Stuck in Palermo

When we got back to Buenos Aires from Mendoza, we spent some time wandering around the botanic garden and the Japanese garden.

The view from the rooftop deck of our Palermo apartment (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A fountain in the botanic garden (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Yerba mate plants (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A giant crane in the Japanese garden (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Because the area where Buenos Aires is located has few large native plants, many larger trees were brought over from similar climates in the southern hemisphere - eucalyptus from Australia, jacaranda from South Africa (the jacaranda trees were blooming when we were in Buenos Aires, which was a really beautiful sight). There are also a lot of palm trees, which lends a slightly tropical feel to the city.

In order to get another country stamp on our passports, we took the ferry over to Colonia del Sacramento, Uruguay, for a day. Colonia is one of the oldest towns in Uruguay and right across the river from Buenos Aires, and there are several ferries that go back and forth every day. Luckily, we had bought our tickets for the day before the G20 shut down all of the ports in the city, so we were able to get out (and back in) to Argentina.

Colonia del Sacramento, which was passed back and forth between the Spanish and Portuguese a ridiculous number of times, has an old town center that’s designated as a UNESCO world heritage site. It’s really adorable, with colorful historic buildings, a lot of art galleries, and good food.

Cute streets and cars in Colonia (Photo/Jason Rafal)

One of the classically old streets (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The beauty of Colonia (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Colorful buildings (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The lighthouse, which was built on top of a ruin (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Jason tried the local specialty chivito, which is a sandwich with steak, ham, cheese, an egg, and condiments. It was quite good but thoroughly excessive.

After we explored the town and had lunch, we still had some time until the boat back to Argentina, so we spent some time walking along the water, sitting in trees, and taking lots of pictures of birds (that was mostly Jason).

A preening green parrot (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Another bird (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Pigeons taking flight (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The second half of our trip was highly influenced by the presence of the G20, which we learned about 6 days before the leaders of the world descended. For the two-day summit, the city shut down the trains and subways, the domestic airport, and all of the city’s central ports. When we disembarked the ferry from Uruguay on the 29th, Trump had already arrived, and customs was vastly slowed because immigrations was making handwritten lists of the names, nationalities, birthdates, and passport numbers of every individual entering the country.

On Thursday night we went to one of the classic jazz clubs in Palermo, Thelonious Club. There was a big band playing, and despite not understanding much of the commentary from the band, we had a great time sharing a bottle of Malbec and listening to the music in the intimate room. Since there were so many players, a lot of the audience was friends and family, which gave the place a cozy, welcoming feel.

The performers at Thelonious Club (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On Friday, because we were not able to take a biking and kayaking tour to the Delta el Tigre, (the train to the delta was not running), we booked a tour that took a boat from Buenos Aires up the river and explored the delta area. The tour organizers had their work cut out for them to make sure the tour could run with all the road, train, and port closures - we had to meet in Recoleta in the morning, then a minibus took us to a port far enough from the city center to be open. On the way to the port, our guide told us about how porteños (residents of Buenos Aires) love the Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd to an unhealthy degree, how they are heavily influenced by the heavy Italian immigration after the First World War, and how their passion for futbol is supported by 32 professional stadiums in the city.

When we arrived at the boat, the skippers congratulated our guide on making it. Then, we set sail (er, motor) into the delta. Tigre’s delta is the third-largest river delta in the world, and its canal system is extensive. The locals who live in the canals are not able to drive to and from their houses, so there is an entire boat system to support them. There are grocery store boats, taxi boats, and even pool delivery boats.

A beautiful private dock (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The house of President Sarmiento, which is weirdly encased in glass (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A bus on stilts (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A grocery boat (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A boat delivering a pool (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After we went through several of the main canals, the boat docked at the town of Tigre and we got out to explore. Our guide took us to the Puerto de Frutos market, which used to be a fruit market and is now a combination of artisans products and surprisingly upscale, hipster home furnishing stores. After we spent a while wandering, we drove back to Buenos Aires through San Isidro, where we got out for a few minutes to take some pictures of the rather impressive cathedral.

Approaching Tigre (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Securing the boat (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A man and his dog heading out to the canals (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A three-sided mural (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A San Isidro Cathedral (Photo/Jason Rafal)

When we arrived back in the city, our guide dropped us off at El Rosedal, where we were disappointed to see that the rose garden was already closed for the G20. We walked around outside the fence anyway before heading back to our apartment to get ready to go home.

Taking pictures of hummingbirds kept Jason busy (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A dog chases geese in the park (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The incredibly beautiful canopy in one of the parks (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A Holocaust memorial (Photo/Jason Rafal)

An adorable collection of stores under the train tracks (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On Saturday, our last day in Argentina, we spent the day walking around Palermo Soho and eating. We explored Parque Centenario, which had a weekend fair happening, and sat by the fountains for a while.

The making of a mural (Photo/Jason Rafal)

In the evening, we got in a taxi with plenty of time to get to the airport, started driving, and…our driver couldn’t get on the highway. Police were blocking off the exit. Our driver, who spoke no English, made a frustrated noise and took off on the frontage road. We took frontage roads for an hour and a half, fighting the traffic from everyone else doing the same thing, and then finally came to a complete stop because the police were blocking the frontage road as well. Many people called out to our taxi driver, asking him what was going on, but he hadn’t heard anything about the highway being closed. At this point, we were getting fairly anxious about missing our flight. After we sat still for about 15 minutes, the driver started talking to the people around us again. After a few moments of our driver trying to ask us something and us not understanding, we figured out that someone had yelled over to our driver that the police had said the highway on ramp would get reopened at 9. Our flight was at 9:15, and the driver was asking if we wanted to try to take a back way and see if that would work. We enthusiastically said yes, worried that our 15 wasted minutes sitting would make the difference in catching our flight.

Our driver spent the next 15 minutes winding through side streets until we got to the very last entrance onto the only highway to the airport. And it was blocked off. We resolved ourselves to missing our flight and our driver went outside to smoke a cigarette.

After a few more minutes, we saw a huge group of police motorcycles drive past, followed by a motorcade with American flags. Trump’s motorcade had made us miss our flight.

Fifteen minutes later they reopened the road, but we only had 15 minutes before our flight at that point, and they wouldn’t check us in. We spent the next hour and a half rebooking our flights for the next day and trying to find a hotel that we could actually get to, since there were so many road closures. Eventually, we found a hotel back in Palermo, and we had an hour and a half to get there and check in.

