Santa Elena could not be more home to me - well, it could have a yoga studio and consistently hot water but then I would never return home to the states. I just love it here. When I "planned" my trip, really the main thing I wanted to do was find a little town to just be. A little paradise to explore, live in, and make my own. In my mind's eye I saw a tropical beach paradise, but really it turns out my wonderland is in the rainforest.
There are loads of tours and active things to do around here, but my favorite days have been the ones where I walk around the mountains and town and hang out at the pension.
My first full day here was spent doing just that. I walked around and explored, poking my head into every gallery and art house I found. My walk ultimately brought me to an artists' Co-op where they showcase things made by local female artists using only local materials: Monteverde water, coffee, wax, wood. Any souveniers from me will have come from this co-op. All the money goes back into the program which helps out local artists and their families by giving the women opportunities to learn new trades that they can do from home while they care for their families; and earning their own money helps them become more self-sufficient.
I spent the rest of the afternoon at the pension as a dramatic thunder and lightening storm raged. In a lull, a fellow pensioner and I hit the Ranarium to check out the frogs. Tons. And most of them impossibly cute! The night was a quiet one - I went to bed fairly early only to wake up a few short hours later.
What woke me up? Well, first it was the sounds of an animal scratching from the other side of my wall. And if I wasn't completely awake after a couple of minutes of that, the sound of the animal scurrying under my bed seemed to do the trick. Instinctively, I knew it was small, but not small enough. I used my water bottle against the floor to scare it back into the wall, and then against the wall to hopefully scare it anywhere but my area. Try to sleep after that.
The next morning I pulled my bed away from the wall and saw the hole. Big enough for a rat - a big rat. I kept telling the desk staff (with each of whom, by the way, I am having a love affair. With Andrea its in Spanish instruction, with Ronald its smiles and music, with Ro its art, and with Eduardo its random conversations in metaphysics and life), if it's a mouse, fine. If it's a rat, NOT.
That day I did the big zip-lining thing everyone has to do when you come to Costa Rica or you´re not a real tourist. They call it a canopy tour, but really you fly so quickly above and through the treetops you are too excited to even register that you are seeing the most beautiful natural sights in the world.
(That is Jennifer from Houston riding ahead of me.)
Don´t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVED it! In fact, after the initial excitement I actually wanted to do faster and more daring lines, but where I was doesn´t specialize in extreme stuff. There WAS a Tarzan swing that did nothing less than rock my world though.
After the canopy tour, I had a ticket for an exhibit called the Jewels of the Forest which is the 2nd or 3rd largest insect collection in the world. Richard Whitten(?) has been collecting since he was 6 years old and he is well into his 60s now. Because I thought I had time I stopped for a coffee (its the wierdest thing, I NEVER drink coffee in the states, but I love it in other countries. No cream either.) and then headed for the exhibit. Locked and dark. I went back to reception to see what was up, and it turns out there was an actual tour I missed. So Princess Bianca got her own private personal tour of the Jewels of the Forest from her own private personal guide! It was VERY cool. I highly recommend playing dumb and doing the same, just tip your guide well.
That night when nothing had been done to the hole in my room, I grabbed Blanquita, the stray cat who frequents the pension, and pulled her into my room. She's a doll of a cat, and flea infested though she is, I'd rather she share my room than any rodent. Sure enough, same time, same place, same scratching. But I had Blanquita, who did a bang-up job. She left her warm spot on my bed and disappeared under the bed. A couple of hours later she returned, her job obviously over. The thing was gone for the night. Turns out one of the guys saw her later the next day with a live rat in her mouth. AND that evening I had to sleep catless which was okay because no scratching. I guess she got the one little bastard once and for all. (Don´t get me wrong, I still heard critters scurrying across my roof and between the walls, but at least none of them were digging into my room.)
That night I joined the other guests and half the town at the town bar for an hour. Enough time for 2 dances - the MOST FUN DANCES EVER. I love Salsa and Latin dancing, but there is nothing like doing it with a local. The resident pothead/drug dealer who hangs out at the pension is an excellent dancer come to find out!
The next day I went to the Santa Elena Reserve at the crack of dawn and hiked around for hours. The peace, the air, the smell, the animals, the green...heaven. Later back at the pension, I struck up a conversation with Ran, one of the owners. We talked Austin, travel, etc and before long, he and his sister Shannon invited me to a bbq they were having that evening. It was such a fun time! A mix of locals and ex-pats, amazing food - the best I've had since I got to town...TX barbecue, even in Costa Rica, trumps all dishes! I stayed way longer than I planned, and made it back to the pension just in time to join the desk staff at the club for dancing. The music wasn't as good as the night before, but what dancing I did was still fun and the local guys were always shocked at how well I salsa'd and spoke since I'm a big ol' honky US tourist and all.
I'm in my last few hours here in Santa Elena and its bittersweet. I would desperately love to stay another week at least, but I'm really excited to get to surf camp and vacation with 2 of my favorite people in the world (Hi Les, hi Stelli!)
I leave on the afternoon bus to pick up Leslie from the airport in San Jose, where we will stay overnight and get picked up in the morning by the surf camp shuttle. As excited as I am to see my friends, I am also unreasonably excited about staying the night in Leslie's hotel where I get to have a long hot shower with real towels. I asked Les to bring me face scrub...mmm, exfoliating...
