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Published: January 25th 2008
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Having saved a fair few pennies just by generally chillaxing (Potter wrote that word!) for a week in Nicaragua, we decided to splash the cash over Chrimbo in Costa Rica. Some fantastic pre-tour research by David meant that some unbelievable accommodation was secured in the beautiful town of Samara on the west coast. The hotel - Casa del Mar - was literally less than a stone's throw from the beach.
We arrived to find the sun shining and the waves beating down. So began four intense days of bodysurfing in the Pacific Ocean. This was how most of our daylight hours were spent, particularly on Christmas Day when the weather was scorching and we all throroughly enjoyed a very different Christmas from usual. Although we missed everyone back home enormously, the blow of being without loved ones was softened by the finding of some great new mates in Samara. Dov, aged 10, and Dan, aged 14, were a smashing pair of lads who befriended David and Alex on a routine search to buy a tennis ball. Dov and Dan became firm beachside fixtures for our stay in Samara, although Dov's insistence on sitting on Rhys's shoulders in the sea for
hours at a time did hamper the Welshman's surfing...
Unbelievably we did make some friends of our own age too - two Canadian girls (Lauren and Tessa) and a Canadian couple joined us for a lovely seafood Christmas dinner in town, followed by some drinking, table tennis, pool and darts in a popular local bar. The Canadian girls were great company and a super time was had by all (particularly David). By the 27th of December we were very sad to be leaving Samara. Our hotel had lived up to all expectations with comfy beds, hot showers and a breakfast of fruit, coffee, bacon and eggs awaiting us every morning. The quality of Casa del Mar was highlighted when we had to stay elsewhere for our final night in Samara and found ourselves in a barn, with a sheet for a door and a giant iguana scurrying across the roof throughout the night! Despite some stiff competition, Samara had also provided the best beach and surf of the trip so far. It was a Christmas that none of us will forget in a hurry...
After the excitement of Christmas, in a vain and desperate attempt to break up
the beach destinations in Costa Rica, we headed north to La Fortuna - famed for its explosive nearby volcano Arenal. However, despite tales of night-time eruptions and beautiful sunsets, we were unfortunately subjected to two solid days of cloud and saw absolutely sod all! Undeterred, we decided on La Fortuna's other main attraction, the waterfall. In a self-proclaimed moment of inspiration, David suggested renting bikes for the gentle half hour ascent. Little did we know Lance Armstrong would have struggled on this trek! Having shed about three stone each over the course of an hour and a half (mostly pushing the bike), we finally reached the summit only to be informed we had a further twenty minutes on foot. The mood in the camp was furious! After all the pain, the waterfall itself was spectacular and it didn't take us long to don the swimshorts and dive in. Unsurprisingly, the water was soemwhat baltic, but more importantly the current was very strong. Potter, upon entering the water, genuinely feared for his life as he took a deep breath and frantically swam about twenty strokes towards the rocks (much to the amusement of the rest of us)! Apart from this minor
blip, we had an awesome time attempting to swim into the heart of the waterfall (literally impossible due to the strength of the current) and we certainly all enjoyed the downhill ride back home.
The day after our eventful trip up to Costa Rica's very own Niagara Falls (?!), we bused over to the Caribbean coast to a place called Puerto Viejo de Talamanca for a much anticipated New Years. We were particularly looking forward to our hostel of choice, Rocking J's, which had been continuously recommended to us over the previous two weeks. It (and its owner J) certainly didn't disappoint! Located on a more rugged strip of coastline than Samara, Puerto Viejo was a surfing mecca and also a lively party town. Needless to say we went hard on the 30th and we woke up early afternoon on New Years Eve with stonking hangovers! That afternoon though we met an American called Dusty, who was to become a key man in the evening's proceedings and indeed our whole stay in Puerto Viejo. Buoyed out of our hangovers by the arrival of the Dust Man, we had a leisurely dinner before returning to the hostel to check out
Js entertainment for the night. J's entertainment was simple was nevertheless possibly the most effective imaginable! For a meagre one pound sterling, J offered his 200 odd guests his infamous Jungle Juice (all you can drink) - a deadly concoction of rum, more rum, chopped fruit and a little bit more rum. You've never seen five more excited boys than us at that moment! One pound! It would be a New Year some of us will never be able to live down...
By 11pm, after a number of extremely rowdy and enjoyable games of ring of fire, thoughts turned towards town and we all began to round up the troops. Half an hour later, unable to locate Alex and Rhys who had mysteriously disappeared, Dusty, Potter and I along with the rest of Rocking J's made our way into town to bring in the New Year. Little recollection of that night remains, and what has survived is best left unsaid....! It was only the next morning that the whereabouts of Alex, Rhys (and Potter) was revealed. Alexander J Laffan, unbeknown to us, decided at 11pm to retire to the bedroom in order to 'have a quick lie down' and
get back in the game for midnight. Ten minutes afterwards, David Rhys Jenkins, once again unbeknown to us, did exactly the same! Such was their state neither even saw the other in the room that night and they woke up late morning on New Years Day having not seen in the New Year for the first time since the age of about six! The location of Potter that evening is less easy to determine. Despite leaving with Dusty and David some time before midnight, this was the last anyone saw of Pots that night and he remains fairly confident (though embarrassed) that he too was in bed before New Year!
Whilst some of us had to keep a low profile after the events of New Year, we had some excellent times in Puerto Viejo and met a group of Canadians who were great jokes. Rhys, Dusty and David also braved the huge waves for a tiring day of bodyboarding - with waves up to ten foot (apparently)!
Thus, on the 4th January, our time in Costa Rica and Central America was over as we flew out of San Jose to Lima, Peru. Beaches and flip-flops would have to
be put on hold for some time as we headed to the activity-packed continent of South America.
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Heyy your hairs growing back I see! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx