Montezuma

This morning we had our first flow class. It was beautiful looking at the ocean and birds flying over the canopy - really idyllic and very Costa Rican. However, the class was probably a little beneath mine and Marie’s level and preference as it is more slow moving and meditative. However, I think it was a good way to start off the retreat. Some photos below - I even broke out the yoga shorts in public for the first time because it was so hot:





For breakfast, we had a delicious empanada and started a trend of iced coffees in preparation for the famous Montezuma Waterfall hike. Breakfast below that comes with beans and rice and fried cheese:



To start off the hike, we walked down the road where we saw a lizard and howler monkeys before turning into the forest:

We had to pay a fee and we navigated down to the major waterfall which was the lower one. The scramble was bit tough and steep, but it was worth it as I point to it here along with some photos that give you a feel for our hiking adventure:







Although the water is normally clearer, we enjoyed the refreshing water after the humid hike and treaded and swam toward the waterfall:







Our next stop was to the upper waterfall which apparently is smaller, but you could overlook the other waterfalls. We got a bit turned around and ended up walking past the paths down to the upper falls, as we walked past them thinking we still needed to continue to the upper falls - we learned there’s actually two upper falls. We hiked back up to the road through a circuit of hanging bridges, which was an experience onto itself.









We returned to the hotel and took dips into the pool before our tasty lunch pictured below and before bruschetta of various types which was our afternoon snack before evening yoga:











At dinner, I drank my first Imperial, the Costa Rican beer along with a delicious lentil and chicken stew and pasta salad:



We’ve learned that the Nicoya peninsula, which is where Montezuma is located, is a designated blue zone where people live longer than average. No wonder people like to retire here! Apparently, there are five blue zones in the world: an island in Greece, Okinawa - Japan, Sardinia - Italy, and Lomo Linda in Southern California in addition to Nicoya. Apparently the folks here live longer due to the stress-free attitudes, water that is enriched in calcium, the sun providing plentiful doses of calcium D, and the healthy eating of squash, beans, corn, and etc. 

To say the least, the food has been tremendous thus far and we learned that the hotel doesn’t offer this many meals, but our retreat organizers coordinated directly with the hotel manager, Jo, who attended chef school and is a local Costa Rican. Apparently, the previous caterer was an Italian expat living in town, so it wasn’t as much of a local experience. Jo described the rest of our menu for the week and I’m sure it’ll be delicious and this Nicoyan living and eating will add days to our lives!