Ay Senor!!

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Sunday morning finally brought a respectable wake up time. A delicate and fresh breakfast awaited us in the villa restaurant. Noel, the local tour guide, picked us up for our ten hour excursion to Buena Vista (tourist trap) in the heart of Guanacaste.

The first stretch of the tour consisted of a vigorous trot on horseback with an eighteen year old cowboy professional, Oscar. As we headed to the rainforest, I quickly learned that my horse had a mind of it's own and preferred leadership rather than following Oscar's instructions. This led to shrills of "Ay Senor" as I tried to get Oscar's attention to redirect my horse. Instead, I found myself "Ay Senor-ing" all the way through a bush. As the ride progressed, I won the horse over with my charm and he responded with a pleasant retreat through the rainforest. We parked our horses at the nearest hot spring and gallavanted through the various pools before hiking up to a waterfall. An authentic and delicious Costa Rican buffet greeted us. We feasted on salad, black beans, platanos, pollo, and cajeta for dessert.

The afternoon continued with a canopy tour (I'm destined to complete a world ziplinging tour. Even the guide commented on how well I canopy). Before we began our final activity, the weather took a turn for the worse. The sky opened with a terrential downpour just as we were arriving at the quarter mile jungle waterslide. Amy and I insisted on doing this activity last in hopes of pleasantly sitting by a pool with tasty coladas in hand after a long day. Surprisingly, there was no lounge, no swim up bar, and no drinks. To the contrary, we saw helmets, tubes, leather diapers, a small waiting pool and a creepy Tico with a bad toupe. Reluctantly, Amy and I suited up with helmets, inner tubes, swimsuits, diapers and Keens (so attractive) and hiked to the start. Ten minutes later we reached the top, situated ourselves on the slide, and at the strike of thunder the pressure of the freshwater literally shot us down the jungle slide. Rapidly swishing with every turn, we took in the jungle landscape and the sound of monkeys before we safely arrived (with only a few scratches) to the small pool. With huge smiles, we immediatey headed back to the top for a second turn. The slide was the unexpected thrill of the day.

We returned to the hotel later in the evening exhausted. Sitting in the hotel lobby, sipping on wine, we opened Lonely Planet and decided on where to go next. With none of the tours provided by the hotel sounding appealing, Amy and I proceded to construct our own itinerary. All we needed was a driver. We called up Noel and he kindly accepted to bring us (for a small fee...of course).

(Monday)

This morning started off with another delectable hotel breakfast and Noel promptly picking us up at 8:15. The "Amy and Teena Tour" (we highly recommend) began with a trip to see Cataratas de Cortez (local waterfalls). The river water moved rapidly over the cliff and the sound of the water hitting the lagoons is extraordinarily peaceful. The falls are a wonderful, secluded place to have a picnic. Amy bravely jumped in the lagoon to get a closer peek of the falls. I, however, found a lovely rock to sit on to enjoy the view. (Too many man-eating minnows in the water..very risky).

We jumped back into the car to continue our journey to Volcan Miravalles an active volcano. We toured one of the small craters of Miravalles. The volcano generates geothermic energy providing electricity for 25% of the country. It is unbelievable to see the active, sulfuric craters hard at work. It smelled lovely (rotten eggs to be exact) and even after a shower the smell continues to linger. Smelling so fresh, the journey continued with lunch in Liberia where we stopped at Paso Real for casados (typical Costa Rican cuisine) before we headed to our final destination, Cosa Blanca.

Costa Blanca is a secluded hotel located on a cliff overlooking Gulfo de Papagayo. Amy and I enjoyed being the only two resting on the gray sand. Turquoise water, green palms, the hot sun, and tall cliffs surrounded us. Listening to music, going for walks, watching hermit crabs, and taking lots of pictures is how we spent the three hours there. Before returning to our villa we enjoyed watching the sun inch its way to the horizon.

Tomorrow we leave the coast of Guanacaste and head south to Manuel Antonio located in Central Pacific, Costa Rica, where we will enjoy a two night stay before returning back to the states.Our stay at Villa de Sueno is better than we anticipated. The staff is very accomodating (helping book tours and flights). Surely, Noel, Leo, and his partner (hotel staff) will truly be missed.

Stay tuned...

Christina

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