we left for our honeymoon exactly a week after our actual wedding. our flight was at 7 am and of course it was thunderstorming from 2 am on, so i was positive that we would be delayed and all would be lost.

to my surprise, the lightening didn’t delay our flight, so i then moved on to worrying about our 40 minute connection in atlanta for an international flight (what were we thinking when we bought the tickets?). we ran. we made it. all was well.

we arrived in san jose at around noon on saturday and after checking into our hotel which was about 10 minutes outside of the city we took a taxi to downtown. immediately upon getting into the city we had an understanding of why the guide books and most people say to not bother spending too much time in the city: it’s pretty grimy, the majority of the restaurants are american fast food chains, and there isn’t a whole lot to see. still, we were able to entertain ourselves for half a day, finding lunch at a nice hotel (which seemed to be the only places where there were actual restaurants). we walked through the market, which is a requirement on my list of things to see in other cities, and admired some of the sculptures that are spread throughout the city streets.

after 5 hours, we were content that we had seen everything worth seeing and headed back to our hotel. we had dinner in the very upscale outdoor mall by our hotel (don’t judge us) and called it a night early since we had to be up at 5am again the following morning.

at 5:45 a nice costa rican man named hansel (we later found out he was half german) picked us up in a van. after grabbing a couple other people, we were off to the jungle. this drive to the jungle was far more enjoyable than the one we did in thailand for a couple of reasons:

1. we were inside an actual van with seat belts and not in the bed of a truck.
2. the roads were wide enough for three cars rather than half of one. the roads were also in good condition and there were no boulders in the middle of hairpin turns.
3. we were driving at a speed that was worrisome but not life threatening.
4. we could communicate with the driver.

we made it to the pacuare river in about 4 hours and got our safety lesson in white water rafting. you see, in order to get to the resort we were staying in, you had to take a white water ride. just to keep it interesting, right? the guides were very reassuring and experienced, and while i’ve never been rafting before i was pretty comfortable. my one goal was to not fall out of the boat, which i succeeded on. the river was still relatively low so the rapids were level 2 for the most part. it took us about an hour to get to the pacuare lodge, with a couple stops to jump off some rocks (the guide basically pushed me because i was scared) and swim in the waterfalls.

pacuare lodge was everything i hoped it would be. it’s stunningly beautiful, prides itself on being eco-friendly, and offers the right combination of luxury and roughing it. we stayed in the suite at the very top of the resort, which meant a quality hike to and from our place multiple times a day (according to fitbit it was 15 flights up from the base). the suite itself was unbelievable – 360 degrees of open walls with only screens to block out the bugs, an indoor and outdoor shower, a hammock under the shade, and, to top it off, a private infinity pool overlooking the jungle. i don’t think the pictures could really capture just how perfect this place was. and no electricity, just to remind you that you are, in fact, in the middle of the freaking rainforest.

and the meals. of course jason and i wanted our honeymoon to be adventurous, but we also wanted good food. and this place does food like you wouldn’t imagine. the only place they have electricity is in the kitchen, which is powered by a water turbine. they serve breakfast, lunch, and dinner at pre-set times for all the guests (of which there are about 25 at a time). breakfast is a choice of traditional costa rican fare (rice, beans, eggs, and a cheese that was to die for) or more traditional yogurt and granola or omelets. the coffee is as good as you’d expect in costa rica, and i probably drank double my normal intake. after breakfast you can do a multitude of activities (more on that below, i still have far more to say about the food) before cleaning up and coming back down to the open air lodge for lunch. lunch is a set three course menu which usually consisted of a soup or salad, an entree of amazing vegetables, protein and rice, and desserts that are so temperature sensitive that i couldn’t believe you could make them in the jungle (flan, custards, ice creams, etc). the people serving you lunch are the same guides that took you rafting on the river and were with you on the activities, they do it all, and they are incredibly pleasant and interesting to talk to. they humor you by speaking spanish to you if you want, even though their english is far better than your spanish. although, after a full week of practice i have to say that i am pretty content with my skills. and they did tell me multiple times that i have great pronunciation, which is good, considering i have a degree in the language…

