The Belly vs the Volcano

The belly and I were very fortunate to go to Costa Rica two weeks ago with my Design and Marketing department at New Chapter. Though only five days long (two for travel, three for work and play) it was an extremely full experience – like Vacation Concentrated, just add bottled water. We've all only just stopped feeling exhausted (I think it's sunshine withdrawal...).

We stayed at the gorgeous open-air Luna Nueva eco lodge and biodynamic farm. (see start of slideshow below) Don't think of "farm" in the traditional sense. Aside from the manicured vegetable gardens, you don't see fields of crops or long pens of animals. Both are mixed into their jungle landscape so naturally that they're hard to notice (until the water buffalo suddenly raises its head out of the foliage, complete with nose ring and egret perched on back). It's a very comfortable place to be. You step outside your room and feel the pulse of the forest. I spent my mornings wrapped in a blanket in a giant hammock listening to the forest wake up. I didn't take a lot of pictures this time (I was traveling with my camera-laden art department – I didn't have to!) but I did a LOT of listening.

The farm director and flora expert, Steven Farell, gave us an extensive tour of the organic gardens, compost sheds, and the most recent turmeric and ginger harvest. We nibbled jungle-hardy varieties of spinach and walked under towering spiky nettles. You could practically hear things growing (if the cicadas weren't buzzing). I ate the best banana I've ever tasted, right off the tree cluster. It was a rich, complex flavor with a perfumey aftertaste. I haven't craved much with this pregnancy, but I've wanted more of those tree-ripened bananas!

The belly and I went on a hanging bridges hike through 400 year old protected rainforest. We saw toucans, enormous trees, and a million forms of plants from all levels of the canopy. We also took a gentle wildlife rafting trip (the water was maaaaybe a foot deep...rainy season is on its way) and saw sloths, howler monkeys, an anteater, basilisk lizards, and dozens of bright and chatty birds. My favorite was the kiskadee. It reminded me of a tropical chickadee.

Towering over all, if it isn't in its own cloud, is Arenal Volcano. It erupts a little every day, so is considered a 'safe' volcano. We had spectacular views of it as we toured around.

We were nourished with true equatorial vitamin D, starfruit smoothies fresh from the tree, floats in an oxygen-filtered pool, big delicious homemade meals with lots of hot sauce and ginger, and slept serenaded by frog orchestras. (We worked, too, but that's not as interesting a story. But the group did have a wonderful bonding experience and produced some fantastic ideas that impressed the bosses.)

The only bad thing about the trip was that JAY wasn't there experiencing it with me! I was very ready to come home and get back into the humbler rhythm of our stubborn New England spring, and see all of these frog and salamander eggs Jay said were rapidly filling our pond! (When I left, the pond had still been frozen!)

On the flights back, the baby in the belly started making itself KNOWN. I felt my first little pops and pokes and flutters, especially during takeoffs and landings (is that like womb free-fall?) The sensations have been present every day since. It's an incredible daily reminder that someone is indeed in there.

And I'm sure they're asking for more of those bananas.

(Slideshow: You can turn off the captions (green word balloon, lower left), pause it to read longer bits of story, or click to go directly to the slideshow for full screen with a lot more control. Enjoy!)