Last day surfing in Nosara...

Early this morning, we had our last surf sesh. I decided to switch to a shorter epoxy board to see what it was like. I loved it! After surfing the white wash for a while I ventured out into the "outside" and sat in the sun for a while and then rode a few waves in to finish the day. What a great feeling of accomplishment.





Breakfast followed our morning surf as usual, and then a lazy afternoon of lounging by the pool. Cocktails with the girls and watching Iguana's mate up in the palms. Yes, it was an odd site.

Anyways, at 4 this afternoon, Lauren and Sara and I had scheduled a sunset horseback ride. It was the icing on this cake! A father and daughter who hardly spoke a lick of English came by to pick us up. No intruction, just an introduction to faces and names and then "get on"! Thank God, the horses were very well trained. We rode along the beach and then past the "Taj Mahal" or so we called it this whole trip. 

We rode through the little side streets of Nosara and saw all sorts of different colors of hybiscus flowers along the way. We rode through the jungle and into the National Biological Preserve which was swampy and Everglade-like, but beautiful. There were a couple of parts of the ride where it was a bit sketchy, going down steep paths with one side covered in concrete (shod horses hooves do not do well on steep concrete) and narrow openings between rocky ocean tide pools and dead trees. Sara almost got scraped off her horse by a dead branch. A couple of times my horse and Lauren's horse liked to gallop ahead of the group. We galloped through the jungle and then on the way home we were able to gallop down the beach for a while.

All throughout the 2 hour ride, our guide would yell these wonderfully passionate howls into the sky, I think to scare off predators or weird people in the jungle. Who knows. It was fun though, and I got a chance to use my little jungle call I reserve for times such as these. ;) I felt so free again. It took me back to my love for horses that I had as a little girl. This was a momentous occasion for me because I used to love horses so much. I have been thrown, bitten, kicked, stepped on and I haven't been back on a horse for about 10 years I think. Tonight was the perfect end to a perfect vacation. I was so incredibly happy to be riding in the jungle, on a beach, at sunset...accomplished in a new sport, traveling by myself and also the joy of meeting new people and missing home.

Costa Rica was truly cleansing. It took me back to the simple passion that I've always had for life and beauty that I've lost in the muck of the last 5 years. All the dust, all the dirt got washed away in the surf. I can see the life I've always wanted so clearly now. I'm ready to get back up on the horse of passion, of love, of adventure, of dreams, of life.