Day 8 - Mar 9

I had a night with Montezuma's revenge. Woke up in the middle of the night and my intestines were determined to completely evacuate. I felt ok and eventually got back to bed. Woke up a couple of hours later with a diarrhea attack and did not make it to the bathroom. Washed out my clothes and eventually got back to bed again. Slept the rest of the night but when I woke up in the morning, Tim was in the bathroom. Ran downstairs to the hotel bathroom and ended up feeling pretty bad for about 30 minutes. Cold sweats and feeling like I was going to faint. Laid on the floor for a while and it eventually passed. Managed to get showered and get myself together to get on the bus. Feeling decent but pretty compromised and weak. 

We drove for about 90 minutes or so to the first stop - a wildlife sanctuary.  It was very hot - about 94 - with crazy humidity. We had a guide who took us through and showed us all the animals and birds. My stomach hurt pretty bad but I was hanging in there. I ate chips for breakfast and stayed with bottled water. I'm not sure what got me but I have a hunch it might have been the water at the restaurant the night before. By the end of the tour, I was feeling better. Could tell I was turning a corner. Pretty happy about how my body was getting through this because it could have been so much worse. The birds in the sanctuary were so beautiful. These tropical birds are so incredible. Hard to believe they are real. 

Back on the bus - isn't that a recurrent theme for this trip? We drove about another 90 minutes to a place where we had lunch. This was a true tourist trap. Buses just pour into here. Lunch was a buffet but a la carte. I was feeling able to eat but I stayed to non offending items. Had a bit of a stomach ache after lunch but felt pretty good. Ate more chips. Those seem to work better than anything else at managing the stomach ache. There was a huge souvenir shop attached to the restaurant with all the stuff nobody ever needs. I avoided all of it. Wondered about buying Matt something but not sure it would be appreciated so I didn't. 

After lunch, we drove the rest of the way to San Jose - about two hours - and checked into the hotel. We had a couple of hours to rest and both Tim and I fell asleep. Tim didn't sleep very well last night either. We are exhausted. 

At 6:30 p.m., we met in the lobby and drove to a unique restaurant at the very top of the city for our farewell dinner. It was a beautiful night and the views of the city were lovely. Another buffet dinner, we've had a lot of these but they've been good for the most part. I will miss these delicious plantains. After dinner, the restaurant put on a show with Costa Rican dances. It was enjoyable. 

And now, settling into the hotel for the last night. Tomorrow morning, we will have breakfast here. For me, I think it will just be coffee. I'm ready to start eating the way I eat again. Tim and I are on the shuttle that leaves the hotel at 9 am. Our flight doesn't leave until 1:00 p.m. but that is when the tour group thinks we need to leave, so we are at their mercy. It will be a long day tomorrow. I am scheduled to arrive in SFO at almost midnight. 

But what an amazing trip. So many incredible experiences. I'm learning to live without David. So weird to even say that. But it is true. Life will go on without him. It pains me to realize how true that is. Still learning to love Matt and figure out who we are. It is a long time not to see him when we've only known each other three months. Wonder if we'll just fall right back into synch with each other. We shall see. I'm so fortunate to have such wonderful experiences.