Costa Rica Trail Running – Catching the Fog

Costa Rica Adventure – Wrapping Up the Run Like a Girl Retreat in Playa Dominical

On day 5 of the retreat, we had our last yoga class, then after breakfast it was time to say goodbye to Chakra. As I walked down the path from the platform to the road, my stomach was all knotted. I could have stayed there a bit longer, it felt like I was being pulled from the place too soon, I wasn’t quite ready to go back to civilization yet and wanted more of the serene, carefree and supportive energy that the space and the people in it provided.

We hiked down the 5km of road, back to the village.

As part of their conservation project in the area, Run Like a Girl also provides community service. This time we participated in re-painting a small building affiliated to the school. It may sound weird but I actually loved doing that. It got me thinking about looking up retreats that offer community project involvement as well as outdoor activities. I’m sure those are out there.

We then got back on the bus, ready to head to the beach! We drove to Playa Dominical, a very small beach town on the west coast of Costa Rica, right on the mouth of Rio Baru and the Pacific ocean. This was a great way to ease back into a slightly more populated area, after spending 5 days in a secluded lodge. Far from being a tourist hub, it was a charming little one-street town. Shop sand restaurants lined the main unpaved road, while craft and souvenir vendors spread along the ocean front, in the shade of the palm trees.

After settling into our hotel rooms, we had a tasty lunch at Phat Noodle, a Thai restaurant just at the entrance of town. Then the afternoon was free so Brice and I went for a stroll on the beach. We walked some distance south until we reached a rocky area, populated by hundreds of tiny little crabs.
The sky was pretty cloudy at the point and we got caught in a legit downpour as we walked back.

For dinner we all went to Tortilla Flats, a restaurant on the beach. The food was underwhelming at best – I thought, but the cocktails were delicious, probably the best pina colada I’d had in a long time. We were sitting near Heather and Melissa, the two sisters from Utah, and after diner, while most of the group had already gone back to their room, the four of us decided to keep the party going and went on the search for a place to potentially do some dancing.

Well, there wasn’t much going on in Playa Dominical at 10pm on a Wednesday (at least I think it was Wednesday, my sense of date and time was pretty fuzzy at that point), but after walking down the main street back towards the town entrance, we ended up in what seemed to be THE establishment in town that locals went to. As far as locals, there were about 5-6 men siting at the bar, and our slightly inebriated entrance didn’t go un-noticed. Aside from that, the rest of the place was empty, so we sat down in a booth further past the bar, but soon relocated to the top of the small wooden stage behind us and proceeded to start dancing. Not sure if the other patrons found us funny or annoying, but soon after, the music stopped. Because we were on a wooden stage, we found ourselves stomping, and soon we were singing “we will rock you” to our own beat (cause, obviously)…We must have been more entertaining than annoying because a couple of minutes later the bartender put that very song on. More dancing and drinking (and spilling) ensued and one of the men stood of his bar stool and busted out some pretty serious dance moves with Melissa. Meanwhile, our waiter from dinner, Moses, who we had nicknamed Costa-Rican-Lebron-James, made an appearance – apparently Heather had made quite the impression on him, not enough to remember her name correctly as he kept calling her Amber, but enough that he seemed pretty pleased to see her at his local hang-out.

After a while we got tired of dancing. It was hot and muggy and we were all pretty sweaty so the next obvious move at that point was to go jump into the ocean, which we did. With all that, we were in bed at a whooping 12am – might as well call it an all-nighter since our regular bedtime until then had been closer to 8:00pm.

For day two at the beach, Hailey and Eduardo took us to another beach area in the nearby national park of Marino Ballena, just outside the town of Uvita, about 20 minute drive south of Playa Dominical. The park is known for being one of the best area in Costa Rica (and maybe even in the world) to spot humpback whales, especially in the fall when they congregate there to mate. Mother Nature works in mysterious ways as the 13km long beach presents a very large rock and sand formation jutting out into the ocean, and which, viewed from the sky, looks surprisingly similar to a whale’s tail. This is the result of conflicting currents which deposit sand over the rocky formations, creating this unusual, yet oddly-appropriate shape that can be fully seen at low-tide.

