Linda's 2005 Costa Rican Stories

©Linda Kingsbury

Day 1

Over the River and through the... Jungle to Delfin Amor we go

One thing I love about traveling in the tropics is eating the bright colored juicy fresh fruit. There is nothing quite like RIPE papaya, watermelon, and pineapple chopped and blended for a simple breakfast. Our fruit was accompanied by a slice of rich bread pudding-like treat with a caramel sauce made by the chef at Pura Vida B & B. We rode through Alahuela to a small airport before boarding the twin engine plane which would take us over the mountains. As we flew along the Osa Pennisula coast I was thankful to see the luminous shades of the Pacific ocean with my favorite "Caribbean" blue colored water close to shore. I knew I would be feeling it soon. I love the warm salty ocean water.

After the topographical tour of the area, we landed on a dirt runway at Drake Bay. A sturdy old white Landcruiser gave us a bumpy cab ride through a not-so-shallow river along the deeply grooved jungle road. My eyes were filled with so much new green life as I searched for some familiar plants.

After rolling up my pant legs, my toes finally touched the warm salty ocean as I climbed onto the beached motorboat. Since there were no docks, the boats slid into shallow water and sand to wait for us to arrive. The crew of two guided the boat out into the ocean with the flow of the waves.  I was a smiling passenger on the exhilarating boat ride that took us to the beach near Delfin Amor Lodge.

Water Rescue

My stuff...almost floated out to sea… along with me

Today I relearned about the strength and power of the ocean. My Grandma taught me to swim/be in the ocean around the age of three, after many mouthfuls of salty Atlantic water. Now I love the carefree sensation of floating in warm salt water and having it be deep enough where I can swirl my arms and legs in playful patterns. So here I was, after many months of planning and saving, actually in the desired waters of Costa Rica. When my mind is in a playful place, it is psychically neutral and more open to spirit moving through nature. As I was floating, I sensed a whale.. and began to drift towards it. The next thing I knew a large wave swept along the shore onto the once protective rock where my beach bag rested and lapped it into its folding waves.

I used a lot of effort trying to rush out of the water and rescue my things from the thirsty waves. I saw my hat floating out at the edge of where I knew I could swim to and decided to go for it. Being winded from the quick shift of relaxing a few minutes earlier to moving fast through the water, I was having a hard time catching my breath in the rolling ocean, with the hat still a few arm lengths away. The tide was carrying me out and there was a moment of tired panic as I thought, “Should I leave the heat and risk getting sunburned, my fair English skin is sensitive to sunlight , or swim safely back to shore?” I rested for a moment then gave one more burst towards reaching the hat. Hat in hand, I swam parallel to the shore catching my breath before my toes touched the sandy ocean floor.

Carol had recovered my sand filled canvas bag, snorkel gear, towel, and water-swollen journal and set it on higher ground. After rinsing a lot of the sand out, and a quick inventory, I noticed my sunglasses were gone. I knew my light blue eyes would not tolerate many days without sunglasses. In this jungle retreat only reached by footpaths or boat, I knew there was not a convenient replacement nearby. Luckily Carol ran along the shore and found them being tossed by the waves.

Though my journal expanded with the ocean water, it dried out sufficiently enough to write in, but my hat never recovered enough to wear it. Luckily I had lots of sunscreen and a baseball cap, and my sunglasses (thanks Carol). In the end, I realized I should have let the hat drift out to sea. It never did return to its pliability and comfortable size so I left it for a future visitor perhaps a child. It reminded me of a time when a sweater accidentally made it into the dryer and shrunk to fit my niece. It was an interesting lesson for me to learn about letting go of attachments…and it was only the first day learning from the ocean-lined jungle.

