Robedge

So we can take a direct bus in two hours or a collectivo right away. We opted for the collectivo and what a mistake. The four of us awoke in the familiar hostel Pangea, one of my favorites on this trip, and packed all our gear. After a leisurely breakfast we were off in a taxi to the Coca cola bus terminal. It was ten in the morning and we had those two options I previously stated. Jumping on the collectivo we prceeded towards Manuel Antonio on he Pacific coast. The bus didn't go more than five minutes before stopping to pick people up. Four hours later we had covered under 200km but were finally in Manuel Antonio. The direct would have been much less painful and the twelve o'clock arrived a little after we did ... read more

Today sun rays were coming through our window when we woke up. It was early yet the heat was already making us sweat. We headed down to make pancakes and figure out the days plans. After talking to a few guides and checking prices, we decided on heading to bluff beach just up island. The first taxi we tried wanted an outrageous price so we waiting for the next. It ended up being a pickup truck so we hopped in the back for a bumpy but cheap ride. The beach was empty with some great waves letting us ditch our stuff in a nice spot then head in. Matt and Morris stayed by the gear while Justin and I headed to the water. It was a really steep slope into the huge waves so we had ... read more

Today we were really looking for good weather because we wanted to check out a different island. It was not to be however as it was a blank white sky. We moped around the hostel in the morning debating what to do before settling on Red Frog beach. It is on a different island but has a few appealing features. Being a park it is undeveloped and a little out of the way from the main town. It gets it's name from the little poisonous red frogs in the marshes nearby. We were hoping to wander through and find some of the little guys as well as body surf and beach bum around. So onto the boat we jumped and headed through the mangrove covered water passages. Eventually we pulled up the island and jumped off ... read more

Today I awoke around 8:30am and wandered down to make another pancake breakfast. I settled in a comfy seat and read a book for most of the morning. The others came down later and went out for breakfast, opting not to eat pancakes. We all just hung out in the hostel for the rest of the day, alternating between sleeping and laying down in the common area. I wandered through town checking out the shops but couldn't sum up much energy to do more. It was cloud covered so we decided to chill and go to a different island tomorrow instead. Tonight is ladies night on a little island a minute boat ride away so we need to rest up for that. Oh boy, I will refrain from the details but we all got really drunk. ... read more

This is one of the first travel days that had a relaxed wake up. Our bus left at 10:30am so we had time to get breakfast and stroll leisurely to the bus. It was sweltering hot and a long bus ride was not what we were looking forward to. Matt, Justin, and I had to stand most of the way while Morris managed to find a seat. The ride was about two hours to the border. We jumped off expecting the usual border hassle but to our surprise it started nicely. We checked out of costims in Costa Rica quickly and were off towards the Panama check in. This was where we got the usual rip-off. We couldn't get into the country unless we had proof we were leaving. No paper proof=no entry so they made ... read more