Well last weekend was an absolutely amazing time. I am quickly falling in love with the beaches of Costa Rica. Greg (another new Canadian addition to Bagaces), Asaph and I headed to Tamarindo for a weekend of sun and surfing. We left on Friday night to maximize the time we’d get to spend there. The travel time is approximately two hours from Bagaces. The tricky part is that there is no way to find out bus information aside from word of mouth. Emer told us that six months ago she took a bus to Tamarindo from Liberia at about 7:00pm on a Friday.

At about 9:00pm we were reading to call it quits, assuming we had missed the bus, but it pulled up just in time. The trip only took about an hour and a half which passed by quickly since I had loaded up my iPod with episodes of “Entourage”. We found a hostel quickly and set about exploring the town. The night guard at the hostel recommended a bar to us called “The Crazy Monkey”.

This bar turned out to be really cool, set back from the road about 20 feet and up a steep staircase. There were two main bars, a swimming pool, several dance areas and a live salsa band. Drinks were reasonably priced at about 75 cents Canadian, but we were charged cover when we got in the bar. The night was a lot of fun, we had drinks a plenty and met a whole bunch of girls from Texas. Coincidentally Greg mentioned just before we got to the bar how much he disliked the Texan accent.

The bar shut down around 3 in the morning. Walking back to the hostel we decided to stop by the beach first to scope it out. The sky was perfectly clear and the tide was low. I walked right down to the water. This was actually the first time I had actually been in the ocean since coming to Costa Rica. The water was nice and warm, the waves were big and loud.

The next morning we woke up early and rented surfboards. The guy at the shop recommended we take a teacher with us, but we wanted to wing it for ourselves. We found an uncrowded portion of the beach and jumped in.

If you’ve never surfed before I will explain the basic concept using my limited experience. The basic idea is to get the wave to push your surfboard forward with you standing on it. Really it’s all about timing. A wave will only push you when it is breaking, otherwise it will just roll right through you. So you position yourself with a good view of the ocean, either lying on the board facing out, or hanging in the water beside the board. When you see a wave that looks like it will break near you, you hop on the board and start paddling as fast as you can away from it. The idea here is to make sure that you’ll get in front of the wave after its broken and not before, and to pick up a bit of momentum. As you start to hear the wave crash behind you and feel it begin to push you, you place your hands on each side of the board and hop up onto your feet. Now once you’re balanced you ride out the wave until it dies out. On the beach we were at this could be anywhere between 5 and 10 seconds of riding. This type of surfing is referred to as riding “White Wash” because you are just getting pushed by the foamy rush of water that forms when a wave breaks. This is different (and a lot easier) then the style surfing you see on TV when the surfer is riding across a wave that is breaking over top of him.

We surfed from 9 in the morning until 5:30 in the afternoon breaking for about an hour for lunch. After about 20 minutes of surfing in the morning we all realized that the rental guy wasn’t advising us to bring a teacher, but rather to wear a “T-shirt”. This unfortunate miscommunication was responsible for turning my chest into one giant scab. The friction between the wet board and your body is really brutal, and you can imagine how painful it is to slide up and down this board over and over again. It is now four days later and I still have giant scabs the size of fists on my stomach. So if you’re going to be surfing, grab a neoprene shirt, wetsuit or at least a t-shirt.

That night we grabbed some sushi at a beach side restaurant. We we’re all pretty wiped but fully intended to make the most of our weekend. We had a nap for about 2 hours after dinner to get ready for the evening. Greg never recovered from his nap so Asaph and I hit the bars ourselves. The first bar we went to was called “La Barra” it was an outdoor bar with a dance floor and an ape of a woman who guarded the washrooms and banged her giant “tips” jar violently as you waited for the washroom to become free (Tipping in Costa Rica is entirely unnecessary). We met up with the girls wet met from Texas, and went to another bar called “Mambo”. Our night ended with a crowded cab ride to a bar called “Babylon” which was my favorite of the trip. It had a mini ramp out back, where locals were skating bare-foot. Most people were drunk so nothing huge was coming out but there were some really entertaining attempts.

I started bonking pretty quick once we go to “Babylon”, but we stuck it out to the end. The next morning Asaph and I slept in until checkout. Greg woke up early and tried out the surfboard he bought the day earlier. We had a quick lunch at an Italian cafe and hit the bus home, eager for our next surfing excursion.

Last weekend Randall, Emer, Asaph and I road-tripped it out to the beach town of Mal Pais. The driving distance is about 188 kilometers but it took us about four and a half hours to get there. Roads in Costa Rica are very bad at times, switching often between pot-hole ridden paved streets to loose, gravel roads. Throw in some random speed bumps (or sleeping policemen as the English say) and you’ve got yourself one perilous journey.

We got there and settled into a really nice hotel that was pretty cheap, only about 20 dollars per night. It had air conditioning and satellite TV so we considered ourselves very lucky. After that we went straight to the beach.

