WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE

The one memory that is emblazoned on my senses forever from our recent trip to Costa Rica was the ever-present sound of water. The first day’s difficult uphill trek into the rainforest was blissfully broken by respites in the many waterfalls and pools that we encountered on the trek, not to mention the torrential tropical downpour that had us scrambling to don our emergency ponchos in order to keep ourselves and our packs dry. After the long trek, when we finally arrived at our first jungle homestay with the Lopez family, we were all scrambling to get in our bathing suits so that we could dive headlong into the deep, clear waters of the Savegre River, the cleanest river in all of Costa Rica.  The same swift current lulled me into an exhausted sleep that night and when I awoke in the middle of the night to what I thought was another downpour, I realized that it was only sound of the nearby Savegre River.

The sounds of the rushing river followed us the next two days and nights as we stayed at two more jungle abodes along the Savegre. At the last jungle homestay, in the lodge of a Shaman, the Savegre narrowed to passage through a gorge and sound of the water crashing off the rocks in the chasm was particularly amplified and unforgettable. The same day that we zip-lined over that vigorous part of the Savegre, we took a ceremonial sauna in the tradition of the Boruca, an indigenous tribe of Costa Rica. This involved 10 minutes in the intense heat of the sauna then a procession down to a portion of the Savegre with stiller waters to cool off for 5 minutes. This ritual was repeated two more times, in total silence, and the calm waters were the perfect counterpoint for the purification ceremony.

All of the jungle homes and lodges that we stayed in had water piped directly from the mountains into their homes and the water in the sinks was running constantly. I kept reaching for the turn-off valve and there wasn’t one. While staying in the cave on the Diamante Verde Mountain, the roar of the twin 85 foot waterfalls at the entrance to the cave were our constant companions, night and day.

When we left the jungle for Playa Dominical and Playa Uvita, we wandered through the sleepy surfing villages, dined in the open-air restaurants and walked along the beaches listening to the ever-present pounding of the waves that pulse through the tiny beach hamlets. I will never reminisce about my trip to Coast Rica and all the friends that I made there, without remembering “mi amigo el agua” and how it spiritually and ethereally dominates the sounds of the country. –Claire, October 2014