I Don't Think I Would Classify It a "Direct Route"

Last weekend, several of my friends and I ventured out on our own to Montezuma, a touristy beach town on the Nicoya Peninsula in northwestern Costa Rica. There were a total of eleven of us traveling in two smaller groups, one that left on the 6am bus, and my group that left on the 2pm bus. The adventure began with a taxi ride to the Coca-Cola bus station, where the direct Montezuma bus was scheduled to depart. Alas, the direct Montezuma bus did not depart from the Coca-Cola station, but a different one a few blocks away. Needless to say, I felt as though we were on a wild goose chase, but eventually we did locate the correct station with the bus heading to Montezuma. However, passengers wait and pay the bus driver the fee to ride, and only then get the ticket and secure a spot on the bus. We all ended up with seats, thankfully!
I thought the excitement had ended once I had stepped on the bus and it exited the station. I surely hoped so, as I was battling what I believe was a bout of the flu with full-on fever and aches. But, two and a half hours later, we were escorted off the bus and onto a ferry, which took us across the Gulf of Nicoya, a 70-minute voyage. We were able to see a beautiful sunset though, and I had a good cup of coffee to replenish the energy my illness was stealing from me.

Sunset Over the Water

Upon disembarking the gigantic ship (it fit several tour buses like ours as well as dozens of cars and their passengers), we re-boarded our bus and set out toward Montezuma. About an hour later, we came to the small town of Cobano, where we again got off the bus. There we transferred to a local bus, which took us the remaining seven kilometers (about 4.3 miles) into Montezuma. This was perhaps the most nerve racking portion of the trip because we were in a large manual transmission bus traveling down steep slopes with many sharp twists and turns. We arrived in Montezuma at about 8:30pm, and I was exhausted. After a brief dinner at a local restaurant, I headed to bed, determined to feel better in the morning.
God blessed me with feeling so much better Saturday morning! I had ten hours of pretty good sleep, and woke up to freshly brewed coffee at our hostel, Hotel Luna Llena (For those of you wondering, the name means "full moon" in Spanish).  We had chosen the hostel based on TripAdvisor reviews, all of which were incredibly positive. I stayed in a dorm-style room, which was plenty comfortable for what we needed. In addition, it was reasonably priced, which made it ideal for student budgets.

Hotel Luna Llena

Just writing in the fun chair

The town of Montezuma hosts an organic market every Saturday, which we, as faithful tourists, attended. However, the produce did not arrive until much later than expected, and we ended up only buying mangoes. However, they were definitely worth the 335 colones each (~65 cents). The flavor of the mangoes here is spectacular--very rich and juicy. I want to bring a pit home with me to grow my own mango tree! The mango variety I had was a hybrid of a peach and mango that was cultivated thousands of years ago.

Candid photo of me devouring the mango

Fresh bread was also procured from the local supermarket, along with some chocolate milk from Dos Pinos, the country's largest "lechería" or dairy company, and freshly cut pineapple--a large section for only 300 colones (~60 cents). I would call that a great breakfast!
The afternoon was spent hiking, which is a lengthy story to tell. But first, the best part of the weekend: the monkey sighting! While we were lathering ourselves in sunscreen and packing our cameras for a hike to nearby waterfalls, we were graced by the presence of a half dozen Capuchin, or white-faced, monkeys. These are one of four monkey species found in Costa Rica, which also include the howler monkey, the squirrel monkey, and the spider monkey. The monkeys were climbing all over the trees next to the hostel, and often scampered onto the roof! It was so comical to see them look at us quizzically and quickly dart away. Some actually stayed and stared at us for a while. I loved taking photographs of them, and even got a few good ones.

Whoa! People?

You're looking at me?

Well, in that case, look what I can do!

Sunday afternoon I saw a howler monkey dangling upside down from a tree eating fruit, but the photographs are not nearly as good because the monkey was much further away.

I can hang upside down!

The hike to the Montezuma Falls was quite an excursion. We found the entrance to the hiking area, and quickly began our journey, only to come to what we believed was a dead end after only about ten minutes of hiking. We found some water flowing over rocks, but later learned that was not the grand waterfall we should have seen.

What we thought was the waterfall...

After asking a few locals where the actual waterfalls were, we set out in the same direction, this time climbing over rocks and along the side of the river, following the water's path. This was a lot harder than it seemed, because we had to balance ourselves on rocks, hold onto trees as we tiptoed around the edge of the water, and avoid getting our cameras wet! We were wearing bathing suits beneath our clothing, but it was the cameras we were most concerned about. Luckily I had brought a drawstring bag that I could throw everything into in order to free both hands for climbing. I love rock climbing walls, so this was right up my alley. I loved it! After over an hour of hiking and scaling rocks, we finally encountered the first of the three waterfalls. It was a magnificent view. I still think the La Fortuna Waterfall beats it, but this was pretty grand too, especially since we had found it all by ourselves! I, along with several others, took the opportunity to swim around in the waters near the waterfall, and we even climbed behind it!

...the actual waterfall!

The next part of our hike consisted of steep up and down climbs, and some very narrow paths, but that was definitely worth it. I loved the adventure of it all! We eventually found the other two waterfalls, but they weren't nearly as impressive as the first. At that point--nearly 2.5 hours later, I was worn out, but we still had to get back from the middle of the rainforest to Montezuma. We found stairs, and a sign signaling the general direction in which to go, but eventually we came to a fork: follow a well-worn path downward, which seemed to lead directly back to the waterfalls, or continue straight on a narrow path. We decided to take the latter, and eventually came to a gravel road. That was not the main road we were looking forward, and some members of the group began to get discouraged. My inner runner came out, and I decided to run about 400 meters to see what might be up ahead. I did not find another road, but instead a home with a dog that barked at me. A kind lady came out, and I asked, in my best Spanish of course, if the main road was close by. It was. My group was very pleased when I returned a few minutes later with the good news. All in all, it took us about 3.5 hours for the hike, and we were certainly exhausted and thirsty. After recuperating with some water, nourishment, and a shower, I headed to the beach for a little while, where I read some "Sopa de Polla Para Alma" (Chicken Soup for the Soul) and jumped some great waves! I have yet to get used to the salt water here, but I do appreciate the quality of the waves!
We had dinner at a local restaurant and played Uno before calling it an early night. It gets dark here around 6:00 or 6:30, which makes me feel very tired! Sunday morning was spent at the beach again, and we departed for the long ride home around 2:00, but arrived back in San Jose around 9:30. It was a very long day, but I believe all the travel was worth it! I loved being in the heart of the Costa Rican rainforest!
My parents arrive tomorrow in San Jose, and Caroline and Valerie fly in on Saturday. While in San Jose, we will be staying at Casa Bella Rita, a bed and breakfast near the airport that is run by a couple who formerly lived in Battle Creek. As my parents shared their plans to visit me in Costa Rica, so many people from Battle Creek mentioned the DeVores' B&B. It has received great reviews and awards from TripAdvisor as well! I cannot wait to see everyone, as I have been a little bit more homesick here than I expected. Adjusting to a new culture, a new language, and a new home is a lot to handle, but I am doing well and am excited for what the next six and a half weeks hold.