Sometimes it takes returning to the scene of the crime to
make writers block go away. This weekend I returned to Drake Bay. Drake Bay and
Isla de Cano are probably the most beautiful places I could imagine. As I said
before, pictures don’t do them justice.
Everything in life boils down
to the choices we make. The choice to be happy, the choice to get up every day, etc. I’ve been thinking about choices recently, how every choices we
make dictates how our lives play out. Sometimes we make conscious choices that
we know we will feel the effect of for years to come (ie I’m going to buy a one
way ticket to Costa Rica). Other times we don’t realize we are making a choice
until it is done. But every choice we make has a lasting effect, even if we don’t
realize it. What if I hadn’t done x or I had done y? How would my life be
different? The choice I made on that Monday morning was stupid. I don’t know whether
I was so intoxicated by my surroundings or my mind was simply elsewhere but whatever
was going on, I forgot to think clearly. So I guess it is time to pick up where
I left off.
The second morning I woke up at 6. The night before had
poured rain. Twice I woke up because it was raining so hard; I just laid in the
dark listening to the sounds of rain, thunder, waves, and jungle. When I got up
I was surprised by how rested I felt. I took my camera out and got some nice
pictures of the beach and the rocks. I got some pictures of the ocean and the
jungle. As I was coming in, everyone else decided to go take pictures. I went
back out…why?!?! Why did I go back out? Why did I make that choice? I already had
all of the pictures I wanted.
 |
| About two minutes before I ended up in the ocean |
I decided to go back out to the rocks, even though the tide
was coming in. After taking some of the best pictures I had gotten from the
whole trip, I noticed that the tide was coming in really fast. I needed to head
in. The ocean was cutting me off from the beach. I decided to try to climb on
the edge of the rocks where the waves were hitting the lightest. As a wave went
back out into the ocean, I tucked my camera into my shirt so it wouldn’t get
wet and made a run for it. The second my foot hit the rocks I knew my balance
was off. Before I could get a better grip on the rocks a huge wave smashed into
my back throwing me into the rocks in front of me. I tried to get a grip on the
rocks with my hands, but they were too slippery. As the wave went out, it took
me with it. My first world brain couldn’t wrap itself around the severity of
the problem. All I could think was “shit, my camera”. I ripped it off my neck
and held it above the water as another wave caught me and pulled me back into
the rocks. I finally got close enough to the rocks to hand someone my camera,
just in time for the waves to pull me back out into the ocean. At this point my
survival instincts finally kicked in. I took a deep breath and then let the
water throw me around for a minute. As soon as it calmed down I bolted for the
shore. Luckily, I had on long pants and long sleeves, so with the exception of a
few scrapes, a bruised ego, and a ruined camera, I was ok.
At the time, I just sucked it up and moved on with my day. I
dried out my camera as best I could. I removed the memory card and battery.
Nothing worked. When I got home I took it all to a repair shop. The guy looked
at it and said there was no fixing anything. Fortunately, I had downloaded
everything earlier that week, so I only lost the weekends pictures.
After my ocean incident, we cooked breakfast at the ranger
station. Then we loaded ourselves in a boat and traveled to another ranger station. This
station is actually at the entrance to Corcovado National Park. It was
beautiful and they showed us around. It is slightly bigger than the station on
Isla de Cano.
After that we headed home. I had a very interesting
afternoon of mixed emotions. I decided that afternoon that I needed to be more
focused. I’d been trying to live in the moment every day since I arrived in
Costa Rica, but I hadn’t always succeed. So at this point I made a choice to
not only appreciate everything, but to be present, aware, and to fully immerse
myself in my surroundings.
The next week I spent caring for dogs and booking all of my
travels. I went surfing for the first time. I didn't want to be (even more) scared of the ocean, so I decided to get back in as soon as possible. I also went hiking to waterfalls in Matapalo. I've been having so many great adventures on the Osa Peninsula that I decided to stay in Puerto Jimenez for two more weeks. There is something
about this place. It has my heart. As I keep telling my friends here, they aren’t
done with me yet! I’ll be back!
My return to Drake Bay this past week was my biggest (Mis)Adventure so far. I will be posting more about that in the coming days, but as a little preview: it involves evil monkeys, the worst sunburn I've ever had, and stumbling on a potential dog fighting ring (no joke)!
Until then,
Love you!
-Al
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