Happy New Year

It has been an awesome holiday season to say the least. However, it has not been the same without my parents here. They love the holidays and have a tendency to go "all out" with decorations, food, gifts and parties. They were complaining on the phone that it only took 30 minutes to set up Christmas in their little apartment in Spain....as opposed to the two week set-up and two week take down process they are used to at home. Anyway, we are all very proud of them and the example of service they are setting for the rest of us.

The latest on my Costa Rica adventure???? mmmmm...... I hesitate to say, for fear of losing the thousands of readers who visit my blog daily.... I am moving back to the states!
There are many reasons for pulling the plug but basically what had felt right, at one time for me, changed once I got down there and got into it. I will however, continue to run my all-inclusive package tours, this allows me to live pretty much wherever I want. I am not exactly sure if I will be moving back to Salt Lake City, I am currently looking into some options to do the rest of the year, when I am not running trips. I loved every minute of my experience living down there and trying to start a rafting company. I have no regrets and take peace in the fact that I will never look back and say, "I wonder what would've happened if I had tried....." So here is my sum up of my 6 months in Costa Rica this year-

flat tires- 3
stuck in the mud- 2
mangos consumed- muchos
lung infections- 4
food poisoning- 1
trips to mechanic- 5
ocean sunsets watched- 15 (roughly)
waves attempted to surf- 500
waves actually surfed- 2.5
round trip flights to and from US- 5
attempts at a bank account-13

On a more personal note, I am grateful for the experience for many reasons, but if anything I think I am taking perspective from it. I have had friends comment from time to time on how jealous they were of me living down there. There is no doubt the place is beautiful and the activities and adventures were unforgettable, however, I couldn't help but feel often times that despite the fact that I was living in paradise, there was a certain emptiness to it. It's hard to explain, it wasn't loneliness, but more of an idle feeling.....does that make sense? Other than the unbelievable moments spent surfing, looking at the beautiful views, rafting the river, or watching the sunset, there really wasn't much else going on. So "living the dream" was not really "the dream" as you would imagine it.

The Good Old Days

My friend Kaisha put together a music video with all sorts of shots of where we live. Check it out on you tube at www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZLV3B1dz1U

Paparazzi

Mi casa es su casa!

So this is my place....ok, ok, I only live on the bottom floor.

Sunset view from the back patio.

View from the side of the house looking south.

The godfather gets it done!

I now have a bank account! After twelve tries and many, many hours with attorneys and bank people, I can now accept money in this country! I met with a new attorney in San Jose that supposedly had friends in high places at the bank. He looked like some sort of mafia big shot. We walked in to the bank and everyone immediately recognized him, he talked to some guy for a minute, walked back to me and in a Godfather-esque tone said (english with a thick spanish accent), "They are going to give you an account today, everything is going to be fine." Now I just need my insurance, and I am in business. I applied 3 weeks ago, and it should've only taken a few days, but the government insurance agency is backed up...and so it goes.

Broken Ribs...One Guide Down

Last week was training week for the new guides. Marcus, Zach, and I loaded up the cruiser and headed out with our new driver Alfredo. It was great to get out on the river and remember why I decided to do all this stuff in the first place. Water conditions were really high that day, but we weren't worried with 3 experienced guides and no paying customers to worry about. Things were going really well, we ran Come Gringo (Gringo Eater, pic on left) a class IV rapid right through the sketchiest part and came out with no problems. Then we got to Upper Rio Blanco another class IV rapid. The first wave we hit stopped us in our tracks and we barely got through it, but the next one was even bigger and we just didn't have the momentum to get through it, our raft dump trucked us. A dump truck is when a raft flips up and throws everyone out but the raft doesn't flip over. By the time I got back to the raft and located the other two guys, I could hear Zach groaning pretty loud. He had hit a rock on his side pretty hard in the middle of the rapid. He took it easy for a day, went surfing, said he felt ok, so we hit the river again on Friday. Once he started paddling he started the groaning again, it was obvious to us all that it wasn't just some bruise, he had cracked a rib or two, he couldn't even paddle, let alone breathe without serious pain. He flew out today. We decided to change the name of the Upper Rio Blanco rapid to Bodi Safa. You guys remember the movie Point Break with Patrick Swayze, it's terrible but it's a must see. We had nicknamed Zach Bodi, so we thought it would be a good tribute to him. We had to take this pic from a rock cause there was nobody there to take it, so it's not that great, but we had to document the Pure Life Expeditions virgin run, I hope the rest go much smoother! Marcus on the left, Bodi in the back, and me on the right.

0-11

O-11, I changed my passport this year and I guess I need to register that with the country, you think my attorney would've mentioned that 2 months ago when we were going over all this stuff.....