Day 9 – Jaco to Montezuma

We had arranged the night before to take a speed boat taxi from playa jaco to montezuma at 10 am and to be picked up by a taxi at 9:30am to take us to the drop-off point so woke up early, showered, packed, chris made a chicken terriyaki stir-fry mre for breakfast and we drank battery energy drinks. We left the rental car in Jaco – weren’t so sure a/b doing that but had mad faith.

094 [Desktop Resolution]We threw our packs in the taxi and popped in, two tatted girls were already in there sitting up near the front.  Chris and I situated ourselves in the back seat; had a crap night of sleep and bugs bothering us so were in somewhat of a grumpy mood; drove to the shore and taxi driver dropped us off at bus stop; we hung out there for a/b 20 minutes or so and got to know the girls from the taxi a little better; their names were candace and heather from los angeles, california and they ran a travel agency – were traveling for only a week – had just arrived in cr, jaco the night before; we exchanged some travel stories and made friends w/ each other then the boat taxi and driver arrived;

We all had to put our bags/belongings into big trash bags provided 104 [Desktop Resolution]gratis by the captain; carried our crap out to boat drifting off shore, climbed on, situated ourselves chris and I across from the girls in front of boat; chris and I ate sunflower seeds while traveling as usual; decided we’d stay at the same hostel as the girls as we had no lodging arrangements as of yet and that we’d hang out w/the girls while in montezuma; captain drove us past el chorro waterfall on beach a little outside of montezuma which was cool since we prob. weren’t going to go in search of it anyway;

got dropped off on shore of montezuma in crushed shell sand and warm water; ripped trash bags off of packs; ran after captain to tip him; after girls talked to the other tico who’d been on the boat to ask him about hotels in the area we made our way across the sand and various volcanic rocks and boulders to the main dirt road cutting through the small oceanic town headed towards the hostel Hotel Lucy; Hostel was just a short walk over a hilly road parallel to coast; looked at rooms and tried to get a breezier one upstairs but language barrier between chris and I and “Lucy” was insurpassable; ended up w/ a quaint room downstairs which came w/ a fan and bugs that crawled on your face in your sleep but was only $20 a night;

108 [Desktop Resolution]changed clothes then headed into town for lunch w/ the girls (had avocado salad, casados con pollo en salsa, and some of the best fruit drinks in the world – mine was blackberry, chris had guayaba fruit) food was fresh, plentiful, and cheap; chris and I then hit the beach w/ the girls and discovered a pathway to the swanky front beach Ylang-Ylang resort (Hotel Lucy was front beach too, but not that kind of front beach); the tide started to come in and walking was becoming hazardous on the beach littered with heavy driftwood and human refuse so we headed back into town; Chris and I hit up an internet cafe for the rest of the day; I picked up a six pack of Pilsen from a supermarket next door to pass the time and we also had paralyzers made by the friendly bar staff/waiters at the restaurant next door which was run in connection with the internet cafe, nothing like good booze and the ability to facebook stalk;

I attempted talking to a man I imagined to be an ex-patriate, turns out he was but not from the U.S., from Argentina; Kellie's toucanthe girls eventually found us as we finished up gulping the internet and the rest of our drinks; we headed to dinner at hotel restaurant that was featured in our Foddor’s guidebook (Coclones?) and had calamari, rounds of imperial and pilsen, ceviche, shrimp, and possibly the creamiest best fresh bread in the entire world, possibly. Unfortunately a special guest at our table, fernando the fly, drowned in the ceviche oil and was put to rest in an empty imperial bottle – a fitting way for a local to be buried I think.

after a leisurely dinner in the candle-lit and open-air establishment we all began, in a somewhat inebriated state of awe, to explore the little town. Not long after emerging from the restaurant we came across a barefoot firedancer rythmically swinging chained flames to a lively drum beat. we watched, mesmerized, by her seductive feat then headed back to the hotel to clean up for some after dinner activities. Live reggea music was being featured at a local bar/club called Choco’s so we decided to check it out. After changing, a large group of tourists from Hotel Lucy made the decents and ascents of the hilly main road together until we reached the bar. Policia were outside which caused us to hesitate entering, but I shrugged my shoulders and charged in purposefully to get a drink.

117 [Desktop Resolution]The music, loud and inviting, started up shortly after. Chris and I had our first drinks on a porch area attached to the bar. I headed in for another but got sidetracked by the impulse to dance to the rich percusive music and sticky warmth engulfing the crowded dance floor. Candace and Heather were dancing also so I joined them. Free liqeuor candies were given out by barstaff and, after he sauntered in, chris and I savored the creamy coffee treats as we swayed back and forth. after another beer and working up a good sweat chris and I ventured to the lawn outside the bar and listened to the pacific ocean waves break while attempting a bit of a rain dance, we needed to cool off pretty badly.