Our guides had planned a couple of activities for us while on the beach. Eduardo set up a couple of slack lines between palm trees. While half of the group was testing out their core strength and balancing skills, the other half gathered a few hundred feet away at the mouth of a small river for some stand-up paddle-boarding. We paddled up the narrow estuary, lined by thick mangrove trees. Although very different from our kayaking experience in Mexico, I couldn’t help but be reminded of it, floating once again on calm waters surrounded by this exotic vegetation.

After all the beach fun, we walked back into the small town for lunch, then headed back to Playa Dominical for another free afternoon.

Once we were done browsing the souvenir stands by the ocean, Brice and I, along with Melissa and Heather headed to the hotel pool. At first the water was looking somewhat questionable. A hotel employee was in fact in the process of cleaning it. When asked if the water was safe to swim in, to which he replied yes, so we went in for a while. It was our last night as a group as some people were flying off the next day. Since there was a 2-hour drive to get back to San Jose, some of the ladies had to leave really early the next morning – as in 3am, in the case of Heather and Melissa. Because of that we briefly entertained the idea of repeating the partying from the night before and not go to bed at all (for them anyways) but at 10pm, as we were paying our dinner bill, it became pretty evident that it wasn’t gonna happen. We were all fading already and besides, you can’t force these things, they had to happen organically.

So we walked back to our rooms and said goodbye. I was sad to see these two go as we had definitely bonded over the course of the retreat, not so much over what we had in common, as our background were pretty different (two sisters from a Mormon background, one of whom had never been outside of the United States until now, and a French couple relocated from Paris to Anglo-Canada) but rather, over our enjoyment at finding out about each other’s story and where we came from. Plus they had wicked-fun personalities and incredibly generous, embracing demeanours. In the beginning I was even surprised that little old me would make any sort of impression on these two (not surprised about Brice though, who always knows how to make a strong first impression :P). In any case, somehow by the end of it we were friends and hoping for opportunities to hang out again before too long – turns out Utah has been on my list of places to explore so we might try to put it in the cards for 2017.

Along with a smaller group, we had opted to stay an extra day in Costa Rica before we flew off to our next destination. On our last morning in Playa Dominical, we got up early and went for a sunrise walk on the beach.

After breakfast, Hailey suggested we go hike the Nauyaca Waterfalls trail. The trail is about 4km one way, if you start from the parking lot. We took a taxi there and instead of having him drive us down the dirt road to the parking lot, we got off at the intersection and started from the main road, adding another 2km to our hike. The trail was pretty easy, but again because of the recent rain, it was really muddy. There were two impressive waterfalls at the end, the first one 45 meters high and free-falling, and the other one twenty meters high with a tiered fall, forming a pool at the bottom.
You’d think after our 11-waterfalls hike on day 2 of the retreat we would be a bit jaded, but these two were definitely a impressive sight and worth the hike.

On the way back we stopped at a small restaurant for a bathroom break, and discovered just behind it a tree full of capucine monkeys and toucans. In true RLAG Retreat fashion, we then had to hike back up the steep 2km dirt road from the parking lot to the main road, where we had asked our taxi driver to come get us at 1pm. Like Jackie said, it’s good to finish a hike with a good challenging bit that makes you sweat. And sweating we did, it was hot and muggy and a great way to end this week of challenging adventures.

We drove back to the village and had a delicious lunch at Coco Mongo, a vegetarian café near the entrance of town. The bus came to pick us up a little after 5pm, so we got a last glimpse at the Costa Rican sunset before saying good bye to Dominical.

Back in San Jose, we stayed at the Mango Hotel near the airport. The room was nothing special, but at $90 a night, with breakfast and airport shuttle included, it was probably one of the cheapest option in the airport area. The next day, we said goodbye to Costa Rica, and flew off to our next adventure: the Caraterra Austral and Patagonia.

Trail Running and Yoga Retreat in Costa Rica with Run Like a Girl – Part 1

August 1, 2017January 18, 2024Posted in Costa RIca, Trail RunningTagged Chakra Lodge, Costa Rica adventures, Costa Rica Retreat, Costa Rica Trail Running, Run Like A Girl, Run Like A Girl Yoga and Trail running Retreat1 Comment

On our 3rd day in Costa Rica, we returned to the Best Western hotel at 6am to meet up with the rest of the retreat group. There were 16 of us, including the organizer, Hailey, but not including the only two men in the group: Brice, and Eduardo, Hailey’s husband and a Costa-Rica native.

