Monkeys, a waterfall and a...skunk?
Trip Start
Aug 18, 2009
1
16
39
Trip End
Feb 05, 2010
Montezuma, Province of Puntarenas, Costa Rica
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Montezuma turned out to be alright...much too expensive for our taste, but we got to see some cool stuff while we were there, so I appreciate the experience. Thursday turned out to be a beautiful sunny day with not a drop of rain in sight, so I hightailed it straight to the beach- Playa Grande, to be exact, which is about a 40 minute walk from town. The coastline is breathtaking; there are enormous waves breaking constantly on clusters of rocks that are separated by stretches of sandy beach. Playa Grande itself is about 1Km long and at low tide, it seems like it's that wide as well! It's perfect for swimming and surfing, and is the main attraction for tourists and locals alike as far as beaches in the area are concerned. I spent the day in the sun, reading and swimming with some local surf teachers and their students. I had offers for free lessons, but I just haven't worked up the confidence yet! Plus, the waves were WAY too intimidating that day- apparently October brings the largest waves of the year, and somehow that doesn't seem conducive to being a beginner surfer. I kept my distance from the big waves and hung on the beach with the millions of hermit crabs crawling around.
Farrah showed up later that night after traveling from just across the Golfo de Nicoya. It was so great to see a familiar face from Boquete! We met there at the hostel Refugio del Rio and have kept in touch since. She's a southern gal from Texas, currently living in Austin (well, not currently, currently, but you know what I mean), and so far we've had a blast! That night we hung around the hostel and headed out for a few beers at the local bar aka the ONLY bar in town, for reggae night...but really, it was nothing worth writing about. Our hostel, on the other hand, is totally worth writing about. It was incredible! For those of you who haven't been to Montezuma, I will do my best to give you the lay of the land. When you come into Montezuma, you come down a mountain towards the coast. Once you get down to the bottom, to sea level, you have 2 main streets that intersect aka "downtown" or the "Center". There are a handful of souvenir shops, restaurants and tour agencies lining the streets which have beaches on either side. Our hostel was in the jungle on the hill on the way into town. So although it was a little bit of hike to get back from town (and then up the 5467 stairs to our room) it was worth it. We had our own private cabina complete with monkeys at our door and 2 very friendly raccoon night guards, for only 25 bucks a night! Not to mention that the owners couldn't have been more helpful. We also saw a SKUNK! It wasn't your typical North American skunk..this guy was little and spotted and well, cute! In addition, we saw armadillo and 2 types of monkeys- howler and white faced monkeys. I felt like I was staying in a real-life zoo!
Friday we went with 2 guys from the hostel to hike the waterfall that's just outside of town. It took us about 45 minutes to get to the trail head- 45 minutes of walking pretty much straight uphill. After we hit the trail, it was about another 20 minutes to the waterfall. It wasn't a difficult hike, per say, but it was challenging in the hot, hot sun...and I definitely lost about a gallon of water weight on the way up, but it was all worth it. The waterfalls were beautiful and COOL! The guys did the usual jumping-off-the-rocks-into-water-where-we-can't-see-the-rocks thing and Farrah and I perched ourselves in a stream and relaxed. After a couple of hours we headed back down the hill to catch some afternoon beach rays and watch the surfers take on the huge breaks. It's very entertaining, it makes me tired just watching them! All that paddling...
Anyways, we laid low that night, made some dinner, played some cards at the hostel and practiced our Spanish with Aquilles, the night guard. We decided to pack it up and move it out the next day, on to Santa Teresa, which is just on the other side of the peninsula. So I got the sunrise in Montezuma checked off my list, not it's off to the sunsets on the western side! Best of both worlds...
Overall Montezuma is a chill, relaxing place. It's very artsy and small but also has a strong surfer community..I can see how one could get stuck there for a while! Costa Rica in general is super expensive in comparison to everywhere else in Central America, which is what everyone has told me..I guess I just had to figure it out on my own! It's beautiful, don't get me wrong, but I won't be lingering here much longer..off to cheaper places! For now though..... PURA VIDA!!
ps- I'm having some trouble uploading photos at the moment, so I'll post them later and send a notification...sorry!
Comments
really? 5467??
you have become a serious hiker! But steps??? See why other countries don't have gyms?? Glad you didn't jump off cliffs with the guys. Animal frenzy at hostel is absolute bonus - many pay thousands to go to reserves for the experience; you? $25!! Way to go chica!! Journey on, Lucy