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Day 8 – Monteverde to the “Costco of Vice”

Our tour/ transportation left at 7:45 am. We woke up late and rushed to make it on time; Selvatura adventures park/ like 7 parks in one (butterflies, reptiles, insects, rainforest hike, zip tour, and some other crap); watched tarantula vids on the jostling bus ride there; arrived and were hungry so had desayuno at the park (I had pancakes, the “BEST Bacon EVER”, toast, coffee; I had fruit, toast, eggs, bacon, coffee; we both had delicious orange juice that tasted like fruity pebbles).

069 [Desktop Resolution]After eating, it was around 9:30 am and there wasn’t another zip line tour until 11 so we went on the hike – good walk, helped us digest breakfast; took some cool pics, tried to swing on our own on a tarzan vine but it swung out over a steep drop and we both almost fell off the side so said f that; saw some crazy caterpillars/centipedes – poisonous for sure; heard people screaming through the forest – thought they were on zip lines; we hurried to finish up our hike so we could make it in time for the zip line tour; Louwra was a little nervous, didn’t know what to expect, but still excited, I was raring to go; we went to the area near gift shop to get outfitted w/ gear (harnesses, gloves, dorky helmets,etc.);

068 [Desktop Resolution]After getting totally dorked out Lauren and I and the other group members (some foreigners and some pussy americans) as well as our awesome guides who must have thought the lines we were running were dull got on a bus and drove like 2 minutes up a road to the trailhead for the first line; They taught us how to do it first, then we went down the first line – Lauren instantly fell in love with the feeling of being weightless and guided high above the treetops; ran about 6 or 7 lines then did a tarzan swing which was just ropes and bungee cord and a 15 or so foot platform you literally drop off of.  We continued on another 2 or 3 zip lines after – The last line was the longest, highest, and best and we took it tandem.

Afterward, we waited for a bus back to hotel el bosque at 1pm; went back, packed our shit, loaded the car then proceeded to head out of monteverde towards jaco but I had to find internet and take care of some business so we stopped at a vegan restaurant w/ free wi-fi; ate HUGE veggie burgers. I had a milkshake, in a funky brightly colored restaurant, saw a parrot (only one the whole trip and only saw the back of it);

After lunch drove on the dirt roads to jaco; Jaco was like the myrtle beach of the CR pacific coast – overrun by tourists, 091 [Desktop Resolution]dirty, drug-infested; stayed at a shitty hotel – Cabinas las oquideas – no a/c, ants all over walls, had a fridge though; drank some, walked the streets a little – checked out a souvenir shop, skipped dinner, did some work, then slept so as to get through the night faster and get to montezuma faster the next day like little kids trying to sleep on christmas eve night. Jaco blows.  Avoid it.  It may have a consistent surf break but there are plenty of those in places that are more representative of Costa Rica.



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Day 7 – La fortuna to Monteverde

We woke up around 7:30 am, had breakfast (I had cereal, toast, coffee, juice, yogurt and Lauren had LOTS of fresh fruit, toast, and coffee; after breakfast we worked seperately – Lauren on her classwork/test, I on illstreet stuff; packed up our stuff and checked out of the hotel around 2:30pm; went into town, bank (money-currency exchange via atm pretty cool – all over cr).  We needed gas but it was our first time and we couldn’t understand anything the guy was saying in spanish.  We scooped some lunch at a cool mexican place called las brasitas – good reasonable portions of mexican food – I had a fruity sangria drink and She had beer – waiter thought it was funny.  We stopped at a supermarkado on the way out of la fortuna for beer (which you can buy individual cans of for so many colones a piece. Also you can buy liquour at the grocery store.  We got local rum, bought more cookies and other essentials. The drive was interesting and VERY bumpy; went from paved streets back to unpaved dirt and gravel/rock roads except unlike the carribean roads these were uphill and I mean UPHILL! lauren practiced manual for a little while on these roads; made it to monteverde and checked out a really nice hotel, didn’t stay there b/c ol’ Lauren couldn’t afford it so we stayed at Hotel Bosque instead and made arrangements for an early morning zip line canopy tour and rainforest hike (little cabin like room w/ high school kids all around us); drank rum and coke, made some collect calls, had a fiesta with a “toxic” tarantula, ate pizza for dinner at a restaurant within walking distance – good wine, great pizza; came back and went to sleep to be ready for next day.



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