Surf City...Playa Santa Teresa

Today I was up early and eager to get to the beach. Since it is so hot here, it is best to be in the sun early in the morning and later in the afternoon. I spent about two hours down at the beach, enjoying the sun, trying to cool off in the ocean without drowning, and snapping pictures of everything I saw!!! I could take pictures here all day. Playa Santa Teresa is on the south western side of Peninsula Nicoya...Montezuma was on the eastern side. Some of the differences I have seen here is the sand...it is less coarse than Montezuma, there is more of a breeze here, especially in the afternoon...this makes being at the beach much more bearable, it is much easier to walk on the beach...in Montezuma you would sink into the sand as you walked, the waves are much bigger and of course there are very few rocks along the coast. The beach is very nice, but there is lots of debris along the top half of the beach...lots of dead palm leaves, coconut husks and various leaves. The tide goes very far out, but also comes very far in...almost to the point that there is no sand to sit on. There are also section of rocks and shells...they are very beautiful. By 11am I decided to head back to the hostel for a bit of lunch and then take the local bus to Playa Carmen to go to the bank. As I was waiting for the bus with an American guy from my hostel, one of the local men came up to us and pointed out some howler monkeys in the tree behind us. You can hear these monkeys all the time...they have a very loud noise and are very territorial. They were close enough to see, but too far for a picture. There were about three adults and the tiniest little baby....SO CUTE!!!! The bus finally arrived and I took it to the next town...about 3 km and I jumped off at the bank. The money in Costa Rica is the colones. It cost me 300 colones to take the bus to town...with 550 colones equivalent to $1 US, that was about 55 cents. Public transportation is one thing that is very inexpensive here, but it is also VERY slow. After getting some money I decided to walk back to my hostel and visit the many little shops along the way. At 1pm, it was very hot with no shade, so I definitely went into every store I could. There were lots of surf shops and a couple small stores along the way, but nothing to brag home about. I bought at few souvenirs and arrived back at my hostel around 3pm. I headed back to the beach at 4pm to catch the late afternoon sun and watch the beautiful sunsets I have heard so much about. It really was beautiful....the early evening is my favourite time of the day. The sun goes down very quickly. It was very red, half hidden behind some clouds...I may have to check this out again tomorrow it was so beautiful. I came back to my hostel around 6pm, had some dinner and spent the rest of the evening reading a book upstairs in the open air lounge....so relaxing. My roommates all went out to the local bar, but after a full day in the sun I was zonked...I know many of you are surprised!!! Tomorrow is my last day in Playa Santa Teresa and I am then heading to my luxury villa I rented for 5 days in Playa Hermosa. I am not sure yet how I am getting there, or if I will have internet access, but once I figure all that out, I will be back to update you all on my newest location. Until then....

