The Jungle
The Jungle, OSA Peninsula, Costa Rica
This is part 1 of a 4 part report of tripping in Costa Rica. In our month in Costa Rica we tripped in the Jungle, the beach, a volcanic thermal hot spring and the cloud forest. We hope you enjoy our reports.
A Month in Costa Rica
Our month in Costa Rica kicked off deep in the rainforest on the OSA Peninsula. In addition to the rainforest, we would be spending time at the beach, at a resort near Arenal volcano, and in the cloud forest. And we would be taking LSD in each location... a trip a week.
First Stop, Osa Penninsula
To get to our first home, we would need to drive five hours on major roads, then 30 minutes on an improved dirt road, until finally hitting a small jeep trail, that crossed three rivers and became impassible in heavy rain. We were at the end of the rainy season, so for several hours a day, the road would likely be impossible to use.
The location turned out to be perfect for us. Our home was on a two-acre estate that we had to ourselves other than for the on-premise caretakers, and their friendly dog, who would visit us nightly as we cooked our dinner politely waiting for any tribute that might go his way.
The grounds of the house were expansive - a full two acres on the beach. The trees were full of Scarlet Macaws, the the jungle behind the house was teaming with monkeys, and a variety of small mammals that a prolific in Osa. Just as interesting were the tiny bugs, bats and other small creatures that one could find by peeking under a large leaf.
Ants were also hard a work, breaking down anything that might fall on the forest grounds. The ants below carried this flower for 300 yards to their nest.
In general, the more carefully you looked, the more you would see in the jungles of Costa Rica.
3, 2, 1 ... We Have Ignition
The day for our trip arrived. We each decided to take a single 125 mcg dose at 10 a.m., after a light breakfast. We awoke early to cut fruit for later snacking. Sour Patch kids were also brought from the states and strategically deposited for later consumption.
We walked to the local beach. It was empty uponour arrival. A beautiful, but not easily surfed break entertained us while we waiting for the onset. As an aside, this small but lovely beach was almost always empty or nearly empty our entire stay. One or two local surfers would visit in the afternoons, and occasionally tourists from a local photo lodge came by to take pictures. But we often had the location to ourselves. Here's someone else's surfer video from the beach, which nicely captures a "crowded" day on the Osa.
At 20 minutes after initial ingestion, I notice my eyes start to focus on the waves, and my depth perception subtly change, with overall vision appearing more clear.... The typical first impact of LSD for me.
I then noticed that the clouds were rolling rapidly and were very close above the beach. It took me a few moments to realize there couldn't possibly be clouds there, and what I was seeing was a pure visual hallucination. I also realized that the jungle behind us was waving and pulsing and reflecting the classic "breathing" hallucination, many people report at the beginning of an LSD experience.
We continued to stare up to the sky, which, other than for an occasional bird, was pure blue, with my cloud hallucinations having passed. Several photographers from the local photo lodge set up their cameras, and one person in particular seemed almost obsessed to figure out what we were looking at. He would look at us, and then up to the sky, and confused look back at us. This was most pronounced as I found myself pointing out this or that hallucination to my partner (is that a bird? is what a bird? ahhh, nevermind). The poor guy took out a spotting scope, then scanned with his camera. His activity attracted other photographers, who also started looking to the sky and setting up cameras pointing at the blue sky. While this was entertaining for a while, paranoia started to creep in and we decided to do the five minute walk back to our house, while walking was still relatively easy....
Well.... the five minute walk took us around 15 minutes, and was surprisingly challenging.... with the slightly uneven surface and muddy patches becoming little puzzles for our LSD flooded brains to solve. Matters were complicated by the small monkey faces peering down from the trees.... whether there were actually monkeys there, remains a mystery.
Psychedelics, Indeed.
A painting of the Scarlet Macaw, now our spirit animal
Back at home, around 90 minutes into our trip, the psychedelic phase was in full swing. Colors were not only vibrant, but also changing. A Scarlet Macaw landed on a tree and the entire tree changed the color of the birds feathers. Even the sound of the ocean became surrealistic and distorted. We were very happy to have had the privacy we were enjoying, because neither of us were in any position to interact with any human not on the same wavelength as us.
In the heat and humidity we strip down to minimal clothing and talked about the wonders of our trip. "If we could always feel like this, I mean... Fuck! Right?!?" Absolute euphoria as the world reveals beauty. Sensual foods and fresh fruit juice. A beautiful environment. Sex happens. It's fun and interesting. Playful and hilarious.
Short videos are shot of monologues about life, and its complexity. Then childlike playfulness floods over us, and we feel as though we are kids, sharing pure joy and fun with our best friend. Fibrance laser wire is turned on, and the glow is amazing despite it being mid day. Minutes feel like hours. And life is very very good.
Self-Therapy
By 2:30 pm, the intense hallucinations and euphoria start to pass, and a feeling of deep well being sets in. We enjoy more food and wine, along with some jalapeño infused tequila and fruit juice. A short shower nearby lowers the lighting but only slightly, and our moods are decidedly up beat, and we feel deeply connected. We talk about our lives together, and plans for the future. And I feel deeply moved and in love and grateful for my life.
More hours pass. I become aware of sadness. A poignant feeling; perhaps related to feelings of mortality. I spend time by myself reflecting on the emotions, and realize I am feeling unprocessed sadness over the death of my grandfather (who had died 17 years earlier). My grandfather helped raise me, and was my primary father figure. He was a man I deeply admired and respected.
I found that the LSD allowed me to look directly at my pain over this loss, and I felt safe and comfortable to fully embrace the sadness. As I had discovered in the past, LSD allows me to perceive myself and others without judgment and with deep acceptance. I started to cry and feel the deep loss that had resulted from his death, and the experience felt deeply cathartic. And when I felt I was done processing it, I was ready to move on. While I still feel the loss, this experience facilitated my processing emotions that had been un-resolved (and unrecognized) for almost two decades. I have absolutely no doubt that LSD could be an effective tool for people dealing with far greater stress, loss, and trauma than I was facing. I always felt that MDMA might have valuable clinical uses, but upon taking LSD, I have never experienced anything that has allowed me to accept reality, good, bad, pretty or ugly, the way LSD has allowed me to do.
Darkness Falls, Rick and Morty Begins
Around 5 p.m. darkness starts to fall and we head to our mosquito screened bed. Both of us are feeling fairly normal, but with some mild euphoria and an overall sense of wellbeing. We fire up the laptop to watch some pre-sleep Rick & Morty. In the OSA, where electricity is limited and things are very dark by 7pm, we have been falling asleep shortly after dark. 90 minutes of Rick & Morty on the tail end of LSD is one heck of a good way to spend 90 minutes.
Rick & Morty & LSD?
Yes, Please.
It's nearly bedtime, but I decide to make a quesadilla, despite not really being hungry. But it struck me that our groundskeepers dog has been visiting every night at dinner time, and it seems somehow wrong not to cook dinner so he can have some scraps. I fire up the grill, and shortly thereafter the hound appears. I give him some snacks, and eat a small dinner. And then close my eyes to sleep at 8 pm, 10 hours after our experience started.
And there are fireworks when I close my eyes. And I fall asleep with these tiny silent fireworks to entertain, and have lucid psychedelic dreams throughout the night.
A perfect experience.
We hope you have enjoyed this story. As discussed in our "About" section, each of these stories are fictional stories we have created or have been told to us. We always comply with the laws and customs in each country we visit and we encourage all others to do so as well.