Costa Rica Part 2 - Quepos, Montezuma & Tamarindo!

After the fabulous 5 day break in Panama, we were ready to return to Costa Rica to continue our jungle journey. Our first stop, after striding through the border bridge with a tad more confidence than before, was San Jose. Following a one night nondescript stopover in the city, we hopped on a bus to Quepos to experience life on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica.

The accommodation we found was great, complete with swimming pool and a number of extremely 'well' fed dogs. Unfortunately we had to stay in a dorm that night in order to secure the private room for the next night, so it was kind of like being 12 years old at some holiday camp, sleeping across from each other on the top bunk in a room full of people, but it was a giggle!

That night we went out into the little town and had the most fabulous homemade burgers and chips - they were delicious, best ever! We then chilled in the hostel, playing table football until late. As I went to brush my teeth in the communal bathroom in the dark, a 2 ton Rottweiler came charging at me & I very nearly ended up in the pool....! Luckily my 'dog whisperer' skills came in handy (that, or my rather loud shrieking!) and the dog got bored, or rather ran out of breath & collapsed in a pile on the floor instead!

The next day we moved to our new private room to escape the snoring drunks & then went out to Manuel Antonio National Park, a short bus journey from Quepos.

The beach we were dropped at was lovely and we entered the park in beaming sunshine to be greeted by huge lizards basking in the heat. We took a little hike round the park and found a spot with an incredible view of the ocean, absolutely stunning.

We climbed down to a rocky beach for more photo opportunities and then made our way to the main beach in the park to stop for lunch.

This time we had learned our lesson, and we ate our food very fast, with our eyes peeled for hairy little bandits, which were appearing everywhere in the form of naughty raccoons and cheeky little monkeys. While we were in the sea, a family from the US saved our bag from getting soaked when the tide came in which we were very grateful for.

We had a little chat with them and then as they weren't looking, a particularly brave white faced capuchin shot down from a tree & snatched their massive bag of crisps right out of the lady's hands!! The terrors strike again, the cheek of it! They also discovered later a load of crabs in their bags because the monkeys had pulled the zip open searching for more food - unbelievable!!

A blue footed booby bird was on the shoreline which I was very excited about - they are brilliant birds with their amazing blue feet, but we didn't take any photos as the poor little thing was really hurt with a savagely broken wing. Some people had gone off to get a ranger and one little girl sat with the bird talking to it, just like I used to do if there was an animal hurt, which was very sweet.

Further exploration of the park brought us to a clearing guarded by two crazy looking monkeys, who decided to let us pass, but had a seriously wild look in their eyes - it was a real reminder that we were in their territory. Once out of the park we were faced with the most brilliant sunset that lit up the whole sky as the sun sunk into the sea. It was incredible.

That night we couldn't resist the cheap, delicious homemade burgers and chips once more! We then chilled in a bar with a Coke to plan the rest of our travel in Costa Rica - a watertight itinerary of all the amazing things we wanted to make sure we didn't miss out on, before returning to the hostel to relax in the luxury of the private pool.

The next journey led us to Puntarenas to catch a ferry onwards to Montezuma. The ferry ride was wonderful in itself, but incredibly hot. As my see-through skin was still aclimatising, Captain Sup ordered me under the deck in the shade

to hide from the blazing rays!! Once in Montezuma, it took some time to find available accommodation but we finally found a beachside surf-shack style place and settled in.

Finding a cockroach in the first 5 minutes, we quickly changed rooms and after a thorough check of our new room, we were satisfied that there were no unwanted visitors and headed out to the town.

Some yummy toffee chocolate icecreams gave us some energy in the heat and after stumbling across the pools leading to a waterfall, we decided to go for a climb, complete with my handbag...u can take a girly girl travelling,

but you will never take her makeup, hair straighteners or handbag away!! As it was starting to get a bit dark, we decided to leave the best part til the next day when we could really enjoy it, so we went to have a drink and dinner.

Our hostel was having a Reggae beach party, so we bought baguettes and tortilla chips and had a picnic on the beach with some of our rum left over from New Years Eve, enjoying the music until we realised lots of tiny little crabs were running over us on the dark beach and we scuttled inside!

The next day we decided to have a change of scenery and switched to a different hostel. We then went to explore the waterfalls properly and we were certainly not disappointed. We climbed all the way and were greeted with an incredible, beautiful waterfall in a clearing. Sup had his lenses in, so it was up to me to man up to the challenge of jumping off the big rock into the waterfall pool below. And I did it! Twice I might add. I started with the smaller jump which was easy enough, but must admit for the higher jump it took about 10 minutes of mathematical workings out to decide whether I would be able to jump far enough out to land in the water rather than the rocks below. Of course, I was nowhere near and just being a big chicken!

We then both swam in the waterfall pool with a school of fish swimming around us. The water felt incredibly fresh and cool, completely different to the feeling of sea water.
Later that day we tried to make it to an animal sanctuary, but the bus left 45 minutes late and by the time we were dropped off, we were told there was only one bus coming back into the town in 5 minutes, otherwise we'd have to hitchhike home! Deciding against this option, we jumped straight on the next bus and went back, heading into town instead for a drink and dinner.

Our whirlwind tour continued the next day as we travelled once again by bus onwards to Tamarindo, known locally as 'Tamagringo' due to the touristy nature of the place. Refusing to be put off by what some felt did not represent the true Costa Rican life, we wanted to see for ourselves. We ended up in another surf-shack style place, but this one had charm, and hammock chairs to chill in, so we were happy.

We made dinner in the hostel that night, then headed to the beach the next day, having lunch in the roasting sunshine and playing in the waves with the gorgeous Pelicans and Terns divebombing in the water for fish.

We were again blessed with a luscious sunset before we left for the day. Unfortunately once we got home, the full extent of the powerful sun became painfully obvious as my face puffed out like a blowfish and my skin turned boiling lobster red.....! The rest of the night involved an immense amount of aftersun to soothe my burning flesh.

We returned to the beach the following day, but I was relegated to the shade for the day - Sup found a lovely spot under a tree where he could enjoy the sun with his superior skin and I could hide sheepishly in the shadows..! We both loved the beach and were surprised by the fact that we pretty much had the whole stretch to ourselves. Tamarindo may not have a National Park and the town is certainly designed for tourists, but we really liked it and were glad we had experienced another side of the country.

The next day, we took a local bus to Liberia, stopping to have a cheeky McDonalds before catching the Tica bus to cross the border to our 5th country of our trip so far...Nicaragua!

written by

SupandNic on February 27, 2010 from Quepos, Costa Rica

from the travel blog: Sup and Nic's World Tour!

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