Today is primarily just a day to do nothing. We decide to walk along the beach and look at the other lodges and eat breakfast at the sister lodge.
About half into it, we get caught in a thunder and lightening storm. We find shelter in an abandoned thatched roof hut on the beach. Again, my mom has surprised me. She has handled these storms with grace and calm. I thought she would be a nervous wreck!
When we reach the sister lodge, we are drenched. We take cover for the next couple of hours as we have a nice breakfast and wait for the storm to clear. Never happens.
We get a taxi back to our hotel and spend the afternoon playing scrabble on the porch while we watch the rain pour down.
After about 2 hours, we look out the ocean and see one of the strangest things I have witnessed. The river pouring into the ocean. The ocean is such a bright, crystal blue. Because of all the rain, the river has reached its banks and mud and debris flood into the ocean. So you see this dirty brown water merging with crystal blue. Quite a scene.
Tonight we went on a night jungle hike. Initially I was really excited for this adventure. Then when we get to the entrance of the park, I quickly change my mind. There on the counter where you sign in is a jar full of liquid. In the jar is Fer de Lance, the deadliest snake in all of Central and South America. Did I forget to mention mom and I are deathly afraid of snakes. And we already know I am afraid of spiders.
At this point one my ask (our guide especially) why would we arrange a night hike being such "scaredy" cats? For the possible chance at seeing a Jaguar. This is when they are most active so our chances of seeing them are great.
Our guide is a good sport and is very excited to show the jungle. We spot frogs and he chases a tarantula out of its hole (I am not too scared of them for some reason). To enhance our journey, he has us take a seat by the river until it gets really dark. He shows us a click beetle. These bugs are so cool. They remind me of the type of barrettes I use to use in my hair as a little girl.
Once it gets dark enough to make the hike more interesting, it starts to down pour again. On the way into the jungle, we had to cross a foot bridge that had been covered by water that afternoon. The deeper we got in the jungle and the harder it rained, all I could think is that we were going to get stuck. So we decided to head back. I think our guide was disappointed. But after seeing Fer de Lance in a jar, the spiders, hearing about our guide getting attacked by a jaguar and the threat of a flood, we had had enough.
The hike back was as interesting as hike in. Every tree limb hanging down looks like "Lance" and I am afraid of squishing a frog. All part of the adventure right??
At Hamanasi, we have an unwind beer (thank goodness) and head back to our room with chips and salsa from Hamanasi (much better than what we have in our room).
COSTA RICA a trip of a life time travelling round this beautiful country. All went like clockwork even when the weather was against us and all transfers seemed to be part of the holiday not a chore. Would definitely use Adventure Life again having previously used them 20 years ago!!
Cynthia Calton
5 hours ago
Adventure Life helped me plan my trip to Antarctica. They always responded fast to my emails and were a pleasure to deal with.
Debbie W
23 hours ago
From the initial meeting and planning process with our trip planner Jess, through to the finalizing of our itinerary, trip details and questions, I was very impressed with the professionalism, thoroughness, organization and attention to details. I would highly recommend Adventure Life to anyone looking to plan a unique travelling experience, knowing that the expertise and experience provided will result in a seamless trip of a lifetime.
Lynn Farquharson
1 day ago
The travel specialists we've worked with for 2 vacations have made the trip planning process easy! They ask good questions to ensure they understand our goals and likes and have done an excellent job matching adventures with our preferences - even suggesting things we would not have thought about on our own!
Amy
2 days ago
Erin is great to work with on our adventure to Antartica. She gave us great choices and is very knowledgeable about the options. Her recommendations saved us from making some big mistakes.