TRAVEL & ADVENTURE
Lucky Lovers Leap into Adventure of a Lifetime FEATURED ADVENTURE
by Christine Larson
A
dventurous, fun-loving, daring and definitely in love! Larena’s Instagram post was all it took to inspire a much grander prize than what she and her husband, Robert, were envisioning as contestants to star in their own action movie. Like other hopefuls in our Lucky Valentine Costa Rica Challenge, the pair’s sights were set not only on a oncein-a-lifetime experience courtesy of my company, Desafio Adventure Co., but also a professionally edited video recording of the event. What gave Robert and Larena the winning edge was their expressed desire to celebrate a mutually profound passion for adventure, and for each other, on the same spectacularly romantic occasion. They were exactly the kind of lucky valentine couple we were looking for when the February 2018 contest was conceived. Responding almost immediately to our call for entries, the attractive couple from Southern California told us they were planning a trip to Costa Rica for their 20th anniversary, and would love to have Desafio help commemorate their visit on film. What they had in mind is Costa Rica’s most extreme kind of experience — our Gravity Falls waterfall jumping tour. Larena’s Instagram feed read: “Feb 1st the month of love starts the official countdown for our next adventure! 26 days
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The jump was perfectly executed — so well that both bride and groom touched the water in perfect synchronicity.
and 13 hours until he sweeps me off my feet again and we take off to celebrate 20 years of marriage!” Instantly, it dawned on us to offer Robert and Larena a wedding vow renewal ceremony as part of their Gravity Falls adventure. Tui Frye of Blue Butterfly
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Events was in on the scheme right away, and it didn’t take much convincing for Robert and Larena to agree. The day before the ceremony, one of our drivers picked up Robert and Larena at the airport and took them to their hotel in the Arenal area, the Royal Corin. Next morning at 7 o’clock, the makeup and hair artist, Victoria, was first on the scene. As she put the finishing touches on Larena’s radiant face, our guide, David Arias, showed up at the hotel, along with Oscar Obregon, the photographer, and Matt Schaefer, who would conduct the wedding vow renewal ceremony. Judging from the first few photos, Robert and Larena seemed to have undergone some apprehensive moments, perhaps thinking to themselves, “What on earth have we signed up for?” But by the time Oscar had warmed up with photos of the starry-eyed couple hugging and kissing in front of the picturesque Arenal Volcano, the soonto-be “renewlyweds” were clearly getting into it. Smiling deeply into her husband’s eyes, Larena looked stunning from one Kodak moment to the next. She had worried needlessly about being unable to find the right dress for the occasion on short notice, scoring rose-toned perfection in an elegantly flattering style with lacy overcoat. As if cooperating in every sense
