Message from Montezuma, Costa Rica

(In answer to a question from "Dad":) No, I am not going to buy land in Costa Rica! It is way too touristy here and expensive too. I don´t feel a connection with the country although the mountains and jungles (around Lake Arenal) were superbly scenic.

We are staying in Montezuma right now and will go on a hike to the waterfalls shortly. Tomorrow, we´re headed to Manuel Antonio National Park before returning the car rental to San Jose. We´re thinking about going up to Nicaragua for a week instead of spending our last week in Costa Rica. We have to be on the Bay Islands (Honduras) by March 6th to allow 4-5 days for me to become scuba-certified.

In Nosara, I met a woman who ran a small cafe. She made her own ice cream, which to me, tasted more like gelato. I ordered a ¨Coffee to Wake the Dead¨ with homemade waffle cone and it was heavenly! She went to culinary school in France. I think I´ll look into that just out of curiosity.

I would love to do some solo travel too. I will get my chance in Argentina when I visit Valeria.

The night sky here is beautiful. The stars shine more brightly. Yes, I did see the lunar eclipse! Pretty cool!

Surfing in Santa Teresa!

My blog entries have been rather sporadic since being on the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. Internet connection has been painstakingly slow and I´m being charged by the minute.

I love my new camera! It has been fun playing with the settings and taking lots of digital macro photos of flowers and people. I haven´t been taking too many pictures since I arrived at the coast because it is extremely dusty.

I think that there is a possibility of going to Brazil. Our friend Aaron is in Buenos Aires, Argentina right now and wants us to beach-hop along the coast to Rio to meet some other friends. There would be five of us traveling for a little while, which sounds like fun. Here in Costa Rica it seems like a lot of people travel in groups and it makes me wish I had some friends with me too! However, I do like solitary travel once in awhile.

I hear it is stormy in Santa Rosa. It rained really hard last night but we have lots of sunshine today! I´m in Santa Teresa now, which is a popular surf spot. Surfing is harder than I thought but I'm definitely enthusiastic about it! Uncle Drew has always sparked my curiosity in surf culture. In my opinion, Nosara has been the best place to be a newbie surfer. The swells are just right, uncrowded beaches, some good surf schools, and the locals are very laid back.

Nosara

Staying in Playas de Nosara, on the Nicoya Peninsula right now. It is a beautiful place that was recommended to us by a fellow traveler in La Fortuna.

We wake up around 7:30 am every day to surf, then breakfast is a tropical fruit plate and granola, then do some yoga or mingling with the friendly group of Canadians staying next to us, then lunch of casados (rice, beans, chicken or fish, fried plaintains), then siesta, and at night time it´s time to party! There has been live music every night since we've been here. Our hostess, Brenda, who is a former professional boxer, takes us everywhere with her and introduces us to other locals and friends. She has even arranged for the three of us to go on a moon light horse back ride and gallup up and down the beach!

As much as I like Nosara, I´m ready to move on because this area is rather expensive due to North Americans (and probably other well-off foreigners) who have moved here and driven up the price of land. I can tell from speaking with a couple local business owners that there is resentment among some of the Ticos, but overall they´ve been pretty friendly.

La Fortuna, Costa Rica

Having a great time here in Costa Rica. The weather has been perfect - warm, humid and breezy. However last night, it dumped rain for about 2 minutes. Now we are in La Fortuna staying at a place for $5 a night! Had some yummy casados (lunch plate of rice, beans, salad, and chicken for $4) at a local soda and are now about to go for a hike at Volcan Arenal.

Arenal has been compared to the Loch Ness Monster because, as one fellow traveler put it, "it's there, you see pictures of it, you hear about it, but you never really see it."

Last night, went to Baldi Hot Springs. The water is pumped from the mineral springs and is heated from the lava flows. There were around ten different pools all over the grounds, lots of lush vegetation and waterfalls (man made). Anyway, I'll be here for the next 2 days then heading to Monteverde and then the Pacific coast.

Jess and Sergio are off to Costa Rica!