Leaving Costa Rica, destination: Home

We are sitting in the airport in San Jose after a rather hectic and stressful morning. But the airport tax is paid, the lines have been waited in, my army knife was confiscated (of course), directions were given to the lost and confused drunk woman after going through the safety check, and our flight to Houston was delayed because of weather. Oh, right, we are heading into winter, and ice, and maybe snow. So, unsure of how the rest of the day will go, travel and immigration back into the US, and sick buddy Brettley, but, I think we are ready. Portland, I am coming home.

Monday

I woke up at 2am, looked at the clock, and realized with a sinking heart that I would be up at least an hour, and that the alarm would go off at 4:45. Funny part is that we all woke up and tossed and turned for that hour + before drifting back to sleep, only to be painfully woken up again to the 3 alarms we had set.
Caught the bus no problem at 5:30 just as the sun was starting to rise. It was a beautiful sunrise, and an easy, though bumpy and sleepy bus ride. We then took the ferry, then another bus into San Jose, and really, everything went pretty smooth, and time went pretty fast. Coming into San Jose the sky clouded over and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees. On our way into the city center on the bus, I saw an old Grandpa pushing his granddaughter on a swing in a park and was smiling to myself thinking how sweet that moment was that I happened to see. Then we passed a gas station and I swear I saw an Elvis impersonator cab driver fueling up, and it made me feel, in a way, the same good warm feeling. My emotions are pushing strong with our impending flight out of here and back home. Not sure how to feel, just know that there is both a heavy sadness at leaving, and an incredible sense of excitement at going home.
The most frustrating part of the day came when we took a cab driven by super friendly Edwin, and the address for the hostel was wrong and we ended up in a really shady part of town, and Edwin kept stopping in the middle of the street to look at the map and tell us that the numbers we wrote down had been wrong, then circling the block over and over. Well, we finally got there and settled into one of the weirder hostel experiences I have had, the place feels more like a club than a hostel, but there is a pool and a mechanical bull. There´s a lot going for it, but when the staff wears uniforms and lots of hair gel and the chairs on the rooftop bar are all positioned at a slant and there are 6 foot posters of drunk girls on the wall, it starts to feel suspicious to me.
We walked around crazy busy streets of San Jose doing last minute shopping and city sightseeing. There was confetti everywhere and stages being set up, not sure what was going on, but somehow I ended up with confetti in my hair. Ate fried chicken, drank beer, not sure what else the night will hold, last experiences filtering through.

Sunday

Last night we went and got fancy, fruity coctails and taught 3 other travelers to play 10,000, yelling at the top of our lungs to be heard over the thumping music, it was pretty impressive.
Today was our last day at the beach. I did not sleep well last night after dosing up with benedryl and then fighting one of the most itchy clouds of discomfort ever as my bug bites swelled up, and my feet looked like sausages. If I had to guess, I have about 150 bites right now and it sucks. But, we went back and got bagels for breakfast which were delicious, and then just lay on the beach all day. The waves were huge, it was sweaty hot, and it was our last day.
We just got back from a very nice dinner at the cute restaurant by our hotel that is right on the beach. I am sitting outside trying to book a room for tomorrow night, trying not to get eaten more, listening tot he nighttime waves and the hum of bugs, and we are preparing to get on a bus at 5:30 in the morning to take us to San Jose.

