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!

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.