One Woman Wanderer

I have to say that San Juan del Sur has been one of the highlights of my trip.  Not for the town itself, though I did enjoy some it it's charm, but for the wonderful people I met there.

My first weekend in San Juan, I arrived at night and was immediately invited out with the employees of the Surfing Donkey, the hostel I stayed at.  The best part of the hostel was the staff, which were unbeatable.  The Donkey had a roof deck for chilling, a pool with volleyball, and a bar with great music and drinks.

I met another Emily, who turned out to be quite a kindred spirit, who teaches yoga on the roof deck three times a week.  I monopolized her time as often as possible.



The town had some unique cafes around town, my favorite being Simon Says with El Gato Negra as a close second.

Simon Says had quite possibly the coolest garden courtyard I've been in.




The beach at San Juan del Sur was less than spectacular, but it took just a quick ride in the back of the truck north or south to arrive at beautiful pristine beaches with palm trees to hang up my hammock, and waves to surf for days.

I was fortunate enough to tag along with Zach and Clay, the resident Cali surf instructors at Surfing Donkey for a surfing beach tour complete with grilled fish and veggies and sunset bonfire.  In exchange for my free ride, I helped build the fire, cook, and load up surf boards for the guests.  I had a blast.

I think my favorite places in the world are ones where you can ride in the back of a truck down dusty roads to empty beaches.

On Sunday I took part in the famous/infamous "Sunday Funday" pool bar crawl.  It was a day full of debauchery and fantastic dancing.  I had an excellent dance partner who managed to make me look good on the dance floor.  Surprisingly, I discovered I have both a left and right foot.

I took off the next day for Ometepe, which was beautiful but sadly I have no photos.  When I returned three days later, I was talked into staying a few more days.

I spent my first night at Emily's apartment, which was a nice change to dorm life, watching a movie and sleeping in a room with less than 10 other people.

The following day I spent on the beach, successfully catching some waves.  The first wave I caught of the day was the most successful I have been on a board without guidance thus far.  I think I could definitely spend a season trading my snowboard for a surfboard.

On Sunday, we skipped the Sunday Funday shenanigans for some shenanigans of our own.  The staff of the Donkey, myself and few others who live in San Juan went out on a catamaran for a gorgeous day on the water.



Ceviche, our guide, took us to a great place for (mom, avert your eyes) cliff jumping.  A few of us decided to take on the challenge.  The jump involved swimming out to a cliff, allowing a wave to push you against a rock wall, grabbing on when the wave is at it's peak, and then climbing up the side of the cliff.  Then you needed to wait for a wave to come back in to ensure that you're jumping into deep water.  It was thrilling and fabulous.  I jumped twice and could have continued all day long.

We hung on the boat, swimming and floating in tubes all afternoon.





We sailed back at sunset to a great beach for drinks and a bonfire before heading back to town.


I left for Granada the following morning with a heavy heart, saying goodbye to a few friends I hope I will hold onto for a lifetime.

It is not always easy to be an American.

Ilse and I left Santa Teresa and took an uneventful four buses and one ferry to Dominical on the Central Pacific coast.

The lazy town had an excellent beach for hammock chilling, which I did a lot of in my three days at Dominical.

Our first full day there, we hopped on an early bus to a 5k hike to Nauyaca Waterfall.


 We were the only ones on the hike and the only ones at the waterfall.  It was specatcular.  We spent over an hour soaking up the beauty of such a powerful waterfall, swimming against the current, and relaxing on the rocks in the sunshine.



I said goodbye to Ilse and greeted Jeff and Mike, friends we had met in La Fortuna.  Bittersweet.

We spent a lazy day on the beach ending with an atrociously played game of pool.

Jeff and I ate a fantastic authentic Costa Rican meal at Chelles.  They advertise that they have been in business for over a hundred years.  The hot sauce was amazing, and I bought a bottle to bring home.  It's been incredibly difficult not to open up the bottle.



After dinner, we took off in search of the best Tres Leches in town, finding our way to an upscale adorable cafe and eatery, Kalu.

Unfortunately, Tres Leches wasn't on the menu.  But we soaked in the open air surroundings, developing a bit more of an appreciation of San Jose, and ending the day with a delicious carmelized banana and chocolate ganash tart with ice cream.

Sad to say goodbye to Jeff, I hopped the bus to Liberia and then on to the Nicaraguan border.

After a lazy day on a beautiful beach 20 minutes outside Tamarindo, Ilse and I once again decided to remain together and take a crazy amount of buses from Tamarindo down to Mal Pais.  Tamarindo was very cute but a bit overly touristic for me personally.  We stayed at an absolutely beautiful Hostel, La Botella de Leche.

One of the best things about the wandering lifestyle of backpacking solo is the company you make along the way.  Day five of my trip, I already know I will be seeing some of the travelers I've met again.

