What a place Costa Rica is.. It has everything from the perfect surf in my last post, to great nightlife, tropical rain forests with heaps of wildlife and even active volcanoes.
After the massive surfing session at Ollie's Point and Witches Rock, it was hard to surf the smaller breaks in and around Tamarindo, but we still got some great waves over the next few days. Daz reckons he saw a crocodile near the river mouth one day so we got out quickly, but apart from that, we had some good little sessions. We partied pretty hard as well, with the nightlife in town being pretty crazy. We met a heap of people at our hostel from Israel, Canada, Sweden and the US and they all wanted to party, so every time we went out, we had a massive crew. One of the nights we headed to a bar where they had a band and it turns out it was jam night! Anyone could get up there and take over the band, so we played a few songs.. Was a great night and yet another country we could add to the list of gigs for Afterglo.. Great times :)
One night out on the town that wasn't quite as good as that was our last night in Tamarindo. An argument over a game of pool escalated into a guy smashing a beer bottle on my head from behind and then his mate hit me in the face with a pool que.. Ouch!! Turns out the locals dont muck around when it comes to bar fights and I was lucky to get out of it with only 3 stitches and a black eye! A couple of the other boys copped a few hits as well but only fists, and all in all we were quite lucky.
Anyways, we loved our time in Tamarindo but it was time to see some more of Costa Rica. So a little sore, we sold our surfboards to a local surf shop (I got a sweet $20 for the banged up and well used 'Firestick' and also got $20 more for my fins from one of the yanks) and headed for the active Arenal volcano in the centre of the country.
The town near the Arenal volcano is called La Fortuna and had the best backpackers hostel ever! It was a great place with a pool and you could see the volcano looming over the entire town. We took a trip to the base of the volcano, and on the hike, we saw a heap of wildlife including toucans, spiders, monkeys, wild turkeys and snakes. Our tour guide had been there in 1968 when the volcano first erupted and showed us photos of before and after the eruption. He knew his stuff about the volcano and the wildlife and was a great tour. 
We
After the massive surfing session at Ollie's Point and Witches Rock, it was hard to surf the smaller breaks in and around Tamarindo, but we still got some great waves over the next few days. Daz reckons he saw a crocodile near the river mouth one day so we got out quickly, but apart from that, we had some good little sessions. We partied pretty hard as well, with the nightlife in town being pretty crazy. We met a heap of people at our hostel from Israel, Canada, Sweden and the US and they all wanted to party, so every time we went out, we had a massive crew. One of the nights we headed to a bar where they had a band and it turns out it was jam night! Anyone could get up there and take over the band, so we played a few songs.. Was a great night and yet another country we could add to the list of gigs for Afterglo.. Great times :)
One night out on the town that wasn't quite as good as that was our last night in Tamarindo. An argument over a game of pool escalated into a guy smashing a beer bottle on my head from behind and then his mate hit me in the face with a pool que.. Ouch!! Turns out the locals dont muck around when it comes to bar fights and I was lucky to get out of it with only 3 stitches and a black eye! A couple of the other boys copped a few hits as well but only fists, and all in all we were quite lucky.
Anyways, we loved our time in Tamarindo but it was time to see some more of Costa Rica. So a little sore, we sold our surfboards to a local surf shop (I got a sweet $20 for the banged up and well used 'Firestick' and also got $20 more for my fins from one of the yanks) and headed for the active Arenal volcano in the centre of the country.
The town near the Arenal volcano is called La Fortuna and had the best backpackers hostel ever! It was a great place with a pool and you could see the volcano looming over the entire town. We took a trip to the base of the volcano, and on the hike, we saw a heap of wildlife including toucans, spiders, monkeys, wild turkeys and snakes. Our tour guide had been there in 1968 when the volcano first erupted and showed us photos of before and after the eruption. He knew his stuff about the volcano and the wildlife and was a great tour. 
We arrived at the base of the volcano just as it was getting dark and could see red hot lava flowing out.. It was a little cloudy but was still great to see. When the cloud cleared, you gould see the orange glow coming from the top of the creater. Was very cool.
After the volcano tour, we headed to the Baldi hot springs for dinner and a swim. These natural springs are heated by the volcano and have been turned into a wicked water park, with wet bars in the middle of the springs and even a water slide! They were about 60 degs and it was a wicked place. Even when it started raining, it was still toasty in the pools.
The next day we headed to a town on the Carribean side of Costa Rica called Puerto Veijo. It is a tiny town near the border of Panama, and is a lot different to the rest of Costa Rica. The people who live here are mainly from Jamaca and Cuba, etc so the town has a real rustifarian feel. There is no surf here as its the wrong time of year but the snorkelling s great, with a couple of coral reefs just off the coast.
Unfortunately, due to the 1 stich in my forehead (courtesy of the pool que) I can't put a snorkel mask on so i haven't seen it yet!! But the other lads are out there checking it out and say its pretty crazy. I should be able to check it out in a few more days when the forehead is healed.
We have about 5 more days until we fly out of Costa Rica to Cancun, Mexico so we plan to travel along the Carribean coast for a bit. There's a lot of cool little towns here and we might even travel into Panama for a night or 2.
Can't upload photos in this internet cafe but will try to add some to this blog in the next town. Got some great pics to add :) Cheers..
After the volcano tour, we headed to the Baldi hot springs for dinner and a swim. These natural springs are heated by the volcano and have been turned into a wicked water park, with wet bars in the middle of the springs and even a water slide! They were about 60 degs and it was a wicked place. Even when it started raining, it was still toasty in the pools.
The next day we headed to a town on the Carribean side of Costa Rica called Puerto Veijo. It is a tiny town near the border of Panama, and is a lot different to the rest of Costa Rica. The people who live here are mainly from Jamaca and Cuba, etc so the town has a real rustifarian feel. There is no surf here as its the wrong time of year but the snorkelling s great, with a couple of coral reefs just off the coast.Unfortunately, due to the 1 stich in my forehead (courtesy of the pool que) I can't put a snorkel mask on so i haven't seen it yet!! But the other lads are out there checking it out and say its pretty crazy. I should be able to check it out in a few more days when the forehead is healed.
We have about 5 more days until we fly out of Costa Rica to Cancun, Mexico so we plan to travel along the Carribean coast for a bit. There's a lot of cool little towns here and we might even travel into Panama for a night or 2.
Can't upload photos in this internet cafe but will try to add some to this blog in the next town. Got some great pics to add :) Cheers..
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