Saturday

Today was a beautiful day! There was a little dissapointment last night since the Blazers lost, but they had a lot of love coming to them from Costa Rica, and a lot of sadness about all the players who are injured and unable to play!
I got so eaten up last night, my feet were practically all one big bite by this morning. Wyatt has been after me like you would with a little kid cause I can't stop scratching. Thank god for benadryl spray, and thank you mom for supplying it! It has been a lifesaver!
Today we went and had breakfast overlooking the water, and I had one of the weirdest translations of huevos rancheros ever. basically just stewed tomatoes with eggs and sides of toast. A little unsatisfying, but hey, I'll be home soon, and the setting was so nice, I can't really complain. We walked over to Playa Grande, about four beaches over from where we are, and it was a really beautiful walk. We were hoping to find the beach with the BABY TURTLES that our neighbor was telling us about last night, but sadly, we did not. Oh well, Playa Grande was a huge long stretch of beach that actually was a similar looking to beaches back home, but with blazing sun and palm trees. We settled in there. On our way over we had passed through a beach that was covered in trash, in recycling actually, lots of bits of plastic in an alarming amount, we found out later there had been a wreck just off that beach. They were having a beach clean up and we were asked to help carry big plastic bags full of the plastic that had been picked up, to waiting boats in the water. We went to help, of which I was not much of, I have almost no energy from my few days of sickness and was weak and out of breath so only carried one. The guys on the other hand ended up carrying many while the people who were there to participate and who had (maybe) helped plan it just wandered around "documenting" it and asking them to carry more bags.
We watched crabs scuttling all around, so many that you could look any direction and see one, and lay in the sun, and did little else.
We waited till almost sunset before heading back because it was just so nice there, and practially deserted, I could hardly believe it. But, there are so many spots around here that are good surfing beaches, and since that is the primary reason people come here, well, we got a beach to ourselves! But the bugs are fierce here when the sun goes down, and since I have hardly any skin left that is unbitten, we didn't want to wait. On our way back through a jungley area we saw a whole troupe of howler monkeys swinging through the trees. They are really amazing to watch, and one was just hanging upside down from it's tail grabbing things from trees to eat, and there were a few babies. Obviously I am pretty into the baby animals, and I admit I do make obnoxious squealing noises at times. I just can't help it, they are too cute. I am such a girl.

This was a little cove we passed by today. I am trying to show both arms of rock coming in towards each other, but not quite succeeding.

Nothing like a cold beer on a hot day....and when it's hot and you're walking down the beach you have to drink them fast!

Jungle walk, this is where we saw the monkeys all hanging out around sunset

Gorgeous day

I know, it's a cheesey photo, but, well, I'm a little cheesey. The bucket is ideal cause it was cheaper than a cooler, but you put ice in it and you have icey cold drinks at the beach!

Being sick is booooring!

Our hotel

These guys run through our yard every day either hunting birds, or chasing each other. They are pretty funny cause they are not fast or graceful when they run, and they look like they should be about a foot longer, but they have that stunted body and tail next to that huge head. It feels like watching a nature show here, we saw some new cool birds this morning I wish we had gotten a picture of cause I am not sure how to describe them. And then a hummingbird, and now there is a warbeling in the tree that is driving Brett crazy.

Delicious berry smoothies to cure the hangovers from last night. All hail Swigmore U. (that's Meaghan)

Yummy breakfast. I am missing Portland breakfast, this was like a little sampler, and pretty much the richest food I have eaten in three days.

We moved in with Brettley this morning to save some money. It is a backpack explosion!

I feel like I have lost a few days because I have been laid up in bed and not leaving the room much for the past 2 days. Not so fun, especially when you are counting down the days to the end of traveling. But, feeling a little more like myself today, and going to head to the beach here pretty soon. So, the boys have some stories, but unless you want to know how I liked the movie Public Enemies, the current season of Mad Men, or East of Eden which I am reading pretty quickly, not much to report on my end from the last few days.
Brett's friend Meaghan just left to start her long journey back to Canada, and we are talking about the Blazers game tonight, and where we can watch it. I guess in a town near here there is a bar that shows a lot of sports games that might be a possibility, it is called Good Vibrations.....

On the ferry.

At our first spot in montezuma, the eco-german-newage-relaxation-retreat. I like our new place much better.

Our room.

Rocky walk on beach.

