Pura Vida Mae

Pura Vida is the best way to sum up Costa Rica. Pura vida means pure life or super great, chill, and/or happy. It is what people respond when you ask how they are or when you just say hi.

Montezuma Sunrise

It has been great returning to Costa Rica. Costa Rica was the first country I traveled to outside of Canada and the US. I studied abroad here for a short month and was able to visit Guanacaste, Puerto Viejo, and Volcan Arenal for some beach, zip-line, and rafting adventures. Now finding myself here again is super comfortable and leaves me more doors open to see some of the things I missed the first time around.

I headed to Costa Rica (unknown to me) on their independence day. As soon as we walked across the bridge making the border crossing with Panama- yes we literally got to experience crossing the border by walking the bridge- we were greeted with song, dance, and parade sporting the Costa Rican flag. It was a great welcome back for my first time returning to a foreign country.To start off Costa Rica I ended up in a place I loved the first time around: Puerto Viejo. Puerto Viejo is a town with a lot of Jamaican influence on the Carribean coast of Costa Rica. Needless to say it is a great place to sit back and relax. Something I needed very much. So I rented a hammock for a few nights and was able to decompress. I spent the nights playing cards, sitting by a camp fire near the beach, and making dinner with people I met in the trip our in the giant room of hammocks. I spent the days getting out for a run and renting a bike to get some fresh air and listen to the awesome sounds of the birds and monkeys (I think) hiding in the trees. Just the refresher I needed before moving forward to San Jose.
I was fortunate enough to have a home base in San Jose. My mom's classrooms aide's cousin lives in San Jose with his family. He also happens to be the cousin of someone from my graduating class. Small world. The Convery family was kind enough to take me in and feed me some of the best food I have had on this trip. Keith's mother just moved down to Costa Rica and caught wind of my love for coconut so on my last day there we combined our language power to prepare a sweet shrimp and rice dish to be followed up by chocolate coconut bars. DELUXE! It was great to be integrated into this bilingual household. The highlight: helping the youngest son with his Spanish homework (which he speaks fluently...just a tid jealous) and had far too much fun for it to go unnoticed for me.

Keith and I solved the bus system to get me off for an early departure to Montezuma on Friday. My good friend Jackie studied abroad here for a year and spent a good chunk of her free time in Montezuma dancing so I knew it was the place for me with my intense desire to go dancing since I left the DR.

Montezuma is on the pacific peninsula of Costa Rica so to get there is a few buses and a beautiful ferry ride. On the ferry I knew I was headed to the right place thy were blasting Latin tunes and the garbage man kept us all entertained with his interpretive dance.

Upon getting to Montezuma I quickly met a quirky Danish girl who was ready to hike the waterfalls there. With a short break to drop my bag and get a passion fruit smoothie we were off. A group of is hiked along the river and weaved up and over trees to reach the first of three waterfalls. There we met a local Tico (term here for Costa Rican) who showed us how to get in under the falls and climb up a bit to sit and enjoy the spray- after my last experience I was a bit nervous of slipping and sliding, but he took good care of me. Since we befriended the Tico he decided to show is the way to the falls that were higher up. To get there we had to use a rope to stable part if a climb and again maneuvering around lots of tree roots and rocks. A total adventure! After getting there the Tico immediately ditched his backpack and took a jump of the fall. It seemed totally crazy to me because he jumped right through a bush! Yet, after seeing him do it I couldn't resist. So once everyone wasn't looking and he jumped off a part directly on the water fall I followed suit--44 feet later I made a splash. It was WILD! We were then able to see over the first fall and hide in the cave under this fall too. When I got to the top no one could believe that I did it- but were super impressed with my tenacity. The hike out was again complicated, but a great adventure. I was glad we had an experienced person to show is the way.

When we got back we grabbed dinner made a few rum and cokes and head out for the only bar in town. I had told everyone my main goal in Montezuma was to dance so they introduced me to a few of the locals who danced super well. I was utterly impressed by the Tico merengue skills. Merengue is a dance originally from the DR, but when they mix all their salsa turns and spins WOW! I have never had so much fun being thrown around a dance floor. Not to forget they played a good half hour of just bachata and with my excitement and evident love for it some started calling me bachatera. So perfect!

