I am sure everyone has one trip that comes to mind when asked about your best vacation ever, or favorite place you have ever been.
Well, in my line of work that question comes up basically daily.
That leads to this post… I meant to write about my trip when I first returned, but things happens and somehow I never got around to it. I think it’ll be even better now though. After going on multiple other trips to awesome places, I realize just how magical my Costa Rica trip was. I don’t know if I could ever portray how alive I felt on this trip, or the awe that us 5 girls continually had…. but I’m thinking playing it out like a picture book might be my best try at it.
It’s funny, because as the trip and itinerary planner, I have been asked how I picked Montezuma, Costa Rica to visit. I don’t have an answer… As with everything flight attendants do, it came together last minute… within like 2 weeks. I didn’t even know where to start searching, and just googled where in costs rica had 3 things: waterfalls, zip lining, and beach. Montezuma came up quite a few times so I started looking into it. Found a few lodges, B & B’s, many hostels, and 1 resort. I booked a hotel/lodge at Amor de Mar, and they helped book transportation from San Jose which is a few hours away.
We took off on the adventure with 4 girls… which ended up being 5 when Samantha made a surprise appearance in San Jose. Most of us didn’t know at least 1 or 2 of the others in the group, but we quickly established friendships. I wont bore you with every detail of the trip, but do want to skim the experiences that we had.
We had quite a few adventures…
-walking up interstate off ramps in downtown San Jose…
-Samantha’s 2 am arm numbing spider bite scare, when we realized we literally were in the middle of no where, and no Doctor could make it to see her within like 2 hours.
-Catching the public bus back to San Jose ( a 6 hour trip, ferry transfer included) not knowing any Spanish or where the heck we were until we pulled up to the airport, & by the grace of God were awake and watching.
-Corals accidental nudist moment on the rope swing in front of the zip line crew,
-our much anticipated run in with the monkeys on a walk home… who ended up throwing mangoes at us. No seriously, monkeys in the wild = rude.
– picking wild bananas in Costa Rica was an epic fail, as they are sticky as hell and taste really bad (thank you Shenna for taking one for the team and trying it first).
–Zip lining through the rainforest and over the Montezuma waterfalls… and a stop to cool off in the falls…
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| The TOP of the jungle, overlooking the Gulf of Nicoya coastline |
-Of course we did the longest line upside down… It was unbelievable! Apparently I missed the instructions that you are supposed to raise up before you get to the platform though. Luckily the platform is farther from the line than I was tall. 
-Ok, enough with the relaxation talk for now. I feel like it is time to introduce Chicos bar. You must understand that this is a one dirt road town…
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| How she kept up with those coffee beans all night, I’ll never know… |
If the locals were not aware that there were Flight attendants from FL in town… The next day they were. By then we had an invitation passed along through another hotel guest for surf lessons, and the bar knew exactly what to pour us when we arrived the next night. Which brings me to…
Every Thursday night… reggae night at Chicos start is signaled by the fire dancers. A few glasses of wine in, and we were in complete awe. Coral even tried to learn…
-We made so many friends that night. And really discovered that people lived in little Montezuma from literally all over the world. I give most of this credit to Shenna, for being a dancing social butterfly and pulling anyone and everyone watching us have the time of our life out on the dance floor too.
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We walked through light and grainy sand beaches…
To trails through the middle of the jungle…
to beaches where you sink a foot into the dark sand…
To beaches of multi-colored smooth rocks and a reddish sand…
Up mountainsides of jagged rocks… barefoot
Straight to a beach of driftwood, or one of completely unbroken seashells.
-We walked… and walked… and walked it seemed. Please keep in mind. Tequila, early morning, exhausting trip, plus a very hot sun beating down on you… And yet, it was one of the most unique things I’ve ever experienced. Just the miserable walk alone… I’ve never seen such variety of side by side beaches, different just from weaving in and out of the jungle.
Surfing is much harder than they made it look. I think I drank maybe 3x more saltwater, and was by far the least graceful one…. but dang it, I got up and rode a couple of waves before I retired.
Pura Vida (POO-rah VEE-dah), used by Costa Ricans since 1956, literally translated means “Pure Life.” Contextually, it means “Full of Life” “Purified life”, “This is living!”, “Going great!” It is used as a greeting, a farewell, and to express satisfaction. The phrase has become widely known in the USA and Europe. Some foreigners view the phrase as an expression of a leisurely lifestyle, of disregard for time and wanton friendliness. However, Costa Ricans use the phrase to express a philosophy of strong community, perseverance, good spirits, enjoying life slowly, celebrating good fortune, whether small or large.”
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