It was a 40-minute drive back to Palermo, but the road to the airport had been closed for hours, which meant taxis hadn’t been able to get in and pick people up, which meant the taxi line was insanely long. After several minutes of waiting in line, we noticed that some people were going over to the drop-off point and hailing taxis as people got out. We went over there and I was immediately able to hail a taxi, and we ignored the traffic controller yelling and scrambled inside. We made it to our hotel with half an hour to spare, checked in, and ate some fish and chips down the street.

On our unintended bonus day, we were excited to be able to visit El Rosedal, which had reopened since the G20 ended. It was really beautiful, and I’m glad we were able to go. Between the gardens and the story we got out of out delayed flight, I think it was probably worth the very stressful six hours.

El Rosedal (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A giant bee (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Coated in pollen (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Planetario Galileo Galilei (Photo/Jason Rafal)

An adorable pair of dog friends (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Adventures in the Mountains

On Sunday, we flew to Mendoza for a couple of days. We booked two tours while we were there - a wine tour, as one tends to do in Mendoza, and a gaucho day (gauchos are the Argentinian cowboys). We also spent our evenings walking around the city of Mendoza, which is an interesting mix of working class areas and very loud tourist parties.

The view from our apartment in Mendoza (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We have a habit of visiting places while fountains are under construction (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A performer at a weekend craft fair (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On Monday morning, our guide Tim, our guide-in-training Tomás, and Syrah, the company owner’s dog, picked us up in a small truck and we began a 90-minute drive into the foothills of the Andes. By some ridiculous stroke of luck, no one else had booked the tour for that day, so we had two guides to ourselves. Tim and Tomás were great conversationalists as we drove past the man-made Potrerillos reservoir, through the little town of Las Vegas, and finally arrived at Daniel’s ranch.

Mist over the Potrerillos reservoir (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The reservoir, which is low from an alarming lack of snowfall in the past couple of years (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Daniel, his wife Marisa, and his son didn’t speak any English, but they were very nice to us. Immediately upon our arrival, I was handed a four-day-old goat, which was probably the nicest thing they could have done for me. The working ranch had a sizable herd of goats, quite a few horses, some cattle, and 12 dogs, who all eagerly asked for attention. I carried around my baby goat and watched as Daniel saddled the horses and his son let the goats out for the day. After I reluctantly handed back my baby goat, we had some mate and sopapillas for breakfast before mounting our horses and heading up into the mountains.

A cup of mate with breakfast (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Syrah, who is clearly not allowed in the house (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The baby goat that I wanted to keep forever (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Daniel’s son monitoring the goats (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A dense crowd of goats waiting to be let out (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A baby goat stuck in the fence (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The goats running to their daily grazing (and a cranky mule) (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Dogs in the yard (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The foothills of the Andes are beautiful on any day, but while we were in Mendoza there were low-hanging clouds that gave the entire landscape a misty mysteriousness. It was both stunning and completely surreal.

The riding was at a surprisingly intermediate level - we rode up and down steep gullies and across streams, and we spent some time trotting and catering the horses through the flat areas. My horse, a blue roan gelding, was very calm and surefooted, and we only sometimes argued about the best path to take on a steep hill. Syrah and five of Daniel’s dogs came with us, and they all ran alongside and randomly took off barking at cows.

Finding the route (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Heading up the hills (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A pretty great couple’s photo (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We got up to about 9,500 feet and stopped for lunch. The low, heavy clouds were threatening rain, but Daniel and Tim got a fire going and we feasted on cheese, sausage, bread, asado, and the mandatory Malbec. The dogs alternated between defending us from nearby cows and begging for the scraps. Tim and Daniel put up a tarp roof in case it rained, but it just got very cold and damp for a while, and we huddled around the fire.

Putting up the tarp (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Snacks on a makeshift table (Photo/Jason Rafal)

My favorite dog, begging for scraps (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After lunch, wine, and conversation, we got back on the horses and headed up to a lookout point, where we could see the reservoir and the rest of the valley below. From there, it was a steep ride down the mountain and back to the ranch.

The view from the top of the lookout (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Crossing streams on the way home (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A hen among the saddles (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Puppy toes (Photo/Jason Rafal)

It was a truly great day.

On Tuesday, we had a much fancier tour of the area. We were picked up by our guide and joined two other couples in a minibus on the drive to the Uco valley, Mendoza’s new hip wine region.

Jason and I made the mistake of assuming that because we got picked up at 8, which is very early in Argentina, we were going to be fed breakfast. The fact that we were not fed was through no fault of the tour, because everyone knows the harm in assuming, but it did mean that we were very unprepared to drink the equivalent of 6 glasses of high-alcohol wine before lunch. By the end of the first tasting, I was definitely feeling it.

The first winery we went to was Bodega Piedra Negra, which was is one of the foundational wineries in the valley. They had roses planted next to their roses, not because they needed to see signs of fungus like in France, but as a nod to the beautiful, rose-edged French vineyards. Our guide at the winery, who was from Minnesota and fluent in English, Spanish, and French, walked us through the spotless fermentation and barrel rooms, where we were able to try wine directly out of the barrel. One of their prize wines was a combination of Argentinian and French Malbec. Weirdly, the Argentinian Malbec is an older strain - after grapes were originally brought over from Europe, all of the Malbec in France died from the phylloxera epidemic and had to be re-seeded from the grapes in Argentina. This means that now, the strains in Argentina are a closer relative to the original French Malbec than current French Malbec is.

The beautiful front view of Piedra Negra (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Walking onto the terrace (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A room of white wines (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Trying Malbec straight out of the barrel (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The second winery, Corazon del Sol, is owned by an doctor based in Texas who also has wineries in Napa and the Willamette valley. He bought a plot in the communal network called The Vines, which is a growing town that will eventually have 10 boutique vineyards, a resort, and shopping within a consolidated area. Corazon del Sol is interested in mixing different types of grapes to create the most well-balanced wines, instead of focusing on the traditional Malbecs of the area. Our guide at this second winery was great, and we were also getting pretty drunk by that point. We learned that the only real threat to grapes in Mendoza is the devastating large hail, which can ruin a crop for multiple years. Some vineyards are not traditionally in storm patterns, but for those who are, their only real protection is nets that need to be removed to allow the grapes to get light, and then replaced when a storm is in the forecast. It increases labor in the vineyards quite a bit, but it’s better than losing a crop. They also bomb the clouds to try to prevent hail,but the effectiveness of this strategy is very debatable.

Baby grapes (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Signs of a recent spray (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Humidity being pumped into the barrel room at Corazon del Sol (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Our third stop was Alpasion, which is a combination of the words for soul and passion (you may be sensing a theme about the romantic quality of Argentinian winery names). There, we drank four wines over a four-course lunch. Jason and I were delighted to eat more than crackers, and the lunch was delicious. The view was also pretty amazing.

