Costa Rica (Costa Rica)

Sunday morning, Jared, Nicole and I woke up at about 5:30 am to pack and head out of Leon. We said our goodbyes to a pretty hungover, potentially still drunk, but always fabulous Eliza, and headed back to Managua. We had left our bags at Eliza's, so, once back in Managua, we showered, packed and headed out for Costa Rica. The drive was easy, good roads in Nicaragua, and the border was fast. Costa Rica has a pretty big tourism industry, so they have efficient border procedures.

Once in Costa Rica, the drive to Tamarindo was just a couple hours.  I had been to Tamarindo years ago with Eliza´s family, but it had definitely become more developed over the years. Gringos and surfers everywhere, and almost all the signs in English. We found our hostel easily, and settled down. Initially, we were planning on staying several days, because Jared wanted to surf alot, but after he found out the $95 pricetag attached to a boat trip to his prized surf locations, he decided to stay one day only. We had to ask about 4 different hostels if they were taking people out the next day, and none would, as they did not have enough people to justify a day long excursion. Finally, we found Witch´s Rock Surf Camp, which would be able to take Jared and a few other people out the next morning. Once his surf plans were set, we excitedly walked down to the beach just in time for what Jared said was his favorite sunset so far. On the way back to the hostel, we picked up dinner from a woman cooking kebobs in a parking lot, and some rum and juice for Nicole and me (we weren´t surfing the next day and there is really nothing touristy to do there). Back at the hostel, we hung out with some of the other hostelers, until Jared went to bed, and Nicole and I went out with some people for a night of dancing!! The next morning, Jared woke up at 4:45 am to catch a bus and boat to Witch´s Rock and Ollie´s Point for a full day of surfing.

 Nicole and I had a bit of a rough start due to our pretty significant hangovers; the ungodly hot weather did not help that. Later in the afternoon, we finally rallied and headed to the beach, for a nice walk and another stunning sunset. On our way to find dinner, we ran into an elated Jared, who had just come back from surfing and proclaimed that day to be his favorite of the trip!! We were so happy for him; he said surfing there was a dream come true for him. We had a seafood dinner, and all heading to bed pretty early as we had a long day of driving into Panama the next day.