Paradise Found

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Pura Vida!

I must say, this is by far above and beyond my wildest expectations, and I have only been here for less than two days! I had two long delays on the way down here-on the airport in Charlotte for almost two hours(barely made my connection in Atlanta)then another hold up in Atlanta...but by the time our 767 crossed over Laguna de Nicaragua, I knew I was in the right place. I got to Juan Santamaria Aeropuerto at about 2:30, and to my amazement, I was met by an arrangement of people that I would have never imagined-the first big surprise was finding that an old friend from high school(Tyler Williams, for those who know him), then a girl from UNCW, and then an old friend of Jake Reynolds, the dude that's subleasing my room while I'm gone. Needless to say, I was pretty excited to immediately be met with some friendly faces. After leaving the airport, we traveled north to our hotel, where we downed some Imperials and then walked to a super cool little Mexican place for dinner, greeted by friendly ticos who were more than willing to accomodate our large party of tired gringos. We then walked back to our hotel, where we acquainted ourselves with each other as we sipped Cubalibres(rum and coke) while taking in the surreal scenery of the central valley of downtown San Jose on the rooftop.
We awoke this morning around 6:30, drinking costa rican coffee on the rooftop of our hotel before we boarded our private bus for the next ten days, piloted by the trusty Luis, who would then drive us up and over the Cordillera de Talamanca, peering over the edge of steep terraced hilltops, lined with small coffee plantations and small towns, winding our way through the mountains. We arrived in La Fortuna, a small town shadowed by the ominous Volcan Arenal, a volcano that has been steadily active since 1968. We dropped off our belongings and then proceeded to la catarata de Arenal, an enormous waterfall that plummets over a hundred feet into lushly forested rainforest into an enormous, frigid swimming hole that truly took my breath away. We then hiked back into town, where I booked a room at the local hostel, Gringo Petes, then went out on the town with a new friend, Marissa, going from bar to bar as we prepare ourselves for the much awaited new year at the local disco, Volcan Look....

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Comments

[Drew Newell]

ummmm...very nice!!!!
I'm glad to hear that you are havin a blast. I hope your new years was incredible and after reading this, you must have a Cubalibres for me. Take care of yourself...well see ya soon. Drew