Adios Costa Rica

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We left Nathan Dees, the Texas schizo guitar legend and eventually made it to Playa Dominical. We managed to get there without getting robbed at the bus stop this time and found a really cool place to stay right on the beach. Pete bartered with the guy at the hostel (local guy called Junior) and we got a double room with en suite for the same price as a dorm. We were actually right on the beach and i could check the surf from in my bed.

When we got there the surf wasn´t that great, about chest to head high but a bit messy. It was however, much better than jaco, so we got straight in. It turned out to be quite a heavy wave, and the beach had really strong rip currents. I caught a couple of nice waves straight away. The wave was closing out a little bit, so you had to make sure you got out before you got slammed. After my first couple of waves i took off on a set wave i probably should have left, and got really nailed. My board hit me in the head, so i put my hands up to cover my head and the fin hit me in the ribs. I paddled back out and pete informed me that i had a cut on my head, so we got out. I had a comedy bump on my forehead for a week or so, and a nice cut across my ribs. Not the best of starts.

Dominical was a really nice place. There was a nice beach bar/restaurant right next door to where we were staying, which is where we used to go most evenings for food. It was 1.50 for a massive burrito and loads of other mexican dishes. It didn´t rain as much as in santa teresa, but it did rain most nights. One night we went for a walk down the beach and found a restaurant that junior had recommended to us. By the time we finished our meal it had gone dark, so we couldn't´t walk back down the beach, as we had to climb over some rocks that would have been too dangerous in the dark. It had also started to rain really really hard, with thunder and lightning, and obviously me and pete didn´t have an umbrella. There were no busses, so the only option we had was to get drenched, and walk 20minutes down the road in pitch darkness, occasionally getting a view of where we were going when lightning filled the sky.

Dominical was smaller than santa teresa. There were a couple of restaurants and shops and that's it. There was only 1 american lad called Will staying at our hostel, who was a really good surfer, so we hung out with him most of the time. He was looking after a little Rotweiler puppy that had been abandoned. He had found it when he arrived a few days before us. It was in really bad shape when he got there, but he fed it up and i was getting quite strong. At first Junior wasn´t going to let him keep it in the hostel, as it wasn´t exactly house trained, but as it was quiet, he ended up letting him keep it. He named it Coojoe, and as we were leaving Will had found a local guy who wanted to look after it, which was cool.

We stayed in Dominical for a week and had one day when the surf was really really good. It was gorgeous sunshine and about 6 - 8ft. I got up that morning, saw the surf was going off from my bed, so was straight on it. I spent the whole day in the water, just getting out every couple of hours for some food and water. Perfect!!!

After a week we decided we would go to San Jose to sort Petes passport out at the embassy. It would take three days for them to issue a new passport, so we left on the sunday so Pete could get to the embassy on monday morning. We had to get two busses, the first one being 1.5 hours. When it arrived it was totally rammed and we spent the whole time standing which was a nightmare. When we got off that bus, we had to walk 500m to another bus station to get a connection to san jose. As we got off the bus, it starts to rain. The whole journey is also up hill, so pete marches off with his board bag, but i still haven´t been able to get the handle fixed on mine since it snapped on the first day in Costa Rica, so i struggle up the hill in the rain, getting drenched yet again.

San Jose isn´t a nice place, and it is in the middle of the country, so no surf. However, the hostel we stayed at is awesome. It has a pool, roof terrace with a restaurant and bar. There are loads of people, Norwegians, Dutch, Canadians, Swiss and obviously Americans. We have looked round the city a bit, but while we have been here 3 people in the hostel have been robbed, so we have pretty much just stayed at the hostel waiting to leave.

On halloween the hostel had a huge party. Everyone was getting dressed up and i didn´t know what to go as. Pete brought a pirate costume, (I think so he had an excuse to wear eye liner and camp it up like Jonny Depp in Pirates of the Carribean??) but i didn´t want to waste my money, so i went to the supermarket, got a variety pack of cereal and a plastic gun. I glued the cereal boxes to an old t shirt and went as a cereal killer. It was the best costume by far and won me free shots of vodka jelly all night at the bar. Winner!!!

Adios Costa Rica, Hola Ecuador, and hopefully less rain and more waves... PLEASE???

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