A last starry night

by Alberto Moreno (Mexico)

I didn't expect to find Costa Rica

There are two starry nights which brought tears to my eyes, midnights at the Saharan desert and inside the jungle in Costa Rica. When I left my home for the first time, certainly I was not expecting to find a family far from home, but something that never crossed my head, was that I almost took my own life in the middle of a starry night in the jungle. One month far away from everything, on a country not so far from home, was a good start from someone who has never left the country before. Of course, I felt the latino welcoming, but I knew I wasn’t home, until I left. You are bound to the land where you were born and raised, but each time we travel we left a little of us there, as much as we take from that land that received us. But I almost left my own life in a cliff facing the Caribbean. A Portuguese, a Brazilian and a Slovak and myself. We were headed to Puerto Viejo; however our destiny was far from one of the most visited beaches in the country. Our destiny was 24 kilometres from the small village. The way there is only through a narrow and tricky highway that goes up and down, between hills and crossing rivers. No cars, just bikes. The small village of Puerto Viejo is basically composed by two long streets where the inhabitants work in tourist traps. If you go further where they do eat (and live), you will be able to experience vibrant an afrocaribbean oasis. Sweet coconut rice & beans with tender fish fillet at the beach with the fresh breeze of the Caribbean against the rocks is just “Pura vida”. We took the road with the bikes, we visited small pristine beaches at the edge of the highway and kept going. I was always behind the rest of the group no matter how much I tried. Little did I knew that the bike was as old as myself (about 20 years by now) and the tires as flat as deep ends of the small hills and cliffs we were crossing. Despite the strenuous way, the sights were astonishing. The virgin jungle and the Caribbean aside was a perfect combination. Birds chirping, monkeys howling and the sea roaring, with the fresh scent of the blooming flowers and fruit trees growing freely, it was pure paradise. Still fresh on my memory because when you remember, you live it all over again. Soon, we peaked the highest cliff that faces the Caribbean, more than 20 meters tall, whilst taller waves crashed against the place that we were standing. As horizon turns red, we took the road again. And then the problem started. Soon it became dark. An old Mexican saying goes “as black as a wolf’s mouth”. But we needed to keep going, since a light rain started pouring. It did not last long. The rain was over soon, and the sky soon became clear as before. Our path became guarded by the millions of stars naked on a perfectly dark land which did not blinded our guardians. And as dark as a wolf’s mouth, we kept it going. But being as the left behind of the group I was struggling to keep the pace. But now when I reached the peak of a tall hill, they were at the bottom facing a small bridge waiting for me. So, I threw myself in that old bike, and soon I noticed that I couldn’t control the speed. That small bridge had a small space that went directly down to a running river. I was unstoppable. Went straight into the jungle or falling into the river? When I was close to the edge of falling, I turned my handle violently, passed over a dirty shovel and sweep until half of the bike was hanging into the abyss. I almost fell. I look up to the sky, I couldn’t help but laugh. My friends were shocked when I told them that we should keep going. Adrenaline running and a violent heartbeat as we kept going, under that perfect starred night.