Our view for lunch (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Spring in South America

Jason and I picked Buenos Aires to visit for a few reasons: it was in the southern hemisphere, which made the weather favorable in our chosen travel time of late November; Jason’s sister Emilie had lived there for a few weeks after college and liked it; and it had an interesting reputation as a European-feeling city in South America, which just sounded cool. Having already decided to save Patagonia for a separate trip to Chile, we decided to focus our time on the city of Buenos Aires, with a couple of days in Mendoza for good measure (and good wine).

Our first Airbnb apartment was in San Telmo, one of the oldest areas of the city. It’s known for great food and great tango, as well as more classic architecture. Our apartment was historic and quirky and adorable. It was also right on the Plaza Dorrego, where there was always something going on - outdoor dining, tango lessons, a street fair. During the day at our apartment in San Telmo, we were constantly serenaded by our neighbor’s slow, classic music, which was occasionally punctuated by the tango playing in the square outside, a bird on the roof, or a child crying next door.

The under construction, cobblestone streets of San Telmo (not entirely practical for vehicles but essential for maintaining charm) (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The beautiful blooming trees (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A random paint party in a park (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A line to take pictures with the blooming BA sign (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Police near the Casa Rosada (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After we landed in the city and got checked in to our apartment, we started walking. We visited Puerto Madero, which is full of chain restaurants and new modern housing developments; we found a marijuana legalization rally in one of the plazas; we went to a classic Argentinian restaurant for dinner. On the first full day, we started our 15-mile walk by visiting the incredibly European-feeling Cafe Tortoni, which has been around since 1858, where we got some coffee and medialunas (sort of like softer, sweeter croissants). We saw the Recoleta Cemetery, where I could not stop marveling about how much all of the marble must have cost; visited the El Ateneo Grand Splendid bookstore, which is definitely the grandest bookstore I’ve ever set foot in; we marveled at the giant Floralis Generica, which apparently closes and opens with the sun. After a visit to the Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes, which has a great collection, we visited a local brewery. It was a good day.

The ceiling in Cafe Tortoni (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Our breakfast at Cafe Tortoni (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Beautiful murals were everywhere (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A delicious apple pancake thing (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Reflections at the Recoleta Cemetery (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A cemetery cat (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The sky from the cemetery (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Through the window of the Teatro Colón (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The amazing El Ateneo Grand Splendid (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The Floralis Generica (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A painted outdoor staircase at the national library (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A brewery with a surprise skate park in the back (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On Saturday, we started walking to the La Boca neighborhood, where we quickly understood that the Boca Juniors were playing a futbol game that evening. It was an ill-fated futbol game, but we didn’t learn that until later. As we walked through the neighborhood, the energy was high. There were block parties, but there were also just people walking around the neighborhood waving flags and singing, punctuated by the supportive honks of the city’s drivers. Later we learned that the match had to be postponed because fans of River, the other team, threw rocks at a La Boca bus and hurt some of the players. It was a huge disappointment to everyone who had traveled for the game, and the rematch was removed from Buenos Aires as punishment. Everyone we talked to about the incident was adamant that it was really unusual for things to get that out of hand.

Game excitement (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Street party (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A mural next to the Boca Juniors stadium (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Street mechanics (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Eventually, we got to the iconic painted streets of Barrio La Boca. Buenos Aires has an incredible number of murals and colorful buildings, but La Boca in a league of its own. The buildings in a small cluster of streets near the river are all painted bright colors, and many of the restaurants and bars have life-sized dolls hanging out of the upper windows and leering at the people below. It’s all quite surreal, but incredibly picturesque. We found a restaurant with a great outdoor courtyard and ate some choripan, which I would definitely recommend to anyone.

Paint extending to the river (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Dolls hanging from the balconies (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Classic colors (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Painted buildings in La Boca (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The courtyard at lunch (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A classic grill (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A very, very large door (Photo/Jason Rafal)

During our time in the city, I began to understand why it is so special. It is definitely very European feeling - a large percentage of the population is actually from Italian decent - but with some local flair. This was my first time in South America, so I didn’t have much to compare it to, but Buenos Aires had a unique feel that was both sophisticated and friendly. The language was Spanish with some Italian influences, which made it even more difficult for us to understand, with our limited amount of Spanish and almost no knowledge of Italian. Everyone was very nice to us and accommodating, though, and the language barrier never felt like a real problem.

On Sunday, we hung out in San Telmo before flying out to Mendoza. We started the morning walking through the San Telmo street fair, which had a mile of craft stalls, then spent some time in the San Telmo market, where we ate some really delicious choripan at La Choripaneria. It was a lovely goodbye to the area.

The very extensive street fair (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A street band (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The San Telmo Market before it filled up (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A meat stall at the San Telmo Market (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The fast-paced and delicious La Choripaneria (Photo/Jason Rafal)

An Unlikely Geological Hotspot

On Thursday night, I got pretty sick. Sick enough that when we left Old Faithful on Friday morning after walking around for a couple of hours, I was very grateful to my body for not feeling the need to throw up at the geyser.

I wasn’t really able to sleep in, so we got an early start to Old Faithful as planned. Old Faithful goes off approximately every hour and a half, so we had a loose idea of when would be a good time to arrive, but tried not to get too excited about a specific plan.

We got to the geyser about half an hour before it was maybe supposed to erupt (plus or minus 16 minutes, according to the prediction calculator), so we had a seat and waited. It’s hard to see the geyser erupt without being surrounded by people because they slowly trickle in during the hour and a half proceeding the eruption, so even though it was shortly after 8:00 am, we were certainly nowhere near alone. By the time we left a couple of hours later, though, the number of people hanging out about the geyser had increased dramatically.

Old Faithful (Photo/Jason Rafal)

I’m going to be honest here - unusual geothermal activity is pretty cool, but it doesn’t make me insanely excited. Old Faithful wasn’t the craziest thing I’ve ever seen, but it is pretty awesome to see nature explode in any way, whether arbitrarily or (approximately) on a schedule.

After we saw Old Faithful do its thing, we (slowly, and with several breaks to sit down) walked a couple of miles through the area to see the other geysers and hydrothermal elements. Honestly, this part is a bit fuzzy in my memory, so I can’t teach you much about all this stuff. But it was cool, and here are some pictures.

A view of the hillside and the Old Faithful Inn, which is the first example of parkitecture and the largest log structure in the world (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A yellow-bellied marmot (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Some sort of crazy hot water thing (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We next drove to the Grand Prismatic Spring, where Jason’s parking luck paid off and we got a spot in the very busy parking lot. Despite my general state of discomfort, the Spring was amazing. It’s a rainbow of deep, rich colors, starting with blue in the middle and ending at orange on the sides. The colors are from the water temperature, which supports the growth of different types and colors of microbes. Possibly my favorite part was the steam off of the Spring, which was all of the colors that showed in the water. It’s really beautiful, in a crazy, abstract sort of way.

