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| Arenal Volcano |
I'm coming off of a 10 day trip to Costa Rica with my family and the first three days were near the iconic Arenal Volcano. This volcano has been active, slowly spouting out lava here and there, wowing the tourists with it's trickling lava flow. As of late, Arenal has been dormant but is never the less, an inspiring and humbling site to behold. It's perfect cone shape rises above the land and is a clear symbol to all that witness it that there are much bigger forces out there than ourselves.
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| The front porch at the Hobbit Hut |
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| The Hobbit Hut at Leaves and Lizards Retreat |
We drove up, down and all around dusty roads through crater sized pot holes to get to our first place of rest for the next three days. We arrived at Leaves and Lizards Retreat. It's pretty much in the middle of nowhere but claims it's town to be Monterrey, which is a sleepy yet quaint town down the road. Leaves and Lizards Retreat is a special place; owned by some U.S. Expats who wanted to escape the confines of the U.S and start something new, they opened up Leaves and Lizards. Leaves and Lizards is home to many horses, cattle, pigs, chickens and a couple of resident dogs ( Willy and Sam). Cabins are scattered around the property, nestled on hills and behind trees and then there's the Hobbit House which is built into the side of the hill. Clearly, we had to stay in the Hobbit House! This little treasure has a front porch with three chairs, a hammock and a table and chairs and faces directly at Arenal Volcano. Inside the hut, lie bunk beds built into the side of the wall, a king size bed, a kitchenette a separate toilet room and then a shower room. . . complete with an open ceiling that opened up to the sky. This was not a huge hit with the kids however you'd think it would be because it was super cool! I came to find out that the boys were not so keen on insects ~ which were plentiful as we were technically in the rainforest and the rainforest is FILLED with critters. Our bathroom was home to geckos and some spidery creatures that were harmless but to fear-filled kids, they looked and acted like Godzilla. The "hut" as we called it, was an amazing place to fall asleep in ~ the sounds of cicada's and birds were a constant white noise and the flickers of fireflies and shadows of other flying friends danced in front of our window. There were no curtains that closed us in from the outside world ~ we were one with the hill and the environment around us. Morning came early and everyone gravitated towards the front porch with coffee in hand to look for any new critter friends that would cross our front porch. . . which, inevitably, a new bird or insect would grace us with it's presence.
Leaves and Lizards offers so many great adventures for it's guests. We opted for the 5 hour horse back ride to the waterfall as our first venture into the wild. Neither of our children were interested in riding horses but because I knew it would be good for them, we did it. Enrique, our guide, introduced us all to the "spirit and energy" of the horse which I thought was a great way to introduce new riders to horses. An introduction to how horses behave and how they respond to our energy was essential to every riders success. It was clear to me that Enrique believed every word that came out of his mouth as his actions with his horse and the affection he displayed towards the animal showed the truth in his words. After learning the essentials about the horse spirit, we were assigned our horses based on personality and compatibility. I was assigned Dorado, a retired rodeo horse ~ patient, strong, and steady on his feet. Our eldest child, engaged with his horse Cosmos, decided he liked what he was doing and committed himself to being a good rider. My husband lost himself in perfecting his communication with his horse and our youngest child, well, he was a different story. This child, strong willed and introspective fell prey to his fears and became complacent with the horse. Enrique caught on to this and took him under his wing and with one to one attention, showed him how to manage his horse as well as his fears. I hadn't ridden horse in many, many years and truth be told, I was a little bit fearful of having Dorado take off galloping into the rainforest leaving me hanging off the side of the saddle. I was trying to maintain my irrational fears so as to not show own fears to the youngest child. We all got on our horse and began the journey into the wild. We moved through the little town and into the countryside with it's beautiful rolling hills and mountains in the distance. Brahma cows sat trailside as though we were a parade and they were the spectators. As time lingered on, Enrique said to me in Spanish, "Mira ~ tienes un hijo muy tranquilo."which translates to, " Look, you have a very calm boy." As I turned around, I noticed my once fear-filled child, swaying in his saddle and talking to himself and who ever else would listen as he pulled up the rear of the caravan. Peace had found him on top of that horse and it was a beautiful thing to see. Horse back riding soon became his new favorite thing to do.
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| Enrique, our guide. |
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| Dorado, my trusty horse. |
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| My child. . . trying not to implode. |
We arrived at the opening of the trail to the waterfall, hopped off our horses and let them roam through the grasslands to graze. As we wandered down the trail, the rain started to fall, not heavily, but enough to soak our clothes and leave us huddled under rainforest tree leaves for shelter. Our boys embraced the rain and headed into the river to swim near the waterfall. After the swim in the river, the boys explored the forest and brought me a leaf and said, " This plant smells like total B.O.! Smell it! " So, what does a mom do but smell it and believe me, it smelled like a 14 year old boys armpits! Shortly after man- handling this huge leaf, our eldest child asks, " Is this a poisonous plant? " To which our guide says, "It's not poisonous but it will make your hands burn and itch." and within moments, the boys were shaking their hands in the air and scratching them feverishly and with all the drama of Broadway actors, groaning, " It burns!!!" Enrique laughed and assured us it wouldn't last that long but warned the kids to let it be a lesson to them that not everything is as it seems and that caution should always be had while being in a rainforest. Lesson learned and secretly, I was giggling inside. Horrible, I know. :)
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| The rains came down but the smiles stayed. |
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| The watering hole. |
After 5 hours of riding horse and hiking, we arrived back at Leaves and Lizards. Walking and looking like weathered cowboys and smelling like wet horses , we quietly let our horses go back to the stables . Our five hour journey was more than a horse back ride through the countryside of Costa Rica, it was a testament to the powerful relationship between man/woman/ child and beast . It was also a wonderful way of harnessing our own energy to steer ourselves from fear to freedom.
Travel is so much more than just going to a destination and kicking up your feet. It's a journey you take to the destination and into yourself. There is no age requirement for taking a journey into yourself' the only requirement is that we take the first step to get there and the rest will happen as it needs to.
Costa Rica is a wonderful place to take that first step into your journey. Viva la Vida!
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