Day 2 - Chasing Blue

Seven waterfalls, questionable modeling, and a rainy night hidden in the Costa Rican rainforest.

I woke up ready to go.

Today had one mission:

Blue Falls.

But first, provisions.

Because nothing says international woman of adventure quite like wandering around a Costa Rican grocery store first thing in the morning.

And listen...

I love a foreign grocery store.

There. I said it.

I grabbed one of my favorite little travel lunches: fresh French bread and a pack of Spanish chorizo.

That's it.

That's the meal.

Fresh bread.

Chorizo.

Rip it. Stack it. Eat it.

If you know, you know.

And if you don't know?

I encourage you to broaden your horizons.

And no, Spanish chorizo is NOT the same as Mexican chorizo.

Expand, beloved.

But First...McDonald's

Yes.

McDonald's.

I can feel some of you judging me already.

You flew all the way to Costa Rica and went to McDonald's?

Sure did.

Because a. I needed regular old reliable mediocre drip coffee and b. I have a fascination with McDonald's menus in other countries.

I don't know when it started. I don't know why I care.

But I do.

There is something wildly entertaining to me about seeing what McDonald's has decided people in another country want alongside their McNuggets.

So when I spotted the McCafé...

Obviously, we had to investigate.

This is cultural research.

Please respect my process.

Special mention for the paper lid because apparently even my coffee cup was reminding me I wasn't in the U.S. aaannd the typical plate on the menu with beans, rice and plantains included. Pura Vida!

I digress..

Coffee secured.

Snacks secured.

Now we could go chasing waterfalls.

The Pictures Were Not Lying

I'd found Blue Falls online before the trip, and the pictures had completely captivated me.

You know those travel photos that look just edited enough that you're suspicious?

That blue cannot possibly be real.

Surely somebody turned the saturation up.

Surely we're being catfished by Mother Nature.

Nope.

She really looks like that.

Blue Falls is a park made up of seven waterfalls, each with that almost unbelievable electric-blue water I'd been staring at online.

And somehow, in person?

Even better.

This place was magic.

Not Instagram magic.

Not I need a caption for this magic.

The kind where you stop for a second because your brain needs a moment to understand what your eyes are looking at.

Water that blue.

Jungle that green.

And me standing in the middle of it thinking:

Oh. So we're really doing this.

Every Solo Traveler Needs a Photographer

The expectation at Blue Falls is that a guide accompanies you through the falls.

Is one absolutely required?

Not necessarily.

Was I mad about having one?

Absolutely not.

Because here's something they don't put in the brochure:

Guides make exceptional photographer doubles.

And when you're traveling solo?

Baby, that is a BENEFIT.

No tripod gymnastics.

No propping your phone against a suspicious rock.

No running into position after hitting the timer and trying to look serene when you're actually out of breath.

I had a human.

A human who knew the waterfalls.

And could take pictures.

We love a multifunctional queen.

I gave her the phone and did what needed to be done.

Or at least what I thought needed to be done.

In my head?

Magazine cover.

Editorial.

Woman Finds Herself Beneath Mystical Costa Rican Waterfall.

The results?

Well...

I did not land on a magazine cover.

But I did land here for your eyes only.

wink.

We thank our photographer for her service and continue.

A Little Something for the Land

Between the pictures and the playing and my determination to see every fall, there was also something quieter I wanted to do.

I made an offering.

I've always felt something deeply spiritual in nature, and Costa Rica has a way of turning the volume up on that connection for me.

So I stopped.

I gave thanks.

For the land.

For the water.

For being there.

For another year of life.

For whatever had carried me this far.

And for whatever was still ahead.

I prayed.

Left my offering in gratitude.

And kept walking.

I didn't know it yet, but this wouldn't be the last time on this trip that I found myself giving something to the land.

Or receiving something back.

