Steve: It was the best of times; it was the worst of times. So thought Dickens, so says I. Saturday was in many ways the worst day of
the trip so far. But it was also quite possibly
the best. Intrigued? Titillated?
Mildly curious? Got absolutely
nothing better to do? Read on…
Carol and I had come to the conclusion a while back that we
had scheduled entirely too much time for the second half of our Costa Rican
experience. We will have numerous
visitors on that leg and we do have many wondrous destinations that we’ve planned
to visit and a plethora of incredible activities in which we’ve planned to
partake. Indeed, we are looking forward
to that part of the trip with much anticipation. But a full two months is
simply more time than is necessary for it.
We won’t quite have enough time to put down roots again as we have in
Samara. But with the schedule as-is we
would simply be loitering in tourist hangouts for longer than necessary in
order to bide time until the next leg of our trip. And why is that a bad thing, you ask? Well, in comparison to going back to Marin
and shutting the adventure down, it obviously isn’t a “bad thing”. But in comparison to using that time to visit
some other exotic locations, perhaps the lingering stay in Costa Rica was instead
only the lesser of two joys.
So why not change the plans up a bit? We already had the arrangements set to visit
Florida for Thanksgiving. We have a
family-reunion there that was planned well before this year-long adventure was
even a twinkle in our collective eye. So
why not add a trip to visit long-lost dear friends on the east coast of the
U.S.? Why not extend our stay a bit in
the good ‘ole American South before heading back to Tico-land? Why not add a trip to visit Mayan ruins near
Cancun, Mexico? I’ll tell you why not. Because
American Airlines wasn’t too keen on us changing those plans, that is why not. But Carol wasn’t to be denied her Mayan ruins. She was going to see ruins, darn it! The war between heaven and hell had found a
new battleground. It was to be a knock-down,
drag-out battle fought between tenacity and bureaucracy; between all that is
good in this world (yes, I’m referring to my lovely wife) and all that is
inherently evil (the soulless machinations of a powerful multinational
corporation). Where would you put your
money? I had $600 on the pretty little
lady out of Marin.
“$600”, you ask?
Well, after a couple of hours on the internet and then another hour on
the phone with airline representatives, Carol had determined that we were faced
with a choice. We could suck up a $600
penalty for changing our minds or go to the airport in Liberia and renegotiate
the contract in person. Carol had been
given assurances that, due to earlier changes in our flights by the airlines themselves,
vouchers were coming to us and we could apply them to our new itinerary, but
said changes could only be made in person at the airport. Fine.
She’d come this far. Let’s ride
this wave. We decided to make a day of
it. We would rent a car, drive to
Liberia, get the new tickets, and then continue on to Bagaces and enjoy the country’s
most beautiful waterfall. It would
require about five hours of driving among some of the world’s craziest drivers,
but we’d save $600. And that is not a small
chunk o’ change, even among world-travelers.
We reserved the car, and prepped for a big day.
It was the worst of times.
Even though we’d reserved the car ahead of time. It still took over half an hour to actually
get the car. Then traffic was pretty bad
in places. We had intended to arrive at
the airport at 10:30 a.m. We got there
at 11:30. No problem. The kids were doing alright. They were troopers. We carried on. We reached the ticket counter without a
line. Things were looking up. And then they weren’t. “What vouchers?”, they asked. Carol stood and argued at that counter for
ten minutes, and then explained again and again for another ten, and then begged
and pleaded for another ten. “How we doin’?”,
I ask. Don’t ask. No problem.
Breathe. All is well.
An hour passes. The
kids are no longer “doing alright”. We
are all really hungry. I’m cranky. I’m lying on the lineoleum floor for lack of
a better spot, nursing my back. An hour
and a half has passed. All of the other
ticket counters have since shut down.
Signs have been removed. All of
the other agents are gone. Lights are
out. Baggage handlers are having a
meeting in what used to be a passenger ticket area. Carol is still standing at that desk. Our two dedicated agents are still on the
phone. Two hours have passed. My beard is measurably longer. The dust has settled on the children and spider
webs attaching them to the floor have already caught multiple bugs. The rain has started to come down. It looks like the day is shot and no fun will
be had. It strikes me that that song
about not chasing waterfalls has new meaning. All is lost.
And then, in the hour of our despair, the sunshine peeks
through the window just enough. A
rainbow forms, seemingly inside the terminal.
The piped-in classical violin music is suddenly replaced by a
banjo. Carol emerges from the darkness
with a smile on her face and tickets in hand.
She has won in a battle of attrition! The agents have finally decided to
forgo vouchers and have simply issued brand new tickets at Carol’s named price
because their own lunch hour had already come and gone. The airline had ultimately slipped out the
back with its tail between its legs.
Never bet against the forces of good, at least not as long as an angel
named Carol still wields her mighty bow!
It was now nearing 2:00 p.m.
We had thought we’d be out by 11:00 a.m.
We were wrong. But there was
still daylight and there was adventure to be had! Push forth, Thies family. Carry on, undeterred! As we left Liberia behind, we actually did the McDonald’s
drive-through. I know, I know. How could we?
Well, speed was of the essence, and french fries can heal even the
grumpiest of children, especially the big bearded ones. Keep your hands and feet away from the
children’s mouths! The description of our
ravenous hunger is an ugliness best left to your imagination. But assuaged it was. Nothing would stop us now!
It was the best of times.
We actually found the secret turnoff for the waterfall on the first
shot. The rocky dirt road was not the
problem we had anticipated for our little compact rental car, so we had made
the right decision about forgoing the 4x4. As evil as Liberia had been to us, Bagaces would bring the opposite extreme. The water beckoned. And it seemed
as if the Red Sea itself would have parted for us at that point so that we
could reach our destination. And oh,
what a destination it was. The pictures
and video I’ve included do not even come close to doing it justice. Even if there was no waterfall it would rank way up there on the list of lugares bonitos. It was absolutely awe-inspiring. You only see places like this in the
movies. Seriously, I am at a loss for
words, and when I’m on a roll with my keyboard, that is a momentous occasion
indeed. This was the most beautiful
acre of space I’ve ever seen. And I’ve
been to every national park there is in the United States. Yosemite is over a thousand square miles of absolute
exquisiteness (if that is even a word).
But no single acre in that park can match what we found here: positively
gorgeous, even transcendent beauty. It
was one of those extended moments that connects you to nature in a spiritual
sort of way. Unforgettable.
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| Coco con una coco cerca la catarata |
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| I wish this was a 360° panorama pic, so you could get the real feel. |
We stripped down and jumped into the pool. We swam under the falls and climbed behind
it. We splashed, we frolicked, we smiled,
and we sighed as if knowing no moment could compare. Then we dried off, climbed back to the car
and drove the few hours home, trying to beat the oncoming sunset, knowing how
much more difficult navigating the roads would be in the dark. We were in that place for maybe half an
hour. But we were, all four of us, so
taken by the beauty of the place, that we had to acknowledge that it was the
best thing we’d done all trip. That is
six weeks of surfing and kayaking and horse-back riding and snorkeling and
tide-pooling and hiking and biking through absolutely breath-taking
terrain. It was no small feat to find an
experience that would rise to the top of our lists. But there you have it. Quite a day indeed.
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| Frolic (v, tr.) [frol -ik]: to play merrily, to gambol in a frisky manner, to romp |
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