People taking pictures of the Grand Prismatic Spring (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The multi-colored steam was my favorite part (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The Spring is great for abstract photography - notice the reflection of the trees along the lower edge of the orange part (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After the Spring we got some food (Jason) and probiotics (me) at Canyon Village. Yellowstone is kind of odd in that there are a few groups of stores, gas stations, and hotels in the middle of the park. It’s weird having a random cafeteria filled with tourists in the middle of a national park, five miles away from a field of wildlife that has zero humans in it. It’s an interesting dichotomy, but also nice to know that one can always get away from the crowds there.

Our next stop was Hayden Valley, where we joined the other visitors in the great American pastime of taking many pictures of bison. I am constantly bemoaning the lack of this continent’s megafauna (thanks, Quaternary extinction event), and bison are great. They are huge, they are fluffy, they have curious bovine eyes, and they are just entertaining to watch.

A bison wallowing (rolling in the dirt) (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Our campsite was next to Yellowstone lake, which is massive and lovely, though I missed the sight of the Tetons on the other side. We stopped on our way in to take some pictures of the very chill young male elk that were hanging out in the shade.

Relaxing elk (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Grazing elk (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A ladybug in the grass (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On Saturday I felt somewhat better, and we headed to Artist’s Point early to see the lower falls. On the way, after stopping to take some more pictures of bison

I love their eyes (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Bison and steam (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Yellowstone in all of its otherworldliness (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Bison butts (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Bison calves play fighting (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A young bison soaks up the early morning sun (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Uncle Tom’s trail was closed, which was frustrating but also a relief, because I’m not sure how I would have done with that many stairs. Artist’s Point, though, is a short walk to a lovely view of the lower falls, and the sun kept peeking out from behind the clouds to bathe the water and mist in a warm light. From Artist’s Point we went to see the lower falls and the brink of the upper falls. Aside from the waterfall being super dramatic, the canyon is a beautiful yellow and orange.

Upper Yellowstone Falls (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Another shot of the Falls showing the colorful canyon (Photo/Jason Rafal)

An adorable and very twitchy squirrel (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After we saw the falls from several angles, we left to head for the Norris Geyser Basin area. On the drive, we saw a crowd of people peering at something over a cliff, so I demanded we stop to investigate. It was a baby black bear and its mother, who was being incredibly tolerant of the people standing far closer than the suggested 100 meters as they oohed and aahed. Jason had a pretty long telephoto lens, so we were able to get a couple of pictures while staying a little further back. After a couple of minutes the bears headed off, and we continued to see more geyers. Mama bear (Photo/Jason Rafal) Baby bear (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Norris Geyser Basin looks like the scene of the apocalypse. There are forests on all sides, but the ground in the area is very light, devoid of trees, and usually looks very dry and salty (except when there are geysers and pools). Mammoth Hot Springs is known for its beautiful, multicolored terraces, over which the hot water flows and steams. It’s weird, and remarkable, and mesmerizing.

The basin (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Steam escaping from a hillside (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Canary Spring (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Palette Spring and Terrace (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After eating lunch in Mammoth along with everyone else who was in the northern tip of the park, we headed out east to Lamar Valley. On our way, we saw another mother and baby bear by the side of the road. There were rangers keeping people from stopping because the bears were so close, so we kept driving. Once we got into the valley we stopped and got out of the car to look at the herds of bison.

There were just so many bison (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After we officially left Yellowstone, we drove over Dead Indian Pass, which is so poorly named I am hardly willing to say it. But the view from the top of the pass is absolutely incredible, so I wanted to share that. It has a tragic story involving a tribe fleeing to a new valley, and a dying man who was left behind.

The incredible view from the top of the pass (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We spent our last night in a beautiful guest house in Wyoming, where we watched the sun set and the stars come out. It was a lovely end to the trip, and there was an adorable dog who came to say hi in the morning as well.

Sunset over the hay fields (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Stars in the evening sky (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Our dog friend (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Yellowstone has a lot of really cool places to see, but I think the most impressive thing about the park is that approximately three million people each year come here to watch…nature. Even with all that has changed in the past 100 years, a beautiful, weird park in the middle of nowhere Wyoming is still one of our nation’s top internationally visited treasures. It gives me a tiny bit of faith in humanity.

Pointed Mountains and Clear Lakes

For the 4th of July, Jason and I took a road trip to the Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. Despite both having spent considerable amounts of time living in the West, neither of us had ever been, and the mid-week holiday seemed like a good excuse to take a couple more days off.

Approaching the Teton range (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The Tetons, looking fake (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A classic barn-and-Tetons shot (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We arrived mid-afternoon on Wednesday, and after securing a camping spot so that I could stop having so much anxiety about where we were sleeping, we set off on a hike to Taggart and Bradley lakes.

Taggart Creek (Photo/Jason Rafal)

I have spent a considerable amount of time around dramatic mountains - I’ve been in Colorado nearly my whole life, and have marveled at all of our lovely ranges. The Tetons, though, still amazed me. They are granite, and they have snow and glaciers year round, which gives them an arresting black and white look. They are also very steep, with angles jutting into the sky. They do not blend into the landscape at all, and they are very beautiful.

The trail to the lakes (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The view at Bradley Lake (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We were not prepared for the mosquitoes. Mosquitoes love Jason, but we hadn’t had to deal with them in large numbers on any of our recent vacations, so we spaced bug spray on that first hike and had to take a slightly more hasty pace back to the car so that Jason could escape the swarms. The lakes were very photogenic, despite the bugs.

A thickly forested trail (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After our hike, we headed to Jackson to see what it was like. It was kind of like a Colorado ski town, just more western. It was simultaneously familiar and odd, just like any mountain town, but it’s a beautiful place.

Jackson has four giant arches built of antlers, because why not (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Sunset at our campsite (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On Thursday we got up early so that Jason could take sunrise pictures at the Snake River Overlook, which is where one of Ansel Adams’ famous photographs was taken. It was absurdly early, and rather cold, and incredibly beautiful. When the sun was up we drove to Schwabacher’s Landing, where there were a number of photographers already taking lovely reflection photos in the morning light.

