costa rica

“Though we travel the world over to find the beautiful, we must carry it with us or we find it not.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Having heard so much hype about Costa Rica throughout the years I wasn’t sure what to expect and was hoping that its beauty was not just talk. At this point we were on a very tight schedule and started wondering if we should just pass through. We had solid plans to be crew and needed to be in Panama by mid to end of April. This did not bode well for seeing Costa Rica and we needed to book it South. We decided one stop was necessary and as we rode through we couldn’t stop saying how beautiful it was. Numerous waterfalls passed by as we watched from the windows of the bus and I’m not sure it’s possible for landscape to be any more green.

After a quick night in San Jose we made it to Puerto Viejo de Talamanca where we spent the next four or five nights in this cute little beach town. It was touristy for sure, but it had been able to retain a lot of its charm and character. There was a strong surf culture and something about it made me feel nostalgic for my years in Hawaii. I couldn’t help but daydream about becoming a beach bum. I was halfway there after all, I just needed the beach.

  

We ran into all sorts of problems during our stay in Costa Rica (unexpected bills back home, food poisoning, losing phones, leaving behind hard drives – more about this later) but it wasn’t able to tarnish how much we loved it. We biked along the coast to Punta Uva stopping to look at real estate signs along the way (what, one can look!), swimming, and trying a sweet treat at a café known for its chocolate. We decided to stay in Puerto Viejo because of its proximity to Manzanillo which was a sleepy little village that we’d read had a spectacular park, which did not disappoint. After spending a day lying in bed and vomiting (food poisoning) Manzanillo was a welcome excursion. I still felt a bit weak, so we took it slow, but the walk along the coast was truly beautiful. We saw more hermit crabs than people and little secret coves abound around each bend.

   

We are thankful for “Costa’s” (read my Honduras & El Salvador post) proximity to the US, and with a little luck, we hope to visit again, and really give it the time it deserves.