Playa Santa Teresa

Today I was on the road again, this time about 1 hour away to Playa Santa Teresa. To get there I needed to take two bus rides; one to Cobano, which took about 20 minutes and a second bus to Playa Santa Teresa. It is extremely dry here and the roads are not paved, so EVERYTHING is full of dust. The roads are incredibly bad in this part of Costa Rica, with huge rocks and pot holes ...this is why it takes so long to get to many places and why the buses do not have more direct routes. There was not much in scenery during my trip except for...you guessed it...dust!!! Because of the dust, everything has a bit of a brown cast to it. I should also make note of the extremely HOT bus ride from Cobano to Playa Santa Teresa....I thought I was going to melt. Opening the windows did nothing except allow the dust to come in and yes, because you are sweating so much it sticks right to you. Very attractive I must say. I arrived in Playa Santa Teresa around noon. The area of Mal Pais, Playa Carmen and Santa Teresa is a surf destination. It is much different than Montezuma in that there is not a town center. Instead there is one main road that follows the beach and it is lined with shops on both sides. Of course being a surf community, there are many surf shops, little restaurants and bars, supermarkets and tiny shops to buy all kinds of gifts and souvenirs. It really does not have the charm of Montezuma´s small town, but what it misses there, it gains in its beaches. There are multiple beaches that run into each other for kilometers on end. The white sand is less coarser than in Montezuma and there are almost no rocks. The area is so large that although there are many people on the beach, it is not hard to find a spot all to you own. The main attraction on the beach...aside from all the dogs....are the surfers. What an incredible sport!!!! I could watch people surfing all day long. The waves here are larger than Montezuma as well....typically they are 5 feet high, but I heard last week they were around 10 feet. There is not only one big wave rolling in, but multiple layers of them. It is pretty impressive to watch and I love the roaring sound as the waves crash into the beach. I thought about taking a surfing lesson when I was here, but I think I have chickened out....those waves scare me! You can not really swim here either...the undertow is even worse than Montezuma. It is really incredible how the water can pull you around, even when you are just standing on the water´s edge. So instead of surfing I will just have to enjoy all the others who are braver than me and take in a little sun while I am here. I am staying at Cuesta Arriba. A lovely little hostel with dorm rooms that house six people each on two levels and your have your own bathroom in the room...this is such a treat. The hostel has a huge kitchen area in the center of the complex, hammocks throughout the property and upstairs there is a TV area and free movies if you want to just chill out and relax. The best part of this Argentinian owned hostel is Blondie, the eight year old Canadian born golden retriever...this is something you do not see often!!! I feel just like I am home....but I really miss my dog now. Since I arrived mid day, I quickly checked into my room and headed to the beach for a bit of sun. When I came back I met my roommates for the next few days...all Ticos. This is Samana Santa or Holy week/Easter in Costa Rica, and most Costa Ricans take the entire week off and head to the beach for vacation....this marks the end of their summer vacation time, as the raining season is about to start later in April. The best part about having a room full of Ticos is that you learn all about the customs of the locals. I spent the evening chatting with everyone, playing two hours of Jenga...I never laughed so hard....and figuring out what I should bring home that would be representative of Costa Rica. Now that I have a list, I will be on the search...could be fun! It was such an unexpected and fun evening, who knows what tomorrow will bring. Until then....

Final Day in Montezuma

Today is my last day in Montezuma. I decided to take a hike to a nearby waterfall....this time I checked around to make sure there was an actual waterfall to see!! The hike started just up from my hostel along a small river. I left at around 9am in hopes that it would not be so hot and there were less people around...sure enough that is what happened. The walk was a nice leisurely 15 minute walk and very peaceful. You could hear the water running in the river over the rocks, birds chirping and lots of tropical sounds I was not so familiar with. The waterfall appeared just as I turned a corner. It was average height and not as large as it could be during the rainy season, but a nice size anyway. There was only one guy there eating a picnic lunch...he even offered me something to eat...how sweet!!! I decided to go for a swim and was quickly greeted by cool, refreshing fresh water. I could have stayed there all day, and would have, but soon it started to get too crowded with people. I left around 11am and headed to the beach for the afternoon. Along the way I decided to check out the Saturday market...mostly people selling fresh food and bread. As I arrived at the beach entrance I came across some horses tied up waiting to go on a walk...there is something about horses on a beach that is so magical. On my walk to find a spot to enjoy the afternoon sun, I saw a few people surfing. I can see why so many people get addicted to this sport...lots of adrenaline and what a workout! I took some final pictures before heading back to my hostel to freshen up...this is one of my favourite parts of the day after being out in the heat sweating all day. I plan to go out to dinner tonight with some Swedish people from the hostel and watch the movie 2012. Then it is back to my room to pack by bags. Next destination... Playa Santa Teressa. Until then...

