Next day in La Fortuna me and two people I met from Colorado, a mother and daughter, did a really cool hike. It´s a steep and fairly grueling 4 hour round trip through jungle to a dormant volcano called Cerro Chato. You hike right up to the crater and then down into it, where I swam in the green lake that occupies the crater. We saw a snake on the trail, the mom´s scream probably scared even the howler monkeys.

Me swimming in the crater lake.

Extremely tired out from the hike we went to nearby Baldi Hot Springs resort, which has tons of pools pumped with spring water heated by Arenal Volcano. It was extremely relaxing, with tons of waterfalls, cold plunges, and swim up bars. There was even waterslides there, which never ever would have been built in the U.S. due to safety and insurance issues. It was the craziest, fastest waterslide I´ve ever been on by far. I caught four feet of air in the tube and gave myself a pretty good lump on the head with the landing, but totally worth it.

Took an exhausting 12 hours of travel time with three bus transfers and a ferry to make it down to Montezuma on the tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. Only accessible by dirt road at the end, the last 12 kilometers took almost an hour, as torrential sheets of rain hammered us. Luckily, a cool lightning show kept me entertained on the last leg of the journey, magnified by the fact that the buses are completely dark.

Woke up to a beautiful day and a scenic beach view. The day before I had met a pair of cool Mormon guys from Utah on the ferry and the three of us had gone out to dinner in Montezuma the night we got in and met a group of 8 girls from a college in upstate New York, down in Costa Rica getting college credits. The plan was to hike up to some nearby waterfalls the next day which we ended up doing. Escorting 8 girls in pink aquasocks up a rocky river proved to be time consuming but it was worth it for the waterfall. Apparently the heavy rains the previous day are what lent the water the murky brown color, but it was extremely cool and refreshing.

From the base us three guys hiked and climbed up to the other waterfall at the top of the base, at which you could do an adrenaline filled forty-foot jump into the pool. Hurt the soles of my feet but was definitely a rush.





Me doing a front flip

Montezuma is a small, not easily accessed town, with an crunchy hippy vibe. Apparently there is some unwritten rule that if you have dreadlocks you must make and sell jewelry. Who knew? The Saturday night party scene at the one real bar in town, Chicos, was hopping with a great mix of locals and tourists and there was impromptu drum circles and even a fire-dancer. Had a great time, but declined to bring my bulky camera out, so no pictures. Trust me though, awesome party.

Spent the next couple days relaxing by the beach, hiking around, reading my book and nursing a newly acquired sunburn.

After four nights I decided it was time to move on, and spent another long day of traveling to make it to the small town of Manuel Antonio on the Pacific Coast. The hostel here is great, with a swimming pool and a really friendly, social crowd. Partied it up last night and then relaxed at the beach all day today. Gonna go to the National Park nearby tomorrow morning with the camera and find monkeys! I want to upload all the pictures I´ve taken so far in their full resolution glory, but the free internet down here is painfully slow. I´ll figure out a way soon though.

The Brits have redeemed themselves! Met a chill guy named Chris in La Fortuna and actually just happened to run into him again where I am staying now. Had a good time exchanging cultural information and just hanging out. He dragged me along today to watch the end of some big soccer match at lunch today, he apparently hates Manchester United, himself being from some other corner of England. He was rather hilariously ecstatic when they lost. Those Brits love their ¨football.¨

There is a group of Quebecois French-Canadian separatists staying at my hostel who are rather amusing. They did tell me I am doing a good job dispelling some of their stereotypes about Americans as loud, stupid and obnoxious louts who are proud of their international and cultural ignorance, with no interest in learning about and understanding the local scene beyond buying drugs and getting hammered. So, I´m adding ¨Cultural Ambassador¨ to my resume.

Two weeks of drinking tap water down here and my stomach has been a champ, whooo! Will try and post pictures of monkeys soon. Miss you all, hope the weather is good in Seattle or wherever you are. Hope to hear from ya soon. - Azi