As a side note, this was a pretty different traveling style for us from what we’re normally used to. If you know me, you’ll know I’m a planner, and an organizer (which is also what I do for work). Whenever Brice and I travel somewhere, I usually take charge of the day to day planning, what we will do and where (he takes care of the accommodation and transportation). I love maps, I love looking at them to see where we’re going, where we are, and where we might want to head to next. On this section of the trip though, everything was organized for us, so much so that I barely paid attention to where the lodge was located on the map and what the daily program was. And it was awesome! In the last few weeks prior to leaving, I was pretty focused on planning the Patagonian portion of our trip, so not having to worry about the first 10 days was great. Every once in a while, being told what to do and where to go – obviously in those pretty ideal circumstances – is just the best!

The 2-hour bus ride was a chance to chat and get to know each other. The day before we had already, on our rafting and zip lining adventures, become acquainted with Kate, Lindsay, Valerie, Bea and Kara. We were joined by Melissa and her sister Heather, Jackie, Jodie, Amanda, Alicia, Kristen, Lisa and Alex. Most women where from different parts of the United States (Oregon, Utah, New York just to name a few…), and a small portion was from Canada. All of them were recreational runners, with varying degrees of experience on trails, but all with an equal love for it. The excitement for the days to come was clearly palpable as we rode out of the city.

The bus took us from San Jose to San Jeronimo, a rural town located between two major national parks of Costa Rica: La Amistad International Park and Biosphere Reserve, which is the largest conservation area in Costa Rica, and Chirripo National Park, home of the Cerro Chirripo, the highest summit in the country with its peak at 3820m.

In San Jeronimo, we were introduced to one of Costa Rica’s main agriculture, coffee. The slopes of the mountains surrounding the village are covered with coffee plantations, and harvesting coffee is what most locals in the area do for a living. We visited a small coffee plantation and processing farm and learned about the harvesting and processing of the bean, before it is packaged and exported. In fact, most of the Costa Rican coffee is purchased by independent distributors for world-wide exportation, and rarely roasted or even sold locally.

After the visit of the farm we enjoyed a delicious lunch prepared by the farmer’s family. Then it was time to hike up the 5km road to the lodge. The weather had been pretty unstable all day, but the light rain eventually turned into downpour in the last couple of kilometres up the hill. Somehow I didn’t care too much as the climb was keeping my heart rate up and my body warm.

After 5km, we literally reached the end of the road and were able to look up at the lodge’s main platform, perched a few metres up on the side of the mountain. We walked up the short trail to the “front door” and then there we were.

Even with the pouring rain and dense fog, it was easy to instantly fall in love with the place. The main platform had banisters along its two sides facing out to the valley, an open view to the incredible nature around it. From there you could see some of the 20 hectares of land that is part of the Chakra domain, and had been purchased for conservation purposes, returning it from cattle farming grounds to its original untamed rain forest. (You can learn more about the Chakra lodge and preservation project here)

The main building hosted a kitchen as well as a large wooden table for meals, and the rest of the platform was left mainly unfurnished, to allow for yoga mats to be laid out for our daily practices. During down-time between activities, hammocks were hung between the pillars, providing a pretty perfect way to relax and reflect in this serene environment.

While the lodge had no electricity, two showers with hot water had been built near the main platform. Five cabanas were also scattered on the mountain side, each set-up to sleep 2-4 people and accessible via a short trail.

We were all drenched from the rain after hiking up the road, but once we had changed into dry clothes and warmed ourselves up with a cup of tea, we had our first yoga class of the retreat.

The fog was thick and the rain was pounding on the roof, and from that point on, I felt completely disconnected from the rest of the world, in a moment suspended in time, but ultimately, at home.

Our practice during these few days would be lead by Maria Fernanda, our local yoga instructor, who had joined our group on the way to the lodge. Something about her accent when she spoke English, the tone of her voice, the softness of her gestures and her altogether soothing demeanour, made her seem very familiar to me, one of these people you feel you might have met before, in a slightly different shape or form, and without remembering when and where.