HOT, HOT, HOT...Montezuma

This morning I headed to the beach around 10am. I decided to make this a complete day at the beach, so I went further down the stretch of beach to find a place to lay out. It was high tide and a lot of the sandy areas were covered by the water, but I finally found a place that had a bit of an area to sit, with not too many rocks. Montezuma´s beaches are stretches of coarse white sand and volcanic rocks cutting sections off from others. The rocks are beautiful with the waves crashing into them, but it makes for some difficult swimming....especially with the strong riptide. I found a shaded spot under some trees and set up camp. The sun here is so hot, it is almost too hot to sit at the beach. Shade can be hard to find and even if you do find it, be sure to use sunblock because you will still get very burnt. After about an hour in the sun and being too dangerous to swim by the rocks, I decided to perch myself on a large rock and have the waves roll in over me...very refreshing, but I was covered in sand by the end of the day. Did I mention that the sand here sticks to you like glue...not nice. At about 2pm I decided to have lunch at Lyang Lyang Beach Resort. What a great idea...a beautiful outdoor seating area, with an incredible view of the Pacific ocean and of course, delicious food. Oh and I should not forget my little visitors...a large lizard and the biggest squirrel I have ever seen. It is very strange to see squirrels climbing palm trees!!! It was nice to be spoiled a little while backpacking. I spent about 2 hours at the restaurant and then headed back to the beach. This is really the best time of the day to be on the beach. The sun is less intense...you actually burn your feet just walking on the sand from your towel to the water during the middle of the day...OUCH!!!! Today the breeze picked up in the afternoon, the tide was out and so I just lazed around until about 5pm. It gets dark here by 6pm, so I strolled back along the beach and picked up some groceries before heading to my hostel for the evening. I spent the evening catching up on emails and relaxing on the porch by the ocean. Backpacking is such a great way to met people from all over the world...it is such a different vibe. Not only do you learn about the country you are visiting, but so much more from those you meet. Who knows what tomorrow will bring. Until then....

Isla Tortuga

Last night I decided to book a full day tour of Isla Tortuga. I figured I needed to somehow get a reprieve from the hot sun, and spending the day on a boat, snorkeling and laying at a beach you can actually swim at sounded pretty good to me. I was up early and decided to walk around town and take some pictures. I came across a school with kids playing in the front yard. You would never know it was a school by the look of it and it was right on the beach. I never had a school like that before...maybe it is good I did not!!! At 9am I met my tour and was pleasantly surprised to find out that my Turkish-US friends who I met on a tour in La Fortuna were also on the tour. There were about 28 people in this tour and we divided into two groups to get to the island. All boards are boarded right from the beach. For the next 45 minutes we were to spend cruising to the island for our first snorkel. Unfortunately for us, our boat broke down 10 minutes out. It felt exactly like home...stranded on the water in a speed boat waiting to be rescued!!! After about 20 minutes with no boat in sight to pick us up, we decided to do what anyone who would do on such a hot day....go for a swim. The water was so warm, but still a nice way to cool off in the sweltering heat...no sharks or jellyfish either!! After about an hour, our boat finally arrived to pick us up and we were on our way. Turns out the propeller was broken and it was fixed in a flash. The ride to Isla Tortuga was so nice with the calm seas and lovely coastal scenery...high cliffs of black rock, trees and white sand beaches. It was no PEI though...hard to beat!!!! At about 11am we arrived at our first snorkeling destination. Now aside from the many tourists all around, the snorkeling was very good. Lots of tropical fish...such beautiful colours of electric blue, yellow, red, orange, white, black and purple. There were even pelicans flying around diving for food...they are really huge birds. After about 40 minutes of snorkeling we boarded our boat and headed to the island for our BBQ lunch...Mahi Mahi fish, potatoes and salad, along with lots of fresh fruit for desert and a cool Pelsner cerveza to wash it all down...YUMMY!!! It must have been good because just off in the trees were vultures waiting to swoop down for the left overs...they are huge birds as well!! After lunch we had about two hours of free time on the beach. This island has turquoise water and pure white sand beaches, similar to PEI...I loved it!!! One of the best things about the island was the nice breeze that was blowing most of the time...it is so hot here that even a Scarlet macaw parrot I came across needed to lay down for a rest!!! It was also nice to be able to finally go for a swim without being thrown around or pulled under by the undertow...so relaxing. Around 3pm we boarded our boat again to do our second snorkel. By this time the winds had really picked up and the water was much murkier...hard to see the fish and their beautiful colours. When it was time to head back to Montezuma we first had to put our bags into a large garbage bag so our things would not get wet on the ride back. What we did not know was how wet we were about to get. With such high winds the waves were much bigger than before and to make things even worse, we were going against the wind. For a good 45 minutes we held on for our lives as we continually crashed into wave after wave, getting drenched by the water coming right up over the front of the boat. I am sure the captain of the boat was having a great laugh when we would all scream as we hit wave after wave, and then laugh until our sides hurt as we got hit with all the water. This was better than any exhibition ride you could imagine...it was CRAZY!!!! We finally arrived back safe and sound around 5pm...exhausted, drenched and happy to be on land. It was a fabulous day...even if it was full of tourists...and I am so glad that I was able to spend it with new found friends. Once we got back I headed to the hostel to clean up and decided to grab a bite to eat at a local Soda, ¨Mi Tata¨. This little restaurant is right in the hub of the town, so I spent the next hour and a half taking in the sights....watching the local jewelry makers sell their goods, listening to the people at the only bar in town, marvelling at the driving techniques of Ticos, and checking out all the people wandering around the streets. I then did a bit of shopping and on my way home ran into Emilio and his mother, along with a couple people they met from Argentina. It is really interesting to be the only English speaking person in a group. Half of the time I had no clue what they were saying, but it sure sounded good!!! Later in the evening we decided to take in some of the festivities at ¨Reggae Night¨. Weird evening...a bit of reggae music at the local pub, mixed with American pop, along with people drinking in the streets watching the fire show and one car with its radio blaring out some other kind of music. Emilio bought a 1L bottle of beer and we passed it around all taking swigs...apparently this is a typical practice in Argentina, so when with Argentinians, do as they do!!! Had a great chat with everyone and then head back to my hostel around midnight, exhausted and ready for bed. What a great day....definitely a highlight so far. Until tomorrow.....