The beach was pretty empty, and the weather was a little cold but there were tons of surfers catching waves just off the coast. The waves ranged from about three to six feet in height. It really looks like a lot of fun and I can’t wait to try it myself this weekend.

We went to this bar that was right on the beach called the “Day and Night” club. As d emasculating as it was I couldn’t resist ordering a Malibu and Coke and drinking it while watching the surfers. A few hours later we met up with our friend Jim who just came back from riding some ATV’s. Jim just moved from Bagaces to an awesome bachelor apartment on the beach. Rent there is fairly expensive at about $500 American per month. We went with him and a few other friends to a local sushi place slash hostel called The Funky Monkey. This place was really cool. It was tucked up away from the beach up a long hill, surrounded by trees. The place looked more like a fort then a restaurant. There was a lounging area with fold out beds on the right side of the bar, some Americans were hanging out and watching Life Aquatic on a TV. The hostel area was located on the second floor just above the sushi bar.

The place made some killer spring rolls and some seriously delicious sushi. The menu was only 4 items long so variety was lacking, but I didn’t mind sacrificing selection for quality.

Once we had our fill of sushi we headed back to the club on the beach. We had more drinks there and I met a girl named Hannah from the UK. Her and her friend were traveling all around the world as a post graduation celebration. Later on in the night I was wandering around the bar looking for Asaph when I noticed two girls sitting at the bar. I went up and introduced myself to them, they said their names were Brittney and Amy. I asked them what brought them to Costa Rica, to which they replied “the sex trade”.

…Talk about culture shock!

I walked back to the hotel with Hannah and her friend and said goodbye. The next morning I planned on going surfing but it was raining when we woke up (which was about 1 in the afternoon). We decided to pack up and drive home. We caught a movie in Liberia on the way back. I realized I had forgotten to bring my passport with me on the trip, but thankfully we weren’t stopped at the checkpoint on the road to Bagaces. Randall and Emer effectively scared me with a story about a friend who was detained for not having his passport and almost shipped to prison in San Jose.  I won’t be making that mistake again.

In a few hours I’m heading off to Tamarindo beach with Asaph and a new Canadian that just moved into town, Greg. Hopefully I’ll get in some surfing this time around. Until then take it easy!

Last weekend I rode a horse. I was really nervous about riding a horse since I’ve never really done it before (at least in recent memory). I didn’t really know what to expect, but I sort of had a feeling I wasn’t going to enjoy it. I’ve never really spent any time with horses and so I found them just a bit intimidating, and I’ve been hearing horror stories from my co-workers here about being thrown off, or having horses get spooked and run across the highway without stopping. Regardless I decided to give it a go.

We got up at around 10:00 in the morning and caught a cab to Emer’s friends place. He has a horse farm and let us borrow the horses for the day. Barbara and Emer are both experienced with horses, so I feel kind of useless as they help this old man get the horses saddled up. My horse seems pretty chill and I start to feel a lot more comfortable with him after spending some time with him. I’m told he has no name (”Ive been through the desert on a horse with no name”), so I decide to call him Epona, unfortunately no one gets the Zelda reference. We ride with the horses down the long road back into town and I quickly realize that boxer shorts simply do not provide adequate support for horseback riding. I start to get that sickening feeling in the gut of my stomach but I eventually get more comfortable and figure out how to reduce the impact.

We walk with the horses from the ranch, through town, by some back roads where we stop at some property that Emer and Randall have bought to eventually build their house on. There are parrots in their neighbours house that talk constantly. After a break we continue on through a forest along the side of the highway. We let the horses open up a bit at this point and they start to gallop. That is a really cool feeling, bouncing along as the horse is trotting and then giving them the kick to start into gallop mode, and all of a sudden the ride just becomes so much smoother. About half an hour later we arrive at El Recreo, a bar just on the outside of town. We tie up the horses in a field and eat dinner while throwing back drinks and playing poker. About three hours later it’s pitch black and we’re ready to head home.

We go back to the horses who have been waiting patiently for us and start the trip back. The sky is completely black and I can barely see anything in front of me, but the horses have much better night vision and know exactly where to go, so I just kind of went into autopilot mode and let Epona take me home. Riding through the forest I can’t see two feet in front of me, only the shapes of trees and branches whizzing by, and the occasional snapshot of dense forest provided by the lightening storm that is forming in the sky. The forest we ride through is filled to the brim with fireflies, it was really one of the most amazing natural light shows I’ve ever seen. While we ride back all I can think about is the Doors song “Riders on the Storm”.

An hour later we are back at the ranch and we remove the horses saddles and rinse them down. We let them back out into the pasture and head on our way back home.

Here are a few of the minor differences in day to day life between Costa Rica and Canada. The things that are really insignificant but always strike you as odd until you get used to them.

