Creature Comforts

In the wake of our renewed solitude of two, our only solace has been to take comfort in Costa Rican wildlife; namely a tapir who goes by Charlie. This mischievous beast, attracted by the alluring scent of DEET insect repellant, followed us throughout the cloudforest in an attempt to wet his snout on our chemically-treated legs. Exhausted from all the snouting, Charlie quickly fell asleep in his favorite log.




Next, I met a friendly butterfly, name unknown. After practicing various butterfly calls and rubbing myself with overripe pineapple, I tempted this pretty Morpho to land on my finger. She perched for a bit, sprinkled me with magic butterfly dust, then took off in search of another flower.





A must-do in Costa Rica is ziplining. They build these huge zipline playgrounds, stringing high-tension wire from tree to tree high above the ground. Armed with "brakes" (aka leather patches glued to gardening gloves), we took turns soaring over treetops. It's the closest I've ever felt to flying.





Now we're surfing and camping in Mal Pais, or the Badlands. It truly is anything but, with its great morning surf, white beaches, and ample shade. No wonder the place is teeming with ex-pats hawking real estate. If we can manage to rip ourselves from this place, we can finally enter our last and final country, the Great Halfway Point, Panama.



- Rach