during lunch the guides would also take your order for dinner, for which you made a choice between two options per course (again, three course meal). in the afternoons we mainly choose to hang out in our suite reading books, swim in our infinity pool and nap in the hammock. i can quite confidently say that i’ve never been as relaxed as i was after five days in this place. around 5pm the bar above the lodge would open and we typically headed down to have a drink and form instant friendships with the other guests. there were people from all over, primarily the united states, england, and australia but i was told that there are often non-english speaking guests as well. around 7pm dinner would be ready, and the guides would escort you back downstairs to a candle lit table where you would be treated to your three course dinner. i have to repeat myself. the food was unbelievable – i can’t even really choose my favorite, but i primarily had fish and each night outdid the previous. it would be around 9pm when dinner was over and the 15 flights of stairs back to the suite would begin. when we’d get back to our suite, the candles that filled the place would be lit for us.

without electricity you get to rise and go to bed with the sun, so we were usually up by 6 and in bed by 9:30. in addition to the remarkably good food, the activities offered at the lodge were fantastic as well. the second day, we did a four and a half hour hike to the nearest indian village. the hike is almost straight up and down on very muddy terrain. it was challenging and sweaty but really worthwhile once we got to the top and got to see the village. the village consisted of 25 people all from the same family who live in huts and raise their own cows, chickens, pigs, and vegetables. they also have cell phones. some of the village members work at the lodge and do the hike on a daily basis, which i could not imagine. the women of the village do all the work, while the men sit around and talk. they speak their own language but many of the kids have learned spanish and can speak pretty well. the elders also know some limited spanish.

on the third day we went on zip lining. the course starts after a 20 minute hike and has 12 lines ranging in length. i think the longest and fastest one is 600 meters. i’ve never been zip lining and really enjoyed it, especially because you are flying through the jungle and there are all sorts of crazy animals and birds all around you. the group who went the day after us said that when they got to one of the tree stands there was a huge snake that the guide nonchalantly kicked off the platform. i’m glad we missed that.

on day four in the jungle jason made me get us early (5:30) for bird watching. i was skeptical of how much i would enjoy it (and maybe a little cranky) but it ended up being extremely interesting. there are all sorts of crazy birds in the jungle, my favorite of which was obviously the toucan, and the guide who was with us had a crazy good eye for spotting things all the way across the river at the top of the trees. i do not regret the half hour of sleep i lost.

the afternoon of the forth day we took another, much shorter and flatter hike to a waterfall near the lodge. the guide who went with us was our favorite, his nickname was rainor but i never caught his real name. he was born without a femur on his right leg and gets around on crutches. by gets around i mean he hikes, climbs on and over rocks, and rafts with ease. it was quite remarkable to watch. he was also incredibly kind and knowledgable about everything in the jungle. i kind of miss him already.

the final day we rafted out of the jungle with rainor as our guide and another family. since it had rained pretty significantly during our stay, the river was much higher and we were promised level 4 rapids for most of the way. the trip out from the lodge was about three hours, with a stop at a campsite for lunch. the funniest thing was that a guy in a kayak with a professional dSLR camera came with us, stayed somewhat ahead, and would take pictures of us as we went through the rapids. i’m pretty happy to have those photos.

we ended the rafting tour at the lodge’s warehouse where we were picked up by a driver and taken to the pacific coast of costa rica to a resort called “los sueños,” which translates to “the dreams.” the resort was pretty dreamy and fancy, with pools overlooking the ocean and three delicious restaurants to choose from. we spent our last two days laying by the pool and reading (although it did rain a lot on the first day), getting massages, and eating. while under normal circumstances i would have been wildly content with how beautiful this place was, i think i’m permanently jaded by the pacuare lodge.

jason and i are worried we may develop “phantom in-room infinity pool syndrome,” where we may just dive off the balcony expecting to land in an infinity pool. i think we had a successful honeymoon.

onto dinner. i recreated one of my favorite meals from costa rica, sopa de mariscos (seafood soup). pretty ambitions for the day back, but it feels good to be cooking for ourselves again.

this is not a perfect rendition of the soup i loved, but it’s pretty good. i realize the frozen seafood aisle at trader joe’s isn’t the ocean. but, i’m working with what i have. also, this needed a healthy dose of coconut cream to make it a little thicker, which i’ll play with proportions with next time i make this soup (i’m thinking 1/2 a cup).

One Comment

• 01 / 12 / 22 / 3:37 pm

  1demonstrated

  writes 1completingReply