After the 4 hour turismo ride to San Jose, we headed straight to Tropical Bungee (o-ow!). Fear not, they are fully insured and have an 'impeccable safety record' (per their brochure). Anywho, lucky patrons who visit this company get to jump 265 ft down from the Colorado River bridge, into a lovely canyon below. (eek!).
I barely remember the initial free fall feeling; it happened really quickly and I was pretty nervous, but once I got to the end of the tether, I got a really cool upside down swinging ride over the aforementioned canyon. After some solid swinging, the bungee team then sends down a cable that you hook to your waist, and up you go, to the top of the bridge. Done and done! I would most definitely do it again. I would probably jump with a little more gusto next time too, because I very nervously lept from this particular rickety 'ol bridge. We got a FIRST TIMER!
This is happening!
The Colorado River bridge.
The view from the bridge.
Getting all geared-up.
Learning how to attached the 'up' cable.
About to jump. AHHHH!
That's me!
Back up in one piece, and alive! What WHAT?
My girls!
After we jumped, we hit the town.... we were afraid to eat all day (in case of a 'reversal of fortune' at the bungee place), so by 6 pm, we were starvin' marvins. We went down to Central Ave, the happening spot in the city for a variety of things, but particularly shoe stores and American fast food restaurants (?). It was nice to be in a big city; lots of people, hustle, bustle, the whole shebang.
Thursday, we woke up early and headed to the Pacuare River near the Talamanca mountain range for a full day of whitewater rafting (classes 1-4). It was about 2 hours from San Jose, but worth the ride. Rios Tropicales fed us breakfast, got us all geared up, taught us some basic rafting commands, and off we went.
After 3.5 hours of rafting, we stopped for lunch. The guides that were in charge of the 6 or so rafts, prepared a really great lunch- sandwiches, chips and dips, fruit and cookies. Sounds simple, right? Yes, but everything was freshly handled- all the fruit and sandwich veggies were cut up on the spot, and guacamole and bean dip were prepared there too (p.s. 'the spot' is a random stop along the river, where two boats are turned upside down and used as tables). It was a pretty remarkable meal for a setup that was brought in plastic barrels, and tied to the inside of white rafts 4 hours prior.
After lunch, and another 1.5 hours of rafting, we went back to the rafting headquarters, had a quick change of clothes, and then had a very sleepy ride back to San Jose.
Meanwhile, our rafting team - 'Team Playas' ('playas' means 'beaches' in Spanish) killed it.. We rocked that river. Plus, Ray, our extra awesome tour guide, enjoyed calling us 'beaches' along the way too while shouting commands at us. We also mastered rowing commands in Spanish. :) Fairly successful day, if I say so myself. Plus, rafting was ridiculously fun. I hope to do lots more of that in the future!
Team Playas: pre-rafting adventure.
A lovely 'quiet' section of the river.
Man, the lighting is just right in this picture. I look ripped!
(check out those biceps - back row, on the right)
Rafting.
More rafting.
Team Playas: post-rafting adventure, with Ray (our awesome guide).
Friday, San Jose was very very quiet. All the city folk headed to the beach for the long weekend, so we thought we would do the reverse, by heading into the city. Friday morning, San Jose was a ghost town.....until we stumbled upon a 'Good Friday' procession. Holy moly (pun, intended). The procession reminded me of a mix of 2 different 'Godfather II' scenes: Vito's father's funeral (small band playing, little old ladies wearing black holding Rosary, kids crying, etc) and the San Gennaro procession (large crowds following statues being paraded down the streets, people in costumes, etc). It was really really interesting. Along with the go-gillion other people, we followed the procession through part of he city, until it ended in front of the large cathedral, where clergy told the story of Good Friday, actors did some small re-enactments, and then there was some praying and singing (I am assuming this was what happened, it was all in Spanish, and I couldn't catch everything...my Spanish still needs lots o' work). In any case, fascinating stuff. Plus, of the people that DID stick around San Jose (instead of heading to the beach), ALL of them were there for the procession. Even though the entire city was shut down (so we missed some opportunities there), finding the procession was a major cultural score. Our 'procession' find, was something I will never forget!
Don Carlos Hotel
View of San Jose.
Just a regular day in San Jose. . . .
City Park
Good Friday procession.
More procession.
More procession.
More procession.
Cathedral in the center of town.
The 'show' at the end of the procession, across the street from the Cathedral.
Crowds at the end of the procession. Hellllo, San Jose!
That afternoon, we headed back to Tamarindo....