The Tetons photograph especially well in black and white (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A stunning mountain sunrise (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Another very similar photo because we couldn’t pick one (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The reflections at Schwabacher’s Landing were incredible (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Cloud reflections (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Dedicated sunrise photographers (Photo/Jason Rafal)

With our sunrise pictures out of the way, we headed next to Jenny Lake, where we took the first ferry over to Hidden Falls and Cascade Canyon, which were nearly unoccupied at 7:15 am. This side of the lake features the beautiful waterfall, overlooks of the lake, and the typical outstanding views of the Tetons. We hiked around for a couple of hours before taking the ferry back and packing up our campsite.

The first boat across the lake (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Early morning light on the mountains (Photo/Jason Rafal)

More beautiful mountains and water (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The dock on the other side of the lake (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Hidden Falls (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The ferry on Jenny Lake (Photo/Jason Rafal)

For the rest of the afternoon, we drove by Jackson Lake all the way up to Moose Falls in Yellowstone, where we hung out for a while before driving back to our cabin for the night in Colter Bay, where we cooked dinner next to the surprisingly clear lake and tried to obtain minimal additional mosquito bites.

Boats on Jackson Lake (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Sunset, Tetons, and Jackson Lake (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The lovely Moose Falls, where we were unfortunately not allowed to swim (Photo/Jason Rafal)

At the Mouth of the Columbia River

For Memorial Day weekend, we went to the riverside town of Astoria, Oregon, which is famous for being where Lewis and Clark spent a miserable winter after finally reaching the Pacific. It’s an old town that is not so slowly becoming a favorite of Portland dwellers and hipsters, and it’s quickly gentrifying as the old houses and shops are remodeled and repurposed. Nicole’s grandparents bought an old house and are slowly doing some restoration.

The grand Liberty Theatre (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The riverfront is very scenic, with Washington visible across the Columbia River and massive container ships frequently passing below the bridge on their way to and from the ocean. Wooden supports, remnants of a long-ago burned pier that are now covered in algae, line much of the Astoria Riverwalk.

A very large, very orange cargo ship heading out to sea (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The remains of something that might be a boiler (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After arriving in town and getting some food, Jason and I headed to the Astoria Column, which I saw from outside the restaurant and set my heart on visiting. The Astoria Column is a significant tower on top of a hill that overlooks the town of Astoria, the Colombia and Youngs Rivers, and the dense green forest to the east. It’s an incredible 360-degree view. We hiked up through the dense, green forest from the community college to climb the tower, and then made our way back to the house along the top of the ridgeline.

Nicole is confused by some sticks at the start of the trail (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The view of Astoria and the Columbia River from the Column (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The forest beyond the city (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The Astoria-Megler Bridge at sunset (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A large private garden that has welcomed the community to spend time there (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Although Astoria is not actually on the ocean, it’s very close, and we had to go to the beach while we were there. We went to Fort Stevens, which had a lot of civil war memorabilia and education in honor of Memorial Day. We greeted the horses and the educators before walking through the forest to the beach.

A typical Civil War-era scene. With a stroller behind it. (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Martha discusses the horses with one of the educators (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Portrait of a mustang (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Surveying the landscape (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

Walking out onto the beach (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The view from the jetty (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On Sunday night, after a delicious seafood dinner, Jason, Nicole, and Eric went to the Fort George Brewery to see live music and eat dessert. The band, All Our Exes Live in Texas, was composed of four women from Australia who turned out to be great folk artists who were, for some reason, stopping at a brewery to play at the start of their U.S. tour. The brewery was packed, the music was lively, and the musicians even sang happy birthday to one of the children dancing in front of the stage. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening.

A sign from above (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A jumble of reflections (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The band (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After the music was over and the dessert consumed, we walked back to the house through the city streets and the hillside passageways that allowed pedestrians to walk up and down between the houses. We took about 6 of these passageways while we were in town, but we definitely got the feeling that there were more of these secret paths than we could find in a week.

The Garden of Surging Waves, a tribute to early Chinese immigrants (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Bizarre window decorations (Photo/Jason Rafal)

More bizarre window decorations (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The Flavel House Museum, which is a bit creepy at night (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Astoria is intriguing both for its history and its current state of transition, and we will definitely be back to explore further.

There were deer everywhere (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Soaking up the plentiful summer sun (Photo/Jason Rafal)

An impressive item at the fantastic Vintage Hardware (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

A vehicle for the Cannery Pier Hotel (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A piece of a 620-year old Douglas Fir, which is protected by some presumably younger wood (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Sloths and Monkeys and Lizards, Oh My!

On Thursday we woke up early to go to the Manuel Antonio National Park for a guided tour. It had rained hard the night before, and in a possibly related turn of fortune, we got very lucky with animal sightings. We saw several sloths, a couple of which were moving; fantastically camouflaged helmet lizards; a similarly well camouflaged bird, a couple beautiful species of spider; a honey bear (that one was just a tiny blob of fur sleeping between two branches); dozens of overly friendly capuchin monkeys; a porcupine, which a capuchin poked; a howler monkey swinging between trees; a agouti, related to capybaras, that looked like a mix between a rat and a rabbit but with a certain prey animal quality; a very small deer and its fawn; a tiny frog; and several lizards. Our guide, who had interned at the San Diego Zoo, was amazing at spotting animals hiding in the trees. We would have only seen about a quarter of the animals without him. He spoke great English, knew an enormous amount about the small national park, and had an easy rapport with the other guides; as we passed other groups, the guides would point out animals to our guide, and he would do the same for them.

A slow-moving sloth (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A helmet lizard (Photo/Jason Rafal)

An adorable agouti (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A mother and baby sloth (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A posing capuchin (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A porcupine curled up in a tree (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After our tour, Ally, Emilie, Jason, and I went on the Cathedral Point loop to look at some views of the ocean. Then we went and changed into our swimsuits and actually jumped in.

A note about the Pacific Ocean in Costa Rica: it is beautiful, light green, and very warm. A note about me: having spent very little time in the ocean while growing up, I really don’t know how best to handle it, and there is a lot of flailing and swallowed water when I am spending time there. The others were quite proficient at ocean, but I am rather bad at it. I got caught in a wave twice, which was a bit alarming for me, but I feel like I’m getting better. I definitely had fun once I caught my breath.

A lounging capuchin (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We ordered a couple of ripe mangoes from a street vendor - they were amazing (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After swimming we made dinner plans with Anne and Marc and headed to get - wait for it - coffee. At the coffee shop, we sat and watched the late afternoon sun shine over the ocean, then watched a thunderstorm move toward us. It wasn’t until right before the wall of water reached us that we realized we might have trouble getting back to the resort. It would be quick, we told ourselves. Half an hour of downpour later, we realized we might just have to suck it up and walk the five minutes back in the rain. We made a call and headed back, then got raincoats so we could head the other way to dinner. Of course, as soon as we started heading to dinner, the rain slowed.