After my day at the doctor in Monteverde, everyone returned from the jungle with groceries and we spent the evening in.  It can be tricky feeling like you need to pack adventure into every single day, but what I love about trying to take at least a month for a trip is that you get to have mellow time without fearing missing out.

So first, we made pancakes as a family.  Jeff and I watched Ilse and Han perfectly depicting a married couple arguing over the proper proportions for pancakes, while making Jeff and I set the table and wash the dishes like the good kids we are.


We played cards, swapped secrets, adopted a dog, and had a fantastic photo shoot including this wonderful family photo:


We danced and sang, and slowly started falling asleep in the living room.  We all started brushing our teeth and wound up having an excellent tooth brushing dance party.

Monteverde


My Spanish is... Let's put this nicely... Mucho terrible.  To cut myself some slack- I didn't learn it in school, and I've rarely traveled to Spanish speaking countries.  But I've been getting by.  Saying things like, "please can I window not closed?"  I seem to be providing entertainment to the locals.  They tend to laugh and smile and respond.  And I smile and shrug as if to say, "yes, I am a stupid white girl."

My minimal Spanish was especially interesting on my trip to the doctor today.  Unfortunately, my fantastic ability to injure myself resulted in a full day at the local clinic.  The spines from the tree embedded in my hands were unfortunately looking worse and clearly getting infected.

I sat in the waiting room and put my thoughts together.  I believe this is what I said to the doctor: "my hands are sick.  They have many plant spines.  I want them to exit.  I don't want a big infection."  I Stumbled my way through conversations regarding treatment and payment.  

My understanding was that I would get a local anesthetic to numb my hands and the doctor would remove the spines.  They would send me home with an antibiotic to take three times per day for seven days and an anti-inflammatory as well.  All together it would cost $70.

I went back into a room with the nurse expecting to receive a local shot in my hands but... I was told to lay down for a shot in my ass.  I'm not really sure what it was for... 

At this point I had been in the clinic for almost four hours.  It was 3:00pm.  I sat down to wait for the doctor on my freshly sore butt, a little bummed I was missing out on an adventure... The plan was to meet at the hostel at 2:00 to go to the suspension bridges.  I didn't have a way to communicate that I wouldn't be able to make it, and assumed they left without me.

And then I hear my name! My backpacking family came and found me to make sure I was doing okay before heading into the jungle.  Shortly thereafter the doctor gave me about a dozen small shots of local anesthetic in my hands where all the spines still were.  This was the most painful part.  And then I closed my eyes while he dug into my hands for about 45 minutes.  They were 45 of the worst minutes.  The spines were very deep and brittle and came out in tiny pieces from deep inside my hand.  The one on the base of my wrist.  Finally, he was done.

 I thanked him and told him I hope I don't see him again.



So, no jungle adventures for me today, but I certainly had an adventure of my own.

...but I still really don't know what the shot in my butt was for.

San Jose Airport 
If you are flying into San Jose, be advised the airport is actually in the town of Alajuela. If you're not planning to stay in San Jose you don't need to go there.  You can catch the bus from Alajuela or stay the night at a hostel near the airport.
The bus stop in Alajuela is called "la radial" and it's about a $3 taxi ride from the airport.  (hail a red taxi from the street and make sure it's metered and it will save you a bit of money compared to the orange airport taxis.)
If you want to stay in San Jose, head straight out of the airport and hop on a bus labelled to San Jose.  I asked locals for directions since I arrived during the day, showed a map of where my hostel was in the city and they told me when to get off the bus.  Make sure you leave the airport with some small colones (currency).  The bus drivers will not make change for large bills.
I got into the city and took a cheap taxi to my hostel.  The bus was less than a dollar and the taxi ride was just a couple dollars.  A taxi from the airport to my hostel would have been $30.

In San Jose I stayed at  Costa Rica Backpackers Hostel.  The Hostel was okay.  The beds weren't great, but the food was both yummy and decently priced and I didn't feel like exploring San Jose.

Solo traveler trip:  try to arrive to new places by day.  Get to your hostel first and explore afterwards: hostel workers are your best friends.  They will keep you safe.  If arriving by night, have a plan in place.  Most hostels offer shuttle services if you arrive late - just get in touch with them first.  Generally this is both cheaper and safer than a taxi.


San Jose > La Fortuna
There are MANY bus terminals in San Jose - all going to different cities.  Make sure you go to the correct one!  
The bus to La Fortuna leaves from the Atlántico del Norte bus station at Avenida 9 and Calle 12.  It takes about four hours the fare is about $5.  There are only a few busses per day to La Fortuna, so alternatively you could take a bus to Ciudad Quesada and transfer there to another bus to La Fortuna. It takes about the same amount of time.