Prologue
....Travel changes to. As you move through this life and this world you change things slightly, you leave marks behind, however small. And in return, life - and travel - leaves marks on you. Most of the time, those marks - on your body or on your heart - are beautiful. Often though, they hurt. .... .......Anthony Bourdain
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Pura Vida from Costa Rica!
Welcome back! We've moved on from Zihuatanejo, Mexico and have flown into Costa Rica. Our plans are pretty simple...get out of San José quickly and find some of that super natural beauty that Costa Rica is famous for.....
Use the map as a reference
We fly into Juan Santamaria Airport located in Alajuela (outside of San José) and spend the night at a hotel minutes from the airport.
As usual, we have no real definite plans apart from getting out of the San José area heading west and exploring north, all the while traveling on local buses.
We find a bus station nearby and grab one heading to Puntarenas on the west coast to catch a ferry to the Nicoya Peninsula.
Arriving in Puntarenas, we discover the ferry we want to take is out of service. So, changing plans on the spot, we backtrack to the Pan-Am highway, where there's a bus going north. Our taxi drives rockets along, going down side roads and blasting past police trucks in an effort to get us there in time.
The Bus to Samara (via Nicoya)
Our 2 hour bus ride north to Nicoya is so full, we stand for the entire 2 hour ride! Welcome to local transport.
After we're dropped off on the highway we search for the (our last) bus for Samara beach town.
Samara Town
A 45 minute bus ride takes us to Samara. The busy little town is filled with long termers and more younger people traveling than we've seen in some time, plus horses that wander freely down main street when they are not working...
Set on a postcard perfect beach front (then....what Costa Rica beach isn't?) Samara town is filled with bars, accommodation and eateries (called 'sodas'). It looks like paradise after our 7 hours on the road.
We find a great, quiet hotel for about $50 (American)....a few blocks off the beach. The only noise that intrudes our room fan are from the howler monkeys in the trees down the block.
We meet some great people and even someone (Sophia) who lives at Christina Lake during the summer, just minutes from our own home town.
Typical bus stop
Playa Carrillo
As busy as Samara is...Playa Carrillo is tranquillo. The kilometers long stretch of beach is a 7 km bus from Samara town. With little services, apart from chair rentals and take out food that's delivered via motorcycle, it's a perfect spot for local residents to hang out for the day.
Beach vendor
Typical homes...
Samara eats: granola and yogurt and Gallo pinto (fried rice and beans with eggs, fried plantains and tortillas)
This is basically a $10 (American) breakfast
Prices are close to home. Apart from local transport, which is a good deal, everything is on par with anything at home. It feels like Hawaii for Central America.
Despite the cost of living, many people seem to have settled in or winter here.
Street vendors
A beach visitor
After a week of chillin' and watching iguanas eat leftovers, it's time to leave Samara and continue north. We plan to bus towards Playa Coco- Playa Hermosa and check that area out.
Pura Vida for now.
Shayne y Yvonne
Random Photos
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