West Coast Attitude

Today we are one day shy of six weeks, the half way point of our trip to Costa Rica. We found one computer where we have been able to update pictures, but only got some up on facebook before we got cut off, and so once again, pictures are forthcoming. That said, the story so far: Puerto Jiminez was an exciting place. we did stay out our two weeks, and stayed for that time in a small tico house near the ocean. We worked from 7 until noon monday through saturday doing trail maintenance in the Herrera Botanical Gardens of Puerto Jiminez. In our free time we had two sea-kayaks, a 25 hectare biological preserve, and a jungle pirate companion from south Florida to keep us busy. The gardens offered us the experience of watching whole troops of white face and squirrel monkeys from as close as 5 meters. Arielle also began harvesting the roots and vines we cleared from the trails and has been using them to weave dreamcatchers that she has been gifting along our travels. We got to see a little bit how local life works on the Osa peninsula, and learned tons about the local flaura and fauna from the Willy Wonka-like Tom. After our two weeks though, we decided that we were ready to move on, so for Arielle´s birthday, we headed north again to the beautiful Arilapa.
Arilapa is a place that we did not write nearly enough about on our last post. Nestled high in the hills surrounding Alijuela, one of San Jose´s suburbs, this bed and breakfast completly embodies the local expression Pura Vida, roughly translated as the good life. Though not posted on many of the conventional travel listings, Arilapa constantly has a flow of travelers coming and going, primarily in or out of the airport which is only ten minutes away. The very enigmatic owners have created one of the most welcoming places we have ever seen. A few of our friend are currently living there, and we were hoping to go on a river trip with them for Arielle´s birthday. Though the river trip didn´t work out, we made a new friend who offered us a place to stay for a week if we would help him build a fence on his new property. He also told us about a couple who is building an organic farm right now, and looking for volunteers. In exchange for our help, he gave us a week of surf lessons and a room in the beautiful house that he and a friend are currently renting in Uvita, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. The week of working and surfing led us right up to the Envision Festival being held in the beach town of Dominical. Put on by a group based out of San Fransisco and Boulder, this four day festival contained interactive workshops on yoga, meditation, chakra work, sustainable agriculture, organic farming and permaculture, building with bamboo, as well as art and music across a wide spectrum of genres. Our three favorite acts were Bluetech, based out of Hawaii, Future Simple Project, based out of Boulder, CO, and Random Rab out of San Fransisco. We were able to slide into a volunteer position that gave us an all-access pass for the weekend in exchange for 20 or so hours of work, involving greeting, parking, carrying stuff, tickets, setup, and breakdown. The festival was a very incredible experience where we met hundreds of amazing people and made contacts all over the world. Lots of whompy fun electronica and reggea and all kinds of good stuff on the beach in Costa Rica. Today we have been running around making friends, cleaning up the festival grounds, and trying to be helpful wherever we can. Tomorrow we start work with our new friends, Shantel and Roguer, a beautiful couple with two beautiful children who are in the very beginning stages of building their organic farm. We are super excited about the experience, and will be working for them in exchange for room and board for as long as they need us. Hesitant plans right now are to spend the rest of March in this area, then spend April traveling around the northern part of the country, then fly back in May for a few weddings in CO before heading up to Alaska. Or maybe the east coast, or maybe somewhere else entirely... who knows. Once again, pictures to come, but there are some on facebook. Thanks for following, more to come.
Pura Vida
James and Arielle