This is my 2nd time in Costa Rica but the last time was only for a few hours since I was on a cruise. I remember I didn’t care about the weather last time I was here because of the high humidity. I really prefer dry heat like that in Arizona. But this time I am staying in the capital city, San Jose and it’s not very humid here at all.
Costa Rica in Spanish means “Rich Coast.” There are only 2 seasons here. Right now, it is the beginning of their rainy season. It’s sunny in the morning, then there’s rain and thunder in the late afternoon for 2-5 hours every day. The population here is around 4.5 million, with nearly a quarter living in the metropolitan area of the capital and largest city, San Jose.
The highlight of this 5 day trip was the visit to the outdoor hot springs. We stayed in a resort called Baldi, one of the nicest hot spring facility in the Arenal Volcano area. The drive to get there was 2.5 hours, an hour of which was on a very winding road that made me quite car sick. But after getting there, and soaking in the hottest tub for 90 minutes in one of the 9 tubs there, I went to bed feeling totally relaxed and soothed. Then I woke up at 5:30am to go and soak in the hot spring again. The total of 4 hours of soaking especially while it was raining made the long drive there totally worthwhile.
Thanks to Allen and Kenus, old dear friends of mine for being the most amazing host! I felt like a VIP during the whole trip. I am grateful. I am happy to see how well they are doing too. I think my experience of this rain forest would have been very different if it hadn’t been for them. I am especially grateful to have been introduced to Manfred, Rolando and Chen during this trip. I also got motivated to learn Spanish in the near future. In this place, I feel like I am going back to the 80s in Vancouver. But I am very impressed with how simple life is here and how laid back and happy the people seem to be. Again, I am left questioning about the relationship between wealth and happiness…
I connect flights in LA. Miles and Jenny came to pick me up to eat pho and check out their beautiful new house by the ocean during my 6 hours lay over. Really enjoyed the short visit with them and Brandon and Mathew.
Going home now. And I have no plans for the next trip yet…