May 30-June 2 - Ometepe Island, Nicaragua

Volcan Maderas

Ometepe Island is situated in the middle of Lake Nicaragua in the southern part of the country. It was created by two volcanos, Volcan Concepcion which is still active, and Volcan Maderas. Local folklore says that the island was created by a Romeo and Juliet type story of two lovers from different tribes that were forbidden to be together, so they committed suicide and the women fell back into the lake and her breasts became the two volcanoes. Now everytime I look at a map or pictures of the two volcanoes I see a pair of tits...

Volcan Concepcion

We crossed the Nicaraguan border around noon, caught a cab to the ferry and took a it across the lake to the Island. The ferry ride was about 45 minutes long, it was a beautiful clear day, we had an awesome view of Volcan Concepcion and we were the only people on the top deck. It was such a beautiful boat ride and we were all just taking as many pictures as possible.

Once on the island we found a little hotel that Misha had read about online. We rented a room for the three of us, ditched our bags and went out for some food. It wasn't as cheap as we had heard Nicaragua was suppose to be, but we had figured it wouldn't be because it was an island. We also discovered that the power goes out about twice per day there.

Natural Springs

The next day we hired a driver to take us on a tour around the island. We stopped first at a store for some beers to take with us, which we got some funny looks for. Then we stopped at a nature reserve and did a small hike around to see the different animals and plants. We were able to see a pack of howler monkeys, lots of different birds and a ton of tap poles in the nearby lake. After the hike we went to some natural cold water springs and swam for about an hour.  Then we headed to a nearby beach where we had lunch. On the beach we saw the most malnurished dog I have ever seen in my life. You could see the contours of his pelvis and all of his vertebrae. It was really hard for me to see that and makes me want to come down here if I get through school and help animals here. So I gave him most of my lunch and we headed back to town.

Beach by the restaurant

The next day we rented some bikes to tour around the island with. There was very little traffic on the roads so it was excellent for biking. We hit up a nearby beach and an archaeological museum. While I was in school I had considered doing a field school here on Ometepe Island. I had seen many pictures of the stuff they had dug up in the previous years, and it was the same stuff in the museum. I don't know if it was all of the same artifacts from that field school, but it is always interesting to see the things that you've learned about in school in real life.

Unfortunately Kat became really sick at the museum so we caught a taxi ride back to town with our bikes and headed back to the hotel. She felt better in the evening so we went out for dinner to an awesome argentinian restaurant, had some beers and we back to the hotel to sleep. 

The next morning we caught a 9am ferry and bus back to Costa Rica. Ometepe was gorgeous, it had beautiful water to swim in, it was safe, the locals we friendly and the owners of the hotel were really great. We all had an awesome time (apart from Kat getting sick) and it was worth the almost full day trip to get there.  

May 29-30 - San Jose, Costa Rica

In the morning Mack, Kat, Misha and myself caught the bus to San Jose. The bus ride to San Jose was a long miserable one because we were all pretty hungover. Around 5pm we arrived in San Jose and made plans to meet up with Mack again later for dinner since he was living in a nearby city. We found a nearby hostel that Kat had recommended, showered and went out for dinner.
We met up with Mack downtown and he showed us a nice little cafe/restaurant that he liked. We had an awesome meal and got a little tour of downtown San Jose from the walk. After dinner we had to say goodbye to Mack since we were leaving the next morning to Nicaragua and he had to stay in San Jose to work.
We got back to the hostel late that night after getting soaked by the rain and went to bed. We woke up at 4 the next morning to catch an early bus to the boarder. There were a few delays but we ended up getting on the 6:30 bus to the boarder.

Kat, Misha and Mack in San Jose

May 27-29 - La Fortuna, Costa Rica

Pool at Arenal Backpackers Resort

After taking a shuttle, then a boat across a lake, then another shuttle into town, I finally arrived at my hostel in La Fortuna in the pooring rain. I had found the hostel online and it had a really nice pool so I decided to try it out. It also was suppose to have a great view of Arenal Volcano, which unfortunately has been dormant for the last 2 years. After checking in and getting to my room, I met the others in the room. A bunch of people were going out for food and drinks and kindly invited me to join them. Out of the group of 8, 6 of us were from Canada. This is where I met Mack from Calgary, Kat from Winnipeg and Misha from Vancouver whom I ended spending the next week with.

