Rivas

As we packed up in Dominical and prepped Chomo to get back on the road, we decided our first stop would have to be Rivas. This sweet spot in the mountains was pulling us back before we head North. Over the past few weeks, Wendy and Alex have been our incredibly gracious hosts whenever we stop in for a visit. They have offered us their home, cooked us countless amazing meals with fresh local ingredients, and showed us around their little slice of paradise. Their sons Justin and Joshua are some of the nicest and best-behaved kids we’ve ever come across.

From the crazy suspension bridge you drive across to get to their property in Tirrá to their amazing stilt tree house on Alex’s private launch, this place is rad. We have had many fun flights here, with strong thermals and fun wispy clouds to play in. Wendy is nice enough to drive the car down and retrieve everyone, take photos, and look after Rok while we fly. And she’s a killer cook. Someday I want a wife like her.

From the landing area in Rivas’s futbol field, it’s a short walk to Tule’s Bar. Any establishment with a paraglider painted on their sign is alright by me. The surrounding area is beautiful—green ridges and valleys dotted with farms of every type. Within a short walk of Alex and Wendy’s house, you can find limes, oranges, mandarins, papaya, banana, guineo, mango, goiaba, chayote, coffee, chili picante, and all kinds of vegetables. There are also local Swiss cheese and chocolate makers just a quick drive up the valley towards Chirripo National Park. If you haven’t noticed yet, we haven’t found much that we don’t like about Rivas.

 

Unfortunately, right before we left Dominical, Chomo’s water pump developed a pretty serious leak, in addition to the power steering pump that has been leaking for a couple weeks. Ruh Roh. We limped it up to Rivas, and with Alex’s help we found a local mechanic who was willing to work on our Chevrolet. After a few hours and a couple phone calls, he found a replacement water pump and had us back on the road. He refused to swap out the power steering pump, however, so for now we’re stuck dumping lots of fluid in and keeping an eye on the levels. The further you get from Mexico, the harder it gets to find parts and willing mechanics that know Chevy’s. We’re thankful to be in as good of shape as we are at this point.

While we were in Rivas, we also wanted to check out Canaan. Our friend Zion, another young local pilot, lives in the cool little community there. Wendy and Alex needed to go down to San Isidro, the nearest city, to take care of Wendy’s mother. So we volunteered to take Justin and Joshua over to Canaan for the afternoon. For those of you who know us well, we’re not exactly the most frequent babysitters, but these kids are pretty rad. First stop: ice cream. Then we loaded up in Chomo and headed towards Canaan. The boys were awesome guides—they led us right to Zion’s house and gave us the tour along the way.

We were amazed as we entered the property—an open-air mixed material cement/bamboo/wooden house surrounded by a gorgeous garden, all set on a hill above a clear mountain stream. We wandered the yard and checked out all the plants—some ornamental, some medicinal, many edible. We met a few more folks from the community and Rok made a few new friends too. Across the road from Zion’s, we stopped in at the local Swiss cheese factory and felt like we’d died and gone to heaven.  We also paid a visit to Jose Lobo’s house, another impressive construction, built in to the rocks above the gorgeous river. One more stop at the local gourmet chocolate factory (died and gone to heaven squared) and it was time to head back to Alex and Wendy’s on the other side of the valley.

That evening, we managed to cook a vegetarian dinner that was suitable to Justin and Joshua (Costa Rican kids that like lentils!?) and didn’t burn the house down. We showed the boys lots of paragliding, speedflying, and BASE jumping videos and filled their heads with all kinds of bad ideas. They picked fresh limes and mandarins and chile picante from the garden for us and even washed the dishes after dinner.

Our final day in Rivas was perfect—and we don’t use that word lightly. Cade flew tandem with Justin and I cruised solo, playing paparazzi. The conditions were great—strong thermals, light wind, and just enough clouds. Wendy cooked a few more delicious meals and Justin even borrowed some Scorpion Peppers from a neighbor’s garden for us to try. They are among the hottest we’ve tasted anywhere. Kapow!

It’s not easy to say goodbye to Rivas, but we’re sure we’ll be back. We’ve found another home away from home with our new friends here in the foothills of Cerro Chirripo.