Sun, Sun and more Sun in Montezuma

Today I am heading out in look of some accommodations for the rest of my time in Montezuma. Many places here do not book reservations, you have to just show up in the morning and see if they have any rooms. I ended up getting a dorm room at Hotel Lucy. This is located right on the beach in Montezuma just outside the town center. Apparently this was the first place to offer accommodations in Montezuma long before it became a popular destination to visit. Although it is not fancy, it is a hostel after all, Maria who works there is so lovely...always smiling and treats everyone like they are family. She doesn't speak any English, but somehow you are able to get across what you want to say. The hostel has hammocks on all the terraces, an outdoor eating area off the beach and two huge verandas on the ocean side. Once I got settled in, I headed out to the beach for a bit of sun. OMG it is hot!!!!! I just looked and it was 94 degrees. I could only sit in the sun for about 15 minutes at a time and then I had to get in the water. That is a whole other experience in itself. The winds are high at the moment and the surf is big. Huge waves crashing into the beach...I love the sound of the waves, but it makes for quite a workout if you are trying to swim. One piece of advice....hold onto your bathing suit!!! After about two hours in the sun, I decided to head back to my hostel and have a cool shower. The sand here sticks to you and is extremely hard to get off. I ended up with sand in places I did not even know sand could go!!! After showering I decided to relax on one of the hostel's hammocks. Nothing more relaxing than laying in a hammock in the shade, right on the ocean, with a cool breeze and the sounds of crashing waves. I think I fell asleep for over an hour...this is the life :) Once I made a late lunch, I heading into the town to do a little shopping. My hostel does not have air conditioning, so sometimes it is nice to get a bit of a reprieve in the couple of the shops that do. I have managed to get a nice little burn my first day in the sun and I am feeling a bit zonked from the heat, so I plan to take it easy and head to bed early. Looking forward to another day at the beach tomorrow...who knows what it will bring. Until then......

