and our guide were great though and really helped me out. Raju and I got soooo dusty. We got back to the hotel at about 11:00a.m. and spent the next few hours relaxing by the pool. Then we took nap. We got up in time to get ready, take a quick trip into town and then head to Tabacon Hot Springs. It was amazing. I had never been to a hot spring before. The water was really hot, and sitting under the waterfalls was a great massage. After a few hours in the springs we took a break for dinner. We overlooked one of the springs. After dinner we took one last dip in the springs and then headed back to the hotel.
The next morning we didn't need to be up super early but got up early anyway. After breakfast we headed into town to look for some souvenirs. There wasn't really too much to buy but we picked up something for our neighbour (as she was collecting our mail) and a few items for ourselves. We boarded a bus (again) at about 12:30p.m. to head back to San Jose. The trip was supposed to be 3 hours but was more like 4 hours as we ran into traffic and road blocks along the way. Fortunately our driver knew an alternate room and took us that way. It was a lot of winding roads up and down the mountain. Not great for someone who gets motion sickness. We finally arrived at The Best Western and were happy to hear that Happy Hour was from 5:00 - 6:00. This meant free drinks. I must be getting old as I was not able to even finish one drink in that hour. For dinner we split with the older folks going to Denny's and us younger folks going to a restaurant across the street. We weren't quite sure what to expect but all had great meals and really enjoyed it. After that I was ready for bed as my allergies were really acting up. My Mom however, was full of energy and headed to the casino. The next morning we were able to get up and have a nice leisurely Denny's breakfast. We boarded the airport shuttle at 12:00noon and made it to the airport in plenty of time for our 2:30p.m. flight.
The flight home was uneventful until we landed in Toronto. As we came into our gate I noticed an ambulance by the gate next to us. I thought this was interesting but didn't really see what was happening. This morning on the news I heard someone from a Russian flight had died (unknown circumstances) on their flight to Toronto. I don't know if this ambulance was for that or something else but it was quite a coincidence.
This was one of the rare times that getting off the plane, going through customs, and getting our luggage was a very smooth process. We were home by 12:30a.m. (an hour after landing).
So there's a summary of my trip. It was a whirlwind trip. I think I need to return one day to see everything else it has to offer. However, there are other places in the world I would also like to see so it may be a while before we go back. In the meantime I look forward to Hawaii in the fall.