There are so many ways to offer gratitude to the land—a song, a prayer, a mandala made from what you find along the way, a crystal, a small altar. It doesn't have to be elaborate. For me, it's simply about stopping long enough to say thank you.

Seven Falls Later...

We kept going.

One waterfall.

Then another.

Then another.

Each somehow deserving its own pause.

Its own pictures.

Its own wait, LOOK at this one.

Annnd this little juicy one too...

By the end, I understood why those pictures online had gotten me here in the first place.

Blue Falls wasn't overhyped.

It wasn't one of those attractions where you arrive and think, Okay...the photographer definitely had a better angle.

It lived up to every expectation.

Absolutely worth the stop.

But Costa Rica had rain in the forecast, and I had plans for exactly what I intended to do about that.

Nothing.

Two Potatoes, a Steak and a Rainforest

I stopped at the grocery store on my way to my Airbnb.

The shopping list was extremely sophisticated:

Two potatoes.

Steak.

Salad.

Dinner handled.

Because my home for the night was the kind of place that makes you reconsider every housing decision you've ever made.

Villa Natura Retreat & Sauna, tucked away in Bajo del Toro.

A tiny home.

In the rainforest.

Not rainforest inspired.

Not jungle adjacent.

Nestled in it.

There was a covered patio overlooking all that green, a hammock practically begging me to cancel the rest of my life, and a private trail leading down to the river below.

And even from the house, you could hear the water rushing.

Rain beginning to fall.

River below.

Forest everywhere.

I had nowhere I needed to be.

Perfect.

This was the kind of Airbnb you don't just want to stay in.

You start doing mental calculations about whether you could abandon your responsibilities, buy the place, and retire to the Costa Rican rainforest permanently.

Spoiler:

I'd buy it if I could.

Main Character Activities

I climbed into the hammock on the covered patio, pulled out my book and disappeared into the last Sarah J. Maas book in the series I was reading.

And yes...

I love this series.

giggle.

There are vacations where I want to see everything.

Do everything.

Wake up early.

Stay out late.

Maximize every second because when am I ever going to be here again?

This wasn't one of those nights.

That night I wanted the rain.

The hammock.

The book.

The sound of the river.

And my own company.

No conversation.

No plans.

No need to be anywhere other than exactly where I was.

Eventually, I dragged myself out of the hammock long enough to cook.

Steak.

Potatoes.

Salad.

Dinner?

Amazing.

Rainy night in the jungle?

Amazing.

Me, a book, the forest...

and me?

Ahhhmazing.

There was something deeply luxurious about that kind of solitude.

Not lonely.

Not empty.

Full.

I tucked myself in early that night with rain falling outside and another adventure waiting in the morning.

I'd scheduled a little butterfly-farm stop to break up the long drive toward the Caribbean.

Cute.

Easy.

Butterflies.

What could possibly happen?

Turns out...

more than I expected.

Pura vida por vida. 🌴

The Details

🥖 Grocery Store Lunch — Fresh French Bread + Spanish Chorizo. Fancy? No. Would I do it again? Every single time. IYKYK.

☕ McDonald's / McCafé. Yes, I went. No, I will not be taking questions at this time. International McDonald's menu investigations may now be a recurring feature.

💦 Blue Falls. Would I go again? Absolutely. The water really is that blue, and the experience lived up to the pictures that originally pulled me in. Worth it!

📸 Guide or No Guide? You may not technically need one, but as a solo traveler, I found having a guide incredibly useful—not only for navigating the falls but for having someone available to take photos along the way. Take cash for tips!

🏡 Rainforest Stay — Villa Natura Retreat & Sauna, Bajo del Toro. Would I stay again? Over and over again. I'd buy this Airbnb if I could. Rainforest setting, covered patio, hammock, private trail down to the river, and exactly the kind of place that makes staying in feel like part of the trip.

Next Stop

Day 03 — On Butterflies & Becoming. What started as a cute little roadside stop became something else entirely—and then I had four hours alone with my thoughts.