La Fortuna

So we arrived in La Fortuna after our approximately four hour shuttle ride and stopped immediately at Backpackers Hostel. I think it’s only claim to being a hostel is the dorm rooms. It has a pool, and a restaurant, and a bar, and you get the idea. I was fairly frusterated with the hostel upon arriving when I discovered their rates are in USD only, and when they change it into Colones they exchange at 590 to 1 (the real exchange rate is 520-540 to 1). This means that if you pay for your room in Colones for a few nights you may end up spending as much as 8-10 more USD for your room, or a little less than a nights stay. C’est la vie; you deal with these kinds of things when you’re travelling. The next day after getting breakfast Matt, one of the Coloradans I was travelling with, and I rented dirt bikes for 45.00$ for six hours. This seemed a bit steep, but I was rapidly discovering that Costa Rica is far more expensive than I had anticipated. In the range of 40-50 more USD a day expensive. Anyway, it’s been a few years since I’ve ridden a dirt bike, but once I get the hang of it again we’re off. We planned to ride some trails by the volcano, but when we get there the trails are less readily available than we thought. And of course, yours truly, manages to skid out. Nothing serious just a few scrapes. I clean myself up again and we’re off. To give you an idea of how bad these bikes are, while I’m shifting gears, the clutch breaks off. And no, it had nothing to do with the crash. Miraculously we find the clutch in the road. I can shift well enough that we drive to a chop shop in a nearby town. The man working there is gracious enough to weld the clutch back on! Huzzah! So we ride around for most of the rest of our time. When we go to return the bikes the man asks for 170.00 USD for repairs. Tres Cher, no? I thought so at any rate and found some American tour guides who spoke fluent Spanish (the same guides who helped us rent the bikes in the first place) to bargain on my behalf. I had asked locals, and the damage should have cost closer to 50.00 and at the very most 100.00 USD. As soon as my friends arrive and start arguing the price jumps to 345.00, claiming I’d bent the frame and that they would have to replace the whole thing. The bike is worth, possibly, 350-400 USD total. Bullshit. Anyway, I refuse to pay the exorbitant sum, and leave. When I arrive back at my hostel I discover that my bank account has been charged 400 dollars. Time for a dispute. As of right now, we’re still processing, but fingers crossed. That night I go out with the group of Coloradans and happen to bump into the guys who helped from earlier. We all form into a big group, and go to the local Discothèque. Somehow we managed to find ourselves the only Americans. It was fun, and interesting to watch, but also clear we weren’t really supposed to be there. The next morning we stayed by the pool before catching a shuttle to Montezuma, a beach town on the Nicoya Peninsula.

Monte Verde

I arrived at the San Jose airport at approximately noon; I cleared customs and immediately headed to the bus stop to catch a bus to Monte Verde, a mountain town. On the ride over my taxi driver convinced me I should go to La Fortuna first, but I had missed that bus and decided that Monte Verde would have to do. I had about an hour to kill in the bus stop, and grabbed some lunch and a few beers before hopping on the bus. On the ride up there I had the pleasure of meeting two Dutch guys named Joep (pronounced yoop) and Bart. They are brothers; Bart had flown into Costa Rica to meet his brother. I ended up getting a hostel with them. It’s a great hostel, called Sleepers, highly recommended. We arrived late enough that we couldn’t do much that night save go to the store and buy some food, cook, and go out. It wasn’t the greatest night at the bars, but the next morning we went on a zip line tour which was incredible. Monte Verde, during the rainy season, is soaking wet. I discovered this. Despite the cold and wet, the zip lines were incredible. We zoomed over a large valley, usually, spanning half a kilometer or more. They also had a Tarzan swing, which is basically a large tire swing, and a superman swing which was over a kilometer. After the adventures we grabbed lunch and relaxed for the rest of the day. The next day we went out with a large group of people, including several Coloradans. I would end up following the Coloradans to La Fortuna the next day. In the morning, lacking the time to do much, we hiked in St. Elena national forest. It’s a rain forest. It’s wet. It’s one of the most incredibly green places I’ve ever been. To say the least I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Then, as I said, we caught a shuttle to La Fortuna which is the town next to Arenal Volcano. The shuttle was fun; it included a boat ride across a small lake, which tickled my fancy nicely.