Costa Rica, heat, tropics, beaches and quiet. I just got back from Costa Rica Sunday night. Hard to leave a place with a rythym of life that literally infuses your soul with peace and contentment. I've heard of such places but never really knew they existed. Our group was small, myself and 3 close friends. People I knew but would grow to appreciate in more ways than I had ever known. We travelled by bus from the capital San Jose to the Carribean coastal town of Cahuita. 2 roads intersect and that's the downtown. The people are friendly and laid back, a mix of Latinos and the descendants of freed Jamaican slaves, Regae music mixes easily with the Gallo Pinto, black beans and rice. The beach is endless, from the end of town to the adjacen park redolent with the cries of the howler monkeys and the smiling faces of the resident sloths lounging in the canopy. It was hard to leave but we knew there was more to come...

From there we moved on to Manzanillo, the end of the road, from there nothing but pristine tropical rainforest to the border of Panama. A short, bumpy bus ride later we arrived in Manzanillo, one road in and then nothing but the sea, the sand and the most relaxing time of my life. After dinner at the local seaside bar we played soccer on the beach with the local school kids, at night under the stars, we bonded and made friends. I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or I. As the rode their bikes to the bus the next morning we were greeted with broad smiles and waving hands. Not your typical vacation experience but one I will never forget.

The hightlight of the trip was a nightime excursion led by our own Rasta guide. He hired a boat, captained by a local and his son. They led us out past the reef at night, guided by the stars and generations of living on the sea. As we passed the gently rolling waves of the Carribean the water flying off the bow became alive, with the sparkle of the Seafire as it is known in the local Patois. The bioluminescent algae that turns the water to glittery bubbles as you make your down the coast was like something invented in a special effects lab. There were no other boats to be seen, no lights, no cities, just the water, the seafire and the stars. We pulled on to a deserted beach and made our way south, continuing on till we saw the red signal of the beach patrollers, the signal meant excitement, a sea turtle was beaching and preparing to nest. We made our way carefully to where the volunteers were waiting patiently for the turtle to begin the process, the renewal of life. She was a leatherback, 150cm long and she appeared to be in a trance as she dug out her nest, one scoop at a time with her powerful flippers. The process took nearly 2 hours, the eggs were taken by the volunteers to a nearby nursery, in hopes that more of the hatchlings would survive, as the turtle made her way back to sea, she stopped and looked at us, with a weariness but determined countenance and slowly but resolutely made her way back to sea. We returned to Manzanillo quietly, unsure of how to express what we had seen. As we pulled up the beach we stood there in awe, having experienced the renewal of life in a place of timeless beauty where the essential is what matters most, the elements, family, friends, health, that is life at the end of the road.

I've travelled quite a bit, with friends and family and even alone, but never has a trip affected me this much. To be relaxed and to have made and solidified relationships that will last a lifetime, to be connected once again to nature and humanity. That's what happens at the end of the road.