The difference between nuts and maps

One of our destinations was the Monteverde region or otherwise known as the cloud forest. This region has the most fickle and at the same time the most beautiful climate. As you drive up to the mountains you are surrounded by fog and you feel that pouring rain will be coming down any minute. It will not, because as you start going back down the winding road the sun starts shining. The most eye catching rainbow opens in front of you and follows in front of you for the rest of your drive.

I should note here that most of Costa Rica does not use proper addresses. As I later found out from one of the locals, the post man delivers a letter or a package according to something like this: "100 meters North from Cafe San Pedro, then 200 meters south to the second house on the left with two trees in the front." No kidding! And so our Costa Rican GPS could not even recognize the town where our hotel was located, so we had to call for directions, which consisted of something similar to the above address.

Later, we had a laugh with the owner of the hotel who we befriended (Rustic Lodge)who gave us the directions and a word of caution. The following conversation ensued:

"You told us not to buy nuts from anyone. What´s in the nuts?"
"What nuts?"
"The nuts that you told us not to take from anyone when you gave us directions to the hotel."
"I told you nuts?"
"Yes."
"No, I said don´t buy any maps!"

We had a big laugh about that as we were later dining with the owner at one of the local starting out restaurants, El Olivo Restaurant. It is an almost family business (the guy´s girlfriend´s mother was the cook) and it was one of the most delicious meals we´ve ever had, despite the menu consisting of only 3 different choices: fish, beef or chicken.

The most memorable personal moment ensued in this region during our canopy tours and zip lining. Sliding 1KM at the height of 100 meters (at approximately 60 kph) can only be compared to what I would imagine to be the flight of a bird. I was at a loss of words to describe the feeling that you get as you glide through the air with a bird at your side just a few feet away.

The bird probably smirked at me and thought "Loco touristos." And I wouldn´t blame her. It was the craziest and most thrilling experience that makes you feel alive. It was an unprecedented sense of freedom.

Ad of the day was:

Canopy + trams = tranopy