Sink then Swim

What better way to spend my last full day in Costa Rica than underwater? We started the day off with a SCUBA trip just off the coast from the hotel. I have been diving every couple of years for over a decade, but it wasn't until after watching Finding Nemo that I really came to love diving. It is amazing how I can totally hear the voices of all the different fish and trily get their personalities after watching that movie... or perhaps I was just too deep. We had an amazing dive master with an eagle eye. He pointed out sea horses camoflaged next to the rocks and moray eels poking their heads out of miniture caves not to mention the amazing school of eagle rays swimming by so gracefully.

Between dives we headed back to the beach for a little break. The sand was too hot and my shoes were in the boat so I decided to spend my time floating in ocean. Turns out, lots of jelly fish had this same idea and I've now got the jelly fish kiss to prove it. Fortunately the dive master had some jelly fish sting gel so no one had to pee on me to take the sting away. Our second dive took place at Monkey Rock... can you tell how it got its name?

After our second dive, some tacos, and a shower, I spent the remainder of the afternoon at the spa. They have hot and cold water pools on a private deck overlooking the ocean. I followed the recommended strategy of six dunks in each pool. Supposedly this was going to leave me in a state of unbelievable relaxation, but in reality it just made me tired getting in and out... I guess diving took more out of me than I expected. Next, I had an aromatherapy rainforest massage which ended far too soon but did give me the relaxation I remembered.

In the evening we attended a going away dinner. As much as I enjoy being able to go eat dinner outside without a sweater or jacket, I think I prefer that to trying to eat dinner at 9:00 in the 90 degree heat. I suppose this is why I live in San Francsisco... It was sad to say goodbye to all my new friends and prepare to head home but I really can't complain too much about a free vacation. And hopefully it won't be too long before my next trip... after all, I don't want the Costa Rica stamp in my passport to get lonely.

Beach, Pool, and Ziplining

The Beach:
Our first full day in Costa Rica was spent exploring the resort. We tested out the beach and ocean. I have to say that the sand on the beaches here is unbelievably hot. I thought it might melt the bottoms of my flipflops but they managed to resist. There is a trampoline floating in the ocean so we swan over to it and after a few bounces I realized that trampolines are just not as much fun as the used to be. I took a couple of bounces but then jumped back in to the water.

After floating for a while we decided to pick up some snorkel gear and about 8 of us headed back out in search of Nemo. We didn't find him, but we saw plenty of his friends including a mini sting ray and an eel (or something that was posing as an eel). The current was strong, pulling us further and further from the beach... not so much fun swimming back in, but we all made it.

The Pool:
After the beach, we were starving so we headed to the poolside restaurant for a bite to eat. I went with a Costa Rican local dish of saffron rice and chicken along with a Costa Rican beer, Imperial. Both were delish but I think anything would have been good after an hour of snorkeling. After everyone finished we tested out the pool for a bit. I chose to ignore the 30 minute waiting period after eating and jumped right in. Even in the shade it is hot here so I was quite warm after a poolside lunch.

There was a coctail party at a neighboring beach club in the evening followed by dinner at the restaurant of our choice. Once I saw the dinner bill, I have to say is thank god Norm's company is paying for this trip and for the meals. We tried to mingle with others after dinner but the pull of the air conditioning was too great and we headed to bed.

Ziplining:
Day 3 we were given the choice to compete in the company golf tournament or take the ziplining canopy tour. While I attempted golf lessons in high school and really enjoy napping to golf on tv, I decided the canopy tour was the better choice for me. We rushed through breakfast and jumped on a bus to the Congo canopy tour grounds. The guides harnessed us up and gave us just enough instructions to make us nervous and off we went, flying through the air. I did a similar trip last time I was in Costa Rica, but this was the first time I tried ziplining upside down. And the best part, one of the guides filmed the whole thing.

Bienvenido a Costa Rica

You may or may not be aware that I have taken a trip to Costa Rica. Norm was rewarded for all his hard work with an all expenses paid trip to the Four Season in Costa Rica for him and a guest and apparently I laughed at enough of his jokes to get the guest spot so here I am... I was very excited to break in my brand new passport but am a little nervous to get a taste of a first class vacation. Can I really go back to $5 per night hostels after 4 nights at the Four Seasons with an ocean view?

This trip started off a bit shaky. We were scheduled to take the red eye departing SFO at 12:35 AM Saturday, change planes in Houston and arrive in Liberia Costa Rica before noon. Unfortunately, it didn't work out quite that nice. We learned that the plane was running late but on the encouragement of the phone agents we went to the airport early anyways. Turns out this was good advice because before long we were on the 6:00 PM departure that was delayed until midnight. We later learned that our original flight was cancelled and I could be spending the weekend in San Francisco instead of Papagao.

Once in Houston we learn that our flight to Costa Rica is also delayed so instead of a 2 hour layover, we had 5 hours to really get to know the Houston airport. I learned that there really isn't a lot to do at the Houston airport between 6:00 and 11:00 AM.

After a few hours on the plane, an hour long drive to the resort, we finally checked in to the hotel and I've managed to test the bed (very comfy) and the shower (hot and with water pressure... something I did not have on my last Costa Rica adventure).