Costa Rica (via Fort Lauderdale)

A quick stop in Florida

After the hostels we had stayed in in Mexico, we were met with quite a treat when we flew into Florida for an overnight stop on the way to Costa Rica. We stayed in a gigantic King Size suite at the airport Hyatt hotel with a functioning bathroom! It turns out the hotel was only 2 months new and so everything was spick and span. Our little package included dinner, drinks and a full breakfast and our suite was fully equiped with a kitchen and lounge area. All of this for a grand total of $40 - Bargain! I think both of us would have been quite happy to spend a week holidaying at this spiffy airport hotel as we felt like real people again.

But alas, we left the very next day for a flight to San Jose. Not much to report on this city, the capital of Costa Rica, as it did not ooze warmth or charisma. It was more of a dirty dumpy kind of city, and we were keen to high tail it out of there speedily after a night.  The hostel itself was really cool, with heaps of internet kiosks, a nice cheap restaurnt, cinema room and bar overlooking the city.

Samara Beach - on the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica 

In San Jose we jumped on a hot and sweaty public bus that took us to the beach. Wes had done excellent research (as usual) and lined us up with a fabulous apartment in this tiny beach town that we used as our base for 7 days. The apartment was fully equiped so we made the most of the little kitchen and cooked ourselves brekky, lunch and dinner which was rather a nice change.

The town itself was really cool, consisting of only 3 streets really, which were mostly unpaved. There were lots of paddocks spread out across the town, interspersed with hotels and shop and there were perhaps a dozen horses that would continously wander through the streets, unattended from one paddock to another.  

We are currently in the Wet Season in Costa Rica and so the rain tended to hit our little place every afternoon. And it wasn't a slight drizzle either - the storms we witnessed were torrential and quite spectactular. One evening we waded out to dinner in water up to our knees as the flash flooding hit our street. 

We had a thoroughly enjoyable week here. We swam, read books, went for the odd run on the beach, had some great dinners, mooched around, and generally soaked up the fact we weren't on the move somewhere else. We just wanted to sit still for a while after a month of constant travelling.   

Wes had no luck trying to buy some free range eggs from the neigbors with chickens. We were later told that the word for eggs is simlar to the word for testicles which might have explained why the old man wasnt willing to part with his "eggs". 

Tamarindo Beach - a couple of hours north

Wes' sister Elle had told us that Tamarindo Beach was a "must must must go" to destination. This was in direct contrast to people in Samara beach, who told urged us not to go. Elle had done us pretty well so for so we jumped on 3 public buses and made our way there. 

What was an unknown tiny surf beach 15 years ago, is now a lot bigger thanks to the hit surfing movie "Endless Summer II" which featured this "secret" surf spot.

The lonely planet indicated we were to expect a Gold Coast kind of place with high rise buildings and wall to wall tourists. It really wasn't like this at all. After the isolation of Samara Beach, we found this place to be a bit more built up, but still a small relaxed surfer's town. There were more people than Samara, so we felt like this place had more life to it, and we enjoyed that.  It was perfect for what we were after.

We again found ourselves a little apartment in a complex with a pool, and we spent 5 days here doing much the same as the week before.

 

Wes turned 27 while we were here so to celebrate we went out for a massive Breakfast Burrito and a scrumtious 3 course dinner at the restaurant of his choice. I bought him a little cheese cake just to ensure we were both thoroughly sick on all the food we ate.

We also ran into a friend from Fernie which was absolutely amazing as it is not really on the beaten track. This is the second time we've ran into Fernie people on this trip and proves just how small the world is. 

Cahuita - on the other side of the country

Public buses are the mode of transport for us, so again, we used these vehicles and made our way to the Caribbean coast on the other side of the country all in a day.

We arrived in this TINY little town with dirt roads, and instantly were met with a real Caribbean flavour. Think dreadlocks, reggae music and people lying in hammocks. It was very laid back and distinctly different to the other side of the country. Costa Rica is a small place, only 300km wide, yet there is a different feel on either side which is interesting. 

In Cahuita we got up early to do an 8km walk through the National Park Jungle. The walk follows the white sandy beach coast line and so the scenery is quite spectactular. We saw numerous monkeys and lizzards, and I'm sure we unknowingly stepped on other colonies of species as we plodded on the trail. All in all, it was beautiful. 

I loved this town - it was so relaxed. The local food was fish in coconut milk which was delish. 

We met an annoying guy from Australia on the bus to Cahuita and he wouldn't leave us alone which was a bit of a pain. He was about 55 and claimed his wife was joining him on the weekend.. At first I thought he was lonely when he plonked himself down at our dinner table, but really, he just liked talking about himself and his apparent success which was tiresome, so Wes and I pretended we were tired and left hastily.  Needless to say, we spent the next day hiding from him in town. When we spotted him in a cafe or on the street, we'd quickly turn the other way and walk briskly elsewhere. Pretty funny.

   

Puerto Viejo - 30 mins away

We joined all the other tourists from Cahuita and came to this place yesterday on an old rickety bus. When we got off the bus, an old man, who clearly gets commission from a few of the hotels in this town, kept hassling us to stay at his establishments... until we told him quite firmly to get lost.  It was boiling hot, so trying to find a place to stay sapped our energy. But we finally found a cool little sanctuary with 4 beds in our room, so I'm playing musical beds to ensure I get the best night's sleep possible. 

From here we are off to Panama....so stay tuned.