Costa Rica 2008!

Whenever I find myself in a tropical paradise, the question always races through my mind, "Why do I live such a complex, materialistic life?" I always wrestle with the temptation to sell everything I own and retreat to a simple lifestyle far away on a beach. Don't tell me you wouldn't consider it to if you could wake up to this every morning! Here we have the view from our first hotel room on the morning of our first day in Costa Rica. In the background is the famous active volcano, Arenal. I think this is what heaven will be like for me.
I spent the morning immersing myself in all of the glorious details this celestial scene had to offer.....

Look closely and you can see Nicole basking naked on the deck....we spent a lot of time naked on this trip. :)


I love this picture of Nicole letting her inner child play. She proved to have more energy on this trip than the rest of us combined!

Tanya was the only smart one to keep herself covered from the intense tropical sun. The rest of us paid dearly for our neglect. . . .

This is what's called an infinity pool. I want one....with that view in the background.

Tanya and Olivia showing off the whiteness of a long, dark Utah winter.


Call us cheapskates, but the complimentary breakfast at this hotel was so much better than any of the food we could buy for lunch or dinner, that we just took a little extra to last us the rest of the day. Might I add that we were miles away from any other dining options. We pretty much had no other choice than to hoard.

Yoga was one of our favorite activities on this trip. That's what you get when you travel with a bunch of hippies!

I call this picture "the Garden of Eden" for obvious reasons.

At first I thought someone was being brutally tortured in the hotel lounge, but I found it was just a pair of parrots screaming at each other like an old arnory married couple. I loved watching them pick at each other. It was like an addiction. They couldn't leave each other alone. Who knew parrots like to create drama, too!

Our options for visiting anything outside of our hotel grounds were either a) pay $65-$175 each for an excursion, or b) find our own gosh dang ride. We chose the latter.

As fortune would have it, we were picked up by two German tourists who just so happen to be driving a 12 person van. They were on their way to see the waterfalls before returning the van and catching a bus back to San Jose. I don't think they minded one bit sharing their afternoon with the four of us.



The first day in Nosara some of us went on a boat tour with Captain Mike. Yep, these are mating turtles. Cool, huh?

This is Polly and Nicole sharing a moment together. None of us knew Polly at all before this trip. She had called from a flyer I had put up advertising it. She was a great addition to the group....sassy, charismatic, easy going and adventurous. I couldn't have picked a better group to travel with...outstanding women, they were.

Mike was able to catch a female turtle for us to play with. He knew she was a female because the males won't allow you to catch them. Females are ok with it, because they are used to being caught by the males when they mate. Interesting.....

The funny thing about this photo is that Nicole is completely naked. She hadn't planned on going on the boat with us and therefore didn't bring a bathing suit, but who could let such a minor detail prevent one from participating in such a unique experience? Mike said it was OK. I don't think the boat hand Jose or the 4 Germans on the boat minded too much either. :P

Breathtaking...this photo speaks for itself.

This is Tony the cab driver who took us to and from Arenal. He took us to a typical local diner where we feasted on tamales and a drink called Cas, and we discovered the name of our new favorite condiment...salsa Lizano. We put it on everything and even bought bottles to take home with us. Yummy!!

The woman who owns and runs the resort called Hacienda del Sol....Menlha Bruneau. She radiates peaceful, loving healthy energy. We all adored her. And check out her home! It's completely open to the environment. I think there are one or two walls in the entire place. So charming....

For anyone wondering what the heck a colema is, well, here it is in all it's glory..... just imagine lying on your back with your feet braced up against the wall and a hose up your butt. That 5 gallon jug you see on the top right is filled with water and sometimes other cleaning substances like lemon, garlic, kambucha or even coffee. There's a little handle on your right that alllows you to control the water flow. That's pretty much it...water goes in, and water goes out. Whooeee!

Don't worry, there's no sharing tips here! Everyone gets their very own. One end inserts into the hose coming out of the toilet bowl and the other end, well, you know..... When not in use, they are found disinfecting themselves in jars of alcohol.

This is day two of the juice and water fast. Even Nicole, the endless source of energy, was wiped out that day. It was definitely my weakest day. They call it detoxing when your head fills like it's going to split in two and your energy is so low that brushing your teeth works you into a heavy pant and you have to go back to bed. It's a good thing. :p

I think this was day 4. Obviously she got her energy back, and look at that tight stomach! Four days of no food will sure flatten out the tummy!

And here we have Deb lathering herself down with mud. I'm so tempted to post the pics of Deb and Nicole naked, covered in mud and posing like Aborigines. They'd hate me, though.

Deb and Carolina, a new friend from San Jose, enjoying the last day on the beach.

The wildlife there was incredible. This little critter (an armadillo) didn't even notice me standing ever so still until he was right under my nose.

This is an iguana, and apparently, a small one at that. Yikes!

We came upon a female turtle nesting on the beach and watched her digging a little hole to lay her eggs. As exciting as that was, it didn't hold a candle to stumbling upon this little guy, newly hatched and making his way to the ocean. Only one in five turtles make it. The rest are eaten by predators. We watched with protecting eyes until he was swept away in the tide. Go Turtle!



Ah, the liver cleanse! Drink two epsom salts in the evening, down this mix of olive oil and orange juice, try to sleep on your right side while your stomach turns with nauseau all night, drink two more epsom salts in the morning, do a colema, and voila! You have a clean, happy liver. I won't go into any more detail than that. It's disgusting.

The last morning we broke our fast with this delicacy...fresh papaya. Just being able to chew something soft and sweet was sheer ecstacy for the mouth. As with last year, I was surprised at how quickly I got full. Funny how the stomach can shrink like that.

Saying good bye to our friend/chef for the week, Crystal.

I can't do that!
Namaste.

Crystal taught us to make a few raw food dishes as our last meal of the week. I'm showing off the carrot ginger soup which matches with this lovely dress that Deb gave me. :)

Heading back to San Jose, we stopped for gas to fill up Tina, our van. She served us well. We sure will miss her.

That pretty much sums up the vacation. In case I didn't make it clear how much fun we had, watch this!