Costa Rica

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Costa Rica – Jeff

After a very comfortable (in comparison to the chicken buses in Nicaragua) eight hour bus ride from Rivas, Nicaragua to San Jose, Costa Rica we had crossed our first border. We immediately went to a familiar hostel in Heredia and reserved a room and headed to Barva to see my host family. We surprised my host parents as they were expecting us the following week-but the welcome the family offered made us feel like we were home. The weekend was full of family birthday parties. My host brother’s wife had a small get together at a local bar with some local live music. The rest of the Tico siblings joined in on the festivities that night as well as some aunts and uncles. Inevitability, Erin and I were asked to dance several times throughout the night with various members of the family. Good times were had by all. The following day we celebrated my host mom’s 69^th birthday party. Attending the party were roughly thirty other family members. It was complete with a live mariachi serenade, lots of amazing finger foods, a grill continuously packed with several types of meats, and plenty of beer and wine for all to enjoy. These family celebrations are always a huge highlight for Erin and me.

After the weekend concluded, we hopped a bus to Manuel Antonio to check out the national park. We took a full day to trek through the park. There were hordes of tourists and tours at the entry, so Erin and I zipped by them and found some less traveled trails to explore. We managed to see some sloths, iguanas, monkeys, and several species of beautiful birds.

We decided to rest on a beach within the park. After several attempts to find an isolated beach with no success, we finally wondered down a trail that was marked off as being closed. Ignoring the signs, we hiked on and shimmied down a steep hill with the aid of a rope, crawled over some rocks, and managed to find two isolated beaches…both all to ourselves and both breathtakingly beautiful. After enjoying the beach for a few hours and having our standard picnic lunch of PBJ’s we decided to make our way to a beach that is near the exit.

The beaches near the exit were crawling with tourists, however, they were also crawling with kleptomaniac white faced monkeys. We sat on the beach and watched monkeys spot unattended backpacks, crawl down from the trees, unzip the packs and snatch anything they could before the victims of the theft noticed. It was really entertaining to see people chase their possessions after being robbed by a monkey.

After a few nights in MA we headed south to Drake. Drake is on the Southwest part of Costa Rica and is only accessible by boat. We stopped over night in Punta Uva which was very uneventful aside from a late lunch which was the best casado (typical Costa Rican dish) we had anywhere in the country. The trip to Drake was capped off by an hour and a half boat ride through a river that runs right into the pacific. The scenery was beautiful. At the conclusion of the boat ride, the boat basically crash lands on the beach and tosses your luggage onto the sand while you fight the waves as you try to safely get off the back.

Our first night in Drake we were greeted by a local man named Everest who had caught a monster Snook two days prior. He had some of the fresh fish left to eat and offered to make us a ceviche for free if we bought the limes. We quickly obliged and were rewarded greatly. The ceviche was so big and so good we decided we needed to save our dinner groceries for the following night. The next few days were spent hiking the trails through the rainforest to find isolated beaches (reoccurring pattern), kayaking through the river that runs directly through the jungle, and enjoying the population of scarlet macaws that flew around the tiny town. The first time Erin and I noticed the Macaws we were sure we were seeing birds that were extremely rare in the area as well as the world. The macaws happened to be fighting for mating rights (we think) so we were worried we’d be witnessing these two rare birds injure one another. No injuries…and we later found out they were all over the place in Drake. They were hands down the most beautiful bird either of us has seen in the wild so the regular sightings were welcome and their annoying, screechy caws were easily excused.

We decided to head back North and stop in Dominical on our way back. As we were standing on the beach waiting for our boat to arrive, I decided to befriend one of the many stray dogs that wonder around the town. The dog responded to my calls by trotting over to me with a smile and a wagging tail. As I bent over to begin petting him, he lifted a leg and began wizzing on my bag. To top it all off, this was in front of all the tourists waiting for the boat so I’m sure a lot of folks got a laugh. Karma came back to bite me after laughing at the victims of monkey theft.

After another boat to bus to bus combo, we arrived in Dominical. The little beach town happened to be littered with modern day hippies who were coming off a four day psychedelic trip during a nearby music festival. Even the locals were getting upset with the hippies who were camping on the beach. They were fond of popping into hostels to steal water and use th kitchen supplies when they were not paying to stay there. The environment kind of turned us off so we jetted back to Manuel Antonio the following day after a low key night that ended with a bonfire on the beach with some of our hostel friends.

Back in MA, we decided to spend some money on surf lessons. Our lesson was relatively successful and it also guaranteed us a free board rental which we used the following day. Our surfing experience was overall positive but Erin decided she prefers paddle boarding over surfing after she spent her first day getting absolutely pummeled by waves. Even though she was sore and beat up from the day before, she still gave it a second chance. The two of us had minimal success on our second attempts but it was enough to motivate us to continue practicing as we move into Panama and South America.

With my parents’ visit fast approaching; we headed back to the city so we would be able to meet them at the airport. They arrived with no issues at all and we managed to get them settled into their hotel and out to eat in Alajuela to taste some of the local fare. The following day we introduced them to my host parents… a long awaited event. The greeting was, as always, capped off with coffee, bread, and open arms and many questions for me to translate from all.

My folks reserved a place in Puerto Viejo to spend the majority of their visit. Unfortunately, my Dad’s back went out while he was helping an elderly woman board the bus on their way there. With the health problems and rainy weather, the following few days were spent doing minimal activity and nursing the back. Fortunately they were able to explore the town of Puerto Viejo a bit, eat some good food, and check out a few of the local beaches during the week long stay. Travel plans needed to be changed because of the circumstances. Rather than going to Tortuguero as planned, we made an early escape to the city to insure they were in good health for the trip home.

Our last few days together were spent at the Country Inn and Suites. We had great weather and a nice pool to enjoy sunny skies. Their final day was spent with my Tico family. My folks were able to meet the majority of the family which was a very high priority for all involved. We spent the afternoon at my host brother’s (Gustavo) house having coffee and sandwiches. Not surprisingly, everyone got along great! We parted ways agreeing to see each other as a family again. It was great to see my folks and the entire Costan Rican family.

As for us, we are in Bocas del Toro, Panama for a long stay on the beautiful Caribbean islands. Bocas is even more beautiful than I remember it. The clear waters act like a constant aquarium. We will keep the blog updated as we go.

Soon, we will be visited by Erin’s parents in mid-April. We look forward to their visit! We should know a lot about the islands by the time they arrive. We have already found the lobster guys!

We wish all of our friends and family back home much happiness and great health. Have a great Easter!

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