Finally, what I was waiting for, we plotted our little boat into a small canal, delving right into the thickness of the rainforest. The water grew instantly darker, coffee-rich. Our guide Christopher told us that the leaves would go in the water, decompose and stain like a tea into this brown velvety lifeforce. It was beautiful how the green rainforest reflected on it, appearing like a Monet painting. It made me feel safe, for some odd reason, being nestled and enclosed by so much life. We saw a tiger heron - a bigger bird with a long neck, spotted all the way down its throat. I liked when the motor cut off, and you could just hear the life, buzzing to each other. After coming to a stop, we saw a little crocodile called a cayman - it was sort of wild-eyed. The boat driver started feeding it bread and soon we realized there was a whole bunch of fish swarming around. Then we saw a whole family of turtles, stretching their necks to get at the tasty morsels being offered their way. The turtle even put its head right on the cayman's head and there were no problems - life can coexist together and they just proved it.
Arenal Volcano: Going over some stairs and a suspension bridge through beautiful green trees, ground and life, we used the log keys to open the door to our rooms and see the view through our 25 foot windows, the incredible view I'm now staring at. It is simply breathtaking! A gigantic volcano, completely cone-shaped with a chunk right out of the top, steam slowly coming out of it. Running down its sides was lava ash, that had dribbled down, making it look like dusty rivulets. Life began as far up as it could wherever the rivulet was not cascading down the mountain until it collided into a valley of green below with life emanating from everywhere - the sounds of monkeys grunting to each other, birds cooing in agreement, frogs signalling every few seconds while a background of crickets completed the symphony. What a sight and sound - Nature is truly spectacular. We are so lucky to see it and be a part of it.
Going out of the room and checking out the rest of the lodge, I found an observatory deck that me, Joel, Jerry and Paul sat down at to watch the beauty. We watched for a good hour, transfixed by all the changing views. First, we waited as a ring-shaped cloud, slowly drifted away from the center, revealing the volcano in its complete splendor. Bats soon began appearing like little birds whipping their wings real fast while fireflies started to flash their beams of light at us. Then a rumbling started, followed by a shudder, with a puff of smoke squeezed out of the volcano, with flashes of the red fire trying to push its way out and up, plummeting the black smoke larger and larger out of the cavity. A lightning flash flashed and 5 seconds later, a boom sounded so strong, it rocked the place. I kept trying to push an imaginary eject button to make it erupt again and again.
Saying goodbye to Christopher, our Costa Rican guide, was also my goodbye to Costa Rica, a land of wildness. I most took that from the trip that this is an exciting planet of wild life - and that life should equally be as wild - the way one lives, the way one feels. We are all wild people at heart, and being able to express your true being, your true nature, is reconnecting to your wildness. Christopher, like Costa Rica, with all its magic, was also experiencing his true wildness. Being gay in Costa Rica was to be repressed, to not tell families of your love, to hide yourself. In the moments with us, he was able to be flamboyant, to be "out", happy and wild. To be free is to be wild and to be wild is to be free. It's time for me to be more wild in my choices, in my life,in my action. It's time to be free.