rattle rattle rattle

The road to Monteverde is a GOAT PATH. The locals have been petitioning the government not to pave the road because they want to keep the general tourists out and only have the really dedicated ones arrive. Keeps them texans out!

It was 3.5 very very very bumpy hours from La Fortuna to Monteverde. We were both feeling much better! Although alison´s bum hurt a bit from the injection still.

Arriving in Monteverde we felt a bit like walking dollar signs. As soon as we pulled in we were acosted with suggestions of where to stay. We resisted and went with the lonely planet suggestion La Pension Santa Elena, a nice little hostel run by an american lady and her brother. While the driveway smelled like a septic tank, the bed wasnt that comfy we really liked the vibe the place exuded and the lady who ran the place was really helpful in finding good places to go, eat etc. Most often the hostel doesnt matter nearly as much as the people running it.

That night we took it pretty easy.

Next morning we went zip lining....wow..this is fun...you zip along a 1.5cm, 1600 meter long cable over the jungle canopy. Kinda scary, but, the view is exhillarating. We met some really nice travellers and ran into the cute little british chick and her boyfriend again(they stayed at the same hostel as us in la fortuna). The funny thing about travelling is that you end up running into the same people randomly over and over throughout your trip. In between zip lining we did this thing called the tarzan swing. For me it was more like the crush your nuts swing, but, none theless really fun. You jump off this 20´ platform, free fall for a few feet then swing out over the jungle only to be snagged by two ticos at the bottom.

After the zip lining was over we did the hanging bridges, which was OK.....

We sat outside the hotel drinking beers and canned cuba libres for the rest of the day.

The next day we awoke and took another really bumpy journey filled with fire ants, bickering men (our buddies trey and cliff) and photo raping. We photo raped many locals, which is when you use a 200mm telephoto lens to take peoples picture without them knowing. Photos turn out better this way.

We´re now in samara beach, on the nicoya peninsula and have finally made it out surfing. In between getting our sunburn and setting up my hammock for the first time we managed to lock ourselves in our room. The ticos definately do NOT understand fire safety as the deadbolts require a key from the inside and auto-lock behind you. Luckily, alison managed to yell some spanish out the window and our señora came and let us out.

We just ate a HUGE platter of beef, chicken and pork and expect to be on to montezuma or mal pais tommorow.

pura vida!