So, I became Costa Rica’s lover
By Matthew Kritzer
“I went back into the jungle, only this time for myself; I was on a mission to try to understand and find closure in what had happened to me in the steamy, tangled Vietnamese forest. The close fury of combat, during my tour of duty, had shocked me to the core and parts of my mind had gone missing in action.
Now, beginning my sixties, I found myself entwined in another jungle, only this time I was on my own. I felt that by being alone, I would have my chance at filling those indefinable, elusive blank spaces in my personal mode of operation. I knew that the good things in life invariably come on time, though not always on my time. To what degree I was there by accident, I couldn’t decide, but by the grace of destiny, I was now isolated in a beautiful tropical rainforest on a mountainside overlooking the Pacific Ocean in the Osa Canton of southern Costa Rica.
I had originally come to Costa Rica for a three- week, get-away vacation. I already had my retirement planned in a manicured, Mini-Mac-Mansion between two golf fairways Florida, and was only seeking a refreshing green prelude, to that dull-gray retirement.
Yet while wandering through this lush countryside, I found myself free falling in a much different direction than I envisioned.
I hadn’t been looking forward to starting a quest toward wholeness, this late in my life; recovering lost moments in time and letting go of others. I couldn’t have remotely imagined building a home and starting a new life in Costa Rica. I couldn’t have dreamed that these splendid jungle-draped mountains even existed, laden with fruit trees and sparkling waterfalls, much less the magnificent ocean views; and yet while I was standing in the midst of it, it had all virtually found me.
Eventually, I became Costa Rica’s lover. Though she has had many others, I believe that she loves me more than the rest of her suitors. From my vantage point, 1000 feet above the South Pacific, I can clearly sense her sweet spirit…it reverberates through me when I look across her sky and water every evening at sunset. I can feel her fresh morning fog skirting past me, hovering, slowly making its way up to the crisp mountain streams, before daintily, dissipating, unveiling her lush, rainforest valleys below my perch.
Her essence is veiled in mystery yet
Editor´s note: Matthew is a talented photographer who has been living in Costa Ballena for a few years. See his amazing wildlife photos on Facebook.