Reflecting back on Costa Rica from our post in Nicaragua

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!

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!

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.