Monteverde to Montezuma

You will be surprised to hear it rained again last night....I know, people must be jealous :) In fact I think it was a tropical storm...high winds and lots of rain. I slept for about one hour in total and was up at 6am to get ready for my shuttle bus to Montezuma. What I did not realize was that I was given the wrong ticket and was not sure I would be let on the shuttle when it arrived. David, the hostel owner, called the booking agency and they said not to worry. The only thing I was worried about was being stuck in Monteverde for one more night in this weather. Long story short, my shuttle bus arrived around 8am and I was off. Not 10 minutes outside Monteverde the rain stopped, the sky cleared and the most amazing rainbow appeared. I have never seen anything like this before. The rainbow was so big it almost made an entire circle. I figured this could only be a sign that good things were to come. Monteverde is about 1,500m above sea level and because of this, it has very unique weather patterns. In fact when we were coming down the mountain it looked like that side had no rain at all!! The drive to the Punterenas ferry terminal was non eventful and not near as green and beautiful as on the other side. When we got to the 10am ferry we took our packs and boarded the ship. It was an hour and a half ferry ride to Playa Naranjo and I passed the time in the sun...yes I said sun...chatting with Emilio Kirby from Argentina and his mother who happened to be on the same ferry as me. Turns out he is an electrical engineer working in Houston, Texas for the next couple of years. Great people....he was even able to teacher me a few more words in Spanish. Maybe Argentina should be next on my list of travel destinations....it sure is looking good so far!!!! Emilio and his mother actually took the bus to the ferry and planned to catch the same one I was told did not exist...I think I was scammed. I picked up my shuttle once we crossed on the ferry and spent the next hour and a half making my way to Montezuma. Crazy driving...the roads are full of potholes and instead of driving over them, they swerve all over the road to avoid them. Not great if you are prone to motion sickness. I arrived in Montezuma at about 2pm and set out on my search for a place to stay. I ended up at the Luna Llena owned by Scott and Millie. It is located up on a hill looking over the water in the rainforest. A very zen feel to it. I even heard some howler monkeys crying in the not so far distance, saw some sort of large lizard catching something to eat and heard all kinds of different birds in the trees just outside reception. There is a lovely outdoor deck/seating area where you can hear the ocean while sitting in a porch swing chair. I think I have died and gone to heaven!!!! The sad thing is that they only have the room available for one night, so I am off tomorrow in search of a new place to stay. It will be hard to beat this place for sure. Once I got settled in, I checked out the small town...very artsy, with a bit of a hippie feel. It is VERY hot here....yaaaahhhhh, probably in the mid to high 30's. While walking in the town I ran in to Emilio's mother in the grocery story. They too are moving to a new hotel in the morning as it is very expensive where they are now. I think this is common theme in Costa Rica....everything appears to be more than expected. Tonight I am just going to relax and enjoy this little piece of heaven I am in at the moment and get ready for a beach day tomorrow!!!! May even enjoy a few local cerveza while I am at it. Until next time...

La Fortuna to Monteverde

I spent my last night in La Fortuna listening to the pouring rain. After three days of rain, I've decided to head towards the coast in search of sunshine. I left on my jeep/boat/jeep transportation at around 8:30am. This transportation option cuts about 3 hours off the typical bus ride to Monteverde. When I left my hostel it was raining, but by the time we picked up the rest of the passengers and boarded the boat to cross Laguna de Arenal, the showers subsided. It was so nice to be on the water. I think it must be the Islander in me, but I feel completely at home when I am sailing along. Since the rain stopped, I spent the majority of the 45 minute ferry ride out on the deck taking in the beautiful scenery...still no volcano though!!! Once on the other side of the laguna, all fifty or so people were escorted off the boat and one by one handed their luggage. It was actually funny to see many of the tourists trying to carry their big suitcases up a muddy cliff to the side of the road. At the top of the road we were all divided into little shuttle buses and headed on the final 2 hour leg of our trip. All I can say about this ride was INCREDIBLE!! The road was awful...full of pot holes, muddy, steep hills that you think you are not going to be able to go up and full of twists and turns. But that is what gave it its charm. The best part however was the view. Steep valleys and rolling hills, full of luscious vegetation and low level clouds and fog creating a whimsical feel. I was completely in awe and so glad I decided to take this path. I would venture to say this scenery rivals Ireland, Scotland and even PEI!!! About 20 minutes outside Monteverde we stopped for a snack and bathroom break and I met an Argentinian guy travelling with his mother. They were very nice and he was extremely helpful in translating for our driver who spoke no English. We arrived in Monteverde around noon and I got settled into my hostel, Casa Tranquillo. Someone recommended this hostel when I was in Quepos and it turned out to be a great little place to spend the night. The owner, David, actually grew up in this house and now runs it as a hostel. Since I am only here for one day, I decided to book some onward travel and a couple tours for when I return later in April. After buying a bus ticket to the ferry, I came to find out the ferry I wanted was under construction...just my luck!!!!! At first I was not sure if this was actually the case, but I asked around town and it appeared to be true....who knows???? After much deliberation, I decided to fork out $45 to take a direct shuttle to Montezuma instead. Transportation in Costa Rica is not always as easy as you would expect. They have public buses that cross many parts of the country, but the routes are not always the most direct, sometimes they suddenly stop half way to your destination and the bus takes much longer than expected. Better planning on my part may have eliminated some of this from the beginning and saved a bit of time. Mid afternoon, the nasty weather rolled in....VERY high winds and lots of rain. Spent the night chatting with David, the owner, and a couple from Israel. I still do not have accommodations for Montezuma, but I am sure I will find something when I arrive. I guess we will see. Until then...

