I was fortunate to get invited to hang for a few days in Costa Rica with Bodog Founder Calvin Ayre at the legendary Bodog Compound in Costa Rica. It's the closest thing to the Playboy Mansion and other than a late night skinny dipping session with a few girls about three years ago, I have never been an overnight guest.
After flying in the first class cabin on a quick flight over to Costa Rica via Miami International Airport, I was picked up at the airport in San Jose by a huge security guard that was packing heat and whisked to the Bodog Compound in a black bulletproof hummer. As we navigated the back roads of Santa Ana, all the little kids would wave at the hummer and clap as it drove by as if the president or some celebrity was traveling in it. Hummers are rare in the country, I have never seen one in all my travels to Costa Rica other than the two owned by Calvin Ayre.
Once at the compound, I was greeted by Ayre who informed me of our action packed week organized by his sister Anita Ayre who manages and oversees all aspects of the Bodog Compound and all the wild and crazy events/parties hosted inside.
Calvin Ayre was in the middle of watching a World Cup match at the time and told me that we would be having a private party later that afternoon after the games for the day concluded. I had already heard about his 5k bet on Argentina to win the 2010 World Cup but did not realize he was such a soccer aficionado.
There is nothing better than sipping on micheladas (beer with lemon juice served in a glass that has salt on the rim) and doing periodic shots of tequila with my every need being tended to by a tica equivalent to Kim Kardashian while working on my tan. This black haired latina beauty with big boobs and a butt you can set your drink on was discovered by Anita Ayre at a recent charity event she attended the month before and was the perfect eye candy and bartender.
Waves of girls came over to the compound throughout the day and evening, one of the sets of beauties came over to give us a private sex show as seen in this photo. Even Patches, the second stray street dog adopted by Anita Ayre and living at the Bodog Compound joined in on the action.
The party started around 3 PM local time and did not end until close to 3 AM. I was impressed with myself that I could keep up on the drinking front with Calvin Ayre, who is known for drinking massive amounts of tequila without showing signs of intoxication.
At around 10 AM that next morning, I awoke to a loud noise. It was a helicopter hovering over the Bodog Compound. As I staggered out of the blue bungalow, I was greeted by Anita Ayre and she informed me my breakfast was prepared on the table overlooking the pool and that the helicopter would be taking us up to Arenal at 10:30 AM.
After wolfing down my breakfast, I quickly loaded up my backpack and headed for the hummer. We were taken to a big grass field next to the compound and boarded the helicopter. I was a little nervous about the flight, it was my first time in a helicopter and I was nursing a major hangover. Calvin handed me a Imperial Cerveza to wash down my aspirin. Luckily the flight was smoother than I expected and the view was spectacular.
Upon arriving in Arenal, we bee-lined it direct for the resort & spa to check in for the day. We schedule massages and checked into our rooms. The room I was given happened to be bigger than my condo on South Beach, it was a palace with a direct view of the Arenal Volcano. Thanks Calvin! The resort had natural hot spring marble pools out back. I turned on the TV to listen to a World Cup match as I killed time before my massage appointment. Ivory Coast beat North Korea 3-0.
I don't know if I was in dire need of a massage after the marathon party session the night before or if the massage chick was just the greatest massage therapist on the planet because the massage I got was the best one I have ever had that did not include a happy ending. I did not want it to end. Once over, I went back upstairs and fell asleep for a few hours before dinner. During my nap, I was awoken by a loud thunder clasp. It was cloudy out and I did not think anything of it and went back to bed. Later, I learned that noise was not thunder but was the the volcano burping. It proceeded to burp over the next few days several times.
The town of La Fortuna is very quiet at night, it turned out to be a good thing since we had a action packed schedule the next day. We had a nice steak dinner at a place Anita Ayre recommended and called it a night early. I was still exhausted from the night before anyways and was relieved that Calvin agreed to chill.
The next morning we got up bright and early and hit Lake Arenal for a wake board session with Johnny from Paradise Adventures Costa Rica. The man made lake was created to produce electricity for the country and is perfect for wake boarding. Its easy to find smooth water on the 33 mile lake and the backdrop is super scenic. Because of all of the rain forest located around the lake, the air is filled with a tremendous amount of oxygen which is perfect for outdoor activities.
