Montezuma

Though we didn't have much time to plan Josh and I left for Montezuma at 8am on Friday. We waited at the bus stop where the bus left at 9:30. We entertained ourselves by watching the firemen- who have uniforms similar to firemen in the States, not the actual fire fighting kind-
de-weld an huge Gollo sign. (Apparently a major furniture chain.) The wind had been so bad that there were pieces of tree everywhere.
We left on time and took the now somewhat familiar trip to Puntarenas. From there we shared a taxi with a couple of Argentinian girls- one of which had one of her backpacks stolen on the ride from San Ramon- to the ferry boat. The boat was large. It held about 30 cars and a couple hundred people. The ride was about an hour and a half. Upon our arrival in Paquera we got on a bus that took us to Montezuma. On the ride we met a young couple who was from Sonoma. The girl had just got in the same day and said she had been in Mill Valley the day before. Small world!
Montezuma is beautiful! A total tourist spot I think there was more English spoken there than Spanish. People from Canada, France, Germany and the States. We looked at a couple hotels that were mentioned in Josh's Frommer's Guide and settled on a nice hotel where we chose between hot water or air conditioning. Josh wanted a/c so we went with that. We then headed out for a stoll along the beach. Perfect weather! Beautiful beach, hot sun, cool breeze.
Our second order of business was to ge some food as we hadn't really eaten lunch.
Third order of business was to book a reservation on the local waterfall canopy tour. That proved to be a bit more difficult than anticipated. We wanted to take the morning trip so we could head out that afternoon to stay a night in Malpais. That wasn't possible so we decided upon the 3pm trip to the zipline and that we were going to stay a second night in Montezuma.

We walked til we came upon a spot where people had made over 20 rock towers and there was a waterfall that poured into the ocean. We walked up along the stream for a bit and took some pics.
When we got back we decided to take a shower- not together- and grab a quick bite. One refreshing shower and a slice of pizza later we bought a six pack of beers and lounged in a couple of the hotels hammocks that looked over a park. We just hung - get it?- around until we could hear some noises coming from town. We walked down to the happening bar and watched a couple show off their dance moves. We had another beer and then headed back to our room for some R and R.
We woke up to get some breakfast- yogurt and fruit and a passionfruit batido for me, and gathered our beach gear. I swear to you that I put sunscreen but let me warn you: Never underestimate the power of the sun here. I have the most unusual and mind boggling sun burns you have ever seen. We played in water- in my case as much as I can without getting my ear wet- and enjoyed the exfoliating properties of sand whipping about your body when the wind picks up.
Lunch was a pesto ckicken salad sandwich. So novel to be eating pesto in Costa Rica. We changed into our canopy clothing and took in quick nap. MMmmmmmm A/C.
We met up with the other people who were going to be in our zipline group at the shuttle and arrived at the main site relatively quickly. There were 8 lines I think. After the first 5 you arrive at a big waterfall which everyone jumped into- Except me. Pobrecita!
We then took the last three. It was awesome! I got some great views looking out to the ocean and a couple amazing shots to of the falls. Thanks Josh. Did I mention I love zip lining?
Side note: So I convinced Josh he should blog about his expereince and the other day when we were at the net cafe he turns to me and says,¨So I guess I have to mention you in this story I'm writing. Which means I have to go back to the beginning and explain who you are.¨ Thanks.
We got back and liked the idea of making some dinner in the hotels kitchen. We though pasta would be cheap. He picked out the sauce and I- trying to not be in control all the time- let him. When we got back to the hotel and started cooking I realzed he had just bought a can of chopped tomatoes. I told him the problem and his response was that we could just eat them on the pasta anyway. Oh hell, no!
I went back to the store- conveniently a 2 minute walk away- and bought a stick of margerine, an onion and some garlic. (No mom, they didn't have butter and I wasn't about to buy a whole
bottle of olive oil.) It was better than plain tomatoes.
I had an ice cream for dessert. Similar to a drumstick.
We just walked on the beach for a bit until I realized there were hermit crabs everywhere and I didn't want to step on one. Bed time.
The next morning we woke up early to eat some breakfast- Gallo Pinto and a mango batido for
me- before we had to catch the bus to the Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve. Unfortunately since we weren't going to be back before 11- checkout time- we had to bring our fully loaded backpacks. And since that was an activity we had not originally planned I wore my Crocs flip flops on our 3.5 hour hike. That's right, people. I said hike. The plan was to see animals but all we saw were some butterflies, a couple monkeys and some birds and lizards. The hike was to a beach that was beautiful. Even if I couldn't enjoy a swin when we got there.
Note: I am really feeling the loss of not being able to be submerged in water here.
Visiting a forest in Costa Rica is like visiting a city in another country. Of course it is different but the fundamnetals are the same. It was like I was walking through a forest in the Pacific Northwest or in New England. The plants and tree and even the wildlife were different but there was a overall similarity. Of course I am biased but I'll take the cascades over any other forest.
The hike smelled of fresh, damp hay. There were some minous noises that I was told were monkeys. They sounded more like a really loud, throaty stomach growl.
The trip back was long and involved being sticky from the hike while waiting for buses and ferrys and not having much cash on us and thus not eating a lot. We got home last night at 9:15.
I am in pain from my sunburns and I took a sizeable nap after class today.
Note: where is a chop on an animals? I think I had pork chops for lunch.....