An interesting bit of information: even in Costa Rica they don't show the dentist's face in toothbrush comercials.
So, my last week and a bit in Costa Rica was checking out the beautiful beaches I'd heard so much about.
First beach town was Tamarindo. What a shit hole. It's very commercial and a popular nightspot for tourists which was enough to put me off. The fact that it didn't stop raining the two days that I was there didn't help. I went and had a look at some of the less touristy neighbouring beaches which were very nice including Pirates Beach.
I was after a beach experience that was more Costa Rican. I found that at my next stop at Samara. There was actually no bus to Samara but I spoke with the the bus driver who was taking me to Montezuma. He said he'd be able to take me in the afternoon. So he dropped me off on the side of the road at a roadside diner and I was to stay there until he came back a few hours later. Perfect. Except when we got to Samara, I discovered he'd taken my backpack to Montezuma. It took him two freaking days to get the backpack back to me. The day I got my backpack back I was headed for Montezuma anyway. The adventures of travel, hey?
Samara was a cool small beach town, very laid back , far less touristy and a holiday spot where Costa Ricans go to holiday. However, the rain continued. The rain was intense , really freakin heavy for hours upon hours.
Anyway, it stopped raining long enough for some beach time and I took advantage of the cheap surf lessons available - my very first time surfing. I did alright too. I was able to stand up on the board after only a few attempts. It was a lot of fun. I can now see the attraction. I don't know how but somehow in jumping on the board, I bruised my ribs. I don't remember the exact incident but after I got out of the water, my ribs hurt like a mthrfcker. I've banged my ribs up pretty bad a few times over the years and they must just have a very low tolerance that any small nudge will burise them. It took a good four weeks before they stopped being so painful.
I went to a nearby beach called Playa Carillo - very beautiful. No commercialism at all, in fact nothing there at all in the way of shops, just the beach with palm trees. Also went to the reggae night at the local discotech and danced in the corner like a weirdo - as you do. Next stop was the small but hip and happening beachside town of Montezuma - bit of a hippy haven. I stayed for five days and a MIRACLE there was no rain for the whole time. It was magic.
I stayed in a hostel up on the hill, away from the town, surrounded by forest. I met some pretty cool kats there and when I lost my credit card they were very trusting and allowed me to pay with my mate's card a few days after I'd left. The interesting thing about this place was that unlike everywhere else in Central America where you're woken up at the crack of dawn by fckn roosters, here it was the dulcet tones of monkeys growling at 5am that woke us up.
Montezuma is well known for it's waterfalls which I walked through thick forest to go and see. They were pretty cool and worth the trek. I jumped off one in to a pool of water about five metres below. This pool was the prelude to the big one. The waterfall with the 50 metre drop. I slowly paddled around in the pool and suddenly felt myself being dragged towards the waterfall. Oh, shit yeah, Id forgotten that was there. Fortunately there were some rocks I was able to swim towards to stop me from going over. As I was walking back to town I slipped on a rock and landed on my cocksyx. It didn't fckn tickle, let me tell you.
Had a great day trip to a near by Island called Turtle Island which involved some snorkelling and getting heavily sunburnt. The island was your typical paradise-espue with white sand and crystal blue water. The aweomse part was coming back in the boat when we were greeted by a pod of dolphines. They put on a really cool show for us. Awesome. I thought maybe the dolphines did this for all the tourists but the staff at the hostel said that it happend only occasionally.
I had another surf lesson whilst in Montezuma which was fun but I had to grit my teeth when trying to stand on the board as my ribs were still quite sore.
As I said earlier, I lost my credit card which sucked. It meant I had to ask some of the other guests at the hostel for enough money to get back to Heredia where I had a spare card with my belongings that I'd left at my mate's place. Thankfully, a few people were very kind and I made it no worries.
The other shitty thing was my glasses were broken. I was playing football with some of the lads - without my glasses. But when the game finished, I put them back on but some of the lads were still kicking around the ball and the ball hit my in the face and broke my frames. Sheizer, that meant I was a bit lost at night. During the day, I had my prescription sunnies.
Whilst here I also had a few more Spanish classes and improved my spansih a bit. Did you know the word for smurfs in Spanish is Los Pitufos?
So I left Montezuma at 6am. So much happens in Costa Rica at 6am as it's usually very warm and the sun comes up about 5am. I travelled to Heredia and spent my last few days with my mate, Minor. He and his wife took me to Volcan Poas, a live active volcano. It was pretty interesting. My first time up close to an active volacno. Apprently we were very lucky. Usually the cloud is so thick you can't see much when you visit but we had a somewhat clear day. It wasn't that active to be honest - just smoking a bit. Thanks to Minor for his help and hospitailty during my time at his Inn. San Lorenzo Inn, Heredia.
So after six weeks in the friendly, green, warm, rainy, fun, Costa Rica, it was time to head for Peru. Upon arrival the whole country was going to throw a party in my honour. Either that, or it was their day of Indipendence - one of the two.
I just hoped immigration was going to let me into Peru as I only had a one way ticket.
cheers Costa Rica
see you next time.