The view from our hotel room window (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On Friday morning we took a kayaking and snorkeling trip, and we had the tour all to ourselves, which was lovely. Our guide showed us how to paddle most effectively and then loaded us up into two-person open kayaks. We paddled around a bird nesting ground, between the rocky shore and an island, and over to a snorkeling spot at the other side of the small bay. We never actually went to land, but instead to a buoy with a place to tie kayaks near an outcropping of rocks in the middle of the water. Our guide stayed in his kayak to manage our kayaks and be around if we needed rescuing, and we put on our gear and jumped in.

Starting off (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The water was much murkier than the Caribbean, but we were still able to see several types of fish. Ally and Jason dived down with GoPros to try to capture them, which worked surprisingly well.

Jumping in with the fishes (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A variety of fish (Photo/Jason Rafal)

More fish (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Anne in the water (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After returning to our kayaks and “gracefully” clambering aboard, our guide gave us some fresh pineapple for a snack and helped us get situated to paddle back.

Unloading from the kayaks (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After we got out of the water, our bus took us to a restaurant where we were served cansadas, a typical meal with delicious fried local fish. Our guide helped us arrange a ride to Quepos that afternoon for the Friday night market, and we headed back to our resort to relax for a while.

We got to the night market a few minutes before sunset and watched the color over the water. The night market was small (Quepos only has about 4000 residents) but had a great selection of fruits, vegetables, meats, breads, and handicrafts.

A boat coming in during high tide (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Sunset on the ocean (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Giant zucchini (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Stalls at the night market (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A street in Quepos (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On Saturday afternoon we had a transfer back to San Jose. In the morning, we all split up and did our own thing. Jason and I walked down to the beach before breakfast, where I waded in and we watched a couple of very excited dogs dog a hole in the sand. We also saw a family of capuchins crossing the street using the power lines. We were waiting where we expected the hotel shuttle to come pick us up, but it never came, so we got to experience the public bus, which was very nice. The elaborate foam coin compartmentalizer for providing change made me question how many coins Costa Rica actually has.

An airplane that a rich expat brought to Manuel Antonio and built a bar in (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A capuchin and her baby (Photo/Jason Rafal)

I don’t understand why all of the animals in this sign are realistic, but the child has an absurdly large head (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A happy beach dog (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A less happy beach dog (Photo/Jason Rafal)

One beach dog yelling at another to dig more (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After we got back and went to breakfast, we went to the butterfly gardens in the animal refuge, which is managed by the same company as our hotel. The butterfly garden was small but beautiful, and there were tons of colorful butterflies fluttering around (I still think they should be called flutterbys). The garden had a second floor level with wooden chairs and benches that was shaded, which provided a very nice respite from the heat while watching all the butterflies.

A very large caterpillar (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A posing butterfly (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A very dramatic lizard-type animal (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After butterflies, in a completely unexpected turn of events, we went to get coffee. We went to Emilio’s, where we sat and watched the amazing view one last time. Costa Rica doesn’t really have a coffee shop culture - people usually seem to eat a meal around having coffee. To feel better about taking up a table just to have coffee, we also ordered a croissant and pain de chocolat, which both came warmed. It felt a bit European. After coffee, we headed back to the hotel to check out.

Espresso in paradise (Photo/Jason Rafal)

In between checking out and leaving for San Jose, we got lunch at a little fast casual falafel restaurant owned by an Israeli woman. The food was delicious, and they had a very good mango ginger smoothie as well. After eating, we met up with Anne and Marc at the other coffee shop, where the Rafals got more coffee. I had a frozen lemonade blended with mint. Many of the mint drinks here have been blended, which means you can get a wonderful amount of mint in the drink without being annoyed by the full leaves sticking everywhere.

After lunch we were picked up and began the three hour drive back to San Jose, where we had dinner and prepared for our trips home. I definitely could have stayed longer.

The Days of Stereotypical Costa Rican Activities

On Tuesday, Emilie, Ally, Jason and I went zip lining. We were picked up at our resort and driven to the zip line company, which was a major operation. Buses of people seemed to be arriving constantly, and we were shuttled through to get helmets and harnesses. One of the employees even helped me strap our borrowed GoPro to my helmet.

After we waited in line for a while to get our safety talk, we climbed into open gondola lifts and flew through the air to the top of the mountain, where we disembarked and tried out a tiny baby zip line before moving onto the 400+ meter large ones. Emilie and I were rather nervous, but we all managed to step up on the platform and set off.

Emilie waits her turn (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

Ready to set off (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

My general impression of zip lining is that, similar to water parks and very popular bars, it’s fun but not worth all of the waiting around that you have to do. I will say, however, that the view from the five big zip lines was pretty amazing, and I’m very glad we went. You could see the Arenal Volcano itself, which was very clear that day. You could also see the lake that was created after the last time arenal erupted - there was a town there, but they had enough warning to fully evacuate, and after the eruption they created a lake over the area. La Fortuna, on the other side of the volcano, is so named because it was mostly unaffected by the eruption.

There were many pictures of people checking whether the GoPro was on (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

More GoPro checking (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

Lake Arenal (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

Arenal Volcano (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

The rest of the view was of the vast, green, layered forest that carpeted the mountainous area. One of the zip lines actually went through the canopy, which was also very cool.

Zipping through the canopy (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

After our ziplining adventure, we headed into the town of La Fortuna to get some coffee and lunch. It’s a small town, but there was some very good food.

A beautiful iced latte (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

Graffiti on our way to lunch (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On Wednesday, we took a bus transfer to Manuel Antonio. An hour into the ride, we joined up with a rafting company to take a two-hour raft trip down the Balsa river. Every day, the dams at the head of the river are opened for a couple of hours, and that’s when all the rafting companies take tours - there were three or four rafting companies altogether.

It very quickly became evident that river rat culture is the same everywhere. The guides teased each other and splashed us as the rafts passed each other. Our guide, a La Fortuna native, told us that he had done this for 15 years (after telling Anne that it was his second time out to scare her). The guide told us that it would be class two and three rapids, so we weren’t expecting too much excitement.

Rafting the Balsa River (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Some gentler rapids (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Some less gentle rapids (Photo/Jason Rafal)

When we hit a bumpy patch and our guide fell out of the boat about 15 minutes in, we realized we may have been wrong. He fell out in the first third of a rapid stretch, then pulled himself up and had enough time to shout “get down!”, our signal for huddling into the bottom of the boat, before he almost fell out again. Getting down was very necessary because no one was steering for a good chunk of time, but we made it out of that stretch without additional incident.

