It was a pleasant ride toward La Fortuna as the Arenal Volcano continued to be shrouded in clouds near the top.
After getting our rooms at the Sierra Hotel, many of us walked down to hear the tour options.
I picked the level III— IV rafting tour that would take us to our final Intrepid hotel for our farewell dinner with the group of 16 and our guide, Dennis. As the sunset, we got some amazing views of Arenal Volcano.
While four went on the canyon trip with abseiling down waterfalls, rappelling, and jumping down 40 feet to pools, I enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with Joe and then later got a $30 relaxing massage.
On August 23rd, six of us left for our white water rapids experience for just under $ 100 USD which included transportation in a private minibus, the rafting with a guide, equipment, and lunch.
Joe loaned me these Crocs for my rafting adventure so he symbolically joined us rafting the Sarapiqui River. After the rafting, Lily pointed out to me that the liability waiver we signed had an upper age limit of 65–that must mean I looked to be 65 and not 78.
After lunch, the Desafio Adventure Company drove the six of us over the mountains to San Jose in this private minibus to our final hotel, the Bergerac, during a big rain and thunderstorm.
I marveled at the 15 fellow travelers who had such different backgrounds, experiences, and hobbies such as teachers, EMT/ Ski Patrol, a woman tank operator who served in Afghanistan, an Ordnance disposal expert who served in Haiti and Europe, a civil engineer, nurses, a pole dancer, a woman boxing instructor, a retail sales manager, an industrial fabrics engineer, a city planner, a carpenter who owned a company that built retail spaces for high-end companies like Tiffany’s, recent university economics and accounting graduate, and me, a retired Human Resources manager.
Finally, our guide, Dennis, was amazing as he navigated us through the many borders that were very challenging as well as took care of some personal health issues some had. His recommended options at various stops proved to be very enjoyable and exciting—almost too exciting with the Tarzan swing experience.
These travelers came from the UK, USA, Canada, Australia, Sweden, and Italy, and represented a wide age range from 21 to 78. There were eight women. Several travelers had traveled from 40 to 60 countries, and one woman, just 23 years old, had traveled to 91 countries including Yemen.
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That Costa Rica has rain forests and lots of water for both energy and white water adventure is no accident. About 78% of the land mass is forest compared with El Salvador and Nicaragua which are deforested and suffer due to climate change as well as exploitative environmental policies fostered by authoritarian dictatorships. Thanks for the details about your fellow travelers. It’s always good to hang out with younger people.
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