So I am in
Alajuela and the epic adventure that was Costa Rica is coming to an end.
God it´s been good. I remember being sat on a bus coming from San Jose
International Airport on the way to my hostel. It was dark, I couldn´t
see much beyond the lights of the sprawling city, and there were still
christmas lights and decorations up in the streets. I remember thinking
¨Crap, I packed too much¨ as I tried to haul my shit up the steps to my
dorm room. The next day saw me on a shuttle bus to Monteverde. It was a
good trip and the scenery was awesome as we climbed higher and higher
into the mountain range. I arrived in the town center and managed to
tell the taxi where I needed to go in very broken Spanish. Five minutes
later, I was in the Butterfly Gardens being greated by the staff I would
be working with for two months and it was great. I´ve met people on
this trip who have seriously made impacts on me. I know you can say that
about anyone you meet .... well, almost.... but some of these guys have
been fantastic.
This country is totally awesome.
The weather is about as mixed up as good old blighty, but there is more
heat and more sunny days to count! The community up there was great,
and there was usually something to occupy you in the evenings. My job
was pretty fab too, taking people on tours and educating them in a fun
way about butterflys, insects, other creepies and the environment. Also,
the tips allowed me to do many of the fun touristy things in the area
on my days off. I´ve been hiking in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve,
to a sloth sanctury, horseback riding through forest, field and
mountain path, I´ve been flying around on the highest and longest zip
lines of my life, to a snake center, to a frog garden, quadbiking,
motorbiking, a coffee and sugar cane tour, a hummingbird garden, walking
and plenty of amazing nights out!
There are a fair few people who wil stand out as being highlights of the trip.
*
Quin - the loudest American I know. One of those people who lights up a
place just by being there. This girl had tons of one liners and funny
qoutes I found side-splitting! She showed me the ropes at the gardens,
was always there to talk to, was open minded and fun, was generally up
for nights out and could drink more than me! She may have tried to teach
me about ´good beer´and she may have been jittery over creepy crawlies,
and she may have moaned a lot over the lack of sex, but I wouldn´t have
changed anything! She made my stay awesome, and I really hope to get a
visit soon!
* Allan - What can I say. One of the
best men I´ve ever met. Looked out for me, had ace nights out
together, made my time in Costa Rica awesome. Going to miss him so much,
more than I think I can handle.
* Fiona - I have
litereally never met such a gross, disturbed, sick minded 18 year old
German girl! What an utter blast! She was the biggest drama queen at the
gardens and was always up for a laugh! I´m going to miss the model
posing, the funny German stories and the jew/sex/baby-in-the-microwave
jokes!
* Mauricio - The 17 year old boy trapped
in a 37 year old mans body! Barrel of laughs, going to miss the bra
pinging, arse slapping, playfights, piggy backs, porn talks, pranks and
general debauchery this man caused!! So much fun, except when he was
having a temper tantrum ;)
* Marta - hard
working Costa Rican business lady with a great talent for cooking and a
massive generous streak. The proper mamma of the clan.
*
Jim - This is one of the biggest characters I´ve ever met!! My boss at
the gardens, full of life, a crazy wicked streak, and a passion for
conservation that more people in the world need to adopt.
*
Sebastian - So I only knew this Ecuadorian man for a week but he was so
crazy and so funny, it´s going to leave a mark! This dude also had the
best t-shirts I´ve ever seen and one of those proper spanish accents,
loved it!!
* Chris - We hung out with this fella
for one night, but it was one of the most fun we had! He taught us some
sick dance moves, drank all night with us and if I ever need my eyes
sorting out, I´ll know who to call!
There
are others, James (the beautiful boy from Chester), Julio (the gardener
who I often went on bug hunts with), Arthur (the German guitarist from
Hyproglow who was scared of our spiders, took 15mins to ask me to the
bar and had so many awesome stories to share when we finally went out!),
the two American girls I met in my first week who I shared a fab dinner
and night out with, the group of hot German girls who me and Fiona
played hilarious drinking games with, Frank (my horseback riding tour
guide who I saw out several times and always danced with), Tiffany
Towers (the ex porn star working in the bar), Juan (the sloth tour guide
who let me hold Speedy and came out with us one night), Haner (the
barista at the Comman Cup who always gave me the biggest slice of cake
and bought me beers), Ken (the coffee shop owner who put on awesome live
music jam nights and served a mean cup of coffee) and lots of others I
have met briefly who all contributed to a fab experience.
After
finishing at the gardens, and saying goodbye to friends I will surely
see again, I´ve embarked on a little one-woman adventure to a few places
in Costa Rica before I had to go home. The heat has been insane (it was
26deg at 5am the morning I got on the bus from Puntarenas to Quepos).
I´ve been to many lovely beaches, a fab city and on some awesome day
trips including an active volcano, a city zoo, general city sightseeing
and a shopping spree! It´s been an experience for sure. So now I am
going to sit on the balcony of the bar in my hostel, sipping on a
cocktail and watching the sunset over the whole glittering central
plains. Totally coming back to this little country.
Pura Vida. xxxxx
