Costa Rica Let Down

I guess it's been a week since I updated my blog. I'm still in Costa Rica. It's a lot more expensive here to use the computer and phone. I've really kind of felt out of touch with everyone over the past week.

Okay, I have to say...Costa Rica is way overrated. I have not really enjoyed it over the past week, and I'm kind of sad that I spent an entire week here. But, I felt like I had to give it chance, the way everyone has talked about it. But, I travelled to three "must see" destinations and it didn't do it for me. There's no mistaking that the landscape is beautiful, but it is so clogged with gringo tourists that it ruins it. And, you can't do anything without going out with a group of people,with a guide, and paying for a tour. You'll be bumbling down this horrible bumpy road (which I kind of like) in the middle of nowhere and there's nothing but vans and busses with "TOURISMO" stamped on the outside and a bunch of white faces staring out the window, driving alongside you. It pretty much feels like I'm visiting a new state in the U.S. that I've never been to. And, EVERYONE speaks English, of course.

I started out in La Fortuna (that is the name of the town I didn't know before) where I went to the largest active volcano in Costa Rica. Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any lava because it was too cloudy. The hike was led by a tourguide (of course) and was somewhat strenuous, but the package included a visit to the volcanic hot springs which I was looking forward too. The place had 10 hot springs with 10 different temperatures. It also had a wet bar you could swim up to and sip on some WAY overpriced drinks. I didn't partake. And, the springs no longer felt natural since they were all done up and transformed into this resort place. It was nice for some folks, but just not my thing. I was ready to go after 1 hour.

The next day I took a seven hour (roundtrip) hike out of town to this waterfall everyone was raving about. I went by myself, which was nice. The waterfall was very pretty, but quite honestly, it was not any more beautiful than the waterfalls and sceneary we have in northeast Alabama. And, of course the swimming hole was filled with so many tourists you could hardly move. I hiked down away from everyone, though, and had a beautiful swim by myself amongst several rippling rapids. I did see a toucan, on my way back and it was awesome. It looked just like the one on the box of Kellog's Fruit Loops!

Next, I headed for the cloud forests of Monteverde and Saint Elena. It was a beautiful drive through the countryside and Monteverde is a cute little town. Here I went on another guided tour through the cloud forest where I got to see a howler monkey and several beautiful birds and cool-looking insects. Again, I would have rather gone through the forest alone, to experience it's beauty and reflect, but AGAIN full of tour groups...you could never be alone. I stayed in Monteverde three nights. I really liked the hostel and the people I met there and the communal atmosphere. Oh yeah...I also did a canopy tour, which entailed going on a 2 kilometer long zip line over the treetops at a very high speed. You couldn't see anything really, but it was a nice adrenaline rush. It ended with a freefall tarzan-like swing, which was awesome.

Now I'm in Tamarindo, on the Pacific coast, at the Northwest corner of Costa Rica. It's supposed to be one of the surfer hotspots, but I think it sucks. This is the most tourist-y area yet. I'm taking surf lessons this afternoon...I'm excited for that. Although, I've been to the beach already and I've seen some of the dorky-looking surfer learners with their color-coded rash guards...depending what class they are in. I want to skip that stage and just automatically become a cool surfer chic. We'll see how it goes. I'm heading back to Nicaragua tomorrow morning (back to San Juan del Sur...my original surfer spot I got lured away from a week ago). I plan to start up my Spanish again and really try to pick up on the surfing thing. And then Sydney comes on Saturday. Yay! I can't wait to have her as my travel buddy. I will try to post pictures of my Costa Rica adventures very soon. I want to wait until I'm back in Nic., where internet usage is much cheaper! Until later...Elise