GOING NATIVE IN COSTA RICA

My idea of the ideal vacation has always been sunbathing on a foreign beach until it is time to retire to the pool. I love a good swim-up bar where I can sip a cold margarita and listen to the sounds of the steel drums, mariachis, parasailers, and the happy multi-lingual chatter that invariably floats through that area of a world class resort. So I keep asking myself, why am I headed to Costa Rica on G Adventures tour called Trekking Hidden Costa Rica? It’s nearly impossible to picture myself about to hike through the jungles (sweat), zipline through the canopy (sweat), rappel down a waterfall (sweat), go white water rafting (sweat) and sleep in a cave for several days.

The answer is – this is the first vacation that I am taking with my 16 year old daughter outside of our usual family vacation to San Antonio, Texas and I knew from the get-go that my usual sunbathing, exercising my elbow at the swim-up bar, and dancing the night away at the disco vacation would not work for her. Sixteen year olds have an attention span only fractionally longer than the average four year old and they are famously bored with just about everything outside of their myopic circle of friends and interests. I am counting on the many activities included in our G Adventures “Trekking Hidden Costa Rica” tour to pique her interest with a balance of exhilarating physical activity and experiential education, that includes studying sacred and medicinal plants with a local expert and a jungle home-stay that will afford her an opportunity to experience first-hand the food and the culture of Southern Costa Rica.

I plan to immerse myself in all the activities, physical and cerebral, and leave my makeup, jewelry and hairspray at home. And somewhere in her little niche in Heaven, my mother is rolling her eyeballs and laughing uproariously at the idea of me vacationing without every hair and freckle fully in place, in-style and well-coordinated, but hey, I am the one who has to get with the program, so it’s Costa Rica or bust. Claire May 2014