Quepos to Montezuma

On Monday we traveled from Quepos to Montezuma on the Nicoyan peninsula. We started out on an early bus up to the ferry in Puerto Arenas. The first bus was great, comfortable, lots of breeze, pretty views, really nice, and only a little over 3 hours. We had to wait for a few hours for the ferry but spent the time in a sort of run down bar overlooking the water, ate some food, had a few beers, the time went fast. The ferry ride was unhurried, and warm, and packed with teenagers. I have always liked ferry rides, when you are not in a hurry to get anbywhere and can just watch the water and the funny seagulls who were flying by the boat and looked like they were suspended from a string and got a lot of attention from the tour of elderly french people. I like the ferry rides, but getting off a ferry always makes me feel like a herd of cattle, pushing their way, trying to get past everyone, but people pack together so thick you can barely get through doors. Then after we managed to get off, we had to just pack right back on to a bus for Montezuma, literally pack, I was sure we would not fit on when I looked up at the doors that had people hanging out of them after our bags had been loaded on. But we did, and we didn't have to stand the entire way. I met a very nice woman from Italy and we were trading travel stories in Spanish and a little english, and then I asked her where she was from. Lake Como she said, and I commented on how I had been there before and love Italy, and found it all very beautiful. When I told her I had been to Lake Como, she asked if I knew George Clooney, cause everyone she met from the US always would react to where she was from by talking about him. Awesome, it is always great to hear peoples stories about their perception of people from the US.
The ride was BUMPY. Tons of pot holes, 2 hours to go 40km. Pretty tired by the time we reached Montezuma and got to our hotel ont he hill overlooking the ocean. It was really pretty, especially when the moon was behind the clouds but you could see the bright glow reflected on the water. Really stunning. It rained buckets that night, with the bugs going crazy outside our room and mesquito nets.
Yesterday we moved to a new hotel that is almost right ont he beach. I really like it and think we will spend most of the rest of our trip here. We explored the beach, which is a lot different than most the other beach scapes we have been on so far. really rocky with dramatic waves. crushed shells mixing with the sand.
Montezuma is really small, kind of resorty feeling, but with the hippies and the artisans milling around the streets selling all their wares, of course. Tomorrow we are going to waterfalls, then there is a national park near here for another day, and surf beaches around so Brett can go surfing. A friend of his he met in Tamerindo, before meeting he came to meet up with us, just came and met up with us on her way home back to Vancouver BC. It is fun to have another girl in the mix, and 4 people has been a nice number. So, yeah, liking it here, lizards cruising through the grass, huge bugs, gekos, monkeys, and the vegetation is insane. Trying to soak it all up, and taking so many superfluous photos trying to hold onto the tropics and the memory of it all for when we get home to freezing temperatures.

The rock shelf we were climbing on, the waves directly beyond

The beach right by town, just down the gravel path from our hotel.

Bright sun right in my eyes!

Matching Ray Bans.

Pura Vida

Today we went to the national park. We got there fairly early, it is a quick 20 minute bus ride from Quepos to Manuel Antonio. We did get off the bus too early and had a hard time finding the small handpainted sign for the entrance, but after going to the exit to ask, and running the gauntlet of men dressed in kahki asking if we wanted a guide, and wading through water that later we saw a sign warning it may contain be contaminated, we finally made it to the front gate. Right off the bat, we saw two sloths buried in the thick tree leaves high up in the branches!! Sloths! There were guided groups everywhere, so we could kind of but in when we saw them all standing still looking straight up. There was also a mom and baby sloth somewhere up there that I could not find.
We walked on, through the jungle, following the park signs to different points of interest in the park. When we got to t he first beach the jungle just opened up to the long cresent of sand with palms and rocky reef and rock and green water. I took a walk while the guys hung out by the water and went to explore the rocky reef area where I sent crabs running with every step, and took more pictures than I would ever need because every sight is so pretty you want to make sure it has been captured. When i got back they told me I had missed the screaming herd of monkeys in the trees right behind them! When we got up to start our jungle hike though, we found another group of white faced monkeys, posing and trying to strip bark off trees, and swinging through branches, and not giving anyone much mroe than a glance. They are obviously very used to all the attention.
During our time in the park we saw iguanas, a turtle, sloths, brightly colored birds, an animal that looked like a bunny, rat, and squirell all combined, but with no tail, and lots of monkeys! The howler monkeys were crazy, and they have that name for a reason! They are pretty small but when you hear them it sounds like a group of angry, rabid gorillas are going to tear your face off. And the howls echo through the jungle, and you kind of wonder why you are walking towards the sound! But then when we got closer we saw them, but they got pretty quiet and just quietly swung away.
I think we should call the second half of the trip a search for some of the most beautiful beaches in the world. It is kind of incredible going through all the pictures of the places we have been, and it feels like i am getting spoiled by it all, not that I don't still feel awed by what I see, but it's just another day. Today this palm fringed beach, tomorrow another palm fringed beach with sparkling water and groups of monkeys. In a few days another beach, this one was in Endless Summer II....you get the idea.
The hike was really pretty, and really tiring. We spent some time on the beach sweating and swimming and guzzling water, before deciding to head back to the hostel. To our new room that is more than 6 feet by 6 feet square and smotheringly hot. And had a fan that hardly hit any of us, so we all just lay there sweating. Really, our room last night was rediculous, and it was one of those bunk beds where the bottom was a double and the top a single, and they had taken off the ladder (because there was no room) so Brett had to jump on our bed to get to his. It felt even more like camp than usual bunks, and none of us got much sleep. We will sleep well tonight.

