In June of 2001, my parents organized a trip to Costa Rica for themselves, my sister and her husband, myself and my wife, in celebration of their 40th wedding anniversay, my sister's 5th anniversary, and my 10th anniversary. Before we went to Costa, I had some concerns... The thought of 6 people, with at least 8 or 10 different adgendas and desires for a vacation, spending 10 days together seemed daunting. When my sister asked what activities I envisioned for our trip, this was my response:
Crocidile wrestling. Big drinks with little umbrellas, presented by sweaty lithe native boys in fetching sarongs. Enacting scenes from Naked Lunch. Tracking, shooting, and eating all our own meals. Second-degree sunburn blisters. Experiencing exotic native flora and fauna of the intestinal tract. Viscious bickering, followed by bouts of silence and matyrdom. Discovering that, contrary to the brochure, the hotel doesn't really have air conditioning. Or a pool. Or clean sheets. Or hot water. Or private baths. Or rooms that aren't occupied by sailors on leave and their companions. Clinging to the chicken cage strapped to the roof of the mini-bus while the drunken driver navigates the mountain road. Jellyfish. Trying to call the embassy after my passport and wallet are stolen in the airport and I'm denied entry onto the plane for the return flight. I'm not sure of the itinerary for the second day yet.
With that kind of anticipation, could the trip be anything other than fabulous? Well, the one thing that I left out of my list of concerns was rain. Lots of rain. Big wet drops. Buckets. Firehoses. Waterfalls. Lots of rain. We went to Costa Rica during the Green Season, which is travel-agent speak for the rainy season.
In any case, the trip was really very, very nice. The scenery and diversity of terrain and eco-systems are just amazing. The food was great, which was yet another issue as my wife and I are vegetarians. If I were to do the same trip again, I might actually take the same travel companions, but I'd spend more time there. Our schedule put us in 6 different places over the course of the trip, which meant a bit too much time traveling and not enough time to get to understand and really learn to see the jungle life in each location.
Enough of my babbling. Take a look at some of the trip photos already! [an error occurred while processing this directive]