Costa Rica time.
Not only had we gained a new travel buddy, Jack from Jersey, but also a new country and the wettest border crossing of my life. Drowned rat is the phrase.
If Ireland is the Emerald Isle, Costa Rica must be the CenAm equivalent yet packed with its Disneyland cast of colour and creatures.
If Ireland is the Emerald Isle, Costa Rica must be the CenAm equivalent yet packed with its Disneyland cast of colour and creatures.
We arrived in La Fortuna, Jack in tow, heading for Gringo Pete's hostel. Gringo Pete is strange. A mish mash of Ned Flanders and Stinky Pete the Prospector in Toy Story 2. Not the friendliest man but all the same worth writing about because of how weird and rude he was. You would ask him a question and he would respond with a sarcastic comment. Great! Anyway, the hostel was cool and we cooked a supreme home-made dinner for the three of us.
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| Pre-macho bike ride. |
The spark of adventure beckoned. We hired bikes being warned it was 'hilly' but the waterfalls were worth every ounce of sweat. I questioned the hilliness to a stark Spanglish reply, "if you want to be macho." The inner competitor laughed that off as we smashed those Tico's hills.
The, fairly, arduous ride through green, green pastureland was presided over by the very active Volcan Arenal. It's perfect cone towered over it's domain, cycling to this backdrop was superb.
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| During the bike ride - fairly decent backdrop! |
Arriving we were met by a steep monetary charge to see nature. (We knew we were in a developed country now.) To our surprise/ fortune, strangely an American couple decided to pay for the three of us to get in... everything is always better for free.
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| The mini-hike to the beautiful falls. |
The waterfall eventually...
The ribbon of cascading pure vida water thundered through a beautiful canyon thick with papaya trees.
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| Awesome |
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| Group pose |
It's 70m fall was everything I wanted in a waterfall and the clear, cooling water was a joy to swim in. I was taken aback by it's beauty, the little boy leaping out as I swam and explored.
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| Refreshing, clear natural spring water |
Our cameras clicked in unison with the Howler Monkeys as freshwater fish darted through us in the deep rapid pools. As we left my refreshed smile didn't; before gunning it down those macho hills.
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| La Fortuna town and Volcan Arenal. Slightly impressive. |
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