Going boom boom BOOM!! in Tamarindo

Again the group decided to split. Elaine, Helene and Irina had had enough of Costa Rica and wanted to make tracks to Nicaragua. Myself and Marie (Helvete/Jeopardy) still wanted to explore a bit more of the country. We were both intent on spending a few days on the beach in Tamarindo. We had two options to get there from Monteverde. The first was to take a private shuttle door-to-door for $45 each or alternatively take public transport (a few changes along the way) which was up to 4 hours longer but only cost around $10 each. The staff at the hostel almost begged us to take the shuttle, mainly because they thought we were the usual clueless Gringo travellers and would have no idea how to survive on public transport.

Saying a brief adieu to the others, we left Monteverde on public transport. We needed to change bus at Limona, a town a few hours out of Monteverde and on the main highway. Luckily this wasn´t too difficult and we arrived in Tamarindo at around 10pm. The first hostel we noticed was the Coral Reef Backpackers which advertised really good rates. We checked the rooms and were happy enough. Most amusingly, the place is a haven for surfer bums from all over the world. I do not say this disparagingly, rather it was great because they were much friendlier and more interested in you than we had been used to. Granted, it was difficult to talk about anything else other than surfing, waves or girls (in that order) but we felt very welcome in the place. I was particularly popular as I was the only South African around and they kept on asking me tons of questions about good surfing spots from home. Having only a vague clue what they were talking about, I just smiled and said J-Bay was pretty good and the water in Cape Town is cold you need to wear a wetsuit. That seemed enough.

The same evening we visited the local Pacifico Bar which was having a Reggae night. There we met a long haired Costa Rican, whose name we cannot remember, who could only talk about the big waves he had surfed. According to him he had surfed every day of his life and the bigger the wave, the better. Every phrase and sentence would end in the word "man" and when describing a wave he had surfed, his descriptions pretty much went like this: "So I was surfing this huuuge wave and I dropped in and it was like boom... boom... boom barrel barrel......... BOOM!!!" Needless to say this was hilarious to us so we chatted to him for ages just to hear him say "BOOM!" again.

Tamarindo is a pretty popular surf town and I'd say over 80% of the people around are tourists, mainly from the US. Marie started off with a surf lesson whilst I hired a board. The waves weren´t big at all but I seemed to have lost any of the skill I obtained in Mancora, Peru. After a while I improved and managed to ride a few small waves. After a gruelling 2 hours, my shoulder was aching and I was exhausted so we headed back to the hostel and shopping centre to get some supplies.

Getting stuck into the Economist

At the hostel we joined forces with surfer bums and travelers alike in a friendly drinking game. The night ended in Aqua nightclub which was having a ladies night. I sneakily managed to get girls to donate free drinks to me as they didn´t have to pay a cent!

The last day we had some pretty heavy thunderstorms and spent most of it relaxing and chatting to the other people in the hostel. We were due in Nicaragua the next day so had a fair amount of bussing to do!

Overall my stay in Costa Rica seemed to have been pretty short although I did get quite a feel for this place and had some observations. Costa Rica is famous for it´s ecotourism which has resulted in it being the most developed country in Central America with regards to tourism. I felt the toursim is overwhelmingly directed at the American package traveller who comes through for a week or 2 in the sun. In these situations, cost is less of a factor for them than a cash strapped backpacker, so correspondingly costs are quite significantly higher than anywhere else. Having said that however, most people can speak English and the quality of tours (much more safe and eco-conscious than most places) and service is a lot better too. Luckily we have the luxury of time and can afford to skip some of the expensive options here in favor of more budget-friendly activities in places like Nicaragua which sport an almost identical array of natural features and excursions (just a bit less formal). So we say farewell to the hordes of Gringos in the shiny resort towns for the more rural and edgy Nicaragua.