Pretty, huh?

The boys

Old man monkey

Loungin

Up at the lookout point, very hot and sweaty from a steep climb, but looking out at amazing views.

Amazing views.

Searching for a sight of howler monkeys, following the howls.

Crazy porcupine tree, VERY menacing!

I called this the love tree, cause they were clinging to each other, the vines digging into the other and totally grown together.

Leaving Manuel Antonio, long stretch of more beauty heading towards the exit and the public part of the beach.

Public beach.

At the hostel, playing dice by the pool.

Bus day

Today we got up and left the stoned hostel and caught a bus at 7:30am down to Quepos on the Pacific coast. It felt good to be there, and good to move on. Sad to have left the Carribean though, we have been stationed there for a while now.
The first bus was pretty pleasant, driving through sun, to pouring rain, to heavy thick fog, at one point getting lost but the driver made it through. The landscape was really lush and green and bright, with leaves almost 4 feet long, bright crazy flowers I have never seen before, listening to classic rock power ballads. My ipod is my best friend on travel days.
I saw a bright yellow crossing sign that was about 6 feet high, it was massive, and pictured was what at first I thought was a black sillouette of Big Foot, but realized after a minute it was a sloth! Oh man, I want to see a sloth! Along the way I was thinking how weird it is going to be to go home, not just that, how weird it is going to be to leave latin America!! I am having such mixed emotions on it, things that have become so normal will not be around, and it will feel a bit alien in Portland. It will look so grey! The houses are all painted in such bright colors here and everything is painted with murals, and....well, too much to list really. But, as I was thinking about it, and thinking about how it would never work in the U.S., and realizing it is all a matter of context. Murals that are awesome here, would look rediculous in Portland, and so on. Anyway, all really unfocused and, thoughts in progress, and then we got stuck in a huge traffic back up for about an hour and a half.
We had to change buses in San Jose since that is the central point in the country, everything runs in and out of there. The second bus we got on was packed and sweaty and claustrophobic! Lots of locals commuting and families and a few loud tourists from the U.S. It was a hard leg of the day, felt so long, uncomfortable seats, people standing in the aisles leaning into me, someones trash flying into my face, almost 5 hours. Was so happy to get to Quepos at 8ish pm!
Now, sitting at the hostel with dogs sleeping at my feet, huddled scared against the loud boom of fireworks, and the marching band, and the idiots on the 4 wheeler. Tomorrow the beauty of Manuel Antonio, the national park here.

First bus, relaxed, open windows, thumbs up on the way to the Pacific coast!

Awesome rest stop in Puerto Limon, this is a carved eagle with a snake in its mouth

Real magic.

My morning with Brettley

What is his hand doing....? Ready to pounce! Our very pretty, and delicious fruit juices, mine with pineapple, and his with melon and banana and coconut milk...mmmmm

This is inside Jammin, the place we had breakfast.

Yes, it's called Jammin

Kitty buddy and pinball

Playa Negro

Walk through the jungle from town to Playa Cocles

First big spider I have seen, it had beautiful markings and was really delicate, but it still creeped me out to get too close to it, plus it had a double web