Day 6 of TweetFest: Costa Rica Style: Part 2
Last updated: Monday, September 15, 2008
After our adrenaline filled, speed demon, fear facing, wind swept (and let’s not forget cervasa capped) adventures of zip lining across the beautiful mountains near the Arenal volcano; we board our chariot and embark on the stage 2 of Nico’s birthday festivities.
Next stop: Rancho Margot.
Rancho Margot is a family run, eco-friendly, self sufficient 400 acre ranch; as well as an animal rescue, conservation, preservation and family education escape from reality.
Gotta love a family that works together to fulfill their dream to this degree. And it’s not quite done yet, and I imagine that it will never reach what may be considered complete.
Rancho Margot is an ever expanding embrace of a world shared successfully by both man and nature.
Upon our arrival, we were greeted by the owner Juan. This was our second time meeting, as we visited Rancho Margot earlier in the week to make arrangements for this day’s arrival.
We quickly made our journey to the open air bar, where we enjoyed our delectable dinner of the unsuccessful boar days before.
Ahhhh….it was time to relax and refresh a little after our jolting morning events and to get back a little steam to take us on the next adventure.
After many minutes of drinks and reliving our tales of zip lining bravery, we toke off for a tour of this fabulous place.
We viewed first hand the self sufficiency of the ranch: from the bountiful gardens of food - to the water driven electricity; from the dairy cattle to the endangered local species they were attempting to assist in re-population.
The guest houses and cottages that adorned the landscaping were quaint and really cute.
The roofs of these living quarters were made of ceramic tile which reminded me instantly of the dwellings we witnessed in South Korea
The difference here was that the roofs were covered in vegetation. They were like beautiful flower beds growing the colors of the jungle. Our guide explained that this vegetation was left in place because it actually acted as a natural insulator for the dwellings.
Along our path, we tasted the cultivated fruits, such as the zesty sweet lemon and witnessed first hand a plant that the group eventually re-named the “Emo Plant”.
Let me share with you the experience that led to this re-naming of this native plant.
Our guide pointed out the plant growing on the side of our walkway, about waist level from the stone path. It appeared to be a simple fern family plant, thriving in this wet environment.
Then I touched it. It immediately began to fold up on itself, closing the fingers of leaves on the fern like stems. It was explained that this was the plant’s defensive mechanism to hide away its leaves from passing snackers.
It was really quite amazing to watch this animation. The rest of the walk we couldn’t stop looking for this poor plant, just so we could torment it enough so we could watch it go through its defensive posturing.
“Emo Plant” came from our son, Colton, who claimed that the plant was actually saddened by our touch. But that the plant was a little bit of a drama queen in pouting so significantly, much like the over dramatic demeanor of the “emo” kids that he knew from school.
Of course, being almost 40, Colton had to explain that the term “emo” was the short slang used to describe the emotional type kids who typically dressed in what children of the 90’s would refer to as Gothic style.
Sometimes I feel way more out of touch than others!
There, actually crossing the stone path only a few feet ahead of us was a 6 foot boa constrictor. She was gorgeous!
Our guide was a bit startled and he explained that he has never seen a snake of this caliber so close to the habitated areas. I guess she just wanted to come out and say Hello!
The group, of course, froze in our tracks as we stopped to marvel at her slow movements to gain access to the thick grass on the side of our path.
It appeared that she was just as surprised to see us as we were of her, and that she would rather slither into the grass and pretend to be a stick as opposed to take any kind of aggressive action.
It’s sad, but here in the states our first reaction would have likely been to kill the beautiful creature.
Witnessing this encounter first hand triggered a re-assurance of humanity and a re-awaking within myself to the possibility that we all really could live peacefully together.
I guess that is the point of Rancho Margot and I will attest that their methods are most effective!
We left our visitor in peace to finish out our tour. The last leg of this 2 hour window into possibilities was crowned with an intimate view of one of the most beautiful ponds imaginable.
Pretend for a moment that you happened upon a Monet type painting of a quiet pond literally covered in green foliage and brilliant purple water Lilies.
A father and his three daughters were there to enjoy a moment of nature’s refreshing coolness and escape the hot sunny day that was upon us.
Their family dog was swimming nearby, as if watching over the loving family. The father had just emerged from the colorful pond to hand his excited daughters each one of the beautiful lavender lilies.
Now imagine that you could transport yourself to this happy family portrait frozen in time.
That’s what we experienced at that moment. .
Most of the Tweetfesters had shown interest in joining the other ranch visitors on a horseback ride to the top of one of the peaks that offered a specatacular view of our friend Arenal.
Lee and I decided to hang back and just enjoy a moment of rest.
Our decision was justified as Juan’s son stopped by our table to chat. What a remarkable man…tall dark and handsome to be sure. I am guessing that he was one of the favorite attractions of this destination for many a young lady.
And to top it off, he was well educated, could speak 7 languages and shared his father’s vision of a healing escape that was Rancho Margot.
Sooner than expected the TweetFesters rejoined us at the bar just in time to enjoy a quick bite and to head on out for stage 3 of Nico’s birthday festivities.
We boarded one of Rancho Margot’s colorfully scene covered buses and made our way to Lake Arenal. Nico had arranged for a sunset tour of this magnificent Volcano landscaped pool of tranquility.
The ranch bus dropped us off on the main road at what first appeared to be in the middle of nowhere. We quickly followed Nico and made our way along a hand cut path to our boat. The view….
Let’s just say that seeing Arenal from the vantage point from her lake was amazing…surreal…intimate…breathtaking.
There were no buildings dotting the shore like you would expect to find in the states. It was raw and nearly unspoiled.
I found it easy to imagine what the local people must have felt hundreds of years ago as they stared up at her from this ever peaceful lake.
Combine this with the ever changing layers of sunset and I have yet another beautiful moment to add to my treasure chest of memories.
After several minutes of ooohh’s and aaahhhh’s as we watched the sky embrace Arenal’s fiery temper, it was time to just relax.
One of the boat operators turned on a radio and we were treated to some good ole American classic rock and roll. A few moments of what we like to call dancing occurred on the deck as we joyfully shared our favorite moments of the day.
What seemed like hours later, we approached the dock lit up only by the street lamps from the road above us. We were about to be whisked away to our rooms for additional relaxation.
As we drove up to the Baldi Resort, we remembered that we actually changed hotels today. I say we, but actually Nico managed to relocate all of the TweetFester belongings to our new luxurious rooms at this incredible hot springs resort while we were zipping through the air with not a care in the world earlier in the day.
And we couldn’t have been happier.
After all, what’s better than a little soak time in the natural hot springs of Arenal to lift away any aches or fatigue that our adventures may have bestowed upon us?
I can think of only one thing. That would be feasting on incredibly tender and juicy roasted chicken from a local food joint near Nico’s pad in La Fortuna and of course, a cold Bavarian beer.
Life is good in Costa Rica!
Until tomorrow, my friends.
Pura Vida!
