Personal Pardise Found

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Hola amigos,

Shit, where do I start...All inhibitions i intially had about this place have long since been erased...I left Alajeula, town outside of SanJose on the 27th and took a bus to the Pacific side, to a town called Jaco...stayed there about 2 hours and was like, no thanks...its a medium sized surf town, but it is overpriced, very much commercialized and targeted at rich gringos there for a week to blow there money...went to catch the bus to Quepos...met 4 other travellers at the bus stop...a dude from Cali, travelling with 2 boards, and three girls from Montreal, 2 travelling together and one solo...anyways, talking away and this ex US mountain rescue military dude pulls up in a brand new land rover and yells out the window, anyone going to quepos, hop in its free...this guy takes 5 travellers, all with backpacks, and 2 surfboards, for free, finds us a hotel room and parties with us on the beach...

next day the 5 of us went to Manuel Antonio National Park...$6 to get in, and well worth it...hiked around all day...saw wild monkeys (2 types right up close), 3 sloths, toucans, macaws, lizards galore, hiked to secluded beaches and swam in turquoise blu 82 degree water, finished the day off by getting hammered at a local bar, american band playing ccr, doors and hendrix tunes, not only are the beers a dollar everywhere, but with the heat and humidity, i get drunk after like 2...good times...

then the 2 gals from Montreal had to go home, and me, the dude from cali, and melanie from montreal all went to dominical, aka my personal paradise...found this little cabina right on the beach, $6 a night, atached to a bar, balcony overlooking the ocean, surfing right across the street, geckos in the room, iguanas on the porch, vultures in the garbage cans, english surfer dudes beside us, dirt roads, palm trees, need i say more...the waves are huge, renting a board is retardedly expensive so i found a used one for $120 US and have been riding double overheads (10 to 12 foot wave faces) for the past 5 days, all day....the coolest part, every single day i have been out there, dolphins have been right beside us all in the lineup...they hop completely out of the water like 3 feet from your board...was freaky at first cause all i saw was a fin and was like oh shit!!! But i had to leave paradise cause i am working my way down south to Sierpe...i start my volunteer thing at Proyecto Campanario on the 5th...www.campanario.org for those who are interested...i am gonna be building a medicinal plant garden and helping out with snorkel inventories of reef fish right outside the camp...they call this work! So ya, i will have no outside contact for 3 whole weeks and will be living in the jungle with no elctricity or luxuries...cant wait...i am seriously hoping to leave the jungle with increased levels of mental relaxation...

There are so many more stories to tell, every day seems to be better than the last...the slogan of this country sums up how amazing this place is...Pura Vida...or pure life...it is said all the time...i find it very interesting how people, with far less than we have at home, seem so much happier and friendlier...very much makes you think about what the word neccessity really means...

anyways, my fingers are tired...hasta leugo to all and you will hear from me again in 3 weeks...after 3 weeks of solitude have transformed me into some kind of crazy gringo jungle man...

Pura Vida...peAce...

shane

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Comments

[Older Tadey]

Groovey!
Not to auger to deep into the alcohol/alcoholic/alcoholism thing but 2 beers is 1 beer better than you can do back here! Ouch!! Sounds like you ARE in paradise. Say hi to Melanie for me. Tell her to write. Turquoise blu 82 degree water is cool (in the hip sorta way, not temp), 12' high waves are cooler, and dolphins are the coolest.... bastard!!! Enjoy it dude... and take care. JT

[bubba]

bring back pics and beer!
Sounds like you are having a hell of a time, just remember the woking man at home.Ejoy the rest of your trip,and bring back pics and stories.The beer is on ice when you get back(real Ontario beer).

[deleted_12102]

Pura Vida

[deleted_12102]

Arenal/ La Fortuna
If you get a chance stop in at La Fortuna and see Arenal Volcano. It is super cool. There is a bitchin discoteque there that goes off on Friday and Sat nights...its called Volcon Look Discoteque. It has a small soccerfield attached to it. Reallly cool. Don't miss out on Baldi Hot Springs too. Sooooo tight. If you want to meet some cool dudes there stop into Hotel La Amistad and say whatup to Selim, Pilincho, Romel, and Edward. These guys are studs. If you tell them Gregorio y Jason sent you guarenteed they will show you a good time if you like partying. Its good to have locals to cruise and party with.