A week has already passed since I´ve been in Costa Rica. My days have been absorbed into beaches, laying around in hammocks watching monkies go about their daily business, and meeting other travelers on their own walkabouts through the country. Jenna and I arrived safely in San Jose last Wednesday. We got a cab from the airport to our charming little hotel in the capital. My spanish is surprisingly pleasant, but more often then not, when the ticos, locals, pick up on my American accent the reply usually comes in English. I can stubbornly fiddle with my conversational spanish, but they are so used to tourists down here that English is the default. However, at times my Spanish is invaluable when things aren´t so straightforward.
Our first destination was the hippie town of Montezuma on the Pacific peninsula of Nicoya. We met some Canadian travelers on the bus ride to Puntarenas where we picked up a ferry to cross the gulf. They had been traveling south through Central America from Mexico. We all sprung for a room in Montezuma with bunkbeds and our own private deck with a beautiful view over the ocean. Capuchin monkeys were regular visiters and the howler monkeys woke us in the morning. The sun comes up at about 5.30am here, so days start early and sleep is well awaited.
Our first adventure took us on a hike along undeveloped beaches with pounding surf to a waterfall that spills out into the ocean from a cliff. The journey out took about two and a half hours with trails through the thick jungle and along the beaches. The waterfall was very relaxing, but we didn´t pay enough attention to the tides. When we went to leave, we were all but trapped with the powerful tide surging higher and higher. We deemed it too dangerout to walk past the cliff as water was rising high, so we either had to wait till the tide went down, which would have put us back to town well after dark, or find another way. Set back in the forest behind a waterfall, we met a local who lead us along some trails around the cliff and put us back on the beach. That was when the real fun began, running in short spurts around all the drift wood as the tide withdrew. It felt more like a video game, dodging logs as they washed in and out, navigating piles of driftwood and trash, and not getting swept away by the rip tides. All said and told it was about an 8 hour day. Exhousted, we cooked dinner that night and caught a film in town, as there was a film fewtival going on.
I layed low for the next couple days in Montezuma, the change in environment had me feeling quite tired and a bit under the weather, but Costa Rica oozes relaxation. Jenna and I left the Canadians and Montezuma and headed around the tip of the peninsula to a surfer community called Mal Pais, bad country in Spanish. It is anything but. The coast faces due west offering some spectacular sunsets. The ocean is warm, the tides strong but swimmable, and the surfing is far beyond my level. The beach is a short walk down a dirt road to a long stretchof undeveloped shoreline, thickly forested and scattered with rocky reefs great for exploring at low tide. I´ve been doing some painting since I´ve been here, but the beauty is often hard to capture. Birds and bugs abound, but overall the stay so far has been quite pleasant. Jenna has been getting into the surfing, but with my aversion to intense sun exposure, I´m happy enough under a palm tree. Tomorrow we take leave of the coast and head up to Nicaragua. Costa Rica is more expensive of the two destinations, but I´ve been spending on average $25 a day here. Not too bad for comfortable accomodations and a full belly. The heat conveniently takes away appetite. The days are going fast but are enjoyable and low key. More to come soon. Take care. Hasta Lluego.
