Finally I made it out of Panama. I went to see Volcano Arenal but I´m not sure there was a volcano there - only clouds. Monteverde was a nicer experience, although cloudy there was plenty to see: sloths, tarantulas, quetzals and lots of green.
One afternoon at Monteverde I started walking to a San Luis waterfall with 2 Canadians from the hostel. We hailed one of the few cars that passed us and they gave us a lift. There were already 4 people so 2 of us had to go in the boot (it was a 4WD). The car belonged to an Australian who was driving from Canada to Panama and invited people from hotels to join him along the way. The waterfall turned out to be a long hike so we would not have made it without the car. Even after driving down unsigned dirt roads (we had to ask for directions several times) there was more of a hike, so reaching it felt like an achievement and made swimming under the 90m waterfall all the more fun.
Checking out of Monteverde, I asked at the hostel reception about buses heading North. As I did, there happened to be 2 Italian girls asking the same question - they had been at reception for 40 minutes trying to figure out how: the bus was booked out and a private shuttle required 3 people. So I shared a car with them and spent the next couple of days at Rincon de Vieja volcano. We did a tour of the volcano and spent the nights talking about all things Italian over numerous bottles of red wine (I learnt much more about Italy in the 2 days than when I went to Italy). Somehow the lodge had no Americans staying there - literally everyone was European except for me - which was a surprise and a nice change from the likes of Arenal during spring break.
From Rincon de Vieja I was offered a ride to Liberia by someone who overheard me asking if the taxi was really going to cost $30 (a lot of money in Central America (a five hour bus trip costs $5)). He worked for Thrify car rentals and had just dropped a car off for my Italian friends. We had a good chat about Costa Rica, about how he was trying to become a police detective and about his gun collection.
Leaving Rincon de Vieja, the receptionist was able to book me a hotel room in Liberia for half the price listed in the guide book. In Liberia the hotel owners spent much of the day sitting in the hotel restaurant and were keen to chat. They warned me there were delays crossing the border to Nicaragua and saved me wasting a day there.
