After a 10 hour bus ride (1 1/2 hours at the border) from San Jose, Costa Rica we finally arrived in the quaint colonial town of Granada! Lake Nicaragua is only a few blocks away from the hostel that I´m staying at.
I wasn´t planning on coming to Nicaragua until I met someone in Montezuma who had just come from there. He said that it was a lot cheaper and mentioned this charming town and the abundance of affordable activities. At that point, I had begun to realize that Costa Rica is much more expensive than I originally thought. Of course, it didn´t help that we were renting a 4WD (and paying for gas), eating out 2-3 times a day, renting surf boards, and paying for accommodation on top of all of that. Eating was definitely the cheapest activity, and perhaps the most enjoyable! On our last day in San Jose, I gorged myself on tres leches, a casado, and Costa Rican coffee and tropical fruit.
It was a relief to ditch the car rental sooner than we´d planned on returning it. Now I finally feel like I´m backpacking and the real adventure is starting.
The highlights of Costa Rica were:
The picturesque Volcan Arenal and the scenic drive through the lush jungles and rolling hills around Lake Arenal
Surfing in Nosara (and the best homemade ice cream and waffle cone I´ve had)
Watching the sunset on a palm fringed beach in Santa Teresa
Being invited by my host to join him and friends to drink delicious, authentic Sangria and listen/dance to Frank Sinatra under the starry night sky in Manuel Antonio!
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