The last time I wake boarded with Calvin Ayre was back in Antigua the year before. I could barely get the life vest on back then and hardly had any stamina, this trip was much different and I got to try something called a wake skate. On a wake board, your feet are set in bindings which are attached to the board. A wake skate is like riding a skateboard on water, your feet are not locked into any bindings. For me, I loved the wake skate much more than wake boarding. Its much more familiar to me as a surfer.
Calvin Ayre on the other hand just rips it on a wake board which he preferred. As usual, he was showing off doing 180's and catching air. I must admit, the guy still has it even if he has ten years on me but he was holding back a bit after taking a nasty spill while attempting a big air on camera in Antigua just a few weeks before and suffering a concussion.
After a few hours we decided to call it a session and headed for a zip line tour at the base of the Arenal volcano. We would hit the lake again the next morning before heading back to the Bodog Compound anyways.
We made our way over to the Sky Adventures zip line tour, this particular location had the longest zip line in the country and also the highest one off the ground. We made our way up to the top of the mountain on a gondola and were looking into the forest for some monkeys but none were around. Once we got to the top, we got geared up and made our way on a private tour. The skies were completely clear and I was looking forward to shooting some great 180 degree shots of the volcano and lake from the zip line.
Once we got to the fourth run the rain started to come down out of no where, making the lines a little faster than normal. We were going approximately 40 MPH on each of the runs with top speeds up to 50 MPH. The longest run was 760 meters long and the highest run off the ground was 200 meters. We could not see the final destination on several of the runs. The views were breathtaking panoramic views of the Arenal lake and volcano.
We finished up the zip line tour and headed for a late lunch. We were lucky enough to catch the end of the USA vs Ghana game and the restaurant which ended with a disappointing finish for the Americans. No matter where we would go in Costa Rica, everyone was either listening to the various World Cup games on the radio or watching on TV.
The next morning we got up early to hit the lake however we made the decision to head back to San Jose early because the weather was suppose to get bad and we wanted to watch the Mexico vs Argentina game. We made it back in time to watch Argentina beat Mexico 3-1 in the round of 16. Calvin Ayre's bet was looking a little better that afternoon.
No trip to Costa Rica is complete without a trip to the Bar of Kings. We had dinner and a few cocktails at the Hotel Del Rey. The talent was not as strong as it normally is but that could have been due to the fact that the bar was packed earlier in the day with people watching Mexico vs Argentina or the fact that it was a Sunday. We grabbed a few girls and headed back to the Bodog Compound for another marathon party session on my last night in town.
Once again I woke up with a major hangover but this time I was not awoken by hovering helicopters. Instead i was awoken by a few Bodog Girls that were hanging out at the pool working on their tans. As it turns out, Calvin was producing a video shoot for his tablog website CalvinAyre.com.
Lucky for me my flight was not until later in the day so I threw on my bathing suit and decided to join Calvin and the Bodog Girls in the pool. Ayre had his staff making us Caesar Cocktails (think Bloody Mary but with clamato juice) which he insisted would cure my hang over. He was right as always.
After several Caesars and hanging poolside with the Bodog Girls between takes, I had to unfortunately pack my bags and catch my plane back to Miami. Before I left I got to see Netherlands, my pick to win the World Cup, beat Slovakia 2-1 to advance to the next game in the knock out round.
While at the airport waiting for my plane I got to catch the Brazil vs Chile match since my flight ended up being delayed by 3 hours due to a hydraulic leak. The entire airport terminal was glued to the game which saw the Brazilians win 3-0 which set up the Netherlands vs Brazil match later in the week.
In many ways getting to watch the game was a consolation prize for me and a great way to end my trip to Costa Rica but had I known the flight was going to be delayed I would have preferred to hang out at the Bodog Compound with Calvin and the Bodog Girls for a few more hours since the party was just really getting started when I was leaving.
We will have to do it again soon Calvin. Thanks to the entire staff at the Bodog Compound including Anita Ayre for the awesome action packed weekend. I needed a vacation once I got home to recover from my vacation.
