I took the plane in Germany late evening and the flight landed during sunrise. So seeing the lush greens in pink light growing on soft hills felt more like a dream than my reality for the next months.
My first destination in Costa Rica was Jaco the closest beach to the capital San José and the town that was the first to become ‘touristy’. I’m not the biggest fan of the place, but the Hostel I was in and the beach breaks right in front of it were the perfect start to my trip.
Jaco
My Canadian Roommate and I found out that an Air-condition set to 25°C is very cold. I got up at 5:30 and watched the sunrise to warm up and felt very german asking for breakfast at 6:15. The holiday vibe and the palm trees got to me, I went back to sleep. During breakfast I tried to explain why I think Intentional Communities are valuable and there is a problem with untamed capitalism to a Ryan Air Pilot – I don’t think I succeeded.
I took a speed boat over to the Nicoya Peninsula, which is a little bit expensive but a) it’s a boat (I really like boats), b) it saves 4 hours compared to the bus and c) there were turtles and flying fish and sting rays. I almost did an interview for Smiling people with a lovely Canadian couple in their 50ies, that own a maritime company and travel every winter for 4 months.
Santa Teresa
Since I was in Sri Lanka I’m a big fan of slowly exploring a country, but because I have 5 days before moving into an Intentional Community in the South, I decide to only see one more Place: Santa Teresa. Famous for it’s surf this town is stretched out a long a very dusty road parallel to the beach. I stayed at the ‘Pura Vida Mini Hostel’
Pura Vida -‘Pure Life or Living’ is for Costa Rica what Aloha is for Hawai’i, there is a translation, but the meaning is so much more. I’m slowly figuring the meaning out, but I’ve heard it in so many different situations at the end of a conversation with a taxi driver, as a greeting between Ticos (Locals) at the super market, that I can’t pin point it just yet.
Staying at hostels, I’ve met so many great people in this short time from all over the world. One of the few negative things about travelling is always saying goodbye, with the knowledge that your lucky, if you see the person once again in your life. But exactly that situation happened to me here. I met up with a bad-ass surfer couple from Norway, that I met in Australia, here in Costa Rica and I couldn’t be happier about it.
Today I’m leave this wonderful place to go on quite the long bus journey (blue) heading south.
