It's been a few days since I've been able to do a decent update but I've finally found both the time, a nice air conditioned cafe, and an SD card reader... a rare combination indeed! So, last I left off I was on the beach in Nicaragua... Playa Majagual. Nice place that was. I could definitely have stayed for another week but I of course had to keep working my way South.
So, for my last day there I made it a busy one. That is busy by beach standards where a trip to the store an a nap constitutes a hard days work ;) I started my big day by sleeping in till noon. After that I wandered down to a beach just to the south (Playa Madera) and followed the signs to the Hideout Surf Camp that I had heard so much about. After following a sign down a path off of the wild beach I climbed a cliff and reached the camp's sole building, a dilapetated shack with a view of a surf and a skate ramp. The area was populated by a small crowd of skater/surfers playing the Misfits and Ramones. I had a couple beers with them and headed out since I failed to find lunch there.
After that I went down our beache's sole cantina and found some cerviche, a curry chicken sandwich, and a very rare Coke Light. I met up with a couple that I met the night before, Jerimiah and Michele. He's a programmer but I managed to go the whole day w/o really talking about programming much to his disaproval. Anyways, we went swimming in the ocean, played boche ball at sunset, ate the 2nd biggest papaya I've ever seen (2 gallons big I'd say), watched the movie 'Ants on a Plane', and later on we hatched more turtles that dug their way into the yard. That's a big day in these parts!
Unfortunately I had to travel the next day. I caught a van into town with the afformentioned couple, plus Hilda and Ida (a couple Norwegian girls), and a Swiss/Hungarian couple that I ended up spending the whole travel day with. After town we caught a taxi to the border and crossed on foot. From there I caught another taxi with a ton on peaople crammed inside and rode to Liberia, a big travel hub in the North of Costa Rica. I really wanted to go to Montezuma but it was already 3 and it looked like it could be too late. It was a good thing, because there was a really big festival in town that night. All the stores closed and the whole town took to the street. There was a big horse parade, everyone wore cowboy hats and plad shirts, and there were a lot of ...interesting... food dishes that could be bought on the street. I've never seen so many horses in
one place before and I've been to more than a few rodeos. They werent just in the parade, people rode them all night, and would take their food and drink(s) on horseback. I even saw a outdoor discotech just for people on horseback with colored lights, loud music, and unnaturally nimble horses. After that I went down to the bull fight on the edge of town. They built a huge wooden arena and the fans could climb into the middle at any time. Had I a few more drinks I would have been in there too, but the couple were vegetarians and wouldnt go so I had to watch my own back =/ Anyways, it wasn't much of a bull fight. The bull would be let loose and would try to ram the crowd of drunks throwing beer bottles at it. I left after 15 minutes of that and went to bed.
The next day was just the worst kind of travel day. I left early and got into town after dark. From Liberia I rode 4 hours south to Punta Arenas. I walked over 3 miles with all my gear in horrible heat to get to the ferry station and rode that for 1.5 hours. After that I got on a bus and rode for a couple hours to go towards Montezuma. The trouble is, I haven't got a guide book for Costa Rica so not only do I have no idea how far things are apart but I also don't know what hotel I was going to. The bus ended up in Santa Teresa and they kicked me off since I didn't know the name of a hotel or Hostel to go to. On the plus side, they didnt charge me since they felt bad for me I guess. Oh well, I walked a little while in the dark and found a good hostel. That was last night, and today I've got to get out there on the waves since this is a SERIOUS surf town and I havcen't met anyone who isn't here for that. Tomorrow I'm going to start heading towards San Jose to meet Sam on Tuesday but I don't know if I'll get there tomorow night or not. ttyl
It's been a few days since I've been able to do a decent update but I've finally found both the time, a nice air conditioned cafe, and an SD card reader... a rare combination indeed! So, last I left off I was on the beach in Nicaragua... Playa Majagual. Nice place that was. I could definitely have stayed for another week but I of course had to keep working my way South.
So, for my last day there I made it a busy one. That is busy by beach standards where a trip to the store an a nap constitutes a hard days work ;) I started my big day by sleeping in till noon. After that I wandered down to a beach just to the south (Playa Madera) and followed the signs to the Hideout Surf Camp that I had heard so much about. After following a sign down a path off of the wild beach I climbed a cliff and reached the camp's sole building, a dilapetated shack with a view of a surf and a skate ramp. The area was populated by a small crowd of skater/surfers playing the Misfits and Ramones. I had a couple beers with them and headed out since I failed to find lunch there.
After that I went down our beache's sole cantina and found some cerviche, a curry chicken sandwich, and a very rare Coke Light. I met up with a couple that I met the night before, Jerimiah and Michele. He's a programmer but I managed to go the whole day w/o really talking about programming much to his disaproval. Anyways, we went swimming in the ocean, played boche ball at sunset, ate the 2nd biggest papaya I've ever seen (2 gallons big I'd say), watched the movie 'Ants on a Plane', and later on we hatched more turtles that dug their way into the yard. That's a big day in these parts!
Unfortunately I had to travel the next day. I caught a van into town with the afformentioned couple, plus Hilda and Ida (a couple Norwegian girls), and a Swiss/Hungarian couple that I ended up spending the whole travel day with. After town we caught a taxi to the border and crossed on foot. From there I caught another taxi with a ton on peaople crammed inside and rode to Liberia, a big travel hub in the North of Costa Rica. I really wanted to go to Montezuma but it was already 3 and it looked like it could be too late. It was a good thing, because there was a really big festival in town that night. All the stores closed and the whole town took to the street. There was a big horse parade, everyone wore cowboy hats and plad shirts, and there were a lot of ...interesting... food dishes that could be bought on the street. I've never seen so many horses in 
one place before and I've been to more than a few rodeos. They werent just in the parade, people rode them all night, and would take their food and drink(s) on horseback. I even saw a outdoor discotech just for people on horseback with colored lights, loud music, and unnaturally nimble horses. After that I went down to the bull fight on the edge of town. They built a huge wooden arena and the fans could climb into the middle at any time. Had I a few more drinks I would have been in there too, but the couple were vegetarians and wouldnt go so I had to watch my own back =/ Anyways, it wasn't much of a bull fight. The bull would be let loose and would try to ram the crowd of drunks throwing beer bottles at it. I left after 15 minutes of that and went to bed.
The next day was just the worst kind of travel day. I left early and got into town after dark. From Liberia I rode 4 hours south to Punta Arenas. I walked over 3 miles with all my gear in horrible heat to get to the ferry station and rode that for 1.5 hours. After that I got on a bus and rode for a couple hours to go towards Montezuma. The trouble is, I haven't got a guide book for Costa Rica so not only do I have no idea how far things are apart but I also don't know what hotel I was going to. The bus ended up in Santa Teresa and they kicked me off since I didn't know the name of a hotel or Hostel to go to. On the plus side, they didnt charge me since they felt bad for me I guess. Oh well, I walked a little while in the dark and found a good hostel. That was last night, and today I've got to get out there on the waves since this is a SERIOUS surf town and I havcen't met anyone who isn't here for that. Tomorrow I'm going to start heading towards San Jose to meet Sam on Tuesday but I don't know if I'll get there tomorow night or not. ttyl
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