After practice came dinner – it was 6:30pm, and being close to the Equator, the sun had long set down way below the mountains. We ate all together around the big wooden table, in the candle light. Our meal was prepared by Luis, his wife Martina and their daughter Roxana. The family lives in the mountains nearby and harvesting coffee is their main source of income, except for when they participate in the Run Like a Girl retreat by preparing the food. Luis, 60-years-young, also does a lot of manual work to help maintain and expand the Chakra lodge.

The food was simple and delicious. Yams, yucca, rice, beans, meat and eggs, fresh pineapple and watermelon. The same ingredients were more or less used at every meal, but prepared one way or another and always incredibly flavourful. The fresh mountain air and the active days were likely contributing to our appetites, but still, I surprised myself with how much food I was ingesting, and the fact that it was so tasty made it even harder for me to not go back for seconds (and so I did, many times). One of the Costa Rican specialty is Pinto Gallo, a dish made of rice and beans, mixed together with a (not so) secret ingredient: Salsa Lizano. We all were soon pretty addicted to the Salsa, a big bottle of which pretty much never left the dining table.

With the sun setting so early and our wake-up time of 5:30am the next day, we were all in bed and sleeping by 8pm. It continued to pour throughout the night, until eventually we woke up to a different kind of sound. It was still water but it was no longer the pounding of rain on the roof of our cabana. It was the rushing water of the river down below and the nearby waterfall. Hailey and Maria Fernanda both told us at breakfast the next day that they had prayed with all their might for the rain to stop – the previous retreat, in November, had been a really wet one, forcing them to cancel some of the activities.

When we started our morning yoga practice at 6:00am, the sun hadn’t made it up above the mountains yet, so every one was still bundled up in warm layers. By the time we laid down in Shavasana, bright sunshine was filling the main platform and we were all down to our tank tops. Prayers had seemingly been answered.

As soon as breakfast was over, we headed out for our first trail run. We first ran/hiked along the river, coming across no less then 11 waterfalls in the process! The trail was pretty technical, with lots of roots and rocks along the way, and the recent downpour added a good layer of wet mud on top of it all. But once again, I felt right at home. While some of the participants were more used to dry, groomed trails, I realized how fortunate I was – in this particular instance – to have cut my (baby) trail-running teeth on the wet and muddy tracks of Vancouver’s North Shore.

Brice was of course totally in his element, running effortlessly back and forth to capture shots of everyone and the scenery alike.

After we reached the bottom of the last waterfall, we turned around and ran back to the trail head. At that point we had the option of returning to the lodge, or continuing up along a ridge to get closer to the top of the highest waterfall. The group split and Brice and I joined in with those who were continuing up.

While the first part of the run was mostly in the trees, we now were heading up along a ridge with wide open views of the surrounding hills – getting the full extent of how far around us the coffee plantations spread.
Eventually we reached the waterfall, rewarded our climb with a few photos and made our way back down.

The trick about starting from the lodge was that all our hikes started with a descent of the main road – which meant they also ended with an ascent of the same. So as we reached the bottom of the ridge and returned to the trailhead, the day wasn’t over. We still had to climb up the road to return home. This time I think we were less than a kilometre away from the lodge, but when you’re tired and hungry, a 500 meter walk a steep, unfamiliar stretch of dirt road can seem like the most challenging part of the day. When we arrived at the main platform, Hailey told us that if we kept going for another 100 meters, the road turned into a small trail that lead down to the river, with easy access to the water if we wanted to cool down our overheating legs and feet. Yes please! So we did and it felt amazing!

We had lunch and showered and had some down time to relax for the rest of the afternoon, until the second yoga class of the day, at 5:30pm. While morning yoga was a more invigorating practice, meant to wake up our bodies and prepare us for the day’s activity, the evening class was more restorative and relaxing, to help us recover from our adventures.

To be honest, while I do enjoy the occasional yoga class for a good stretch, I wasn’t sure how I would like having two practices a day. But Maria Fernanda made each class different and new, and after the 14km run/hike that day, I could really feel the benefits of the evening class. Towards the end of the retreat, when we relocated to the beach town of Dominical and said goodbye to our yoga teacher, I actually came to miss our daily practices, the relaxation and stretch and focus that I found in it.

Once again dinner was shared in the intimate setting of candle light. That night we enjoyed a delicious broth with yam and yucca bits and rice and it was once again a delight for our bellies, and dare I say, our souls.