I'm currently sitting on the bus from Puerto Jiminez to San Jose. It's apparently about an eight hour ride, but since we keep stopping to deal with a broken door, it will likely take a little longer than anticipated. I'm learning to accept something they call "tico time". So this seems like a good opportunity to catch up on my last few days. As mentioned previously, we had several different transfers to make in order to get to our destination. Aside from a three hour wait at the border, and a little confusion about where Costa Rica actually was once we got our Panama exit stamps, we made all our connections surprising easily. We arrived in "Port Jim" in the mid-afternoon and, since we had a few hours before our shuttle was going to take us to our jungle hostel, we set about booking our trek through the Corcovado. We had met a couple of German girls at the ferry docks and decided to team up with them to lower costs.

We arrived at the hostel in the early evening. It was surrounded by primary rain forest and had a decidedly bizarre commune type feel. But it was beautiful. We slept in four-bed cabins that simply consisted of a roof on a frame and bunk beds with mosquito nets. It was wonderful to be sleeping outdoors-ish, and to wake up to the sounds of monkeys howling, macaws screaming and toucans singing. We spent a few hours trekking around some primary rain forest at the neighbour's place; he showed us several species of plants, animals and insects. Ola decided to decline the offer of bug repellent claiming that bugs were "part of the experience", and within minutes her legs looked like an acne-prone teenagers face. After that she decided that she'd "experienced" enough and conceded that perhaps DEET was her friend.

We're just about to switch to a new bus to avoid the broken issue…back in a few…

Okay we're settled into a different considerably less attractive, but also less broken vehicle, so back to the jungle…

We moved to a hostel in town for our second night since we had a 4:30 start for our jungle trip. They had mentioned that it was about a seven to eight hour hike to the ranger station, but we figured that they were accounting for all ages and fitness levels, so we'd probably make it in six. Ten hours later we arrived exhausted and drenched in sweat and incredibly proud of ourselves for making it all the way there. I tried hard not to think about the journey back. Ola and I were given what felt like a one person tent- no sleeping bags, pillows or cushioning under us. We found our spot in the tent city, a raised platform in the middle of the wilderness, and were fine with the eight o'clock lights out that was imposed.

Overall I can say this- I don't like extreme hiking in uncomfortably hot and humid conditions. I don't like roughing it with regards to food and accommodation. I don't like carrying a heavy bag for long periods of time. I'm in terrible shape and had no business taking on something of this magnitude. The bugs were awful, and the snakes and sharks scared the crap out of me. I really don't like being covered in a thick layer of stinky grime for three days straight. But I loved it!!!!

We saw amazing animals- a boa constrictor, alligators, squirrel and spider monkeys, anteaters, butterflies, birds, even a tapir. We got to swim in a fresh-water river with nothing around us but beautiful nature. We also got to swim in the Pacific Ocean with crazy waves and cliffs lining the beach. We managed to hike over fifty kilometers through the jungle. And despite the sunburns, blisters, muscle aches, sleep deprivation and multiple incredibly itchy bites, the feeling of accomplishment is overwhelming and worth it all. When we got back into town I immediately looked at Ola and said, "I think it's time to book our beach vacation".

We had very long showers, grabbed some delicious ceviche, and got a good night's sleep. I have to admit, I had very low expectations of this country despite what everyone was telling me, but I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong. And as I look out the window at all the green palm tree and flower covered hills, I'm in wonder at how the other worldliness of a place like this can be so magical.