A few minutes later there was more excitement. We were not oriented correctly through another rapid stretch and found ourselves pushed into a large rock in the middle of the rapids by the strong current. Our guide immediately started trying to push us off of the rock, and climbed out onto the rock for more leverage when that didn’t work, but another raft slid into us and under the front of our raft, pinning us. Suddenly, flipping the raft and pinning Jason against a large rock while we did so seemed like a legitimate possibility. Noting the situation, the rescue guides, who were in one-person inflatable kayaks, came over to help our guide, and eventually they were able to slowly wedge the boats apart to free us.

Some slight concern at getting stuck (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Waiting to get free (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Our guide took us to the side of the river and, taking a deep breath, remarked that we were having an exciting trip today. He also showed us his river tattoo - his scraped and slightly bloody arm from falling out of the boat.

The rest of the trip was a bit less eventful, as the big rapids were mostly in the beginning of the trip. When we got to a very calm part of the river, our guide invited us to get out and float down for a while. It was beautiful and very peaceful, even with other boats around.

After we got back in, we saw a variety of wildlife, including iguanas, lizards, cormorants, blue and white egrets, a few other species of birds, a sloth, and some long-nosed bats.

The smaller rescue kayaks were loaded up with some fresh pineapple and watermelons, and we paddled to a rocky river shore and ate the fresh fruit while watching and occasionally feeding the family of cows that was there.

The guides cut up fruit on the bottom of a raft (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Feeding the resident cows (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After we finished rafting, we changed and climbed back into the bus for an hour-long ride to lunch through hills of farmland. The food was what’s called typical in Costa Rica: black beans, rice, salad, French fries, meat, and plantains. We were starving, but I’m fairly sure it was also delicious.

We also got to see and order professional pictures from rafting. We all started laughing immediately because everyone looked like they were having fun except Anne, who actually looked very angry…in almost every picture.

The rapids started immediately (Photo/Costa Rica Films)

Anne was less than amused (Photo/Costa Rica Films)

Reassurance after some rapids (Photo/Costa Rica Films)

Water everywhere (Photo/Costa Rica Films)

Our guide jumped during many photos (Photo/Costa Rica Films)

After lunch, we skirted San Jose and headed to the coast for the last four hours of driving. We were able to see the sun set over the Pacific Ocean as we started driving down the coast toward Manuel Antonio.

Vamos A La Playa

On Monday, Ally, Emilie, Jason, and I went on a hiking tour. Along with the people picked up from four other resorts, we stuffed a 15-person bus and went to a hiking trail beside the Cerro Chato and Arenal volcanoes, where we put the provided lunches in our backpacks and started our big loop for the day.

Starting the hike with a hanging bridge with a 5-person maximum (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We began by walking through the forest and saw some wildlife and plants, along with stops with volcano views. I was a little worried that all of our 8-mile hike would be slow and over fairly flat ground, but I was enjoying seeing the animals and learning about the plants. We came across a colony of leafcutter ants who were carrying leaves that were three times their size across the path in neat rows. Our guide, Nano, also picked up an ant and showed us how it could hold an entire leaf if it needed to.

Emilie sniffs a citronella leaf (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The insane strength of a leafcutter ant (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We also hiked by a massive tree that had a vine hanging from it, and we were invited to play out our Tarzan dreams. Ally and Jason both gave it a try, and Emilie and I were content to watch and take pictures. I was just blown away by the width and height of the tree - it had obviously been there a very long time.

Jason swinging around in the trees (Photo/Nicole Harrison)

Arenal Volcano (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Jungle flower (Photo/Jason Rafal)

As we were hiking, we saw some spider monkeys climbing around high up in the trees. We took a few minutes to watch a take pictures, and then started moving on. Within a couple of minutes, though, we heard the monkeys start chasing each other around and making irritated noises, and because seeing a monkey spat is one of the lures of visiting Costa Rica, we backtracked to watch. It looked like some sort of territorial issue, and there was much chasing between trees and yelling. One of the monkeys had a baby clinging to its back as it jumped around.

A spider monkey doing…something (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A baby spider monkey clings to its mother as she moves from tree to tree (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After a couple more hours hiking through the jungle, during which time we stopped while our guide explained how to get out to three tourists who, concerningly, didn’t appear to speak a lot of Spanish or carry any water, we came out of the forest into a lava field. This was pretty reminiscent of avalanche fields in Colorado - a wide area where all the trees have been wiped out that’s filled with large rocks. These ones, unsurprisingly, were all lava rocks.

We hiked along the lava field to a lovely stream, where we stopped for lunch. It was beautiful, and a great place to stop in the shade for a bit. There were surprisingly few bugs, considering that we were in the jungle. Fortunately for us and unfortunately for him, Jason lured them all away.

Lunchtime at the creek (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After lunch, the hiking got more strenuous. I am used to Colorado hikes, which generally go up rather steeply for a while and then back down to the parking lot. Instead of a direct up a down, this hike went up and down dozens of times. It was also steeper, slicker, and had fewer rocks to brace against. For the very steep slopes, there were ropes tied to trees that we had to use to pull ourselves up the slopes and brace ourselves going down. Our guide would help everyone up or down from a steep ledge and then take off into the forest to get ahead of us before the next one, whooping and making Donald Duck noises as he went. Whenever we had all gathered and were ready to go on, he would say “vamos a la playa!” and take off. This confused us at first because we were nowhere near a beach, but everyone bought in after the first five times and started saying it themselves.

Some more technical hiking (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Eventually, we exited the forest and walked through a working farm. At the farm, we saw horses, adorable pigs, a big spider, and tiny adorable organic pineapples. There was also a field of Brahman bulls that our guide fed leaves to. Interestingly, the farm was also some sort of tourist attraction. We walked across a couple of hanging bridges and then to natural pool with a waterfall. Our guide had extolled the virtues of the waterfall, and said the best way to view it was from behind the water. When we got there, we saw that one would have to jump into the pool and swim around to the back side of the waterfall, which our guide immediately did. Tentatively, a few other people in our group stripped down to undergarments and waded in. Of our immediate group, only Ally did, and the rest of us felt a little better about chickening out when she confirmed how cold it was.

A posing pig at the farm (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A large and frightening banana spider (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Nano standing on the other side of the waterfall (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After everyone got out of the water and dressed, we walked to another resort, the Arenal observatory lodge. It felt like we were trespassing as we visited the very small museum about the Arenal volcano and its surrounding area and used the bathrooms there to change into swimsuits. After changing, we were directed to the panoramic deck, where we hung out in the fading afternoon sunlight and admired views of the volcano, the lake, and a weird fake tree that the lodge stuck pieces of watermelon to so that birds would entertain the onlookers. We also saw some adorable animals called coatis, which I unfortunately do not have a picture of. And then, in a move that won over the Rafals entirely, we were fed coffee and cookies before getting back into our van, Grace, to drive to a hot springs.

