Hello South America

I’m on the plane from San Jose, Costa Rica to Lima in Peru, 10km above a desert coastline which is presumably Equador. After my last post things changed fairly dramatically. Aoifer couldn’t cross the Costa Rica/Nicaragua border, despite having a photocopy of her old passport, a police report, a document from the Italian (EU) consulate in Granada, Nicaragua and a fax from the Irish embassy in Mexico. Paul and Aoifer therefore left us at the border not to be seen again which was an abrupt way to say goodbye to two great people. Then the following day we decided to leave the tour, despite there still being five days left, we headed off in search of sun rather than the mountainous cloud and rain.

That evening we arrived at the cloud forest town of Monteverde in Costa Rica which, despite being cold and wet, was still great fun. Since the rain of Roatan, we all longed for some sun, so entering the forest rain did little to lift our spirits. The next morning, however, the rain had stopped so we headed off for the canopy tour of the forest. The tour was on wire cables slung between trees in the forest, some were as long as 500m and just as high, with one – the superman – carrying you upside down giving you an incredible view of the forest. The canopy tour also included a tarzan swing which scared the shit out of me. You jump off a tower about 30m high attached only to a rope slung over a tree. After falling for what feels like ever (about half a second) the rope pulls taught and your swing freely through the air, like, er, Tarzan! After the excitement of the rope swing we decided we’d had enough of forest and headed into town to book a coach to our beach of choice – the headonistic Playa Tamarindo.

The Lonely Planet’s description of Playa Tamarindo really is scathing. They make it sound like hell on earth – like a US falaraki but 10 times seedier. Granted, there are lots of bars and North Americans sunning themselves, but the beach is a beautiful long stretch of white sand surrounded by forested hills and the town is little more than 2 dusty roads intersecting one another and lined with small hostels and guest houses. At this time of year too, the beach is all but deserted with a few beginner surfers falling into the gentle waves.

Niki, Sarah, Ray, Julia, Carla and I checked into the first hostel we found, the Coral Reef – right in the centre of the main strip for $6 a night and headed straight for the beach and warm waters of the Pacific. After a fairly hectic night of Costa Rican Football and free drinks for the ladies (which incidently happens in at least one bar every night!), I tried my hand at surfing and worked hard on turning my skin from a pasty white to a rosy shade of skin cancer (thanks Lonely Planet!)

After being bitten to shit by a variety of insects including sand flies, bed bugs, sea lice and the ever present Mosquito, we decided to switch hotels for the remaining days, to the 5* Chocolate hostel. Here, we hoped the air conditioned dorm, swimming pool and hot running water would help to keep spirits high and bites to a minimum. Unfortunately the Chocolate apartments weren’t so 5*. The pool was pretty rancid – full of dead flies and leaves, and the shower exploded on the first morning showering Julia in sparks as she stood under the water! Carla found a third hostel, the Black Sheep, which had a pool table as opposed to a pool, and was the best choice of the three.

Finally, yesterday I boarded the 2pm local bus to San Jose to begin this long Journey to South America. It was very sad waving goodbye to the people with which I’d spent the last 5 weeks, and who had become great friends. Travelling, I have found, brings such a vast range of emotions that sometimes its hard to know how to feel – excited at the new adventures ahead or sad at leaving a now familiar place and familar faces.

So in a few hours i’ll be in country number 14 – Peru. I can’t wait for the Inca Trail but first I have a few days alone to explore Lima and head down to Nazco, Arequipa and Cusco before hitting that famous mountain path.