Arenal Volcano Hike and the Baldi Termae Hot Springs

It is raining yet again in La Fortuna. Unfortunately the Arenal volcano that I came specifically to see, is not even visible due to the low level clouds. I was supposed to stay in the area for one more night, but I have decided to head out a day early in hopes of hitting better weather along the Pacific coast. I booked a hostel in Monteverde where I am going to stay tomorrow and hung around the hostel for part of the day before I left on my 3 pm tour. Due to the weather, there was only two other people on the first half of the tour... mother and daughter from Turkey, who are currently living in the USA. The Arenal Volcano tour began with an hour and a half hike through a private park about 20 minutes from La Fortuna. The rainforest was so lush and green, with the most majestic trees and ferns. It was slightly raining out and from time to time you could see the rain drops falling off the leaves...it really created a very peaceful feeling. The first thing we saw was the toucan. What an unbelievable looking bird in real life. There are various kinds of them, with many different colours and they all have a very distinct cry. I am still amazed at what they looked like up close. We were then greeted by spider monkeys in the trees...this time it was only two of them, but one was a very large mother and her baby. They are so incredible to watch swinging from tree to tree. We also saw a two toed sloth in a tree and several other kinds of tropical birds. Towards the end of our hike we could hear the howler monkey, but had no luck actually seeing one...that was until we were driving home and stopped on the side of the road with a group of other people and saw two sitting in a tree. They are very lazy monkeys and much bigger than both monkeys I had already seen. They kind of reminded me of a very tiny gorilla. The only thing that I did not enjoy about this tour, was the guide...too pushy and demanding and not enough time to take in the scenery. Either way we all made it through the hike with a few quick pictures and off to the observation area to see if we could see any lava on the volcano. Arenal Volcano is the most active volcano in Central America and the fifth most active in the world. It erupts about every 10 minutes and shoots out rock lava. It was dormant for almost 500 years and everyone thought it was simply a mountain with nice green vegetation. This was until 1968 when it exploded and lava flows destroyed three villages and killed about 80 people. Unfortunately the weather was not cooperating for us and the clouds never did lift high enough for us to see the volcano or the lava. So off we went, back towards town. At this point our tour guide dropped the two other woman off at their hotel and I continued on to the Baldi Thermae Hot Springs. This was the most incredible place I have ever been. I LOVED it!!! First I had a delicious buffet dinner in the restaurant area and then I spent two hours checking out the 25 different pools. All the pools are different temperatures. I have been told one of them was 152 degrees, but the hottest I found was 116...too hot for me. What made this such a magical place was the fact that I was there at night, it was misting rain, steam was rising in the air, there was lush tropical plants all around with ambient lighting and local Latin music. How much better can you get!!! There is even three waterslides, a couple swim up bars and my favourite the hot tub. I enjoyed every second of my time at the hot springs...that is except for the one creepy guy from the US who started chatting with me and asked me out for drinks...thankfully there were 20 other pools to move on to!!! If you ever have the chance to visit this area, I would highly recommend putting the hot springs on your list of things to do. Well I am off tomorrow to Monteverde on the jeep to boat to jeep tour and eventually heading onward to Montezuma on the Pacific coast.

Until then...

