Nica to Costa Rica

April 1, 2011

We left Isla de Ometepe a bit early because we were a bit tired of having to walk a million miles to see the sights and motorbike rentals were few and far between. We met this expat at the coffee shop run by another expat while we were waiting for the bus that offered us a "volunteer" experience at his farm. Pretty much picking weeds in the veggie garden and helping fix the pig pen. We figured we have enough of that to do at home and if we did volunteer for something it would be better to help local people who actually need it. I would still love to do something in the hospitals but my spanish is not nearly good enough. We caught the chicken bus to the ferry terminal and headed back to the mainland. We arrived about 5pm and of course all the buses were done for the day so we had to hire a taxi to take us to San Juan del Sur. It was only $14 for a 45 min drive so not too bad I guess.
We stayed at a hostel right off the main beach/harbour with the absolute worst beds I have ever had to endure. They were matresses at one point I believe. Now they are flattened to about 2inches thick and placed on wooden planks. We actually stayed for 5 nights but mostly because we were determined to give San Juan del Sur a decent go. The first night we drank way to much rum with a New Yorker girl and Yuval from Israel that we were with in Leon. New York was very proud of the fact that she speaks "perfect spanish" and made it very clear on several occasions throughout the night. She really did speak very good spanish but geeze you don't need to mention it every 10 minutes. Despite my annoyance we went out dancing and had a great time together....didn't catch her name however...maybe Amanda, i don't know. When we got back to the hostal she had a very loud match of wits with a military med student from Toronto. Non of it made any sense due to the large amounts of Flor de Cana rum that was consumed. They made up the next day.
Sick in bed the entire next day in that horrible bed! Went for fish and chips and poutine for breakfast at 6pm. Then went back to bed. Feeling much refreshed the next day we did a walk about the little town. If you really want to experience SJDS you need a vehicle. The surfing beaches were at least 30min out of town to either the south or north. In our desperation to stay in Nica prices we even contemplated renting a car and camping out of it. That idea was soon crushed when people warned us that sleeping in your car was asking to get robbed, especially out on the beaches. Chad is actually wishing someone would mess with us so he can have a kungfu match and practice his best moves. I told him that if he wants to fight with someone he had better just do it at home where you can call them out properly....in english and not get shot because they all have guns. The dudes in nica like to make kissy noises at girls. I flipped one the bird the other day and then i read in the travel bible that you shouldn't show any anger towards them cause they might get violent....ooops! whatever! bring it! i'll crush you like a cookaracha!!
Our last day in SJDS we decided to try out the surf. We had to take a shuttle to Madera beach and rent a board. I caught a few little wee ones in the white water and had a blast! I can't wait to do it every day and try out the bigger waves when I'm not scared poo-less. Chad was sick still with his head cold so he only went out a couple times but he caught the bigger ones cause he has mad paddeling skills. The water was clear and blue and refreshingly chilly. It was at least 40 degrees out. There was a big rock to the north of the beach that looks just like a dorsal fin! It was a great spot. You could swim and not get crushed or rolled onto the beach like a dead fish. Met a couple from the UK in their 40's still rocking the waves.
Went for supper at a pizza place and got seated next to a group of 26 people on a surf/jesus retreat. None of them drank any booze and they prayed their little hearts out.
Next morning we were up bright and early to catch the chicken bus to Rivas to catch the big Ticabus to Punta Arenas to catch the ferry to Montezuma and catch the next bus to Santa Teresa...or so we thought. Originally we thought we'd try to get the Santa Teresa where we plan on renting a house for a few weeks. The bus driver neglected to stop in Punta Arenas and so we just sat back and relaxed all the way to San Jose, about 3 hours further than where we planned on going. ooops again. Luckily we ran into a nice feller from Lake Tahoe who suggested maybe we try out Jaco to buy a surf board and take the water taxi from their across to the Peninsula where ST is. So that is where we now find ourselves.
After arriving in San Jose we had to wait at another bus station for a couple hours until the next bus to Jaco showed up. That was a rather interesting establishment. There was a couple tag team preachers who walked the gauntlet of passengers the entire time. They were well dressed guys in their 60's. I thought the first guy might be schizophrenic or something because he was yelling at the ground and pointing at things that were not there. But then his partner got up for his turn. Then I figured it out. They weren't schizophrenic at all....they were just very into their word! Another 3 hours on the bus and we were in Jaco.
Jaco is a strip of restaurants and bars and a few high rise vacation rental condos with a nice surfing beach. Today we rented bikes and toured around a bit. Having a bike makes all the difference in the world as to what you can see. We packed a lunch and headed down the road to a bigger but less populated beach called Hermosa. Costa Rica is so much more green and lush. We road along and heard this squaking in the trees above us and saw a big group of scarlet macaw's. They are apparently pretty rare to see in many parts of Costa Rica due to trapping and habitat destruction. It made my day! Once we got to the beach we watched the surfers and decided to try some body surfing. The waves here were brutal and broke so close to the shore that it took me right off me feet and left me with my pants half off and my hair full of black sand and rocks. I'm so graceful in the water. Getting in was easy, getting out was a problem. As soon as I got close to the shore a wave would come and scoop me back out or slam me into the ground covering my in black volcanic sand and depositing me directly in front of some cool surfer folk.
We had steak at this Argentinian place that bakes their own bread. I feel like we're on vacation and not traveling here! We had to go buy our own bottle of wine at the liquor store because the restaurant was having troubles with a liquor licence. Not really thinking about price I grabbed a nice looking wine and took it to the till and gave her a 20 dollar bill hoping she had change and would ask for smaller bills as is what usually is the case. This time she asked me for more money! I was in shock at having to spend over $20 on a bottle of wine. I'm not sure what I will do when we get home....I might have to start incorporating the bartering system. I'll go to my neighborhood liquor store and cut the price in half and then work up from there until we come to a fair deal.