Farewell to Playa Chiquita and Arrival in Monteverde

I have now left the beach behind to head into the mountains of Costa Rica to Monteverde. I really enjoyed my time in Playa Chiquita, despite the experience not always being completely positive. I think I mentioned in my first post when I arrived that my life there was very unstressful, but shortly after, that turned out to not always be the case. Over the course of my four weeks there, the other volunteers and I had some interpersonal tension with some other people, dissatisfaction with the work ethic of a few of the employees, and frustration when our food would mysteriously disappear from the refrigerator. There were also many nights that we had trouble sleeping because of the large group of Danish students who liked to have loud parties on the weekends, and a crazy dog next door that would bark ALL NIGHT! However, through it all, Sylvia, Erika and I continued to get along very well, and they are the ones who made my time there so special. I really enjoyed getting to know them, and I look forward to seeing them again in the future.
It's also very interesting how time and distance can make you feel differently about a situation. My last week or so at Playa Chiquita, I was really looking forward to leaving and moving on with my journey, but now that I've left, I find myself missing it and having new appreciation for the positive things. I loved going to the beach everyday, and we had a lot of freedom there to decide our own work schedules, which was great. I guess one thing I've learned from traveling is that nothing is ever going to be perfect, and you just have to appreciate the good things, while at the same time recognizing the things that you can't change and trying not to get too upset about them. 

Before I move on to talking about Monteverde, here are a few pictures and memories from Playa Chiquita:

Picture of me with Sylvia (L) and Erika (R)

Picture from a dinner the volunteers and employees had with a nice couple from Germany that we got to know when they stayed at the lodge for two weeks. The food was delicious, as was everything Sylvia cooked!

Saying goodbye to the two sweet dogs, Cookie (L) and Fito (R)

The dogs were so cute!

One other activity of interest is that I took a surf lesson during my last week at Playa Chiquita. I walked down to Punta Uva, which was my favorite spot to swim, about a half hour walk down the beach, to a place that gives lessons. The lesson was okay, but not great. First of all, I ended up waiting about an hour for the instructor to show up (when Costa Ricans say they'll be right there it can mean anything from five minutes to two hours). Then, he didn't go over the basics with me on shore as much as I expected him to, so I only had a very general idea of how to stand up on the board before getting into the water. Then I got tired a lot faster than I expected, even just from the paddling. It takes a lot of arm muscle to paddle out to the waves. I only had the energy for three waves before I got too tired, and also a little nauseous from the movement of the waves, and had to go back to shore. I caught the first wave the best, and it was such a rush! There was so much water behind me and I got going so fast that all I could focus on was holding onto the board, and didn't even have time to think about standing up. But it was good to just take it in the first time, and then the next waves I tried standing, although I didn't get much farther than a crouched position before I fell off. Overall, despite the waiting, the fatigue and the nausea, I'm glad I did it because it was a new experience, and now I know the basics so if I want to try it again, I could just rent a board for a lot less money than a lesson and try it out for myself. Another fun part about the lesson was that I did the whole thing in Spanish, and it wasn't very hard! 

Now onto Monteverde! To get here I had to take a bus back to San Jose, and then another bus to Santa Elena, the main tourist hub for the Monteverde area. The first bus took about 5 hours, and the ride was fine other than the sweltering heat. It had been getting hotter in the Caribbean for the previous week or two, and it got up above 90 F that day (there was a temperature read out on the bus which showed that the interior temperature was higher than outside, and it got up to 34 C, which is about 93 F. Ugh.). But the plus side is that I didn't have to go to the bathroom during the ride, probably because I was sweating out all the water I was drinking. Costa Rican buses do not have A/C or bathrooms, but they are very cheap, usually about $5, so that makes up for it. 

Other than the heat, the bus rides were mostly uneventful, and I arrived at Vista Verde Lodge, the hotel where I'm volunteering, without any trouble. I've been here about a week so far, and I'm settling in well. For the first few days I was a little under the weather, so I was happy that this hotel is away from town and very quiet because I was able to lay in bed and relax as much as I needed to and enjoy the peace and quiet (no crazy barking dogs here!). My work here involves mostly serving the guests breakfast and dinner, and some general tidying and cleaning during those times. It's not very hard work and it gives me plenty of time in the middle of the day to relax or explore the area. 

Here are some pictures of the hotel and the surrounding area:

Front of the lodge

View of Lake Arenal and Arenal Volcano from the lodge

The lodge

One of the hiking trails on the property

For several days, this is what the view looked like. I guess they don't call it the Cloud Forest for nothing :)

Inside the lodge

Inside the lodge, seen from the other end

My room

I even have my own bathroom!

The clouds finally started to clear

Beautiful view on a short hike I took along the road

View from the driveway of the hotel

I had to take a selfie with the Volcano on such a gorgeous day

I made a kitty friend! I think his name is Tato, but I can't remember for sure. 

So that's general rundown of where I'm staying. It's a beautiful secluded spot, and even though it takes a little bit of effort to get in and out of town because of the distance, it's worth it for the amazing views and the tranquility. Also, the cook here, Francisco, is amazing, everything he cooks is delicious! He makes the best banana pancakes I've ever tasted, they are so good they barely even need syrup. I will share pictures of his great meals the next time I post about food. I will be here for two more weeks, then I head over to the Volcano itself and the town of La Fortuna. Yesterday was my day off and I had a great day in Santa Elena including zip lining, cheese, coffee, and more, so stayed tuned for my next post about those activities!