La Fortuna

Today in La Fortuna, the weather is humid and raining. I managed to sleep in until 7am and decided since it was not such a great day to visit the volcano I would check out the town. The moment I arrived in La Fortuna I felt at ease. It is very small, easy to get around, safe and very quaint and well taken care of...but it is also very touristy. In the center of town is a lovely church and across from it is a stunning public garden. It has two or three main streets about six or seven blocks long. Outside of this area the houses are more like shacks and along the main road are various kinds of hotels and resorts. I spent a good hour in the morning just looking at the different flowers in the public gardens and taking various pictures. I even came across the most beautiful green hummingbird that was a bit too quick for my camera to catch. Once I had my quota of pictures, I spent a good part of the morning checking out all the little shops and markets. There is lots of shopping that can be done here, but everything was a bit expensive. Throughout the entire day, there was a concert taking place right inside the public gardens, with lots of local music, young school kids and I even ran into some teenage boys practicing the guitar while sitting along the water fountain. This all created such a great vibe in the town. Later on in the evening when I was buying the most delicious chicken kabob from a street vendour, I found out the concert was a benefit for a man who had lost everything he owned in a fire, a block away from my hostel. How great to see the town come together like that to help out a neighbour. Since it was raining so hard in the evening, I decided to stick around the hostel. I met a couple from Alberta who were travelling for 3 weeks and who gave me some great suggestions for places to go and I also met a German woman who had been studying English in San Jose for three weeks and was spending the next three weeks touring around. I also decided to take the Arenal volcano hike, along with the hot springs as a tour the next day. After I finished booking my tour I had a great chat with one of the local guides about Costa Rica, their customs, Canada and I learned all about the Spanish language....too bad I can not speak it a bit better!! I even got to call home on a free international phone they had in the lobby. When does that ever happen????? I finally hit the sack around 11pm, right around the time five Americans studying in San Jose arrived and became my new roommates. Until tomorrow...hopefully without rain.

Quepos to La Fortuna

Today I was up early for my 6am bus north to La Fortuna. La Fortuna is where the active Arenal volcano is located and my hope was that I would be lucky enough to see an eruption with hot lava while I was there. As I sat waiting for my bus to arrive, I had an unexpected visitor crawl up my arm....a cockroach!!! I had no idea that was what I felt running up my arm until I flicked it from my shoulder and it went flying in the air. OMG it was disgusting...welcome to Central America!!!! My bus ride to La Fortuna was a bit of an experience. I was only able to buy a ticket for the 4 hour bus ride to San Jose and then once there, I needed to change bus terminals and buy another ticket for the second 5 hour bus ride to La Fortuna. I was not that excited to be heading back to San Jose, but I was lucky enough that I ran into a taxi driver who could speak English and took me to the other terminal and showed me where to buy my ticket...I am sure he ripped me off on the taxi fair, but it was worth every penny. I was told the buses get very busy on Friday, so I was expecting lots of people at the terminal...which was not the case. What I did not realize was that most of the people get on the bus at the second stop on the trip. It was amazing how many people the bus driver actually fit on the bus. And this was not just a short trip, but up to 5 hours long. I met one girl at one of our rest stops who stood for 2 hours of the bus ride. Thank God I had a seat the entire way. It was a hot, long and crowded ride, but the scenery was beautiful once you got out of the city. San Jose to La Fortuna has a very distinct landscape from Quepos to San Jose. In Quepos there was palm tree forests for as far as the eye could see and it was very dry. The drive to La Fortuna was much more scenic, with lush trees and very green valleys and hills. From time to time you went through a small village with beautifully manicured lawns and colourful flowers and plants. About an hour outside of La Fortuna the weather changed drastically. The sun disappeared, the clouds rolled in, the rain started and I swear you could feel the temperature drop 10 to 15 degrees. Through the winding and twisting hills, I finally arrived at La Fortuna at about 4pm and headed off to my hostel, La Choza Inn, on the outskirts of the town. It was a nice little place, with part of it consisting of an Inn and the other half dorm style rooms. The walls were paper thin, but the rooms were great and the staff were even better....all this for 7 dollars a night. The owner of the Inn also runs Eagle Tours and they were very helpful in answering any questions you might have. My first night in La Fortuna I met my roommate Barbara, who was visiting Costa Rica from Germany. We had some great conversation and decided to cook dinner together. After a long day of travelling, I was exhausted and headed to bed early, excited to be able to finally sleep in for the first time since I left. Tomorrow looks like it will be a day to explore the small town of La Fortuna. Until then....

