Blogs from Mal Pais, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 4

Hola amigos Well its great to finally have my vacation! 100 days on the ship and 45 in a drilling shack has finally paid out. My route has gone something like this. Arrived in San Jose on November 27 and quickly B lined it to the beach. Arriving in Jaco a few days later to find perfect waves and warm water. Jaco is costa rica's surf center and is the place to pick up a board and whatever else you may need. Once equitped it was off to Santa Teresa on the Nicoya Pinnesula to find a quite beach break and a good surf vibe. The friends i picked up in jaco were all keen on the area so we spent the next 6 days. Andy's a surf instructor from england with a super mellow personality. ... read more

So I forgot to mention in the last blog about my costa rican experience with the fucken banks there. So when I first arrived I had to try and track down an ATM well theres hundred of banks all over the city but none of them worked. So that night I thought I was gonna go hungry until this guy from Melbourne staying in my dorm whom was also traveling the world bought me dinner and a beer. I didnt even catch his name, nice guy. Next day I went inside a bank only to be told that ATM´s dont accept all cards and it depends on the bank weather they take only visa or master card. That was lame. Also on my first night at the Hostel Pangea in San Jose I met this older ... read more

So here's the dealio right now. Ali and Jo have left Santa Teresa and will go to Ecuador this friday, starting work at the wildlife sanctuary there on monday. Now, GUESS WHAT? I've decided to stay in costa rica for another month!!!! I've found a house I can live in for FREE and share with my mexican friend, Sheila, and an american guy. Right on the beach, hot water, tv, beautiful wooden and tiled. WOW WOW WOW I said. PLUS, I'll be saving SO much money cutting a month off the volunteer work I'm doing in Ecuador which is gonna cost us about $400 PER MONTH! (for some reason they want to charge us US$85 per WEEK, NOT including food!) I can still go to Ecuador, join the other girls, and work at the wildlife rehab ... read more

It was independance day in Costa Rica today. And a very peaceful independance it was too. Flag displays and school children marching down the street at night with lanterns and playing drums. Independance was peacefully declared for Central America by Guatemala (i think it was), and Costa Rica has not had an army for the last 50 years, so the country has an incredibly peaceful feeling (There is even a university of peace!). Just imagine how much money they save on military which they are able to put into education and health etc. No wonder ticos are well educated with good social systems, even if they don't have much for development. We have fallen in love with so many people in Santa Teresa (and other places in Costa Rica!). i know you guys won't get the ... read more

Ok guys, I know a few of you have been waiting for a few of these photos so here goes... We're staying at an amazing hostel called 'Brunela' (which is the spanish, feminine version of the name Bruce, and also the name of the leading lady in a novel written by the owner - go figure..). Since we're here for a few weeks Juan (the owner) is only charging us $4 a night, for which we get the BEST coffee in the world free every morning, a cosy room which we share with one other guy, Todd - American, (we get the whole mezzanine upstairs), free use of the surf boards and a WHOLE LOT OF FUN. Brunela is basically a bachelor pad for surfers (mostly from argentina and uruguay at the moment) and Ali and ... read more