‘There will be moments when you have to be a grown-up. Those moments are tricks. Do not fall for them.’-Jenny Lawson
The last stop on my whirlwind week in Costa Rica with G Adventures was in the beach town of Quespos, which is on the Pacific Coast. I crammed a lot into this trip and the final town was no exception. While I thought this would be the highlight, it wasn’t. I really enjoyed myself and really pushed my comfort zone but had a giant bummer.
The hotel was just a couple blocks from the ocean, which I loved as my deep love of the Pacific Ocean is well known if you read any of my blogs. There was a lot of time outdoors which was right up my alley. The first night we were there some of us took as optional excursion to take a boat into the mangroves. It was sort of a mixed bag. It was kind of long and depending where you sat, a strong smell of petrol. But there were so many cool critters, including several sightings of the one of the most venomous snakes in Costa Rica, a pit viper (I am sure there is a fancier name but its a snake that will kill you). Outside of getting a few feet from death, the scariest part was when the side of the boast I was on drifted into the mangroves themselves. See, I hate bugs of all kinds and I spent the last few hours looking at a wide variety plus knowing Costa Rica has a lot of tarantulas. You know where you don’t want to be, stuck in a Mangrove. The amount of time I made my new friends thoroughly check me. Still gives me the eebie jeebies.
In the daylight, we spent the day at the San Manuel National Park. This is a jungle that opens up to the ocean. It was very cool but, again, I did a similar type of experience in the Galapagos with Tortuga Bay and it ruined me. This was really pretty but I wished i was back in the Galapagos! I will say the water conditions are pretty rough. There are areas with signs saying not to enter due to the rip current. I did wade in the water and enjoyed the sunshine before heading back to town.
The final event of the trip was to take a sunset catamaran with snorkeling. This included by far the most disappointing part of the trip but it was not the fault of anyone but Poseidon, I guess. As I have expressed, I love to snorkel and this part of the catamaran was what I was most looking forward to. We got to the snorkel spot, they put a life vest on (required although I would have anyway), and then I jumped in. I was like the third person in the water. Put my snorkel on, looked underwater, and nothing but hazy water with minimal visibility. I did see some fish and there were dolphins as we were sailing (which was so cool) but total bummer and then they only let us swim for maybe 20 minutes. It was a big let down. However, Mother Nature must have felt bad for me because I experienced one of the most beautiful sunsets on my life. I cannot express how pretty it was, sitting on the water, watching the sky catch fire. Worth every penny.
I really loved Costa Rica. I loved who I became while there, how I continued to push myself outside of my comfort zone, and did my first group trip! I would definitely do a G Adventures trip again! In fact, I had a deposit down to go to Jordan but the current war with Iran put a pause due to the uncertainty. I would also love to go to Asia with them and peeping Morocco!
