Hiking the Cabo Blanco

       "No one saves us but ourselves. No one can and no one may. We ourselves must walk the path." BUDDHA

The Nicoya Peninsula, Costa Rica, Central America.

Left or right? I couldn't decide. One path looked well-trodden, the other a little more ungroomed.  A quick look at my battered, old and not- so- smart phone informed me that it was 4 minutes to 8am.  The day was just getting going. The mercury was rising but morning freshness still filled the air. Thick green rainforest surrounded me. I was told this trail, through steep cliffs and gigantic trees, would eventually lead to the big blue ocean. With basic Spanish I translated the two signs in front of me. One said easy the other read difficult.  "Oh! I'm definitely taking the easy route," I thought, after all I am hiking alone and I don't know this place and only one (very sleepy looking) park ranger knows I'm even in here." What if I fell?" I thought, already picturing the scene of doom: compound fracture to the lower left tibia, a pool of blood trickling down the rocks, screams for help muffled only by the enormous chests of the 15 or so howler monkeys that would surround me and maul me into a most premature and ghastly death............ A loud rustle of leaves overhead woke me from this hair raising scenario and drew my eye up to a little coati sitting on a branch.  He stared at me judgingly for a couple of nano seconds before scampering off into the green abyss.  There were creatures unknown above, below and all around.

Water-check. Sun cream- check. Food- check. Slight nervous rumble in the tummy- check. I started walking. It felt good to be actually using my own god given feet again after a few days travelling by boat, bus, ferry and motorbike. Sometimes wild independence is as simple as taking a walk by yourself, wherever you may be.  It also felt nice and safe to have decided to take the easy hike. Good decision. But as expected I'd hardly climbed a couple of metres up when that old familiar voice in my head started to chatter. "Why are you taking the easy path Liz? For God sake, go back and try the other one- it might be trickier-but if you don't go- you'll never know." I felt my heart start to beat harder at the thought of changing direction and I think I might even have seen a sign saying ' peligroso' or 'dangerous' back there. This was pure fear. I was scared of the harder path but I turned around and went back, anyway. Feck it. I'm taking the difficult hike today because I'm a fearless wandering goddess!!!! Not the case at all in fact. I'm a right scaredy cat at heart but I'm genetically wired to feel the fear and do it anyway.

After an hour or so the gentle incline had morphed into to an arduous and steep scramble up loose muddy rocks and through green shiny leaves. I was high up now.  This was a difficult hike alright. It wasn't Mount Everest, granted, but you'd want your wits about you all the same. I suppose there is a certain caution one needs to adopt when travelling alone. It is just little ol' me in here in the middle of this big dense mass of nature, well me and the monkeys, the toucans, the lizards, the armadillos.... I watched my every single step. A flat green mossy stone straight ahead caught my eye as the perfect seat for a snack.  I unpacked my bag and chomped down on a cheese and ham roll. The self-generated noises of hiking: the walking, the panting, the crunches of sticks, and the squish of mud made way for pure silence as I sat and ate. The animals had grown quiet and the only sound now was the slow and steady white noise of the ocean, wherever and however far away it was from me. I realised how lost in thought and concentration I had been.

I recall, at one point being very unsure of where I was. There were no signposts, just a track (of sorts).  Doubt crept in telling me I'd taken a wrong turn somewhere. It had been about 3 hours at this point. My feet were hot and tingly but the sound of the surf was steadily growing louder so I trusted my gut and kept moving forward. The climb had been going in a downwards decline for the last 20 minutes or so.  I bent down to avoid a slap from a low swinging branch and as I straightened up to go forward again, there it was....... The glimpse of blue through the hole in the bushes. I pushed the branches out of my way and there before me like a turquoise silk carpet laid down by the hands of some supernatural being was The Pacific Ocean.  Two headlands jutted out like outstretched arms, hugging the white sandy beach into their broad forest chest. Almond trees lined the beach, a few gulls screeched overhead and pieces of driftwood littered the shoreline. I steadied myself and jumped down from the sandy bank. I'd like to say that at this point a tall and devastatingly handsome stranger emerged from the sea, water glistening and dripping from his rugged body and waving at me to join him but alas no....

I plonked onto my weary and aching arse and carefully began untying my dirty, wet laces. Removing my old manky boots I rubbed my throbbing feet. I neatly folded my socks into each boot. I scrunched my toes up and inhaled as the soft warm sand poured between each hot and swollen toe. "Jesus that's divine." I had a quick look around to make sure I was indeed alone before peeling my black leggings off and hanging them from the branch behind me. Piece by piece I removed the rest of my clothes. I stood there in my birthday suit and let the ocean breeze cool my face.  I released my hair from its tight ponytail and headed for the water. The water hit my feet with a gentle crash and it was the most perfect temperature. I walked to waist height and turned around to look at the jungle behind me. This was an immense view, wild, natural and very beautiful. It wasn't polished and perfect like a tropical island postcard, its beauty was rawer and more awesome. I was in a veritable bath of green trees and blue seas - nature's best.  With a big breath in and eyes closing I dropped straight as a plumb line down under the water.  The tense energy from the hike evaporated around me into the water in an instant and I let the ocean soak it up. Leave it there I thought, in the sea.  I swam and floated in that ocean for what felt like hours, around and around in circles, over and back in straight lines, on my stomach, on my back, on my side, splashing and diving. Not one single other soul stepped foot on that very remote beach for the day. It had been waiting for only me.

I've no idea whether or not life's path is set out for us in some pre-determined fashion or whether we chose it consciously or sub consciously by way of the millions of decisions we make each day. I don't have the right to know that because I'm only a mere mortal. But what I did know in that moment as I lay on the warm white sand at the edge of the oldest Rainforest in Costa Rica, was that I was very thankful to be alive and very glad that I had chosen the difficult path.