I forgot to mention, in my last post, one amazing thing I saw. As we were on our last of 4 buses travelling to Tamarindo from Nicuragua, I saw an older gentleman riding a horse. It stuck out in my mind because, before it registered what he was doing, it just looked like he was going really slowly. In fact, he was passaging. He did a little trip around the back of the bus and then was even going at an angle into the forest beside the road. It was beautiful! It made me think of my grandpa, I could see him doing something like that! I'm pretty sure the guy was even wearing dress shoes!
Sunset in paradise:
Anyways, we were so grateful to be in a chill place, like Tamarindo. We booked a surf lesson for our first day at 1pm, so we had a few hours in the morning when we could go to the beach. I love the beach! The sand was great and didn't blow all over us. The tide was low so we could see huge rocks sticking out of the water. We found a shady spot under a palm tree and started reading our books, enjoying the sound of the waves. Before too long, we were accosted by vendors selling wares: pottery, jewellery, these little singing bird whistles. It was non stop through the entire time at the beach...it got a bit old. For those of you who don't know, Jan is addicted to Fresca, and just as we got to the beach, she said, "oh man I wish I had a Fresca"...well there's a man who sells those too! She was a happy camper! (I should mention that Fresca tastes different here, mainly because it has no aspartame!) The water was so beautiful and, when I went in, I was able to walk out for ages in the shallow water. It was so refreshing, but not cold. I floated around in the waves, soaking up the sun, but pretty soon it was time to leave. We grabbed some tacos for lunch, which we shared and then Miguel, our surf instructor, was meeting us for surf lessons. We got rash guards to protect our upper body, and let's just say for modesty, because my bathing suit top didn't have a chance against falling into crashing waves. Miguel took us down to the beach and asked us about whether we were regular or goofy. I had no idea what he was talking about. It turns out regular is right footed and goofy is left. He tested us by having us stand in front of him on our surf boards and then he pushed us forward. Which ever foot we landed on was the foot we would surf with at the back of our board. I used both legs so he needed to test me an extra time. After some practice jumping onto the board, he took us out into the waves. We would lay on our boards and he would count to 3 and push our board, then we would "jump"up, theoretically. The first time, I made it up to my knees before crashing face first into the salt water. This continued...for 2 hours. I basically just had a head full of brine! I made it to my feet a few times, but just barely held it before I was falling. Jan was great though! She was able to surf the waves a few times! By the end, my elbows were raw and I was done. It was a fun time though! We had a snack and then decided to chill for a bit. After dinner (of falafel and hummous, Yum), we decided to have a nap. It was ladies night and that means we could drink for free at a number of bars. But, I needed some quiet time first. Sharky's,where we'd had our frozen mojitos the night before, was packed as it was UFC. So we bought some 2 for 1 frozen mojitos somewhere else. Just as we were finished drinking them, and as we were watching the lady make a new batch, we noticed that she took out lime juice concentrate from the fridge and added tap water....uh oh! We looked at each other and cringed. I'm sure we'd be ok! We went to Sharky's next and had a few rum punches. The crowd was a bit different though...bikers, locals, tourists...strange mix. 
Afterwards, we decided to head to the beach for a full moon party. When we arrived there were black lights strung up in trees with colourful ribbons and other neon objects that glowed. People were wearing neon paint and electronic music was playing. We went to line up for the washroom but realized you had to pay! We hadn't brought much money as we weren't planning on buying any drinks, it was ladies night! We decided to enjoy the place for a little bit longer before heading back to our hostel. I was famished...who isn't at 1 am? So we stopped and I got a hamburger...I'm sure Jan was thinking "omg, Kirsty is going to die" (she was actually, I asked her) as he reheated the patty on the BBQ. But it was so delicious! We headed back to the room and crashed! We were awoken at 7 am by the cleaners...seriously. Jan, hadn't been feeling well all morning and we were both tired... At 9, I finally got up, after listening to them yell in my ear for 2 hours and the lady was sitting, right outside my door, talking to her friend in the kitchen. I told her we were trying to sleep and she was being loud. For the rest of the day, she shot daggers at me. But, come on, you work in a place where people sleep! So rude! Jan wasn't feeling good so opted to stay in bed. I puttered around for the morning and then went down to the beach. 
It was so hot though, and no shade in the afternoon, so I only lasted an hour and a half before I came back to the hostel. Let's talk about this hostel for a minute. It was on the main strip, so great location, but must have been co-owned with a restaurant as the door to the restaurant's kitchen was always open and faced into the common area of the hostel. Did I mention the restaurant specialized in smoking meat. I can't even tell you how smelly it was. On top of that the garbage always smelled, from the hostel ror the kitchen I do not know. But, it's about 40 degrees with humididty so do some visualizing for a moment...yep, it was that bad! Then, in order to get to the private rooms, the showers, or the toilets, you had to walk through this tiny kitchen, which also always stank. People would leave out dishes, pots and pans, or the garbage, which just always semlled. Our room had a smell at first too, but we must have gotten used to it. It was such a weird space. We were grateful for the wifi, when it worked, but couldn't wait to get out of there. With Jan not feeling well we kept things low key, just staying close to the hostel and going out for short trips for food or to browse a shop.
This lizard climbed a tree and ate all the leaves that were left on its branches:
Jan was feeling slightly better but was still fighting a travel bug (if you catch my drift) so we decided, after asking at reception, to take a shuttle to the cloud forest, which cost us $40 U.S. Apparently, the local buses going to Monteverde take 7-9 hours, and we just couldn't deal with that again so soon. We hung out at our hostel until 2pm before we had to leave, puttering and doing some shopping. It was so hot, I was sweating just sitting in the shade. The shuttle we'd booked was only meant to take 3.5 hours. It took 4.5, but was air conditioned at least. Well, for the most part. The first van was at the beginning but then hot air started blowing on my feet to the point that I thought my sandals might melt. The second van was great though. The view was beautiful! At our stop, to switch shuttle vans, we noticed giant red birds (maybe parrots) sitting in pairs. 
We kept hearing something loud hitting the ground and finally noticed monkeys, in a mango tree, eating to their hearts content, as well as tossing the fruit to the ground. 
We were careful not to stand under that tree. People were coming out of the restaurant to collect the mangos...not sure if I would do that! Once, we started climbing the mountain, hill, whatever we're on to get to Monteverde, the air got so much cooler that the AC inside the van was actually too cold. As we rose over the countryside, and the sun was setting, it just absolutely took my breath away. The views are stunning. Green vegetation ripples over valleys. Gorgeous. At one point, we stopped to watch a sloth climb across an electical wire. 
so cool! We arrived at our hostel, and while really old and tired looking, it was also really clean. Jan checked the mattresses, and they were in great condition! I got Pooh...she's using Dora! lol
We went to a resaurant recommended to us by the hostel and then turned in. Jan's tummy is still pretty upset, especially if she eats. But we're hoping she'll be better soon. The wind howling through the windows last night didn't keep me up as I thought, though the loud family yelling in the halls at 6 am did. Do people really have no clue. Maybe I'm not quite feeling Pura Vida...yet.
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