Costa Rica

DAY 4, Sunday April 19th

Yvonne makes us another delicious breakfast. We load up on as much food as we can while trying to psyche ourselves up for our next tour: a 4 hour kayaking journey in the ocean to check out the caves. We meet our guides at the surf shop in town at 1:00pm.  They are a cute married couple around our age. The girl, Rachel, is from New York and her husband, Nego, is a local. 

Rachel waits on the beach and watches the car so that it doesn't get broken into and Nego, Tommy, and I paddle out into the blue abyss. 

Why I wanted to do this tour, I have no idea. We paddle through a couple of small waves and I already feel bored and my arms start to get tired. Not to mention, this is a lot scarier than I imagined. Not only are we out in the tempestuous waters where we could easily tip over, but we keep paddling further and further away from shore and I fear I am going to be stuck out in the ocean with 2 exhausted skinny arms. We paddled towards our first cave and our guide checks it out from a safe distance. Today at this cave the waves and currents are unsafe for beginner kayakers so we continue on and row into Ventanas Beach for a break and to check out a cave on the beach. I catch a small wave and immediately tip over. Thankfully, I was close to shore. 

Tommy actually caught it on video. 

We walk into this cave on the beach. It's so beautiful. It's open on both sides, like a tunnel, and waves are crashing towards us from the opposite end. It reminded me of action movies when a huge rush of water comes barreling down a hallway, headed right towards the main character. Fortunately,  by the time the waves would reach us, they had dwindled to a small shore break. 

We (reluctantly) get back into our kayaks and row out again, headed for our next cave. From a distance it looks just like a simple arch that we'll be able to row through. Nego instructs us to keep our kayaks  5 feet apart from each other and to be careful not to hit the walls (which are rock, obviously). The cave doesn't look as simple up close as it did from a distance. The currents are moving and there are small waves rolling through it, plus it kind of has an "S" curve to it. But I hold my breath and follow our guide, staying between him and Tommy. My tired arms paddled as fast and as strong as I could, steering me through it. I am not going to lie, I was terrified but it felt like a huge accomplishment to be on the other side of it in one piece. But now, we had to paddle about a mile back to shore. I began to feel a little delirious and as hard as I tried to keep up with the boys, my arms finally gave in. Nego got a rope out of his canoe, tied it to mine, and towed me in the last 15 minutes. God, I was so glad it was over. 

We returned to shore and Rachel had fruit and water waiting for us. We ate it as we watched a beautiful sunset over the water.

Tommy, Rachel, Nego, and I. Look how pale Tommy and I look next to Nego! ha

That night Tommy and I had dinner at La Parcela, an italian restaurant (still in our bathing suits with salt water in my hair).

We got back to the Inn around 9:00pm. Tommy and I were both exhausted but I wanted to shower before getting into bed. When I get out 5 minutes later, he is completely asleep. I reach for my water bottle in the partial darkness and scream. There is a HUGE bug on it. It's at least 4 inches long, green, and has wings that look like leaves. I find out later it's called a Cadydid. Tommy jumps up and we begin snapping pictures of it. Every time the bug moves, Tommy jumps about 5 feet. We open the doors and we think its flown away, only to realize 1 minute later, that now it's on my Ipod. And then my pillow. Finally Tommy carries the entire pillow outside and shakes it 5 times before it flies away for good. 

And then a huge beetle lands in my bed. 

This is what you get for sleeping in the jungle.