The view of Lake Arenal from the deck (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The watermelon tree (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We finished the day at a public hot springs, where we sat in the river, got volcanic mud masks, and had Fresca mixed with Cacique Guaro poured into our mouths by our guide. The entire experience was amazing and surreal. We parked right on the road and got into the water under a bridge, and the entire river was the temperature of a slightly cool hot tub. As we hung out, drinking and soaking, many other groups showed up. By the time it was fully dark and we were leaving, the spot had gone from being shared by a couple of groups to a rather crowded party. As people got there, they would prop up some flashlights to create light, open the alcohol they brought, and find themselves a place to wade in. It was a very satisfying end to a very full day.

The hot springs before it got dark and crowded (Photo/Ally White)

Mud masks in the hot springs (Photo/Ally White)

#RafalRica Begins

In April, we (Jason, me, Emilie, Ally, Marc, and Anne) went on a trip to Costa Rica to celebrate Anne’s 65th birthday. None of us had been to Costa Rica before, and with the help of a local travel company, we had planned a week full of typical Costa Rican activities.

We all arrived in San Jose on Saturday evening and stayed at Hotel Grano de Oro, which is a Victorian house in the city that was transformed into a boutique hotel in the early 1990s. The hotel is amazing - there are many open-air courtyards throughout, and the halls are lined with old wallpaper, mirrors, paintings, clocks, and other art. There was a great sense of not knowing whether I was inside or outside as I walked from the lobby to our room, and we even had a personal fountain outside our window. The restaurant is also very good. Overall, would highly recommend.

A hotel hallway (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A hotel courtyard (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The nighttime view from the roof deck (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A traditional tico breakfast (Photo/Jason Rafal)

On Sunday, our driver and guide, Tommy, picked us up in the morning and we started the long drive to La Fortuna, where we would spend the first part of our trip. Along the way, he told us fun facts about Costa Rica and generally got us excited about being in the country. One of the first things we learned was the phrase Pura Vida, which is a catch-all phrase used across the country to express pleasantries. Our guide said that the phrase was a marketing campaign used by a president in the 80s that was wildly successful and spread throughout Costa Rica culture. It appears to have originated from a 1950s Mexican movie, but Costa Rica adopted the phrase as its own.

Similarly to many other countries I’ve been to, traffic laws in Costa Rica are used more like loose guidelines, and people tend to just make the driving choices that make the most sense to them at the time. Our driver used his hazards like blinkers to show when he was slowing down for a stopped car. They also use horns similarly to how they did in Vietnam - one longer blast to scold, a couple of light taps to tell someone you were passing them. Most of the bridges were one lane, so the person who got there first would go and the people coming the other way would have to wait.

Passing on mountain roads (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We were driving on Easter, which was also Election Day, and there were flags everywhere - on houses, tied to cars, being carried around - to show candidate loyalty. We passed many voting stations by the side of the road.

Voting registration stations (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We had a few stops on our way to the hotel in La Fortuna; the first was Doka Estate for a coffee tour. At Doka, we combined with other groups and followed a young woman around the farm as she walked us through how the coffee beans are harvested, sorted, de-skinned, dried, and stored. The Rafals know a fair bit about coffee, but I was struck by the sheer amount of labor that goes into coffee preparation. A lot of it is still done by hand at Doka. Similarly to picking grapes in France, laborers are invited to the farm and given food and board every year to work picking the coffee fruits. Doka roasts and also sells green beans.

Lovely tropical scenary at Doka (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Our guide shows us different states of coffee beans (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Machinery that de-skins coffee (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Costa Rica has an interesting coffee culture. Until recently, they exported all of their good coffee and kept the low-quality beans to sell domestically. In the past few years there has been a movement to keep some of Costa Rica’s good quality coffee in the country. The coffee we were served at resorts, which was primarily Britt, was pretty good.

Bags of resting coffee beans (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Dried green coffee beans (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Ally helps Doka rotate the drying coffee beans (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After finishing the tour and sampling some different coffees and chocolates, we loaded back into our van and headed to La Paz Waterfall Garden. This time, Tommy stayed with us and gave us the tour. La Paz is an amazing park with several large waterfalls, butterfly and hummingbird gardens, and a sort of zoo of rescued birds and wild animals. Tommy walked us through the butterfly garden; a rescued bird area, where we met a very patient toucan who was posing for pictures; an area with capuchin monkeys, spider monkeys, and sloths; and a hummingbird garden, where a descriptive sign advertised the 20 or so types of hummingbirds and we struggled to identify two or three.

A posing parakeet (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A gorgeously colored rainbow-billed toucan (Photo/Jason Rafal)

A butterfly rests on a flower (Photo/Jason Rafal)

We enjoyed a buffet lunch in an open, indoor-outdoor cafeteria before visiting some wild cats (ocelots, jaguars, and an adorable margay) and looking around a traditional Costa Rican farmhouse and yard, where we also sampled traditional sugar cane tea (which tastes like…sugar cane), cornbread that had a pudding-like consistency, and the cheese that we would find to be most prevalent in Costa Rica, which is firm and squeaky and doesn’t melt easily.

A margay, which, at about the size of a domestic cat, is more wild cat than big cat (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After that, we started climbing down the hill and viewing the large waterfalls on the property. The maintenance of the trails was really impressive - it was mostly concrete steps, ramps, and railings that had been molded to look like tree branches. The trails were often steep, but well managed. The waterfalls were stunning, and each had at least a couple of vantage points from which to view them.

The whole group (despite the perspective, I am not the tallest) (Photo/Tommy)

A large jungle waterfall (Photo/Jason Rafal)

Three waterfalls from one vantage point (Photo/Jason Rafal)

The entire property is meant to be toured from the top of the hill down, and then a shuttle returns you to the top to exit. As we waited for the shuttle next to a narrow, twisty mountain road, we watched the cars and trucks making the alarming turn and they went up and down the road. At one point, a pickup truck towing a car with a rope came by, with one person in the driver’s seat and another one running up the hill behind them so he wouldn’t weigh down the car. They held up the cars in both directions for a couple minutes while trying to negotiate the turn.

The car towing having some effect on traffic (Photo/Jason Rafal)

After the waterfall garden, we drove through the forest on twisty mountain roads with hairpin turns before the landscape flattened out into rich farmland. In the afternoon, we arrived at our resort, which had beautiful views of arenal volcano from every room. We didn’t hear until later that a minority of people visiting the area actually get to see the volcano clearly; we were lucky enough to get three at least partially clear days.

The view of Arenal from our resort (Photo/Jason Rafal)