COSTA RICA
This trip through Costa Rica is a ball breaker; long bus rides, hard to plan, not enough $, but its gonna be worth it for the beaches, jungles, volcanos and cloud forests that I will get to see. Continuing South I'll arrive from San Juan Del Sur (in Nicaragua) to La Cruz near Guanacaste National Park. Quick tours of the park before heading to Liberia. From there its time for 'beach week' along the Pacific Coast of the Nicoya Pennisula. Dope beaches with white sand and some forest type jungle ridiculousness right behind them, cant wait. From there I'll back track the Liberia and head to La Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano region, staying at a "5 Star Hostel" for a few bucks a night. Onto San Jose (I'll be back there later) as a pitstop for Corcovado and Puerto Jimenez on the Osa Pennisula. This place is supposed to be jawdroppage. From there onto Quepos and Manuel Antonio just a few hours north, and then back to San Jose for a few days before traveling to South Americaaaa.
GUANACASTE
LIBERIA
[Jan 26th-28th]
Crossed the border with little trouble into Costa Rica. It took a lot less time because i did it on foot, not with a tour bus. it was cheaper too. hopped on the bus to Liberia.
Spent two days here. Not so fun. Went to Playas del Coco, Octal, and Hermosa, but it was nothing spectacular. Got kinda sick adjusting to the new food. spent some time resting here, got 3 buses to La Fortuna, but made it fine.
[Jan 26th-28th]
Crossed the border with little trouble into Costa Rica. It took a lot less time because i did it on foot, not with a tour bus. it was cheaper too. hopped on the bus to Liberia.
Spent two days here. Not so fun. Went to Playas del Coco, Octal, and Hermosa, but it was nothing spectacular. Got kinda sick adjusting to the new food. spent some time resting here, got 3 buses to La Fortuna, but made it fine.
-Coco
-Hermosa
-Matalapo
LA FORTUNA/ARENAL VOLCANO
Arenal Volcano
This volcano is something i have been waiting for, and excited for since i began my travels. The bus ride from Tilaran to La Fortuna was amazing, traveling around the lake was incredible and then the Arenal Volcano appeared and only got bigger as we got closer. The sides were smoking...but unfortunately, its currently dormant. what a bummer. no lava tour for me anymore. La Fortuna is way more touristy than i thought it was going to be. Im a little disappointed, and im not staying in the awesome hostel i scouted out, and its been raining a lot, but i know things will turn around.
Augustino, creator of the rope swing
Turns out there are activities in Costa Rica that dont cost $70. Its hard to find things to do that are under $30. This is one of them, and it doesnt cost a thing. I love finding the local things to do. This guy Augustino created a rope swing on the La Fortuna river. Its an awesome hang out spot. I went on a Sunday and there were many locals swimming, eating, smoking, and just hanging out. It was really fun, he was real friendly, and could do a ton of cool tricks on the rope swing, he made everyone look really bad. CHECK THIS VIDEO OUT OF AUGUSTINO.
Rope Swing, La Fortuna
Rio Fortuna
Doron holds on a little too long...
Smiling it off
The tours for everything cost a fortune here. I have started cooking dinner for myself because the prices for food are ridiculous. Everything is cheaper in the super market. A coka cola on the street is a wopping $2!!! my nightmare. Hostels with kitchens are essential. Its nice to cook again for a bit though, im so sick of the restaurant food, its all the same after a while. In the morning i bought a bag of cereal and some milk for $2, and then i made mac and cheese for dinner for $3, it was great haha. I also bought some chocolate at a "Chocolateria" today that was amazing, i had a pina colata chocolate, a watermelon chocolate, and a rasberry one that were all amazing, i was suprised that a watermelon chocolate actually worked out. I got some awesome street food that i cant remember the name of by the church also, ill write it tomorrow when i can ask the nice receptionist. Only a dollar.
Met a cool girl at my hostel named Doron from Israel who decided to tag along. We showed up and we were the only Gringos there, but we werent afraid to try the swing. There were a lot of people watching all the time, in the picture below, Doron didnt even want to go in the water and was going to try to swing back, but as you can see, her arms started giving out. Everyone held their breath for a second, including Augustino, but she let go and landed safely. I was happy i didnt get a picture of her hitting the rocks.
Jan 29th
ARENAL
Did a volcano and hot springs tour. It was the most affordable option in La Fortuna. Eh...It was alright. I learned a lot during the tour about plants, the forest, the la fortuna lake, arenal volcano and a cool trick of how to see bugs in the night with a flashlight... I had a cool guide named Andreas who took us on a hike through the lava fields left over by the 1968 erruption of Arenal. There were no real views on the hike, and it was very short. They gave us booze and shoved us into the free hot springs which were awesome though. There were a ton of locals hanging out there also. I heard an awesome story from an Italian staying at my hostel the next day though that was really funny. He went to the Baldi hotsprings which cost $35 dollars for an afternoon. They were cold! All of them were, which means they heat them, how sad is that, and how expensive it must be? He felt so ripped off and he was pissed. I was glad the real ones were included in my tour...
