Costa lot Rica

Crossing the border from Panama was an experience. It took 3 hours just waiting in a long queue because there was only 1 guard on both sides. ok. The bus rambled onto San jose, and en route we met a lovely swedish couple who we ended up hanging out with when we found a hostel in the city. After a few 'Imperial' beers and one of the best pizzas in my life we slept and decided to head North to Monteverde, a high altitude town where Canopy adventures began.



Again en route we made friends with a great dutch couple Steven en Emilie who we shared the duration of our stay in MV with. In Monteverde we opted for the 'Extreme' canopy experience. That is zip lines that stretch across the jungle trees connecting from one to the other. It was amazing, and the adrenaline rush was actually overwhelming as you are in control (or not) and in some cases 100m above the ground only attached to a thin wire by a clip. We had an awesome day and we BOTH did the tarzan swing and the special 'Superman' ride. I was very proud of Shireen as this was not for the feint hearted.





After MV we wanted to sample the beach action on the Nicoya peninsula. To get thee though was a whole day travelling on bus, taxi, ferry, bus, taxi and this was NOT cheap. The taxis were in US$ and it ended up costing us way beyond our daily budget and all our energy. To make it more fun we had drugged out hari chrishnas as neighbours. The next day the surf was pumping so I took a board and for 4 hours straight absolutely ripped it up. That was awesome. Then we had to move on buuuut with no buses around, the only option we had was to hire a private shuttle for $90, yes $90 for a 3hr ride to Playa Tamarindo or go all the way back to Monteverde, and then on another 2 buses. No way. We paid and eventually got to Playa Grande. This was also not cheap...Our cheapest room being @35 a night. That was our daily budget - gone!



So after eventually spending a lot of energy travelling and money ($500 in one week!!!) without doing much we decided to move out into Nicaragua. The fun didnt stop oh no. Our bus had to stop 12km before the border due to a huge traffic jam of trucks and lorrys. After 2 hours of waiting they went for it and tried to overtake. It was kind of successful but could only get as far as 3km from the border. SO we had to walk, with EVERYTHING all our luggage, and with no advice where to go and what to do. And it was Chaos, Absolute mayhem. Trucks, people, vendors everywhere all on this dusty path. We were exhausted again and lost. We managed to get our exit stamps from costa rica and then had the fun of finding the Nicaragua entry desk which was full of people crossing for the Christmas rush. Some Germans showed us the way to the bus area which looked like hell, seriously. And after 1 hour of trying to get some money together and our faith, we jumped on the only bus going anwhere near our destination. And yes it was rammed, hot and full of not only people but Chickens too. Amazing.