With less than two days left in San Jose (we head to Panama tomorrow and will be back only briefly before heading to Colombia), below are a few more thoughts on our time in Costa Rica.
Sunset view in Manuel Antonio.
1. Working out while on the move is difficult but doable. Alex and I have been trying to do 15 minutes of exercises in our hotel or hostel room each morning to start the day and accompany the heavy walking we've been doing, but it's different than a scheduled, sweaty hour at the gym or Physique 57.
2. Likewise, it's easy to find yourself eating and drinking more than you otherwise would. As with any vacation, we want to try new things and indulge a bit, but we still have 350 days to go!
3. Heat and humidity make you tired (but it's hard to sleep). You'd think after going to school in New Orleans I'd be used to the rainforest weather, but not having access to AC seems to be a differentiating factor.
4. Everyone has an interesting travel story. We were surprised at first by the number of people we met who were traveling alone or for long periods of time, but now look forward to swapping stories.
5. Your body clock really does change with your surroundings. In NYC Alex and I would try to sleep in as late as possible, have dinner around 9 and go to bed at midnight. In Costa Rica we are always up by 6:30, have eaten dinner by 7 and are in bed by 9:30.
6. The smoothies in Costa Rica are incredible. For USD$2-3 you can get a fresh fruit smoothie with local ingredients just about anywhere. Even Alex has started to request them!
7. We feel pretty safe 99% of the time. After being warned repeatedly about theft and abysmal driving conditions in Costa Rica we have been surprised to the upside on both issues. Maybe we have just been extra cautious but so far so good.
8. I miss salads. So far this has been one of the hardest things to track down. Fast food (and pollo frito) is everywhere but health food doesn't seem to be big here.
9. Double check opening and closing times / days for all planned attractions. I swore I had looked up this information for Manuel Antonio National Park but somehow missed that the Park is closed on Mondays. Lesson learned.
10. Technology is good and bad. Feeling connected is great and we love being able to communicate with friends and family (and update the blog!) but we still haven't escaped our standard tendencies to "check in." We hope to be a bit better about turning off and tuning out as we go.
Peak: Relaxing at the Oxygen Jungle Villas
Pit: Missing Manuel Antonio National Park (we'll check the schedule next time!)
Next Stop: Bocas del Toro