The clouds opened up to admit a blanket of dazzling light out across Arenal Lake as I flew through the air guided by a ¾ in. diameter cable. I let out a Tarzan-like cry in recognition of a fellow team member passing by on another line while my rain jacket transformed itself into a cape behind me. A moment later a familiar jostle of the cable told me that I was approaching the landing dock and so I disengaged my hanging fetal position for a rather revealing spread-eagle formation which we’d been instructed to assume so that we would avoid hitting the wire as inertia brought our asses swinging forward before touchdown.
It had been raining as we had ascended the cable car to the starting point of this zip-line course, but the weather had shifted quickly as it tends to do here and now my rain jacket was performing in reverse; my torso felt as if it were trapped in an incubator. Yet, nothing could perturb the overpowering appeal of the moment. The lush green foliage of the Carribean rainforest swallowed us whole at every platform with several species of insects frequently coming in for a closer look. My English accomplice, Harriet, was so entranced by the local fauna at one point that she simply drifted into a mesmerized trance as a nice big fella proceeded to give her a little love-bite.
Of course, I’m surely not one to speak of mesmerized trances and any of my classmates would certainly be eager to support that notion. It seems I’ve earned my nick-name “perezoso” now as an formally trapped state of total sloth-like relaxation surfaced rather quickly as I immersed myself in the natural hot springs of Arenal the Saturday night preceding our high flying adventure in the tree tops. Granted, a frozen mixed drink or two certainly played a role in unlocking the door to my burgeoning state of relaxation, but one ought not devalue the power of these natural hot springs. I seriously do wish I could visit these soothing baths on a regular basis, but I’m afraid I wouldn’t be of much practical use if that were the case.
At first the hot springs just felt like an immense bathtub filled with the perfect temperature of water, but after implementing the ritual of transferring from hot water quickly to cold water and then back again to the hot water after a good number of minutes allowing the body to stabilize in the cold water, I was feeling reeeeeeaaaaalllllyyy goooooooood . . . my movement slowed down t snails pace, my eyes became little more than thin slits allowing only enough light in for me to remain aware, yet detached from my surroundings, and a subtle smile permanently took residence beneath my big English nose. Of course it also takes a willingness to completely clear your mind and simply embrace the moment, but if one is capable of that . . . nothing short of bliss awaits.
No pictures of the hot spring though. I didn’t want to risk dropping my camera in the water. You’ll just have to enjoy the pics from the zip line and come see for yourself the bliss of the hot springs. Visuals wouldn’t really do it justice any ways.
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