Costa Rica (2006)

Karma’s a bitch.  After giving Erin so much hell about her misadventures in Costa Rica, it was inevitable that I would suffer a similar fate when I returned a few years later with my parents and sister.  Like Erin, I ended up covered in red spots, swollen and uncomfortable.

Before I even left for the trip, I decided to get my side burns and back waxed (thanks Portuguese heritage).  I didn’t realize at the time, but waxing these areas for the first time can result in skin irritation, including puffiness and red dots.  I, not surprisingly, ended up with both.  Clearly off to a good start.

With the lessons learned from my first trip to Costa Rica, the family flew directly into Liberia and rented a car for the remaining hour’s drive to Playa Langosta, the nice beach just south of Tamarindo where Erin almost got lost in the river.  Pulling into town brought back all of the memories and an immediate craving for Lizano Salsa, that heavenly sauce that the locals put on everything from scrambled eggs to their rice and beans.  

With a better, and more sober, grasp on the town and plans for the week, my mom and I decided to sign up for a kayaking trip up the mangrove-lined estuary of Tamarindo Wildlife Refuge while my dad and sister surfed.  It was going to be a great bonding trip with my mom. 

There was a group of about 20 of us, all in tandem kayaks and we were going to paddle into the estuary, hopefully see some howler monkeys, avoid the crocodiles and be back in a few hours.  My mom and I got into our kayak, me in front, and we were on our way.  The estuary was beautiful, if not a little creepy given the muddy waters and unknown creatures lurking just below the surface.  The further upstream we went the more narrow the channels became and the lower the branches of the trees were.   At some point during an especially narrow passage, I got my paddle stuck directly above my head in one of the tree branches.  With the flow of water going in one direction and me trying to push the paddle down in the other direction, I ended up whacking the tree branch a few times… clearly a few too many times.  A few moments later I started to feel a few bites on my shoulders and then heard my mother exclaim “oh my gosh Lisa, you are hitting a wasps nest!”  Yes, three feet directly above my head was a nest of either wasps or really angry ants that were now raining down on me and my body as I whacked the tree.  Torn between jumping into the murky water (with potential crocodiles) or trying to paddle away, we somehow managed to get away from the tree, out into the open and get the bugs off of me.  I was visibly shaken and each welt was starting to swell.  Upon seeing my red marks and seeing that the rest of the kayakers were a bit in shock, our guide decided to turn us around and head back to the ocean and beach. 

Just as I had laughed at Erin with all of her ailments, Dana returned the favor and enjoyed making fun of me and my misery. I spent the rest of my few nights in Costa Rica covered in red welts with swollen hands, ears, face, back, pretty much swollen everything.  The good news thankfully, is that a few cold beers cures everything, and I knew where the happy hours were!