While dancing I met a Tico who lives in the states and was heading back soon so as a celebration he was going to Tortuga Island and could get me in for Tico prices. Needless to say they next day I was on my way to la Isla Tortuga not knowing anything about the tour. I was nothing but impressed for a tour free to me. We stopped at the island to let them prepare lunch while we got to snorkel around for an hour. The highlight... A massive blue star fish. After we headed to the island for some fresh fish and rice while my new friend struck up a deal to get some fresh oysters. We spent the afternoon eating and preparing the biggest oysters I had ever seen and the tiny lobsters that were doing some cleaning inside of it...totally fresh and still kicking as we bit/cut into it. Que Rico!! On the ride back I was excited to see hump back whales jumping around and giving us some "ooooohhhh ahhhhh" entertainment.

I spent that night dancing and talking in the street until I got sent back to my room by the storms that rainy season never fails to bring. Rain lasted the good chunk of the next day and allowed for a perfect movie night.

The next day I finally made it to explore the beaches around Monteverde and enjoy some local ceviche after a solid match of soccer with gringos and Ticos alike. It made me happy to play with men who didn't mind pushing you around. I left Montezuma beaming, doing nearly all of the things that give me that natural high. So many times that weekend I made sure to give thanks to how fortunate I was for that experience. 

My Costa Rica experience as far from over. I heard to Monteverde for the cloud forest. The bus ride here was longer than expected so I made sure to head to get on my feet the next day in the Santa Elena Reserve. I spent my first morning exploring through the clouds on my own and finding an exciting 14 new settings on my camera and lots of colorful flowers. Uh oh! In a nerd moment I was likening waking through the cloud forest to swimming in the SAV of the Chesapeake because of all the biodiversity that lives there. Any who,

my timing was  great, I found the lookout tower to climb and enjoy the sandwich I packed myself to dine with a clear view of Volcan Arenal- which was cloudy on my last visit.   Lindisimo! The afternoon I returned to my room to find I had a roommate-the first one after five days of sleeping alone in a dorm (one benefit of traveling in low season), but I was lucky because he was off to a great adventure. In the forest near town is a tree that was hollowed out by another tree that you are able to climb in the middle of. The locals we met there called it Fincus Extrangulador- or Strangler. It was a super neat experience literally being IN a tree to pop out the top of it.

My last day in Costa Rica was spent doing what those who come to Monteverde come to do: zip-line. Having already done a canopy tour in Costa Rica I was hesitant to come out here for it, but man was it worth it! I signed up for a tour that included 13 lines, a repel, and a Tarzan swing. After working at EHOS I thought I was totally prepared, but this way way more exiting than what we have on the Eastern Shore. With this zip-line you are in control of stopping yourself and the view is absolutely breathtaking. The tour takes you through some shorter lines and on some that you ride double with a friend (I found a group of Spanish girls to tag along with.) The last of the lines is 1 km long and you ride it superman style with all parts of your body attached to the line and your arms outstretched airplane style. This was breathtaking going over the valley as the clouds set in, the scariest part was not knowing how we were stopping at the end. The pictures of my face at the end are priceless. Yet, I have to say the best part was the Tarzan swing. Since I decided to stick with the Spanish speakers for the tour I ended up at the end of the line. While they were hooking me in the told me to turn around, so naturally I obliged only to be tossed off facing backwards with the most authentic scream I have ever produced. It was so much fun and such a thrill to be added to something already full of adrenaline rushes. Overall worth it and something anyone who makes the bumpy ride to Monteverde shouldn't think twice about doing.

After the tour I decided to get a good cup of coffee and some high quality chocolate to relax for the afternoon. The tour guaranteeing me the same wasn't worth the extra $25 dollars I would pay- but the chocolate was totally worth the food splurge.
I am off to Nicaragua in the early morning for a volunteer project after climbing the hill to the office three times to bus ticket. I am excited to be working with some Spanish speaking kids in a school setting and testing out how that shoe fits for me.

Before I can log off I must give a big thanks to Jackie. Upon getting here I was hammering her with questions about what I should do, how I should do it, and how to get there. Jackie's second home is here in Costa Rica and she really knows a lot about it. Ever since I starting traveling Jackie has been there to answer all questions and give some of the best advice I have ever received. Because of her talent and experience with travel she has started a website and just got a book published. If you are interested in learning how to travel on a budget and live it up while abroad you should totally check it out! There is a link on the middle right side of my blog about The Budget-Minded Traveler and how to buy it (right about the photos you should check out.) Don't miss this chance-believe me I wouldn't be able to do all my travels without having this guardian angel and reference at my finger tips. In supporting Jackie you would be supporting me as well, as I am an affiliate of her budget-minded travels and can benefit from your purchase as well. Thanks Jackie for always being there for me!
PURA VIDA!