Arenal Volcano

The next day we headed out for breakfast and planned what we were doing that day. Kat and Misha had signed up for a hike and hotsprings tour that afternoon and it sounded fun so I signed up as well. We hung out in the pool until about 3 when we got picked up for the tour. The first part of the tour was about an hour long guided walk through the rainforest. Our tour guide was really funny, but it was pouring rain and we didn't see many animals. It was still really interesting though.
After the hike we went to a fancy hot springs resort. It had about 25 different pools, all different temperatures. There were also some water slides that were dangerously fast and tons of fun. After seeing a few of the pools and slides, we went to the buffet to get some dinner which was included in the tour. There we met up with Mack. We all had about 5 servings of food because it was so good. And free.

Hot Springs

After dinner we hit up a few more of the pools at the top of the hill. They were all a little different, some with waterfalls, some with swim up bars and some with lounge chairs built into the pools. We hung out for a few more hours and then had to catch the shuttle back to the hostel. We spent the rest of the night hanging out, drinking and meeting some of the other guests from the hostel. We also started discussing heading to Ometepe Island in Nicaragua the next morning because Misha heard it was really awesome and wanted to see it.
The next morning we decided to make our way to Nicaragua, so we all packed our stuff and caught the bus to San Jose. La Fortuna was really pretty and the hot springs were really fun, but it was very developed, touristy and expensive. And the volcano which is one of the highlights is no longer active. I still had fun though and met some really cool people so that made it worth the journey over.

May 26-27 - Monteverde, Costa Rica

view from the hostel

Saturday morning I took a shuttle to Monteverde. It was a really pretty drive but by the end the road became really rough. I was dropped off at my hostel around 2 pm and met the two other people staying in my room. They told me about the zip line that they had done that day, and I decided to book it for the next morning. The rest of the day was spent doing laundry and answering emails.
The next morning I got up early to go do the zipline. The group we were with ended up being really big but they sort of split the group up so it wasn't so bad. There were about 10 or 12 different zipllines. The first couple were kinda just warmup runs and weren't scary or fast at all. The 4th one was over a huge valley and had a pretty amazing view. There was also a tarzan swing before the last three big ziplines which was really scary. The last zipline was 2800 meters long and they hooked us up superman style so we got an awesome view of the jungle/land below.
I returned back to my hostel around noon, had lunch and caught a shuttle off to La Fortuna.

May 22-25 - Tamarindo, Costa Rica

The lady that I caught a ride with from El Coco, Karen, acted a little as a tour guide as we drove through. Since she had lived in Costa Rica for a year she knew about the area, the politics and how it had changed in the last couple of years. She also shared some of her stories about the people she had met here and things she had done. On her way to Playa Flamingo she had to stop in Playa Hermosa for a few hours for some meetings, so I decided to go check out the beach. Rental cars in Costa Rica apparently have different license plates than locals and are often targeted for theft so we left the car in a parking lot with security. I walked from the parking lot to the beach, taking a few wrong turns on my way there because I seem to have problems paying attention when people give me directions... The beach was nicer than Playa del Coco, and it turned out to be one of the nicer days since I've been here so it was a great day for just laying around.

Playa Hermosa

I met up again with Karen around 2 and we took off to Playa Flamingo. She had been told of a short cut to Playa Flamingo that she had never used and wanted to try. However she did warn me that she didn't know exactly where she was going and we may get lost. We did, but it turned out to be good because I saw a lot of small Costa Rican towns that weren't full of hotels and gift shops. I found it interesting too that the soccer fields always seem to be the center of the towns (how it should be :P). We also passed one of the big fancy resorts going up. I don't remember the name of it but it looked like a cathedral and and was enormous. And we saw tons of monkeys in the trees as we drove by.

Tamarindo beach

At around 4pm we arrived in Playa Flamingo. Karen dropped me off at the intersection where the road turns to Tamarindo where I could catch a bus. I waited around for an hour on the side of the road and no bus showed up. Finally I decided to grab a ride from a local with another couple who said he's drive us to our hotels for $2 per person.



Tamarindo is really touristy, more so than El Coco. It's also a surfer town. Although I know it's not rational, I felt apprehensive about being in another surfer town since my last experience in a surfer town (Saluyita) was not a pleasant one. Even the hostel I chose turned out the be a surfer hostel. It had surf boards for rent and private and group lessons. It wasn't nearly as nice as the one in El Coco but wasn't not bad.

Sunset at restaurant

The first night I just grabbed some food from the grocery store and hung out at the hostel.
The second day I decided to give surfing a try. I went out for lessons in the morning for two hours. It was incredibly fun! The instruction was great and I was able to stand up after my second try! I also had my ass handed to me by a couple of big waves in a row where I was tossed around, but I survived. However it really tired me out. Surfing itself was also really tiring and I now understand why surfer tend to be so fit. After an hour and a half of surfing and getting beaten up I was totally exhausted and could barely get up on the board! But I'm really glad I tried it.

