Pura Vida, a characteristic Costa Rican phrase, literally means Pure Life with connotations that suggest translations such as "full of life" and "this is living". The words convey the state of happiness, peace and tranquility.
When that uncontrollable urge to travel began to make it's way to the surface back in October, I knew I wanted my next adventure to be off the beaten path, something different and wondrous. Central America, more specifically Nicaragua and Costa Rica, seemed like the perfect choice.
So for 10 days, I had the pleasure of exploring a few areas of these unique and magical countries and experiencing this carefree and simple way of living. The people and the small towns they occupy have this life about them and it doesn't matter where you're from, you get sucked into this laid back vibe. It makes you never want to leave. I highly suggest everyone adding the next few places I describe to their bucket list.
So for 10 days, I had the pleasure of exploring a few areas of these unique and magical countries and experiencing this carefree and simple way of living. The people and the small towns they occupy have this life about them and it doesn't matter where you're from, you get sucked into this laid back vibe. It makes you never want to leave. I highly suggest everyone adding the next few places I describe to their bucket list.
San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua
One of my best friends has been exploring the world for the past few years and I could not be more envious. She traveled to Central America about a year or so ago and suggested San Juan Del Sur in Nicaragua as a stop on our 10 day trek. The town, filled with colorful storefronts and cheap, delicious street food, has a steady influx of young international travelers which makes it quite lively.
To be honest, when my boyfriend and I first got off the plane in Managua, the capital of Nicaragua, we were a bit skeptical. It was late at night and due to the lack of street lights, we were a bit out of our comfort zone in our hard-to-see, new surroundings. It was a two hour drive from the airport to San Juan Del Sur and the hotel we were staying at, Hotel Maracuya, and exhaustion had completely taken over by the time we arrived so we went straight to bed. When we awoke, we looked out from our balcony at this amazing view. Rolling hills, the pacific ocean and this small town we would be calling home for the next four days. Bustling streets filled with local merchants opening their doors, international travelers making their surf plans for the day and local restaurants filling up with a breakfast crowd.
For four days we ate the local food, visited the various surf beaches (Playa Hermosa and Playa Maderas) and enjoyed ice cold tonas while watching the sunset. We participated in the well known 'Sunday Funday' event we heard so much about before heading to Nicaragua. Simply put, it's a pool bar crawl hosted by one of the hostels in town and kids (ages ranging from 18-30) from all over the world drink, swim and get to know each other. Everyone we met was as nice as could be and my boyfriend and I loved hearing their traveling stories. Most were on a 6 month backpacking trip. One day we also took a taxi to Lake Nicaragua, the largest lake in Central America and then a ferry to Ometepe, the island in the middle. It wasn't the most fun ferry, being as I was hungover from 'Sunday Funday' but it was great to see a different part of Nicaragua since we were only there a short period of time.
Finally.. we crossed the border into Costa Rica. It was a chaotic scene, but we survived.
Tamarindo, Costa Rica
Ever since I visited Puerto Rico in 2008, Costa Rica has always been on my list of places to visit so it only made sense that from Nicaragua we would venture down into this beautiful country. San Juan Del Sur is only about an hour drive to the Costa Rican border. However, I didn't want to just stay in one spot in Costa Rica. The whole country is comparable in size to the state of West Virginia, so moving from place to place would only take a few hours of travel. We decided on two different beach towns, one in the North Pacific Region and the other Central/South Pacific, and then two towns in the rain forest (considered the Central Valley).
First stop.. Tamarindo.
Tamarindo was the beach town located in the North Pacific Region. The sunsets here are magical. Just when you thought the sun had sunk beneath the horizon and the show was over, the most magical colors began to fill the sky. I've never seen so many shades of blue and orange mix together so seamlessly.
It was a small town, with beach shops located all along the the main strip. My favorite part of Tamarindo was how everyone stopped to celebrate the sun going down. Restaurants on the beach had happy hour specials, and it felt like the whole town gathered for this one hour time period to watch the day come to end. The one day my boyfriend and I tried out surfing. We rented a board from a local shop and I have to admit, it was pretty intimidating getting out there with so many seasoned surfer vets taking on the waves. But when you're in a place known for surfing, you have to give it a try.
La Fortuna, Costa Rica
& Monteverde, Costa Rica
After a 4 hour shuttle ride from Tamarindo, we made it to the Central Valley. This was one of my favorite parts of the trip. It was exactly what you picture when you think of Costa Rica. Luscious greens and rolling hills. It was beautiful. I had trouble putting my camera down.
Our hostel room in La Fortuna was basically at the foot of Arenal Volcano, the main attraction in this area of Costa Rica. Later in the day, we were able to hike a small portion of the volcano with the help of a tour guide. I'll have to admit, it was a bit scary being so close to a volcano that last erupted in 1995. Following the volcano tour, we headed to resort close to the volcano which housed 25 hot springs, ranging in temperatures from 95 degrees F to 116 degrees. It was a relaxing way to end a 2 hour hike.
The next morning, we took a 'taxi boat taxi' (which was a shuttle from our hostel, a boat across Lake Arenal, and a shuttle to our next hostel) to Monteverde. Unfortunatly, this was the only day it rained during our 10 day trip and we had plans to zip line later in the afternoon. But the zip lining went on rain or shine!
I was so scared for zip lining and I can't say enough now, how happy I am that I did it. Despite the rain and the winds (which made it very cold) it was such an adrenaline rush and I was able to witness some of the best views of Costa Rica. Some of the zip lines were about 400 ft high and over 1000 feet long, above this basin and through rolling green hills. If you have never been zip lining before, I highly recommend holding out and doing it here for your first time. You will never forget the experience. My boyfriend, being the daredevil he is, also decided to bungee jump. If you look through the pictures below and you see the one with the rainbow in it, that tiny tiny tiny red spec is the cable car he jumped out of. That's also the cables for zip lining so you can get a sense of high up they were.
We didn't really have a chance to explore Monteverde more, which I am pretty bumped about. It was about five oclock when we finished up zip lining and so cold outside that when we got back to the hotel we ate and called it a night. And the next morning we were off again to our last location of the trip..
Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
Our last stop, womp womp. I loved this beach town. If I had to chose between Tamarindo and Manuel Antonio I would pick the latter. Manuel Antonio also has a huge national park, which makes it more luscious beaches and things to do.
After our two days of adventuring in the Central Valley, we took these next two days to relax. On our last day we signed up for Sunset Sail tour last minute and I'm sure glad we did. For 80 dollars, the sunset sail included all you could drink (yes, alcoholic drinks), dinner, and snorkeling. The staff was extremely friendly and everyone on the boat was just there to have fun and converse with others. The boat went around for about 2 hours before anchoring so we could snorkel and use the slide that was attached to the boat. We then took off again only to anchor a little bit later to take in the sunset.
Now onto planning the next adventure!