Monkeys, Monkeys, and more Monkeys....Manuel Antonio

Today I decided to visit Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio. It is the second smallest National Park in Costa Rica, 1625 hectares made up of rainforest and tropical beaches, and widely visited by tourists. This park opens from 7am to 4pm and only allows 800 people in each day. I had heard that they usually reach their quota early in the morning, so I decided to get up at six in the morning and catch the bus, about 7 km away, to be there when it opened. When I arrived I ran into my friends from Quebec who were also there with a Swiss couple from our hostel, so we all decided to travel together. There are about five different trails within the park and easily followed without a guide. We started out our trek along a very wide path and for the first 20 minutes or so, I was not overly impressed. The rainforest is not as green as I had expected, mostly because it is very dry right now and I had hoped to see some wildlife at this point. Once we got off the main track however, wildlife we did see. Throughout our five hour hike, we saw everything from the most angelic morpho butterflies, electric blue in colour and simply floating through the air, a lazy brown throated 3-toed sloth and a Hoftman 2-toed sloth very high up in the trees, giant termite mounds in the trees and crabs with very bright orange legs crawling all over the forest floor. We also saw many Central American agouti, a large rodent that looks like a cross between a rabbit and a squirrel, iguanas on the beach, thousands of bees high on the branches of some of the trees, various birds and lots of geckoes. But the absolute highlight of my visit to Manuel Antonio were the monkeys. At first we could hear howler monkeys in the distance. They are very loud and have a distinct sound. Then on our decent down one of the trails we noticed a lot of people standing around. When we came closer we could see about seven or eight monkeys swinging from the branches high up in the trees. They were very tiny and light brown in colour. It turns out they were spider monkeys, which can be recognized by their long, thin legs. What is unique about this monkey is that it rarely comes to the ground. In fact it is becoming endangered because of logging and development, as it needs large sections of unbroken forest to live in. They were really amazing and reminded me of little kids playing together. Not more than 20 feet further down the path we came across the white faced capuchin. Now these monkeys were very close to us to start and there were about 20 of them all together. They were also playing around and were not that afraid of people. In fact they came about a foot away from me when one jumped down out of a tree. A bit too close for my comfort, so I quickly moved out of the way. We spent a good 20 minutes just looking at this incredible sight and took as many pictures as we could before heading out. When we started to leave some of the monkeys actually appeared to be fighting and made the loudest noises. What an experience!!!!! The views of the many beaches within the park are also incredible. They really can take your breath away, with their pure white sand, blue waters and volcanic rock. The best part was actually getting to go down to the beach and spend a bit of time there. There is quite an undertow at all the beaches in this area, lots of volcanic rock and rainforest coming down to meet the ocean. After spending most of the morning walking through the forest and of course sweating...I am sure I lost 15 pounds of fluid today...we decided to have a picnic lunch along the beach. I decided to spend the next two hours relaxing on the beach, taking in the beautiful sights and cooling off in the water. Now this is what a vacation is all about!!! At about three o'clock the tide had risen so far that I decided to pack up my things and head out of the park. Along the way you could see the surf crashing into the rocks not far off the beach, and I simply took in the beauty of this pristine area. Since the tide had risen so much since arriving, I actually had to take a boat to get back to the town. Now this was possibly the shortest boat ride I have ever had....60 seconds to be exact!!! The beach outside the park is just as nice, but much more crowded and full of tourists. The town of Manuel Antonio is very small and caters completely to tourists. I would have looked around more had I not been so exhausted, but I just headed back to my hostel and went for another swim at the pool. Quepos is not that safe at night. Our hostel is fully gated, with a guard outside all night and you are not allowed to have any visitors enter. When returning home in the night, you are even told not to walk home in groups. So once it was dark, I decided to stay around the hostel, watch a little TV in the common room and pack up my things. I bought a ticket to go to La Fortuna to see the Arenal volcano and my bus was to leave at 6am, so another early morning for me. Oh the backpacking life!!! I really enjoyed my visit to Manuel Antonio and now wish I had stayed one extra night, but all good things must come to an end. I am sure there is much more for me to see over the next three weeks and look forward to what is ahead. Until then.....