Jan 30th
MONTEVERDE
{Feb 1st-Feb 3rd}
Monteverde is stunning. Hills and mountains that are untouched pastures of green land. Its beauiful. Im in Santa Elena, which is the tourist town here. Its very small, and very expensive. Its been fun though. There is a lot of wind up here, its much cooler at night, and there is a constant mist from the clouds, even though it is sunny. You can never tell where the rain mist is coming from. Its cool. The first day i ran into a girl named Meghan on the street. She was from North Carolina, really chill, she is just traveling, no return date, and has been in Santa Elena for a week, learning Spanish with some random people she met, she also found work in an art studio, and i ended up going there to hang out shortly after meeting her. We walked around the town for 3 hours together. checked out a waterfall, went to a local hang out swing overlooking Nicoya gulf, great spot for sunsets, and parted ways after that. Got some really good homemade chocolate along the way too. Nice intro to Monteverde.
Monteverde
Feb 2nd
CANOPY TOUR. I was nervous to end up like Toby from the Office when he visited Costa Rica did a canopy tour and ended up in a body cast, but i made it out fine. I went with EXTREMO tours, which had been recommended to me by my guide Andreas in La Fortuna, who has done all of them because tour guides get to do these kinds of activities for free. He was right this was so worth it. This was worth the money too. I feel great coming out of it. You start doing basic zip lines, then you move onto bigger ones going across mountains. The views are incredible. The longest cable is over 1 km. Then you do the TARZAN SWING (click for video). This was crazy. They literally push you off the edge. I had seen videos on youtube the night before and didnt think it was part of my package but it was...Then you get to repell, and do whats called the superman cable run. You can guess what that means. Youre face down and you ride for 1 km. Its insane. youre really high up and it feels like flying, i wanna do it again. This was worth it %100. So glad i did it. I didnt bring my camera because your not allowed to take pics or videos while you on the cables, the pics they took were kinda crappy, so i didnt buy them. Check out SUPERMAN and TARZAN SWING on youtube though...i did it.
Hanging Bridge
MONTEZUMA BEACH
{Feb 3rd to 4th}
Dont know why this place is so highly recommended...maybe i missed something. Spent one night here. Damn its expensive. Lots of Gringos, few places to eat that are tastey and cheap. Beach is nice, but very small by the center of town. Its also uncomfortably hot here. I'm a little disappointed, moving on...im def spoiled at this point.
SANTA TARESA
{FEB 4th and 5th}
GIANTS WON THE SUPERBOWL! This is the place. Crazy surf crowd. Cheap food. Only an hour away from Montezuma. Beach is gorgeous. Much better.
QUEPOS
Feb 6th
Stayed at the Wide Mouth Frog... One night. Ran into some familiar faces. watched snatch. first experience here where my whole dorm room watched a movie, went to bed at the same time and got up at the same time, it was weird. Not much to say about Quepos, good place to get groceries i guess...MA is what im excited for. 15 minutes away on the bus.
MANUEL ANTONIO
{Feb 3rd to 4th}
Dont know why this place is so highly recommended...maybe i missed something. Spent one night here. Damn its expensive. Lots of Gringos, few places to eat that are tastey and cheap. Beach is nice, but very small by the center of town. Its also uncomfortably hot here. I'm a little disappointed, moving on...im def spoiled at this point.
SANTA TARESA
{FEB 4th and 5th}
GIANTS WON THE SUPERBOWL! This is the place. Crazy surf crowd. Cheap food. Only an hour away from Montezuma. Beach is gorgeous. Much better.
Santa Taresa
Feb 6th
Stayed at the Wide Mouth Frog... One night. Ran into some familiar faces. watched snatch. first experience here where my whole dorm room watched a movie, went to bed at the same time and got up at the same time, it was weird. Not much to say about Quepos, good place to get groceries i guess...MA is what im excited for. 15 minutes away on the bus.
MANUEL ANTONIO
Manuel Antonio Beach
Feb 7th and 8th
UVITA
Feb 9th
Miss my dog...
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Amazing National Park. I saw 2 types of monkeys, snakes, lizards or iguanas, hawks, raccoons, vultures, and more. and what an amazing beach. definitely my favorite place so far. stayed at Vista Serena, great hostel with the best view I have had at any hostel in Costa Rica to this point, no question. Photos to come...
UVITA
Feb 9th
Miss my dog...
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George
PUERTO JIMENEZ/CORCOVADO/DRAKE BAY
DRAKE BAY
PUERTO JIMENEZ
CORCOVADO
SAN JOSE/ALAJUELA
Mask Shop in San Jose
Poas
As you can see, Costa Rica is a little thin, Im working on uploading photos. Stories to come. Made it back to NYC safely for a bit, peru next? gimme a call.
