Africa tonight

Wow, this country just doesn't stop. Everyone told me how much fun I was going to have.. how did they know? I love it here. Even though the ticos call it "Gringolandia", there seems to be no ill will towards us gringos. Everyone here is so nice, friendly, helpful, and in this way I can't help but compare it favorably to Spain. Constantly. WWOOFing starts tomorrow. I'm currently in San Isidro del General, after a 5+ hour bus ride starting at 5am, from Puerto Jiménez in the Osa Peninsula. I returned last night from Corcovado National Park, where Emily and I had hiked in 20 kms or so to the La Sirena ranger station, stayed in the dorms there for 2 nights, then hiked back out yesterday. The park is absolutely phenomenal. There is so much wildlife everywhere and almost no people or signs of humanity anywhere. Pristine. Most people hire local guides from the area, thus seeing more of the wildlife, but most of the guides were nice and would point things out to us as well. On the hike in I saw several scarlet macaws (beautiful, enormous, loud), coatis (cute, mangy little mammal), spider monkeys. The second night, the ranger and another man who worked at the station took us out in the dark to see what we could see and: 3 tapirs! They were incredible. I've seen them in the zoos before but not from about 10 feet away. They are huge and look so sweet and peaceful eating their vegetation. They didn't even seem to care that we were there. There was also a terciopelo (fer-de-lance) in the station area. Unfortunately, no crazy huge spiders or anything. The hike back was quite funny (I don't know if Emily thinks it's so funny) because we didn't know what we were doing and were misled by the rangers as to what time and where we should cross the river because the tide was at an awkward time. We were told around 5am, at which time the water in the river was up to my chest and I had to hold my bag as high as possible behind me (while still getting it wet of course). Then there was miscommunication between us and it was still dark and.. but we got across. A couple hours of hiking later we had to sit and wait on the beach for an hour for the tide to go down enough for us to scramble over the rocks. Then the colectivo, the transportation from Puerto Jiménez to Carate where we started hiking, was crammed, smelly, bumpy, hot and nearly interminable. It was a long day but definitely hilarious and really enjoyable.

My time in Dominical before going to the park was excellent as well. There were a lot of cool people at the hostal (where we all slept in tents on a balcony, fun!). Beach bumming is the life. I met two ticos who hitchhiked around, scamming tourists (they were probably trying to scam us, we couldn't be sure), with whom we spent several days with, who also taught us how to open coconuts and drink the water and eat them. Delicious. I ended up discussing life, my life, life in general with so many people: an Argentinian, while ducking waves, who had had a nervous breakdown before coming; an American escaping the American dream who completely understood my reasons for leaving, as he shared them too; the ticos who lived on the beach and loved life. I've met so many people here who are doing exactly what I'm doing and it's comforting to here them describe their situation and know that they understand mine without me justifying it. Too much rambling and it's too hot in this internet cafe.

Quickly: Emily and I took a surf lesson, it was exhilirating and so much fun but we failed miserably trying it on our own later. But hilarious. Went skinny dipping in the ocean, what more can you ask for?

Pura Vida

I've been here in Costa Rica over a week now and I can see how some people would stay forever. It's so beautiful and I've already compiled a list of my favorite things: tropical fruit- papaya, mango, avocado- cheap, plus I love all the fruit vendors who think we're funny when we buy fruit and can't tell what it is or if it's ripe; the food in general - rice and beans with some kind of cooked veggies and fish; fruit smoothies of all kinds everywhere; the people- so nice; the pace of life- so laid back; the countryside- beautiful beaches, impossibly green rainforest, mountains; the sun- even though it's incredibly strong, as I am currently nursing a pretty bad sunburn over most of my body, it's nice to have it. I started in the capital, San Jose, for three nights. Unfortunately, most things were closed because it was the end of a national holiday week having to do with the Reyes Magos. It's a relatively ugly city but we had to start somewhere. Getting from the airport to the hostal was about the easiest transition I've ever had and everyone was very helpful in pointing out the way. The first near catastrophe was that I left my debit card in the ATM at the airport and some very nice tico ran after me to return it. Crisis averted: I'm an idiot. All was fine. Then I went to Quepos, on the Pacific coast, another ugly city but a point of access to the Manuel Antonio National Park. I saw monkeys, frogs, red-legged crabs, sloths (!), some weird large rodent thing, iguanas, raccoons.. It was beautiful. I spent two nights in Dominical, about 2 hours down a bumpy dirt road from Quepos. It's a surfing town and Emily and I met a lot of cool people. I haven't had a chance to try to surf yet due to the sunburn but I think we're heading back there tomorrow to try to take a lesson. At first I didn't want to spend the money and was a little afraid of drowning but everyone I met convinced me it was well worth it. I'm currently in Uvita ("little grape") at a pretty cool hostal. We'll try to go to the beach today and I'll try to remember to reapply every 10 minutes or so. I'm loving this country. The travelers are so cool, the ticos are so chill and pretty much everything else is excellent. In a few days Emily and I will brave the Corcovado National Park, which should be extremely funny. Then to the farm!

(it is the Pacific coast, anonymous)