Odds and Ends; Cares and Dares

I would be remiss if I didn't include some examples of Costa Rica's response to the Covid pandemic. The country seems almost fanatical about complying with the protocols, which is understandable considering tourism is their chief industry. At almost every stop, we found portable hand washing stations like this. Visitors were required to wash their hands before entering. If water wasn't available, we were always required to use hand sanitizer. Every time we got back on our tour bus, Enrique, our driver, sprayed hand sanitizer into our palms. We soon made a joke about Fr. Enrique spraying us with holy water.

Costa Ricans were likewise very compliant about masks. We wore ours much of the time, particularly on the bus and at inside gatherings. For a while we even wore them outside. I'm all for masking when necessary, but that seemed like overkill to me. Eventually a few of us took them off when we were outside. I saw Costa Ricans with masks everywhere and I didn't sense any opposition or protest against them.

A handwashing station at the entrance to the Gold Museum.

Another handwashing station before entering the Hanging Bridges Park.

From the Cautious to the Daring

I love exciting adventures, and I experienced several special ones during the trip. Near Sarapiqui, our group spent the afternoon white water rafting along the Sarapiqui River. I actually think this was more of a tourist activity, because it didn't seem to be a mecca for white water rafters. For the most part, the river was pretty calm, but naturally I'm posting photos that make us look exceptionally brave! We practiced some commands before we hit the water: forward, backward, "lean in" and "Oh my God," which meant we should get ourselves entirely into the raft and hunker down. This last one didn't take into consideration that we were an older bunch with a fair number of artificial knees that don't hunker very well. Thankfully we only needed it on the last big drop, which was pretty thrilling, old knees and all.

Am I the only one having fun?

Executing the "Oh my God" maneuver

We lived to tell the tale!

Dancing! Way out of my Comfort Zone!

Also at Sarapiqui, we had an evening of dancing lessons. Our two instructors taught us the steps for salsa, merengue and bachata. This struck much more fear in me than the rafting, but it turned out to be a very fun evening.

This is how it's supposed to be done. My body doesn't move this way!

My friends insist they need photos, so I reluctantly overcome my embarrassment and post this video evidence that I actually managed most of the steps. My stamina gave out after a few twirls, though. Salsa is definitely an aerobic step up from my usual water aerobics!

Zip Lining!

At our very first group meeting, Andres asked if there was anything we really wanted to do in the country. I said I'd love to go zip lining, as many other Costa Rican visitors do. I was thrilled that he arranged for three of us to zip above the rain forest canopy for an hour or so while we were at Arenal. At this point, I had broken my camera, so I didn't want to risk losing my phone to take photos of the zip lining. You will have to imagine it's me on these Google photos, but it's exactly what the zip lining looked like. We had about 12 runs from platform to platform. Some were steep; some long; some fast; some slower. I loved them all. What an adrenaline rush to zoom over the trees! I "woo-hooed" along every run.