I have had the best time here in Santa Elena and Monteverde. The area is truely magical, breathtaking, and so friendly and relaxing. The Pension Santa Elena is absolutely my Costa Rican home, and I can't wait to return!
There are loads of tours and active things to do around here, but my favorite days have been the ones where I walk around the mountains and town and hang out at the pension.
My first full day here was spent doing just that. I walked around and explored, poking my head into every gallery and art house I found. My walk ultimately brought me to an artists' Co-op where they showcase things made by local female artists using only local materials: Monteverde water, coffee, wax, wood. Any souveniers from me will have come from this co-op. All the money goes back into the program which helps out local artists and their families by giving the women opportunities to learn new trades that they can do from home while they care for their families; and earning their own money helps them become more self-sufficient.
I spent the rest of the afternoon at the pension as a dramatic thunder and lightening storm raged. In a lull, a fellow pensioner and I hit the Ranarium to check out the frogs. Tons. And most of them impossibly cute! The night was a quiet one - I went to bed fairly early only to wake up a few short hours later.
What woke me up? Well, first it was the sounds of an animal scratching from the other side of my wall. And if I wasn't completely awake after a couple of minutes of that, the sound of the animal scurrying under my bed seemed to do the trick. Instinctively, I knew it was small, but not small enough. I used my water bottle against the floor to scare it back into the wall, and then against the wall to hopefully scare it anywhere but my area. Try to sleep after that.
The next morning I pulled my bed away from the wall and saw the hole. Big enough for a rat - a big rat. I kept telling the desk staff (with each of whom, by the way, I am having a love affair. With Andrea its in Spanish instruction, with Ronald its smiles and music, with Ro its art, and with Eduardo its random conversations in metaphysics and life), if it's a mouse, fine. If it's a rat, NOT.
That day I did the big zip-lining thing everyone has to do when you come to Costa Rica or you´re not a real tourist. They call it a canopy tour, but really you fly so quickly above and through the treetops you are too excited to even register that you are seeing the most beautiful natural sights in the world.
(That is Jennifer from Houston riding ahead of me.)
Don´t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVED it! In fact, after the initial excitement I actually wanted to do faster and more daring lines, but where I was doesn´t specialize in extreme stuff. There WAS a Tarzan swing that did nothing less than rock my world though.
After the canopy tour, I had a ticket for an exhibit called the Jewels of the Forest which is the 2nd or 3rd largest insect collection in the world. Richard Whitten(?) has been collecting since he was 6 years old and he is well into his 60s now. Because I thought I had time I stopped for a coffee (its the wierdest thing, I NEVER drink coffee in the states, but I love it in other countries. No cream either.) and then headed for the exhibit. Locked and dark. I went back to reception to see what was up, and it turns out there was an actual tour I missed. So Princess Bianca got her own private personal tour of the Jewels of the Forest from her own private personal guide! It was VERY cool. I highly recommend playing dumb and doing the same, just tip your guide well.
That night when nothing had been done to the hole in my room, I grabbed Blanquita, the stray cat who frequents the pension, and pulled her into my room. She's a doll of a cat, and flea infested though she is, I'd rather she share my room than any rodent. Sure enough, same time, same place, same scratching. But I had Blanquita, who did a bang-up job. She left her warm spot on my bed and disappeared under the bed. A couple of hours later she returned, her job obviously over. The thing was gone for the night. Turns out one of the guys saw her later the next day with a live rat in her mouth. AND that evening I had to sleep catless which was okay because no scratching. I guess she got the one little bastard once and for all. (Don´t get me wrong, I still heard critters scurrying across my roof and between the walls, but at least none of them were digging into my room.)
That night I joined the other guests and half the town at the town bar for an hour. Enough time for 2 dances - the MOST FUN DANCES EVER. I love Salsa and Latin dancing, but there is nothing like doing it with a local. The resident pothead/drug dealer who hangs out at the pension is an excellent dancer come to find out!
The next day I went to the Santa Elena Reserve at the crack of dawn and hiked around for hours. The peace, the air, the smell, the animals, the green...heaven. Later back at the pension, I struck up a conversation with Ran, one of the owners. We talked Austin, travel, etc and before long, he and his sister Shannon invited me to a bbq they were having that evening. It was such a fun time! A mix of locals and ex-pats, amazing food - the best I've had since I got to town...TX barbecue, even in Costa Rica, trumps all dishes! I stayed way longer than I planned, and made it back to the pension just in time to join the desk staff at the club for dancing. The music wasn't as good as the night before, but what dancing I did was still fun and the local guys were always shocked at how well I salsa'd and spoke since I'm a big ol' honky US tourist and all.
I'm in my last few hours here in Santa Elena and its bittersweet. I would desperately love to stay another week at least, but I'm really excited to get to surf camp and vacation with 2 of my favorite people in the world (Hi Les, hi Stelli!)
I leave on the afternoon bus to pick up Leslie from the airport in San Jose, where we will stay overnight and get picked up in the morning by the surf camp shuttle. As excited as I am to see my friends, I am also unreasonably excited about staying the night in Leslie's hotel where I get to have a long hot shower with real towels. I asked Les to bring me face scrub...mmm, exfoliating...
I have had the best time here in Santa Elena and Monteverde. The area is truely magical, breathtaking, and so friendly and relaxing. The Pension Santa Elena is absolutely my Costa Rican home, and I can't wait to return!
No comments:
Post a Comment