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The next day, we all took a wonderful, yet intimidating
hike up the mountain terrain to get to the start of the
zip-line tour. Capped in hardhats and lining harnesses,
we zipped from one tree to another, overlooking the
rainforest and all of the beauty Costa Rica has to offer.
When you take a zip-line tour, you’re basically as high
as the clouds. You go along the top part of the rain
forest, also known as a canopy. It is terrifying, yet
incredible. There’s only a wire hanging between two trees
and you are really high. The natural American in me
leads me to think, “Who inspected these things?” Our
guide Alex, also a rafting guide assured me that I was not
the first person to stop myself just a little bit short of
the end so I had to sort of monkey-crawl to finish.
Once landed back at the lodge, we prepared ourselves
for the big day. Today we would raft on Class 4 and
Class 5 rapids. Would we flow through this one like we
did the day before? Tito retaught the method of “getting
down” in the raft during certain rapid areas, presumably
so we would not go flying out of the raft. No problem
40 DECEMBER 2007
MEDICAL TOURISM
there, as I was more than willing to be the first down in the raft. Surprisingly, the words of
my mentor Tito rang in my ear before each rapid, “okay good position now…get down get
down!” This was a piece of cake. After each pass through conceivably deadly rapids, Tito
encouraged us with the tapping of our paddles in the air yelling “Pura Vida!” I had developed
a strange and deep confidence in this person who had taught me to raft, housed me, fed me
and directed me each step of the way. Overall, we only had one person fall out of the raft
during the whole trip. He fell over twice, but….we did not hold that against him. After
spending the whole day on the water fighting the rapids, we were ready to hit land. The trip
overall was unforgettable.
After two days of intense physical workout, we decided to spend a couple of days at a
place called Peace Lodge. Who could have a bad time at a place called the “Peace Lodge?”
The drive to get there was picturesque with views of the coffee fields and volcano rainforest.
When we arrived it was raining, but it did not taint the exotic flair of the Peace Lodge with its
rooms named after butterflies. The Peace Lodge has established a fantastic series of walkways,
hiking paths and stairs that weave you in and around the volcano area to expose three of the
most powerful waterfalls I have ever seen this close up.
It would seem that the Peace Lodge must have its sufficient share of guests since they did
not respond to our request for photos for the Magazine, however, we have included some of
our own. Some of the unique charm of the peace lodge is the privacy and the unique care
taken to create the rooms, which are very large. Each room has a fireplace, as the rainforest
and the elevation makes for chilly evenings. The large bathrooms include a tub with a
waterfall backdrop and even a natural rainfall shower that seems to emanate from the wall
and ceiling. The stained glass separating from the bathroom and the main bedroom emanates
romanticism and who does not appreciate a balcony with a hot tub and its own hummingbird
feeder? Although I must say, watch your eyes, those hummingbirds mean business.
Costa Rica is truly an amazing and beautiful country. It’s people are friendly, it’s medical
facilities state of the art, and it gives medical tourists a wide range of activities to choose
from. Even if you don’t choose an eco-adventure, it is still a beautiful country to go to.
TAIWAN TRIAD
Under a new program, the Grand Hotel, the Taiwan Hospital Association and
the Asia-Pacific Society of Travel Medicine (ASTM) out of Taipei has gotten
together for the first time to promote medical tourism in Taiwan. Patients will
spend four days and three nights at Taipei’s Grand Hotel visiting local tourist
spots and get a three hour health checkup, anti-oxidation treatment, skin care
and a magnetic wave face lift. At a news conference, ASTM Director Shieh
Ying-hua stated that Taiwan has an excellent chance of developing medical
tourism due to its superior medical care even despite its late start in this industry.