The Most Natural Place on Earth

by Courtney Brockman (United States of America)

I didn't expect to find Costa Rica

Costa Rica: The Most Natural Place on Earth By Courtney Brockman I didn’t expect to find a place so unadulterated by man. I saw a flier at my local community college advertising a field botany class in Costa Rica. As a girl who had been homeschooled much of my life and lived in small-town Montana, I had never been anywhere. My botany teacher explained it would be humid. I might get travel-sick. I would have to bring biodegradable suntan lotion and sweat-proof underwear. But she also said, “Money comes and goes, but experiences last a lifetime.” I was sold. I had dreamed of visiting the jungle as a little girl with a particular fascination for red-eyed tree frogs. Costa Rica far surpassed any of those dreams. I didn’t expect to find such a natural pace and way of living in Costa Rica. Our group stayed most of the time at Campanario Bio Station and spent most of the days hiking in the jungle, first in the Monteverde Reserve Rain Forest and then throughout the Osa Peninsula. The jungle came to life, especially at night, when ants stretched into the sky, climbing in little rows up the tree trunks, and the howler monkeys called. On the Osa Peninsula, the nearest hospital is two hours – by boat – and most spiders and snakes are poisonous. In Costa Rica, people do not care if they are drenched in sweat from morning to night. Your fashion choices are to wear wool socks and knee-high boots or risk stepping on something poisonous. In Costa Rica, life is very peaceful. People rise and retire according to the sun, which rises at 6 and sets at 6 in a perfect rhythm. An electricity-less restaurant in a small town by the Sierpe River serves vegetables grown right outside, carefully cut into shapes by the locals, and water in jugs. The local children walk along the beach and through the jungle in their Crocs to a one-room schoolhouse. A red macaw eats from a coconut in a little girl’s hand, and her and her brother screech when the bird flies after them for more. Plans for development for roads for the children are carefully weighed with preserving the rainforest. Costa Rica is one of the most magnificently diverse places on earth. All the creatures seem larger-than-life, from the giant katydids to the massive iguanas. The red-eyed tree frogs are frustratingly elusive. The plants are filled with medicinal qualities that often make it to pharmaceutical companies, including the cyanide plant. The banana plant, the coffee plant, the aloe vera plant all grow in Costa Rica. Palms from the Arecaceae family and bromeliads abound. There is a plant for stunning fish and making them float to the top of the water. There is a plant for skin problems, a plant whose leaves help with headaches and pains, and a tree used to make rope. There is even a marshmallow tree. The smallest orchid in the world calls Costa Rica its home. The fibrous stem of the sugar cane lets out a sweet liquid when chewed. The guide says before using a plant, you should ask its permission to ensure it works well. Riding through the sea in Costa Rica elicits an intense euphoria. You are joined by turtles and dolphins below. Each shell I have from the coast is unique – from the zebra, heart-shaped one to the larch conch shells. In Costa Rica, I swam in bioluminescent waters. I ziplined through the cloud forest. I jumped off a Tarzan swing in the jungle. I descended into the hollowed trunk of a garlic tree with the bats. I held a bat. I went snorkeling. I burnt myself. I lived off rice, beans and fruit. In Costa Rica, I learned to step outside my comfort zone, to love nature, to listen to the quiet, to care about the environment and ecosystems and all the natural beauty of this life. I found myself not wanting to leave. As I said goodbye to Costa Rica, I said “Civilization is overrated.” As I write this five years later, from a sterile office environment with the bing of never-ending emails filling my inbox, it is still true.