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| Pura Vida |
After a brief few days tripping through Panama (saw The Canal, wandered around, nothing worth reporting there I feel), I muddled onwards to San José, capital city of Costa Rica, on whose warm and rain-smashed flanks I would perch and wobble my way through the better part of 3 months. Good mate Alex had moved there to take up work at an international school and a new chapter of life, and since I was in the neighbourhood I thought I'd rain on his parade for a while. Which was ironic, because my exquisite timing this year has lead me to an almost masochistic following of the tropical rain seasons. "Mete's Muddy Monsoon Madness Tour." Perhaps I could market that in a future career path...
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| Feria - Market day in San José |
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| Sunset in the City |
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| Bloody Hippies |
San José itself is a relatively null city. Nothing really bad about it, nothing really outstanding. Life goes on, neighbourhoods are boringly Americanised into residential suburbs separated from the commercial and entertainment centres, and public transport is utter shite meaning that there, as in New Zealand, if you have no car - you have no life. Sure, there are pretty parts and stunning sunsets happen with a take-me-for-granted-please regularity, but the true gems of Costa Rica are certainly found far away from the traffic jams and paranoid suburban razor-wire fences of the capital.
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| Every household should have one of these filled with rum |
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Breaking down is so common in Costa Rica that you get offered
extra services while you're being towed. |
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| Good times! |
In my first month there Alex & I made a week-long surf trip around the Pacific coast, which gets all the surf during the rainy season while the Caribbean side lays low. We hit beaches by day and frolicked and sweated in little towns by night and generally made nuisances of ourselves, managing to really make the most of what I'd consider one half of Costa Rica's coastal richness - waves! From the sleepy, crocodile infested (spotted one!), reefer-out-the-back beginners wavelets at Tamarindo up to the spine-crunching, heavy barrelling, I'm-just-gonna-watch-these-guys tubes found at Playa Bonita, we enjoyed some awesome sessions and watched the ocean surface gleam in burnished oranges and pinks during some of the more
pura vida sunsets of the week.
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| Couple waves in the morning (Avellanas).. |
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| ... Break for lunch.. |
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| ... And another session in the evening sunset! |
The second half of Costa Rica's riches, in my eyes at least, would be the rainforests and impressive array of native animals. Sloths and toucans, macaws in brilliant red and green, titi monkeys, red eyed tree frogs and big goannas and rumours of jaguars and ocelots.. The forests are lush, warm, and muddy, and highly reminiscent of the mighty Amazon just a tad to the east and south. Away from San José the towns and villages are a lot more closely integrated with the nature that rages at their back yard, and it's almost impossible to travel the country without a 4x4. (We did have one great trip back to town one night in a little volkswagen hatchback precariously perched atop a tow-truck thanks to the recently replaced oil pan being torn out of its bum against a rock that afternoon.)
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| Misty rainforest |
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| Blurry shot of an iconic little chap |
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| Titty Monkey! |
Costa Rica is also known for its volcanic activity, and I managed to spend one weekend at the foot of a very live volcano called Arenal which, just a decade ago, claimed some lives during a lava outflow. The village there is these days called "La Fortuna", or "fortunate one", and was renamed that way back in 1967 when the volcano, presumed asleep or deceased, suddenly blew its stack, killing many and destroying villages on the other side but sparing the entire town of La Fortuna. Unfortunately it was so cloudy for my entire stay that I didn't get to see the fiery beast itself, but I did manage to explore the surrounding jungle and swim in the crater of a nearby smaller (and very dead) volcano, as well as enjoy the thermal springs emanating from Arenal itself that night.
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| Great dragons! (photo cred Alex) |
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| A touristy replica with the obligatory "Pura Vida" slogan |
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| Bit of lovin' for breakfast in San José |
Costa Rica is disappointingly expensive - seemingly the most expensive country in Latin America, with food prices at supermarkets rivalling New Zealand or London, although weekend
feria markets allay those costs somewhat - a necessity in a country where the average wage is only $500 per month. Not too sure how the average and below-average Costa Ricans survive, doubtless by avoiding supermarkets altogether.
The roads are a chaos of drunk motorcyclists and aggressive drivers, and Costa Rica must be the prime example of why you don't give overtaking lanes on highways the right of way when the two lanes merge again.. Who would have thunk it? Well, every genius motorist in the country rides permanently in the overtaking lanes to avoid stopping and starting on the agonisingly crowded motorways, and inevitably get undertaken by the daredevils speeding along on the less populated "slow" lanes. It might be a fun experience, if it weren't basically completely awful.
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| Going full hippy |
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| Beach dawgies |
In the end I spent 3 months living in Costa Rica, managed a bit of work and a lot of play and a whole barrel of rum and ginger ale. Which brings me to the end of my 2014 grand tour! 5 continents, 7 months, 4 musical instruments, 1 surfboard, great people, good times & bad times; lots of love, see you here again in another decade!
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| Couldn't resist one last sunset shot (photo cred Alex) |
