Observations of Costa Rica, Part III

Hello my loyal blog readers! I'm now back in the United States after my three and a half month trip to Costa Rica, Mexico and Cuba. It has been several weeks since I have posted because once I left Costa Rica, I only spent a few (busy) days in Cancun, and then went to Cuba for 8 days, where I had very limited internet access. Despite being homesick at the end of my time in Costa Rica, I really enjoyed the rest of my trip, and I will write more about it in the weeks to come. I was only back at my dad's house for about two days after returning to the U.S., and now I'm in Montana, where I will be working (starting tomorrow) until the end of August. It's been a hectic few weeks, but I'm excited for my new job and can't wait to explore Montana, which is a state I've wanted to visit for years now. Soon I will fill you all in on the rest of my time in Costa Rica and my trips to Cancun and Cuba, but for now, here is a post I started writing several weeks ago but never got around to posting (it was written when I was still in Costa Rica, so it will read as if I am still there when actually I'm not). Enjoy!

San Gerardo de Rivas: Beautiful Hiking and an Escape from the Heat

Yet again, I am behind on my blogging. I meant to write this post quite a while ago, since it's been about a week and a half since I left San Gerardo de Rivas, but for some reason my motivation to write has been very low. I'm not sure why, maybe because the heat has been making me very lethargic and tired recently. I have lots of ideas for things I want to write about, and several half-written posts waiting to be finished, so now I'm finally putting in the effort to finish one. Hooray!

Observations of Costa Rica, Part II

I've been wanting to do another post about my observations of Costa Rica for weeks now, but I always seem to be catching up on my location-specific posts. Since I haven't been volunteering since I left Monteverde, I've been moving from place to place more often and don't have as much time to sit down and write or go into as much detail as I'd like. Now I have a bit more time though, so, in no particular order, here are some more of my observations of Costa Rica.

Quepos and Manuel Antonio National Park

Quepos was my next stop after leaving swelteringly hot Jaco (spoiler alert, the heat didn't get much better, if at all haha). My goal was to go to Manuel Antonio National Park, which I'd heard a lot about and, as far as I can tell, is the most popular national park in Costa Rica. I stayed with a Couchsurfing host named Pamela (my first female host in all of my Couchsurfing experience!), and her husband and parents, who were all very nice and welcoming. I had my own room with a private bathroom, which is always a huge bonus when Couchsurfing.

Jaco, Carara National Park, and Tarcoles Bridge

After the days I spent in La Fortuna, I was on the road again to Jaco, where I spent a week at the hostel where my friend Katie is volunteering. The journey involved three different buses, which, as usual for Costa Rica, were not air conditioned, and it was incredibly hot when I got there! I was hot in La Fortuna, but being on the coast as opposed to the mountains took the heat to a whole new level. I don't think there was any point during that week that I wasn't sweating, unless I was in the pool or the ocean. There were some days that I spent pretty much all of my time in the pool, but even that was only slightly more refreshing than the air because the water was so warm. I don't know how anyone can survive long periods of time in that heat, especially given the lack of air conditioning that is common in Costa Rica (my room at the hostel wasn't air conditioned either, because I was too cheap to pay $5 extra per night for it).

La Fortuna: Volcanoes, Waterfalls and Hot Springs

After three weeks in Monteverde looking at Arenal Volcano every day across the lake, I finally got to see it up close. I spent three days in La Fortuna, the town at the base of the volcano, and I stayed with a very nice Couchsurfing host who had days off while I was there so he served as my tour guide. He actually works as a tour guide for a company that does ziplining tours, which worked out well because he didn't have to pay admission fees for the sites we saw because of his tourism license (although I still did). 

