I love travel

I love travel. True travel is not fair weather. It seeks beauty in everything regardless of expectation, weather, or even company at times. I often feel as if pictures, the internet, and television ruin beauty at times for they all generate perceptions, expectations, and preconceived beauty. I hate that I have never traveled somewhere yet I feel like I know it inside out when the reality is I know nothing of it. I feel like it can take away the awe. I love traveling to places I know nothing about. I love exploring because there is something incredible about the surprise of seeing unknown beauty for the first time. Rain or shine beauty and experience await.

Two weekends ago I did some local travel. Saturday I went to Poas and the Waterfall gardens. Hahaha so it's pouring rain and cold, and I get to the summit of Poas hoping to look down and see this awesome crater, but I gaze down and can only vaguely see the lagoon below. Initially I'm like man I hate being wet in jeans lol, but then I remember how incredible it is that I am where I am. I remember how powerful this structure is and I stand in awe. Shorty after, I hiked some random trail, enjoying all that lied around me, especially the little flowers and the way the water seemed to drip so perfectly off them. I get to the bus, eager for the waterfalls and food. Ok I have this thing for waterfalls. I'm not sure what it is about them that I am so drawn to. I think it must have something to do with their immense power and purity. I just love standing in awe before them and I love food, so you can only imagine how much I was in my zone. The rain cleared, my stomach filled, and my soul absorbed all that laid before me. There was however one situation that didn't sit right with me, they had animals in cages like the zoo! :( you can see so many animals in the wild, it's so silly to lock them up. Nonetheless, this opened up the door for me to have some fun. I saw this monkey reaching for a leaf from a plant, so I rip it off and hand it to him. In the process we touch hands and the monkey has a hard time grasping the leaf and I just laugh thinking how awesome it is having opposable thumbs. That pretty much wraps up Saturday. Sunday I checked out Irazu which is another volcano. It was raining again, so the view was a little blocked, but I could still see and appreciate the crater. After this I checked out some of the old churches nearby. Both of these churches are older than The United States as a nation. The first, Basilica de los Angeles, was large and beautifully decorated. People from all over Costa Rica travel to this church for service and for the holy water to heal their wounds of all types. The second church I saw was Orosi Church. This church was smaller, but still incredible. The museum was pretty cool too. I loved seeing all of the old artifacts and just soaking in the significance of such a great tradition.

This weekend, I headed back to Jaco. This was such a better experience than my last visit to Jaco. I went to this surf competition which was really cool, and learned how to surf. I'm really eager to practice more and get better at it, but hey, at least I can get up. :) Anyway, not a bad weekend in my book. Eager to see what the rest will hold, but even more eager to enjoy this moment right here. Love you guys!