You could smell the asphalt and plane fuel under the Costa Rica sun; the heat intensifying the sensations. We walked across the tarmac to step into the prop planes. But then on takeoff the wind rushed through the cabin and these scents were replaced by the hum of the engines. We were airborne and headed from the beach to see central Costa Rica.
A view of where we played in the surf, whale mating grounds, and volcanoes were just a few of the sights we took in from 5k feet. These new perspectives were burned into our minds.
Retreating to Central America during the dead of winter allowed us to trade our skis for surfboards, blankets of snow for rain forests, and we all gained a few stories along the way.