1. Your beer selection is generally between Pilsen or Imperial. Both are made by the same company, both taste like water
2. There is only one temperature setting for showers and faucets, but it is usually the exact temperature you want it to be
3. Most windows are open all the time
4. If America has produced music since 1986 you wouldn’t know it here
5. Soap operas in Canada are no where near as ridiculous as the telenovelas here and men watch them just as passionately as women
6. A purple ‘98 Hyundai Accent will turn heads
7. Large bugs you have never seen before will touch you
8. Gecko’s are frisky creatures
9. The hot 19 year old girl that just checked you out has like twelve kids
10. Beer can be purchased anywhere
11. You sing karaoke while sitting down at the bar, most people ignore you, it’s depressing to watch
12. You drink beer in a glass with ice in it
13. You’ll have to pay extra for pretty much anything that’s imported
14. It’s almost impossible to get your hands on a legit copy of a movie or game
15. The music that is popular with young people is Reggaeton, which is kind of a cross between Reggae and Rap.
16. When a man wants to ask a woman to dance, he stands in front of her and begins to dance provocatively giving the girl a preview of what she’ll get if she agrees to the dance
17. The word “invite” has a very different meaning, if you invite someone out, that means you are offering to pay for them
18. Roads are terrible, you constantly need to repair your car’s suspension
19. It’s not expensive to get someone to do your cooking, cleaning, etc… for you
20. The guards in front of banks carry shotguns, there is an airlock that ensures only one person can enter or leave the bank at a time

Emer, Barbara, Hannah, Sarah, Asaph and I meet early in the morning along the Pan American Highway. This is the start of our day long journey to the volcanic island of Ometepe, Nicaragua

We catch the TICA bus which takes us to the Costa Rica - Nicaragua border. Half way through the journey the engine of our bus begins to stutter, then dies completely. Murphies law might as well have been invented here but fortunately we’re only stranded for about fifteen minutes before the driver and a few passengers are able to repair the engine. Pardon the stereotype but there seems to be no shortage of mechanics in Central American countries. It takes us about an hour to to get through customs and enter Nicaragua. While we wait in line we are constantly harassed by individuals offering to change our money into Nicaraguan córdobas. The first guy that confronts us has some shaky math skills and a rigged calculator, so we decline his offer and change our money with someone else. I manage to get 18 Córdobas for 1 American dollar which is apparently a decent rate. An interesting thing to note if you plan to visit Nicaragua is that it costs eight dollars to enter, after paying admission I kind of expected to see rides and attractions on the other side. Instead we find Rivas, a town that has quickly learned how to capitalize on the tourists that funnel through it. We are badgered by groups of people selling all sorts of goods but manage to squeeze our way onto a school bus that will take us to San Jorge. While on the bus we are still propositioned goods through the open windows.

From San Jorge we board a ferry to take us to Ometepe, which is in the middle of Lake Nicaragua. Lake Nicaragua is one of the biggest lakes in the world and the only place you can find fresh water sharks. During the two hour long ride I meet a twenty six year old guy named Hernando who lives in Ometepe. He agrees to drive us to our hostel in the back of his pickup for three dollars. Riding in the back of the pickup was actually a really cool experience and gave us a great view of the two volcanoes which formed Ometepe: Maderas and Concepción.

Our hostel was a small place on the lake. There was a small private beach where we went swimming. The water was the perfect temperature, refreshing but not cold. Sarah and I swim to a nearby island but keep back about twenty feet since neither of us are entirely sure what kind of dangerous wildlife could be living on the island. We eat a very generous dinner that night and go to bed.

The next morning Asaph and I woke up early for our trip up the Maderas volcano. The hostel owners son is our guide, and him and I sing Bob Marley and Michael Jackson tunes while ascending the volcano. I hadn’t anticipated it but the actual climb was probably one of the most challenging things I’ve ever done in my life. It involved a forty minute hike to the base of the volcano in the blistering Nicaraguan heat. Then an uphill hike for about two hours through dense forest which got increasingly difficult to navigate as time went on. Then as we neared the ceiling the forest turned into rain forest and the steepness of our climb increased significantly. At times we had to climb up six foot patches of dirt and rock. Everything was soaking wet, including us. We finally reach the summit where it is freezing cold. All we can see as we look past the trees is a pure white background of cloud. We catch a few glimpses of the lake that has formed where the crater of the volcano once was. Then after a quick lunch we begin our descent. The way down was quicker but just as perilous. The whole trip took us about five and a half hours. The hostel estimates about an eight hour trip so we made pretty good time.

That night I get really sick from the food or the water or the exhaustion or the exposure to the sun and go to bed early. The next morning we start reversing our travels to get us back home. I’m still feeling sick so the trip seems even longer and more uncomfortable. We get back at about eight at night and I go straight to bed. We ended up spending more money then we wanted to and were ripped off by our hostel but it was still a good trip, and worth it to climb the volcano.