Even though Monteverde and La Fortuna appear very close together on a map, it takes quite a while to get from one to the other because of the lake in the middle. To take the public bus, which is how I've mostly been getting from place to place, I would have had to take two different buses to get around the lake, and it would have taken about 9 hours. The more expensive but much more convenient alternative that I chose is called the jeep-boat-jeep. These services are run by tour companies, and the journey involves taking a shuttle from your hotel to the lake, then a boat across the lake, and another shuttle to your hotel on the other side. The whole trip takes about 3 hours, and I was willing to splurge and spend the $25 for the convenience and speed of the journey. It was also the first time in Costa Rica that I experienced an air conditioned vehicle, so that was quite nice. :)

Costa Rican Food: Part II

As promised, here is another post about food! Trying new foods is one of my favorite things about traveling, so I'm one of those tourists who feels the need to photograph my food before eating it if it's something I've never had before (or if it's a familiar food that just looks especially beautiful on the plate). So without further ado, let's bring on the photo tour of the great food I've eaten since my last food-related post!

Ziplining, Cheese, Coffee and more in Santa Elena

I have now been in Monteverde for two weeks, and although I have spent most of my time up in the mountains at the lodge where I'm volunteering, I have ventured into town a couple of times. Even though this area in general is known as Monteverde, the main town center is called Santa Elena, and the town of Monteverde is an even smaller town right next to Santa Elena (I was a bit confused about that before I got here). On my day off last week, I went to both towns and had a great time exploring and doing various activities, so I will give you an overview of my itinerary that day. 

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.

Wildlife and Plants of Costa Rica: Caribbean Edition

During my time on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, I saw a wide variety of animals and plants, some of which were familiar, others which were quite different than I was used to. One of my favorite things every time I went for a walk was seeing new and exciting creatures and plant life. So here for you now is my list of the most memorable wildlife I experienced. I apologize that I don't know the names of most of them. If you know any of them, feel free to let me know in the comments. 

Observations of Costa Rica

I've been in Costa Rica for over three weeks now, so I figure it's time to write about some of my observations of the country thus far. Keep in mind that these cannot necessarily be taken as true for the entire country, just of the two places I've been to so far: San Jose, the capital city, and Playa Chiquita, on the south Caribbean coast. 

Costa Rican Food

Eating is one of my favorite activities, so when it comes to traveling to new places, one of the things I am most curious about is the food. Sadly during my trip around Europe, in an effort to keep costs down I limited my visits to restaurants to almost zero, and since I only stayed in each country for a short period of time, this meant that I missed out on experiencing the food in many places. But not this time! When I was in San Jose, I decided to make more of an effort to try the typical foods, and my hosts helped out by suggesting things I should try. So, without further ado, here is a sampling of the Costa Rican dishes I have eaten up to this point. 

Playa Chiquita

As I mentioned in my previous post, I am now in Playa Chiquita, Costa Rica. Playa Chiquita is a little town just south of Puerto Viejo on the caribbean coast, and I am staying at Playa Chiquita Lodge as a WorkAway volunteer. I work 4-6 hours per day, depending on how many volunteers are working that day, and my duties include sweeping, mopping, serving breakfast, helping the guests, answering the phone when needed (which is nerve-wracking in Spanish), general cleaning and tidying, and sometimes doing laundry. In exchange for my work, I get a free room, breakfast and dinner (lunch I provide for myself), and then I have plentiful free time to explore the area, relax, read, or do whatever strikes my fancy. It's a great set-up because I get to enjoy this beautiful place and barely have to spend any money!

Bienvenidos a Costa Rica: The Journey Begins in San Jose

My trip has begun! I've been in Costa Rica for 5 days now, and so far so good. After a slightly delayed but otherwise relatively uneventful flight, I arrived in San Jose. My Couchsurfing host, Oswaldo, picked me up from the airport and brought me to his house, where I met his wife, Andrea, and their two adorable little dogs (one of them ended up sleeping in my bed with me several of the nights I was there. Such a sweetie!). Oswaldo and Andrea were great hosts and invited me to spend time with them and their friends, as well as taking me out to dinner a couple of times. My first full day there they took me on a day trip outside the city, which was great because we went to places I wouldn't have known about as just a regular tourist.