Playa after Playa

It took us close to 5 hours to drive from Monteverde to Montezuma at the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula.  This is the precise reason I choose to rent a 4wd SUV as I had read the roads would be in bad shape.  Leading out from Monteverde were vista views amongst the mountains looking all the way out to the ocean in the far distance.

Turning to dirt roads in the middle of the Nicoya we hit our first river crossing wondering if this was the way.  As previously mentioned using my tablets GPS was extremely helpful and this indeed was the way.  Mind you there are better ways than others to reach your destination often going out of the way.  But with the 4wd I was pretty sure we could conquer anything.

It took us about 3 hours to get through the rough terrain.  I was surprised my friend never got sick from the nonstop bumps in the road.  We probably averaged about 10mph on this segment.

A small crossing

A few of the crossings were about 100 yards across were it was difficult to really see where you needed to go on the other side.

We checked into Montezuma and strolled down to the beach for a swim where the water felt like 85 degrees.  Oh it was so nice!

The town itself is tiny with basically one square block where all the activity takes place.  It's known as having a hippie vibe to it.  Chico's bar is where you want to go if you are looking for a good time.  There's also a place next door selling there own beer.

The major attraction is the waterfalls.  Take the hike up past the first section of falls and go to the pool where there's a nice gorge around you with the big waterfall.  You can even hike up to the top but we choose to spend the afternoon at the big fall.  The local guy selling some jewelry will jump from the top probably 70 ft up every so often which is pretty crazy.  I stuck to the smaller jumps.

Water was a little colder than the ocean

There are a number of surf towns on the Pacific Coast side such as Playa Carmen which is where we explored one afternoon.  Catching the sunset melting into the sea was my first chance ever to see this as the sun always rises on the Atlantic Coast.

Coming back to our guesthouse we had a few friends slide under the crack in the door.  A trail of ants led to my bed and a few large spiders who were instantly met with the shoe.  The ants just made their way in for no reason as there wasn't even any food they were after.  But that's the kind of thing you can expect here.  

The local soda in town had a really friendly guy preparing a barbeque on site.  He bought the chickens from some guys in the parking lot across the street which we later saw a police car drop by to check out what those guys were really doing.  But the chicken was excellent!

Our next destination was up the coast just south of the party hotspot Tamarindo.  We were couchsurfing just outside of Playa Avellanas.  After finding the place we headed for Playa Grande north of Tamarindo where the surf is famous.  I rented a board there on site and set out for my second time on the water.  Sometime I hope to go with someone who knows what they're doing to give me a few tips as I was less than successful here.  But it's still enjoyable which is the main thing.

Playa Grande

Heading back we were able to just catch the sunset before grabbing a bite to eat at a local soda.

Back at the house we met with our host who also had a number of other guests staying as well from Spain, Argentina, France, and Germany.  We ended up taking the Spanish girls on our trip the next day up the coast to Playa Conchal called the most beautiful beach in the country.  It has the clearest water due to the reflection against the crushed shells lining the bottom.  What it doesn't mention is how rough the surf is here.  I almost wiped out crossing the beach and had I gone down would have ruined my camera.

We didn't spend too much time here and headed into Tamarindo to enjoy some drinks and good times on the beach.  Having Spanish speaking people around is definitely helpful.  They showed us some awesome ice cream a lady sells out of her cooler on the street for one dollar.  They come in plastic bags and you make a small hole to suck out the goodness.

Lazy Sunset in Tamarindo

I never did make it out in Tamarindo but I don't feel like I missed anything.  Instead my friend and I departed here and I made my way up the coast to Playa Ocotal near the airport as I had an early flight the next morning.

I booked myself a cheap resort room and finally had a typical 1-day relaxation vacation with a few drinks, reading, watching the Costa Rican soccer league championship and enjoying the last sunset.

My last experience in Costa Rica left a sour taste as the gas attendant tried to make me pay about $50 for $5 worth of gas.  I stopped to just top off before returning the car back and the guy never reset the gauge back to 0 after filling up another car.  He kept telling me to pay this amount.  I noticed when he started pumping I should have said something to him at the start.  It usually takes a lot to get me worked up but I stepped out of the car on this guy and made a scene because he was being a total insert word here.  There was another guy who spoke some English who worked at a local hotel resort who tried to help me but was unable to do anything really.  I ended up giving him $10 to just forget about the whole thing and move on.  This was at 5AM as there wasn't much activity at this time of the day.

Overall Costa Rica is a beautiful place to visit with such an abundance of diversity in the landscape and fauna.  It's the most trafficked place in Central America and I believe I maybe would've enjoyed a place like Nicaragua better.  But less complaining and more enjoying! Pura Vida!

Costa Rica - The Land

I don't often get the chance to travel with someone so when I was looking for my next travel destination a friend of mine had just happened to post she had some free time and a month later we ended up in Costa Rica.

I was definitely in the mood for some Central/South American place to go as I have yet to really explore outside of Europe.

Costa Rica is a huge tourist draw these days as it's rated the richest and safest country to visit in Central America.  Ok so not really that interesting.  But we had our fair share of adventure getting off the beaten path.

I flew into Liberia in the north of the country in Guanacaste province home of the cowboys.  Flying over the country I could just tell what an amazing country I was about to visit in terms of the landscape.  We picked up the rental car and off we went with just my tablet for navigation to our first destination.  We hit the Great American Highway or the road the traverses the entire country to find it's a one lane road with the average speed of about 40 mph.  Well at least it was partly paved.

Our first destination was La Fortuna home of the Volcano Arenal made famous with its earlier evening lava spews that dazzled visitors.  While it's no longer spewing at the moment I have yet to see a real active volcano so it was definitely exciting for me to see.

 We had planned taking about 3 hours to get there which ended up in about 5 hours and arriving at night.  Luckily the road was paved and had only a few sporadic spots to dodge around boulders.

We made a pit-stop at one of the first microbreweries in Costa Rica as the scene here is just beginning to sprout up.  Lake Arenal Hotel Brewing had only 2 drafts at the time in a Dunkel and one IPA. They weren't that tasty which I amount to the water quality being low in this country.  They both had a kind of metallic taste.

Waking up to a giant volcano looming in the distance amidst palms, exotic fruit, and dense jungle is an awesome feeling.  The breakfast in the morning was that much better freshly made from some Costa Rican ladies.  The go-to for breakfast is the rice and beans which actually tasted better than it sounds.

We hiked the trail closest to the volcano where you were able to catch some of the old lava flow.  You need to pay at the parking lot and the lady there tried to rip me off through the weird conversion rate. Luckily I paid in dollars after being confused she was asking me for about 100 dollars.  This hike was legendary! Rainforest out to the open fields and lava flows to huge tall plants that made you feel like an ant.

Leaf Cutters

Lava Flow

Look at that guy

The best thing in La Fortuna was the hot springs.  The free ones! A lot of the resorts here charge up to $100 just to spend the day at their hot springs.  The free hot springs feel like you're in the middle of a jungle amongst the real Costa Rican families who come here.  This was probably the best part of my trip to sit in such a paradise.

The next stop was a drive back around the Arenal Lake and down to Monteverde.  This was the hotspot for ziplining and adventuring into the tropical forests with abundant wildlife.  The town here is small among hills with a lot of tourist traffic around.

I had only ziplined once before earlier this year in PA and nothing compared to these lines they had in Costa Rica.  1st Class.  Over 15 lines some where you could barely see the other side where you would end up.  Flying high over the forest trees was amazing.  Bring a jacket out here as it gets chilly.

Mr. Sloth

Next stop the Pacific Coast!