We've been home from Costa Rica for two weeks now. The reason I haven't blogged about it yet is because I haven't had the time to do it properly, and the trip deserves a reasonably well-considered post.

The trip down there was somewhat long and grueling. Our flight left Columbus at 4:30 in the morning. We had a little bit of a layover in Charlotte, and then we had another four-hour flight into San José. At that point, we were about 240km (150 miles) from our final destination on the Caribbean coast. It turned out to be a very arduous five-hour drive, trying to navigate banana truck traffic, potholes, and rainforest weather. When we finally arrived, we were very tired.

Our hosts Tom and Zoe predicted this, and made our welcome as warm as possible. Our house was stunning, with tea lights lit on the table and warm colors inviting us in. They had even cooked us some dinner so that we didn't have to worry about what to eat on our first night. It was wonderful.

The second day, we took it slow. We spent the morning talking with Tom and Zoe, getting a little more information about the area, the place we were staying etc. Then, Tom drove us into Puerto Viejo, the "big" town in the area. We had lunch and then explored the immediate area. We walked around the town and along the beach, and then walked back up to our house.

Our house was one of four buildings at Geckoes Lodge. Tom and Zoe live in one, of course. José and Tita, who maintain the grounds and the houses, live in another. The other two houses are rental units: Casa Bromelia has two bedrooms, and Casa del Bosque (where we stayed) has one. Both guest houses have a full kitchen, living room, private pool, etc. In short, the accommodations are over-the-top luxurious. The property is in the rainforest, one kilometer (walking distance) from the beach. There's complete privacy when you want it, but Tom and Zoe are always welcoming in the house next door, and there's the activity of Puerto Viejo for a night out. It's hard to imagine a better setup.

The second full day in Costa Rica happened to be Saturday. Like many communities, Puerto Viejo has a farmer's market on Saturday mornings, so we went. We picked up some sausage and vegetables for dinner, as well as some local chocolate and goat cheese. Then, Zoe graciously took our groceries back to our house for us while we went to have brunch. Bread and Chocolate, a little bakery / coffee house, turned out to be one of our favorite places in the area. Everything they served was fresh, local, and good. The rest of the day was pretty relaxed; we did a little shopping, hit the beach, and then spent the rest of the afternoon at the house.

It had been raining more often than not for these few days, but we decided not to let that dampen our spirit of adventure. We were, after all, in the rainforest. So, we went out on a hike with Junior, a guide recommended by our hosts. Most of the hike was a little too tame for my taste, but there was a period of the hike that was pretty wild. We left the road and hiked through the jungle to get to a huge waterfall. Simply beautiful beyond description. After that, we recovered with a snack of tropical fruits at the house of one of his friends, and proceeded to Bribri, a native American village. A guide there showed us the many remarkable uses for some of the rainforest plants. The tour ended by focusing on chocolate. Actually, they made chocolate start to finish while we watched. As a chocoholic, I was already quite familiar with the process, but there's a special kind of magic when you can hear the beans pop as the roast over the fire and smell the chocolate aroma begin to overtake the woodsmoke. Then, of course, we got to try the chocolate we just made. It turned out the best sweetener was simply to spread the raw chocolate paste on a ripe banana. That was the richest, most decadent chocolate I've ever had.

The next day, Katy went to the beach, but I went back out with Junior. This time, he took us to Gandoca Wildlife Preserve, pretty far away from anything resembling civilization. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

Tuesday, howler monkeys came by to visit us. In the morning, they were in the trees behind Tom and Zoe's house, and by the afternoon they had moved to our back yard. I have to admit, there was something remarkable about laying back in our pool watching the monkeys playing in the trees above me. That day, we went to the Jaguar Rescue Center, which rehabilitates injured or abandoned animals and reintroduces them to the wild. It was a great way to see some animals that we wouldn't want to come across in their natural habitats as well as to get closer to the monkeys and sloths we'd been observing from a distance.

Wednesday we went to Punta Uva, which is known for being absolutely stunningly beautiful. It was certainly that. Emerald water, with white waves crashing against the rocks in craggy coves. Deep blue sky, with lush green palms covering the hillside. Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me that day, so feel free to look up pictures on Flickr or somewhere; it really is that beautiful.

Our last day in Costa Rica, we traveled back to San José in the morning, and then had the evening in the city. Coincidentally, that night the brass section from the Royal Concertgebouw was playing in the National Theater. Of course we got tickets. It was a beautiful old venue, maybe 900 seats. I don't know enough about art or architecture to talk about it, but it was stunning in every detail. I can, however, talk about the concert. Their sound was clean and transparent, always well controlled and intentional. Every note they played had direction and intention; as a group, their phrasing was immaculate. The best thing they played, I thought, was Samuel Barber's Mutations from Bach. It was just so well taken care of; every detail was pristine. That performance will now be the ideal in my mind for that type of repertoire!