Jaguar Spirit

The sun was setting and we were ready to head back to the lodge to freshen up before dinner. We did not recognize the beach we were on from the morning landing so we headed along the worn jungle trail looking for Delfin Amor Lodge through the trees. As we walked along the darkening jungle path, I saw a couple of significant natural markers that I new I would have remarked about if I had passed them before; trees on a small land out cropping in the ocean, and a strong thick odd shaped tree trunk that reached far into the jungle canopy. At one point we both stopped, silenced by the presence of a large “cat” spirit. We spoke of Jaguar and were guided to turn around and walk the other way before darkness set in. We followed the next trimmed path we found and walked up to the open sided lodge.

Tip 1: Learn basic travel Spanish first. Thankful for studying Spanish in high school along with a “Speak in a Week” CD a few months before the trip, I earnestly asked “Donde esta Delfin Amor?”. The man motioned in the direction we were walking and said something I did not quite understand. Nervous about the impending darkness I asked, “Quantos minutos?” He replied “Dos (2)”, and I laughed as Carol and I walked back down to the jungle path, around the corner to the gateway and up the hibiscus-lined stairs that led us to Delfin Amor Ecolodge.

Tip 2: Ask about hot? Showers. The relaxing shower that I was looking forward to never happened. When choosing an Ecolodge, when it says private showers in each cabana, don’t get too excited unless it says “hot” shower. Being a person who does not appreciate the shock of cold water, I never did get used to the showers that week. Jerry did say that have the hot water heaters and would be installing them soon.

Jungle Nights

The symphony of critters both small and large along with the ocean waves in Drake Bay created a truly miraculous healing experience every night. When asked the next more how I slept, I said "I allowed the jungle sounds to penetrate my cells for deep DNA healing". The jungle jam rose above the individual notes into a magical resonance of all the sounds blending together which provided a unique "white noise" as I drifted off to sleep. Their voices vibrated away thoughts or feelings that took me out of my loving heart space or created separation from my soul.  This nightly deep cleansing provided a renewal process that helped me to be present in the moment as each day unfolded.

Swimming with the Rough Toothed Dolphins

Each night Carol and I drew an inspirational card from The Dolphin Cards by Doreen Virtue. The card that I received last night was “Break Free”. In the cards, Doreen says ”When you make the commitment to explore and learn, the world responds by giving you new wonderful experiences.”

Roy, our Guide taught me how to dive with the snorkel. Today I would try it.

On the way to the rough toothed dolphins we saw Hump back whales and babies, 3 turtles, sailfish, and spotted dolphins. We only get in the water with they play with the boat, by swimming along the bow and following the boat when the captain travels in circles. We finally came upon a playful pod. To Roy's surprise they were rough toothed dolphins who do not usually care to interact with humans.

Snorkel and flippers on, I slip off the side of the boat and into the dolphin filled water. Clicks and whistles surround me as I open my senses and merge with the water world. I swam easily, quickly, actually lightening like speed as I followed them through the water. This phenomena is called entrainment, a process of shape shifting or matching the energy of those near you. It was as if they were carrying me along in an energy beam. Moving through the water was effortless. My breathing was steady, following Roy’s above the water direction to view the dolphins through the water was synchronistic. I was surrounded by dolphins steeped deeply in the present moment bliss.

At one point, as the larger group of dolphins was swimming away, I was bringing in light energy through my crown chakra and practiced sending it out my 4^th, 5^th and 6^th chakras one at a time to see what the dolphins would respond to. I was swimming, breathing, connecting, beaming light from my forehead as if I was wearing a camping headlamp.  One responded to me sending light out from my 6^th chakra and turned back to check out who was sending the energy. I was ecstatic knowing that he felt my message. I call him the dolphin of invitation.

At that point, I was out of human breath and floated to the sun-lite surface. Ecstatic from the experience, I took the snorkel out of my mouth and lifted the mask off. I floated in my bliss for a few moments then realized the boat was far away and that I was being called to come back. I realized that if I dove again, that I would be swimming to far away….

Dr. Masuro Emoto in his book The Hidden Messages of Water says that the water crystal creates a design like a pineal gland in the middle of it when shown a picture of a dolphin. For me this confirms my findings with the rough toothed dolphin.