San Luis Waterfall

Some where deep inside that mountain range is the San Luis Waterfall!

A house at the base of the mountain. This is my dream. Rocking chair and all.

Walking through the banana plantation.

Climbing.

You know what they say about big trees... Big mushrooms=)

A pretty gnarly bug.

Sairah Kazmi and I. We are finally catching our breath after the long hike.

The magnificent San Luis Waterfall.

Me and the mountain. I made it pretty far.

On day 4, I went hiking in search for a waterfall. It is a beautiful little spot set deep into the rain forest covered mountains of Santa Elena, Costa Rica. My friends and I arrived at the base of the mountain around 10 am. We walked through a banana plantation to get to the entrance point. As we began our two-hour uphill hike, it had already started to rain. That of course is a regular part of our day. Rain is like another friend here. We don’t know when she’s coming, but we know that she will in fact be joining us in whatever activity we have planned. Surprisingly, rain makes hiking quite beautiful. Since the temperature is generally in the high 80’s, some cool drops of water feel really refreshing as you’re panting up a mountain.

I am, as many of you already know, a bit of a shutterbug. Because of this, I had the fortunate opportunity to be left behind most of the time, while the others trekked on. Climbing up a mountain and hearing only my own breath against the background of the rainforest’s music, was truly surreal. Every once in while I would stop to catch my breath and think about how inconsequential I am in this forest. There were a million things happening around me and i was but only an intrusion. In the moments that I paused, there were creatures being born, and dying; there was hunting and feasting; there was resting and labor; there was guarding and loving. The smell of wet, hot, soil mingled with the breathing leaves and the perfumed flowers. The sounds of the rustling leaves and the raindrops met the chirping, and the croaking to form a beautiful rhythm. The forest was alive and it was inhaling and exhaling. And in every one of its breaths were millions of happenings and un-happenings.

And then there was me. A small figure in the belly of giant, making her way to a waterfall. It was truly beautiful. But more importantly, it was humbling.