Crabby Birthday!

The next day after having spent my birthday zip lining in the rain, I woke up achy and unable to move. A result of the damp weather Id experienced and me getting one year older...


The alcohol from the evening before also wasn't helping my brain to function properly. But it was OK as the sun was finally shining and I was setting off to my next destination in Costa Rica - Santa Teresa which lies on the Pacific coastline. 


I caught a shuttle bus from my accommodation in Monteverde, Cabinas Eddy which is run by a lovely Tico (local Costa Rican) called Freddy and his family, to Puntarenas where I caught a ferry to cross over to the Nicoya Peninsula where Santa Terasa is situated. 

Catching the ferry to the Nicoya Peninsula

After a bone shaking bus journey we arrived in Santa Teresa which Forbes magazine voted having "one of the ten most beautiful in the World". If I were a surfer then I would have to agree. Seeing as Im not then yes Ill say its stunning but not as good as the Caribbean coastline for swimming - I went for a dip just as the sun was going down (beautiful) but gave up half way as the rip tides were so strong that I almost got dragged out!


The town (it really isn't that big) is next door to another surfers paradise called Malpais which literally means bad land in Spanish. It got this name as in the summer all the rivers and streams dry up which make it hard to live in. This clearly hasn't put off the supermodel Gisele Bünchen and her husband building a private hideaway retreat in the hills. Their presence hasn't however improved the pot holes in the roads or taken away its  undeveloped feel.


I stayed one night in Santa Teresa. Mostly being because I don't surf (not ideal when all there is to do here is just that), the area required an ATV to get around (I didn't have one) and the influx of sea crabs was ridiculous.

How the locals get around...

I feel I need to stress my point a little more on the last reason. Given it was the start of the rainy season in Costa Rica I had got used to seeing the odd sea crab crawling around. What I hadn't expected was to have them crawling on my bed during the night! I had been reading before going to sleep and suddenly heard a tapping noise behind my head, curious to know what it was I turned around only to come face to face with a sea crab. To say I was freaked out was an understatement. The night turned into a game of musical beds with me moving a grand total of three times into three different beds in an attempt to flee the crabs. The final straw was when I was in the top bunk - yes that's right the TOP BED OF A BUNK BED - and two cheeky crabs crawled their way up the bed post and behind my head. Needless to say I got next to no sleep that night. The following day when I complained to the hostel I was told that I had been lucky (?!) as there had been fifty in the kitchen. Er not quite the response I was expecting. I can only imagine they were all wanting to wish me a Crabby Birthday. Sorry I couldn't resist...


The next day I made my way to Montezuma which whilst still known for its nearby surfing beaches, is more of a healing arts and yoga destination. It was certainly more happening in terms of things to do than Santa Teresa and Malpais. The town is known locally as Montefuma as fumar is the verb to smoke in Spanish - a reference to the amount of smoking (the grass kind) that takes place by the people who visit. I cant say I noticed anyone smoking so no idea where this comes from!


I decided to stay at the Sano Banano hotel mainly because it had received good reviews on TripAdvisor.co.uk (I've relied heavily on this website during my travels) and it had a sister hotel called Ylang Ylang which had an awesome outdoor pool and other facilities I could use : D


I did an excursion to the nearby Tortuga Island which as the name suggests is famous for its Turtles. We only managed to see the top of one whilst we travelling there by speed boat so I was unable to get a picture but it was cool. There were also dolphins swimming next to our boat. Such incredible creatures. 

Squint and you´ll see dolphins! 

There isn't much to do on the island itself, therefore most of your time is spent in the water snorkelling. They take you out by boat to other nearby smaller islands and you snorkel off there. Id not snorkelled properly before (I don't count paddling in cloudy shallow water in Key Largo, Florida as real snorkelling) so I was slightly nervous but it turned out fine. Once Id managed to control my breathing using the snorkel I managed to marvel through my mask at the tropical Finding Nemo type fish swimming beneath me. The visibility wasn't great but I think its certainly given me more confidence in the water. So much so I think possibly (with time and also acceptance that I will need to get my entire head submerged) I may consider trying some diving in one of the other Central American countries...stay tuned!

Tortuga Island

One of the rock islands we snorkelled off

I found Nemo and his friends!

Lunch time consisted of the most delicious Marlin fish cooked for us by the chef of the tour group. Its a tough call but I think that the food in Central America could be turning out to be tastier than that in South America...lo siento America del Sur!


The rest of the time spent in Montezuma was spent chilling out on the beach, watching films that were shown each evening by the hotel (subject to there not being a power cut) and making the most of the free access we had to the sister hotel Ylang Ylang which had a swimming pool and private beach. Its a hard life : D

Ylang Ylang beach hotel garden facing the sea...

...which was quite rough!

The beach you had to walk down to get to Ylang Ylang