Endless Summer III

The gang arrived late one night after a five hour drive in a party van, carrying with them the greater contents of the duty free liquor department. Needless to say, it did not take long before Doody was using a Doritos bag as a pillow and Ashley was passed out in the hammock.

 
The next two days we hung out around Tamarindo, and everyone displayed their greatest effort at surfing, especially Geiger, who had dubbed himself "The Great White Surfer." Although I think the ladies showed the greatest natural talent, with Ashley and Abby standing up on their first waves, we were certain that within a few days we would be getting shot out of tubes! We also spent time cultivating our skin cancer, in addition to checking out the local stores, restaurants and mixed drinks. They were also treated to the fine, cultured nightlife here in Tamarindo. While ladies often drink for free, there is always a price to pay, whether it's being hit on by sleazy locals or that hangover the next day from that strange jungle juice. We grilled and played cards and were treated to an evening of Abby’s finest jokes!

After a few days on the beach we all headed out into the wilderness to see some of what the real Costa Rica has to offer. We decided to do a combination road trip to see the Arenal Volcano and the Monteverde cloud forest. The first stop was Arenal, where a long morning of bumpy travel, put us at the base of an active volcano, which we had a nice view of from our hotel. Along the way we stopped for photos, got up close and personal with some couti mundis (who have been robbed of their wild ways by ignorant tourists!), and some of us saw a sloth for 0.5 seconds going by the car window at 70 mph. Since light was fading fast we headed to the Arenal national park and did a hike around the area, stopping to admire the massive trees and fun hanging vines, then watched the sunset over the lake. We unfortunately did not witness any spewing lava or visit that infamous German bakery, but I’m sure Derek and Luke’s tears were absorbed by their massive pancakes that morning on our way to Monteverde.

The road into the mountains on our way to Monteverde was paved primarily with potholes, but the views along the way were amazing. There were lots of beautiful trees, cows, coffee plantations, and stunning scenery of the valley bellow. As usual it took us longer than expected to get there thanks to the roads. As soon as we arrived we signed up for a cloud forest hike across hanging bridges, then set out to do an impressive zip line course. Soon enough we were harnessed and flying through and above the canopy at speeds which can make your eyes water. It was especially fun to get a unique perspective of the surrounding landscape, which made for a truly fun experience that we will not soon forget.

All that sitting in the air can really work up an appetite, and in one of our more “American” moments, we all rushed to the car afterwards to shovel down the breakfast leftovers that had been baking in the sun all day. And yes, I literally mean shovel (we used potato chips as the mechanism). In mid-gorge we looked up to see a van full of locals looking at us in horror; we probably looked like zoo animals at feeding time, that you would think were on the verge of starving to death. The fact that Ashley was loudly inquiring about the safety of eating car-baked meats did not help our cause much either I suppose.

On the way back we found ourselves driving through a small lively town at the base of the mountains called Juntas, where locals were walking through the streets, with music playing and a soccer match being played on the town's central field. Wanting to stay a bit longer, we decided to watch the end of the game and then stop for dinner and drinks to refuel. We later found out that all the liveliness was due to local elections that were being held. I also witnessed my new favorite means of advertisement, where a guy on a little motorized bike was carting HUGE speakers behind him that were blasting out political messages mixed with music. That combination is deafening and impossible to ignore!

In our last few days together we hung out around Tamarindo, enjoying more of the beach and sunsets. Abby spent some quality time drinking her new favorite soft drink, Squirt, and Ashley spent some quality time on the bathroom floor with the squirts!

But being the trooper that she is, she rallied for a sunset catamaran cruise filled with snorkeling and as much food and drink as you can put in your face, just in time to take sunset photos in a bathing suit. Sadly all journeys must come to an end, but I hope that they will take comfort in knowing that in the coldest depths of winter, while scraping ice off their windshields, I will be laying in the sun and having a siesta in a hammock ;-) and that they came come back and visit anytime!