The following is from a series of emails sent out during our three week trip to Costa Rica in January 2004:
In our second day in Liberia, we went on an all-day hike. I thought this would be some easy, flat-land walk here and there to see this n that, but thats where I was grossly mistaken. In the hot, sweaty afternoon, we walked ten kilometeres!!! Over RUGGED TERRAIN!!! This was one of the dumbest ideas of the trip (physically exhausting ourselves), but the things we saw were pretty cool. The first leg was a 3km loop that shows off a waterfall, a sulphur steam pit, and bubbling mud (which I wanted to see). The second leg was 4 km in to a waterfall (then 4 km OUT) with a blue-water pond that you can swim in. This stretch of hiking I was not a fan of, becayse heading in, we had no clue how far the waterfall actually was! Needless to say, we did not collapse (but barely — 3 days later we are still sore), the natural views were spectacular, and the Tilley hat remained resillient!
We then headed back to the coast, where we are now. After the cold, windy, rainy mainland and mountains, we were more than ready for the heat and beaches. We spent two days in Tamarindo, a tourist trap where there are more Americans than locals. We did go on a horseback ride for a few hours, with the highlight being able to gallop down the beach shore, and the lowlight being that I didnt know how to ride a horse to start with — very bumpy!!!! But, loads of fun :)
Today we headed to Montezuma, which is some kind of hippie hideout or something. But it is very laid back and relaxing. Earlier this evening some grunge-hippies were playing in the town centre, drumming up a frenzy. The traffic did not manage to reduce the headcount of frenzied dancers in the street.
Chris