the past week of insanity

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hola mis amigos!

well, what a crazy week it certainly has been. ironically we are right back where we were exactly a week ago in alejuela (right outside san jose) and are somehow already heading to peru tomorrow. I cannot express in words what these past 2 weeks here have taught me and I feel very enlightened as a worldy individual. but enough of these thoughts, haha.. let me fill you in on this past week.

last monday went well without a hitch.. carla and nikki arrived safely and on time and we made our way to the same bus station in san jose to find a bus to monteverde. after a good soda meal and a few cervezas, we were on our way. the ride there was absolutely breathtaking- up and up and up into the cloud rainforest we went, and the views were awesome. I would post pictures, but somewhere in the past week I seem to have misplaced my USB camera cord.. not good! but anyhow, the sights were amazing and we got into monteverde around 7pm that night and booked a verry cheap hostel (7 bucks a night, not bad!) and eventully booked a zipline/canopy tour for the next day through our hostel.

tuesday was the big day - ziplining through the monteverde rainforest.. and it was unlike anything I had ever, eeevverrr experienced in my life; from one mountain to another, across massive valleys, up to 450 feet in the sky.. I kid you not, it was insane! we had to hike here and there too so many pictures were taken too. there was even a tarzan swing too! boasts the one dad flew from many years ago.. took a couple videos to put it into perspective, it was probably the most exhilerating thing I have ever done and it only convinces me more to push this OBrien vacation! you guys would have loved it.. well maybe just Dad and Kim, haha.

after ziplining we decided to head to arenal to see the famed volcano and the baldi hot springs. we set out around 1pm and were taken by van to the majestic Lake Arenal, where we then caught a boat over to the other side. the volcano view was absolutely breathtaking- once again, awesome pictures to come. the lake was actually made from damming a nearby river in 1979 and supplies 70% of the ENTIRE countrys power.. how about that!

in any case, we found a hostel/hotel in La Fortuna called Pepitos Place and were fortunate enough to strike a deal with the owner to spend the remainder of the evening over at Baldi Hot Springs.. dinner inclusive! the place actually turned out to be more of a high rollers resort (water slides, swim up bars with 7 dollar beers, etc) but altogether it really was cool.. 10 or 15 natural hotsprings, all with different temperatures and textures of water. We were even fortunate enough to see the volcano erupt a bit while we were there! fun night but we ended up wishing the beers were at least a little cheaper!

the next day, wednesday, we decided to head to Jaco a day early as everything in La Fortuna was for the most part, very overpriced and expensive. most of the day was spent in transit.. a bus, a taxi, another bus to puntarenas, and finally one more bus to Jaco and we arrived in the early evening, checking into a hostel called Las Camas as it was recommended by our friends in Tamarindo. Las Camas was hands down the most fun hostel of the entire trip.. took lots of pictures of the place to better put it into perspective, but it had a very strong hippie/beach vibe and had a ton of kids our age, all from around the world.. Tom from the island of Jersey (not New Jersey!), Jamie from Boston, crazy Manny from Puerto Rico, a few canadians, and even Mick and his other surfer mates, all the way from Perth down under! haha.. great time in Jaco, we ended up staying there all the way through Friday afternoon.. just lots of beach going, pilsen drinking games, story telling and getting to know so well the people we lived with for those short 3 days.

friday we finally got ourselves down to manuel antonio.. standing on a packed tico bus for 2 hours was certainly worth it, no doubt! after getting off at the wrong stop by a tip from a mischievious local, we walked nearly 2km to the hostel we heard to stay at. the place was called Backpackers Paradise.. though it was a bit far from it, haha. It wasnt horrible, just the beds were hard as rocks! Here we made many new friends.. mostly Canadians again! Friday night we had a small party at the hostel bar.. more teaching of drinking games and story telling.. good times.

Saturday we made our way to Manuel Antonio National park in search of the famed sloths and monkeys.. and ended up seeing quite a few! more pictures to come for sure. we searched for snorkeling and ended up finding a really sick skim spot.. never ever have I seen 8 footers break RIGHT on shore! was wishing I had my board. the rest of the day was spent resting and exploring the long stretch of crystal white sand.. we had booked a snorkeling tour for the next morning and wanted to be well rested.. however Saturday night proved against that, haha!

a couple of us at the hostel took a cab into town after hearing of a possible reggae night.. but the dj wasnt so good and we ended up making our own party around the bar, haha. this morning I was feeling a bit queasy and the boat ride to the snorkeling didnt make matters much better.. and on top of that, it was overcast and we didnt get to see very much! a bit of a bummer.. but you can never tell how the weather will be here from one day to the next! after getting back around noon we set back for alejuela (san jose) as all of our flights are pretty early in the morning.. the girls back to Florida, and me and Becker to Peru! today was a long day though.. packed bus and still feeling a bit sickly which led me to believe that a bad liver may not have been the only problem. feeling ok now and hope things will sort themselves out inside my body by tomorrow!

costa rica was certainly the trip of a lifetime.. it really helped me put things more into a worldly perspective and it was really good to see and understand more of our planet. many friends were made and I will never forget the stories and things I have learned and picked up along the way.

tomorrow is the first day of the next 2 weeks of peruvian madness! very stoked and cannot wait to get to lima.. hopefully will come across another camera cord to better show you my experiences through my eyes!

pura vida and take it easy everyone! I love and miss you guys and really cant wait for july 14th with the fam!

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