There was four of us from the hostel and Manfred (the tour guide and hostel owner) took us on his own tour. First of we were driven by another lady at the hostel to meet the Manfred, now I thought Mum was a bad driver, this women trumps her!!!
When we were on our way, our first stop was Tarcoles river where we saw crocodiles. Manfred said how usually there are only about five or six at the river but we must have counted at least 25. The bridge overlooking the river was busy, lots of tourist and a group of Americans. All of a sudden they were screaming and cue OMG!!
Apparently a poor little monkey was trying to cross the river and he fell and the crocodiles ate him. I missed it which I´m glad of but was wondering what it would have been like if one of the people fell off the bridge.... Just wondering...
A bird was walking close to the water and I had my camera at the ready just in case they felt hungry again but Manfred said they don´t normally touch the birds, much to my disappointment.
The change in weather from San Jose to over the Pacific side was incredible. San Jose is far less humid and lower temperature, whereas it was so hot and sticky over the other side. I´m not complaining as it was lovely to have the heat and luckily I was sitting in the front so I wasn´t squashed in the back, I´m not actually sure how I managed that considering I am the smallest one but just goes to show whoever gets there first I suppose (small victories...!)
We then headed to the beautiful beach of Punta Leona which means Lioness in Spanish. The road down to the beach was a small dirt track, lots of pot holes but it was nice as it clearly wasn´t the typical tour guide beach.
When we arrived we had to walk through a little forest and on some beams over a river to get to the beach. It´s actually a beach for a hotel but they haven´t made it completely exclusive yet. We found a nice shady spot under some trees and headed straight for the water.
The water was an odd sandy colour but it was still fairly clear. It was so warm. It reminded me a little of Cuba, like walking into a bath.
I went back to get my camera and to my surprise there was a naughty raccoon trying to get inside our bags. I thought it was really cute but also mindful of the fact it was a wild animal, I did what all tourist do... I got my camera out and started snapping.
When I decided I had enough pictures, I figured I better tell someone that our bags are getting raided. Manfred told me to shoe him away... I started to throw stones near him (clearly not at him, that would just be mean) and all the little bugger did was look at the stone then look at me, it was quite amusing actually. A local decided to come over and help get him away so that was good.
We then decided to walk around to the other side to the other beach. The walk was a little difficult in flip flops as lots of stones to walk over and climbing but as soon as I saw the other beach, it was well worth it. It was a little busier than the other (that must be where the tour groups normally go) but it was still wonderful.
I made a few little messages in the sand, one for Stu and another was "Costa Rica 2012". But unfortunately when I got back to the hostel and tried to upload all my pictures, I managed to corrupt my memory card. I´m gutted as I had some great pictures but thankful it was only one week in and not towards the end of my trip.
After the beach we headed off to Jaco to get some lunch. Manfred took me to an ATM as I hadn´t been able to withdraw cash since getting here, I was starting to panic until I realised the machines I was using didn´t accept Mastercard. Thankfully that´s all sorted now.
We went to a nice little restaurant just off the beach. On the TV was the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics. I thought it was amazing and kept laughing, especially at Mr. Bean´s set. I was really proud to be watching and actually a little sad that I am missing it. I´ve asked my brother to record the Gymnastics and horse riding for me so hopefully he will.
Lunch was really nice, typical rice, beans, chicken and banana. I never actually eat the banana, it´s just too weird. For lunch and a drink cost 2 pounds and 73p. Bargain!!
After lunch we drove along the famous Jaco beach, personally I wasn´t impressed. The sand looked dirty and so did the sea, I much preferred the first beach we went to.
Then we went to our final stop, Hermosa Beach. It was really dark sand and the waves were crashing into the shore. It was lovely as the sun had started to set and I just sat up against a fallen tree reading my book (What better scene to read about naughty Mr. Grey).
The beach was lovely, quite, still and peaceful, until a hermit crap decided to take a seat next to me. Let´s just say my scream and jumping up about 10 foot in the air ruined the tranquil moment. This of course amused Manfred no end.
We left the beach just after 5pm to head back to the hostel It took over two hours to get back so I was very sleepy by the time I got in. I was looking forward to a nice hot shower, but who am I kidding. This is a hostel so I settled for a luke warm one.
On the way back, the sky kept flashing. I wasn´t sure if it was lightening or fireworks but it turned out to be lightening. It was amazing. Everytime it flashed, I smiled. It was really odd as sometimes I´m actually scared of lightening but it just looked so beautiful and it´s the first time I´ve seen lightening without thunder or rain.
During the night though it made up with the rain. It rained from about 10pm until gone 6am. It was so loud crashing down but it sounded fantastic, such energy.
Today is my final day in the hostel, I am heading over to my joining hotel this afternoon. I´ve really enjoyed my first experience in a hostel and it is all thanks to the wonderful owners Manfred and Meylinge. I would certainly highly recommend Costa Rica Love Hostel.
Good book to be reading!! Really glad the hostel owners are nice. It sounds like they have made a nice difference to your stay, less touristy and more local which is so much better!!! Poor monkey!!
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