The beach

That same evening I went to have dinner at a restaurant on the beach. I had some delicious squid with rice while watching a beautiful sunset. The picture couldn't quite capture the exact color though, but it's close.
The next day was the nicest day since I landed in Costa Rica. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was HOT. Perfect day for the beach! Which is exactly what I did, hung out at the beach and did absolutely nothing. It was wonderful.

Saturday morning I caught a shuttle early to go to Monteverde. Tamarindo was fun but I don't think I would go back. It was very touristy and Americanized, and personally I preferred El Coco. But I guess it's the place to be if you wanna learn surfing so I'm glad I tried it :).

May 17-22- Playa del Coco, Costa Rica

I picked El Coco because of the reviews in my Lonely Planet book, it was close and there was a direct bus from Liberia. There was also a really cool looking hostel that was online that I wanted to check out. I wasn't sure what to expect because I typically don't like really touristy towns.

I arrived at Playa del Coco at about 10:30am. It was already hot and humid so I wanted to find a hostel quick so I could get to the beach. Already it was looking like one of the touristy towns that I wasn't too fond of because of all the gifts shops along the sides of the main street. After checking out one of the hostels along the main strip and finding that there were no other people staying there I wandered off to find the hostel I had seen online. I had to walk about 300m from the strip to find it, which doesn't seem like a lot but when you're carrying a pack and it's hot and you just really want to get to the beach it seems longer than it is. Luckily there was a really friendly retiree from the states in a gulf cart that stopped and gave me a ride. I was starting to like El Coco a little more by that point.

Pool at Pacific Palms Hostel

We found the hostel which was called Pacific Palms Backpackers Resort and is one of the nicest hostels I've ever stayed in. There's a pool with a swim up bar (that unfortunately wasn't stocked when I was there), clean rooms, huge bathrooms and it's super close to the beach. The staff were also really friendly.

Playa del Coco

After checking in, I headed straight to the beach. The sand here is dark brown which is why it's called Playa del Coco. Its also really fine, almost like silt. It's not the nicest beach I've ever seen but I like it. And since I was there during low season the beach was practically empty. The water was alright too. It had some waves but was still safe to swim in.

Joe and Anthony at Coconutz Bar

Several hours later I headed back to the hostel where I met the three other people staying in the same room as me: Javed from Bangladesh and Joe and Anthony from England. We headed out for some drinks and food and just hung out that evening at the bars in town. Playa del Coco is really small, and there is only really 3 bars which are all beside each other. They are also about a 3 minute walk from the hostel.


The next couple of days we basically just hung out at the beach and bars during the days, went out for dinner and then head to the bars in the evening. We met a lot of interesting people in the evenings including bar owners, staff and other travelers. I also ended up talking to a handsome and charming guy from New Jersey for two nights in a row so much that I lost my voice!
On the last night at the hostel, I met a lady who use to live in Playa Hermosa which is a 15 minute drive from El Coco. She was driving there the next day, and then on to Playa Flamingo which was right by where I wanted to go next. So the next morning I packed my stuff and caught a ride with her. I was a little sad to leave the guys I had met at the hostel. I was also knew I was going to miss El Coco too.  I know most of the fun I had there was due to the awesome people I had the pleasure of meeting (as I usually find it is when travelling), but it also had a lot to due with the friendly locals, the nice bars and phenomenal hostel. It wasn't the boring little tourist town that I had first thought it was and I would definitely go back anytime for a vacation!

El Coco

May 15- Liberia, Costa Rica

And it begins again! I left Calgary on the 15th after a lovely afternoon with mom and brother. I had 3 different transfers to make on the way to Liberia in Phoenix, LA and San Salvador. The last flight to Liberia was really nice as it was a small airplane with a max capacity of about 50 people, and there were only 7 people on the flight. It also flew fairly low so I was able to check out the landscape below. After 19 hours of airplanes and airports I finally arrived in Liberia! I took a cab into town which I was relieved to discover had meters (so the drivers can't totally rip you off) and found a hostel that had private rooms. I basically spent the day wandering Liberia for about an hour (it's not very big) and sleeping the rest of the afternoon and evening. I woke up a few times enough to plan where to go the next day. The next morning I checked out and headed to the bus stop for Playa del Coco which to my surprise cost me a little over a dollar for an hour long bus ride!