Mal Pais... or not

So after getting held an extra day in Jaco when the water taxi couldn´t go because of choppy seas, we finally got aboard the boat with all of our gear. We were joined by about 6 other passengers and the two crewmembers. The boat was tiny, and before we had climbed in they gave us plastic bags to cover our luggage with. Seemed strange at the time.

Away we went on our little speed boat, launching off from the shore of Playa Herradera or something like that. The first fifteen minutes were fun, wind whipping by our faces, the sun in the sky, beautiful jungle passing us by on both sides. Then, the rain set in. Within minutes we were completely drenched. I´m talking wetter than I´ve ever been in my life, regardless of swimming pools or showers. That continued for about another hour until we finally landed on the beach of Montezuma.

Our plan had been to get to Montezuma, grab a taxi to Mal Pais (as though that would be quick and easy) and then set up shop at the Mal Pais surf camp. Instead, we landed at Montezuma exhausted, soaked, starving, and not ready to go anywhere. Luckily for us, the hostel Hotel Lys is located on the landing beach and the friendly but outofplace Emily (a blond american girl who spoke terrible spanish) welcomed us to our room where the three of us would share bunk beds and the floor. I volunteered to sleep on the floor because I hadn´t had to once in Jaco.

While we were there, we got to know the whole crew. There was Diana, this gorgeous Iranian girl who I picked up on for a while before I realized she was together with Josue, a funloving bearded local who worked at the hostel and had a ton of energy all the time. We met all kinds of people.

In the afternoon we left to go explore the jungle. We climbed up to the first waterfall of Montezuma, which was absolutely breathtaking and enormous. I have some footage on video tape. To get to the really spectacular one, however, we´d have to carry our cameras and bags over our heads as we waded through shoulder high water. Plus, the mosquitos were going to wake up soon, so we opted to go back. On the way back, as a random aside, we saw the biggest ant I´ve ever even heard of. It was about the size of a large spider. Holy Jesus the jungle has a lot of crazy things in it.

We came back, and went to walk around the town of Montezuma, but upon discovering that there is no town of Montezuma, I went to the internet cafe and and luke and dallas went back to the hostel. I made some $$, but it was a frustrating and kind of tiltridden session. Oh well. I walked back in time for dinner, which was AMAZING. There were a couple Nicaraguans at the hostel and they had decided to cook a Nicaraguan dish called a Nica. Basically, its rice, vegetables, and pork chops, packaged up in a banana leaf and steamed until perfect. Incredible. Amazing food. The owner of the place, a very eccentric old guy who didnt like to talk to anyone, came out and started playing hand drums. It was very fun. We got to know the other people there, which included me convincing this girl from Holland that I was, in fact, a porn star. Very fun indeed.

Then, we caught a bus to Cobana where we caught a taxi to the Mal Pais Surf Camp. The only problem was that there was nobody there. So, we headed down to the beach to look for somewhere else to stay. Nowhere. So far no good. Walking up to an internet cafe, I googled lodging in the local town nearest to us called Santa Teresa. The cheapest thing I could find was called Casa Zen. It looked good, so we took a taxi there.

Thats where I am now. Casa Zen is amazing. Cheap, healthy food. A cheap room with the best accomodations of anywhere we´ve had. A 2 minute walk to the most beautiful beach we´ve seen yet, complete with white sand, colorful shells, good waves to surf, and fun parts of rocks and jungle to explore. Internet that I´m currently using (albeit its not free, sadly enough). We´re just going to crash here today and we´ll start surfing again tomorrow. I will be hard pressed to leave this place any time soon.

keeping it real for you overseas

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