Three days ago I was ready to run away in the middle of the night, but, I fell asleep. I woke up when mosquitos started buzzing in my ears and eating me, but the can of Off was right there and at that point I valued sleep more than getting out of the town.
It's not bad here. I mean really - a white sand beach, soft crashing waves, reggae music nights, waterfalls, palm trees, rocks to climb, fire-dancing hippies. Nothing better. Right? Well yeah, but I forgot to mention the tourists. And there are a lot of them. Their swarming is almost as bad as the mosquitos...almost. The few Ticos we have met here say no natives actually live here, it's all tourists. A little exaggeration, but it still feels a bit like the states.
Seriously though, this place has some sort of a magnet, and every time I try I leave it just doesn't work. Bethy and I arrived late Sunday night after a ferry ride from Puntaranas. Her family is renting a wonderful house way up on the hill overlooking the ocean, and I am seriously obsessed with the view.
The family is so wonderful and has let me stay and eat there, which is so greatly appreciated by a backpacker with no money. And I literally have no money right now because my bank card doesn't work. I have pushed this out of my mind for the time being and convinced myself that it is only this Cajero and my card will work again when I try a different machine...worse case scenario I borrow money from any of my amazing friends in Central America and go into debt. Err okay. Lets stick with possibly one.
Originally the plan had been that I would only be here for a day or two, and then I would continue on to another place, to get as much traveling in as possible. Well, Tuesday we went to the waterfalls and got distracted.
So, I planned to leave early Wednesday morning, but there was some poor planning on my part and I didn't check bus or shuttle schedules until mid morning and realized that I had missed them all. Beth's family was renting ATVs so we figured they could just drive me to the next big town, but after lunch I decided to go hiking to the waterfalls and got distracted...
The hike was amazing. Absolutely amazing. I set off down a little trail through the woods with no expectations or time to return and decided to get lost. I didn't exactly get lost, but I did see an armadillo!!
I know most of you have probably seen armadillos before, but I hadn't, so I was pretty excited. Especially since he didn't see me right away and kept creeping closer. Then, after a few minutes of photo shoot, he saw me and went hopping away. Such a cutie!
The pictures were taken off my other camera, but you get the idea. The high quality ones will be posted after my trip!
So again, I planned to leave Thursday morning, but after a morning hanging out with Bethy, and a loooonnnggg, hot and sweaty run/rock hike along the beach, we decided that one more day wouldn't hurt anything, and besides, there was a reggae music night in town that night that sounded fun. So, Beth and I went to the waterfalls and got distracted.
The waterfalls are pretty much the most amazing things in the world. After a short, steep 10 minute walk down and up hills (including using ropes and roots to keep us from plummeting to our deaths) we arrive to the rock cliffs and deafening sound of...water falling. And tourists speaking...English. (For the sake of our sanity we are going to ignore the tourists for the remainder of this blogpost. :))
We climb up the waterfalls, climb down, jump off, swim a little, swim some more, try to convince ourselves to climb a little higher and jump a little deeper, and stare wide eyed at the Ticos who literally climb from the bottom to the top of the 150ish meter falls and...jump off. If I could post a video I would, but since I can't, you will just have to use your imagination and come visit one day.
My favorite part is all the rocks to climb. I think it is safe to say that I have an obsession with climbing rocks. Really though, look at this!! Who wouldn't want to climb up there?? ;)
After the waterfalls we headed back up the hill, then took the ATV down to reggae night. It was pretty typical beach town party night, including an amazing fire show with dancers playing with fire on the end of chains. Definitely gives new meaning to playing with fire.
Up until this point, one of the reasons that I had wanted to leave is because I just hadn't been meeting people. Since I haven't been staying in a hostel it is hard to get to know people you just see in passing, so last night I forced myself out of my comfort zone and talked to a guy who was sitting alone. It's always a little intimidating starting conversations with people who may not know a word of your language, but I have learned that sometime the best friends - and Spanish practice - comes from a simple "como estas" to a stranger. And this time proved no different. So, note to self (and anyone else who can use friendship advice): Never be afraid to start a conversation. You've got nothing to lose.
And so here we are...today is Friday and I have finally accepted that I am just gonna live here forever. Just kidding. But I am probably going to stay for a few more days until Beth and I return to San Jose with her brother to take him to the airport. We will spend a day or two with our friends there and then we will head to Nicaragua...in theory. And this, my friends, is why we don't make plans. :)
P.s. Does anyone want to take a guess at what I am doing today?
No comments:
Post a Comment