The Trip 2013 - San Jose to Puerto Viejo

Note: This is a condensed version of the pictures I took with some added narrative. The rest of the pics can be viewed in the album The Trip 2013 - San Jose to Puerto Viejo. Each picture can be clicked to see a larger version and comment / like.

After finishing my 17 day adventure from Antigua, Guatamala to San Jose, Costa rica and sadly said farewell to most of my fellow travelers I had a few days rest as recuperation with Kelsie before she had to return to Australia. We spent most of the 4 days chilling out and exploring the city.

We spent some time exploring the compact market places, there were some interesting shops..

I even had some time to do some shopping for some new shoes that were destroyed up Concepcion.

I found San Jose to be a rather gloomy, concrete jungle of a city with much of the architecture reflecting that feeling

There also seemed to be a lot of homeless and poverty

Sadly I finally had to say goodbye to Kelsie too after nearly two months of travelling together.

I was now on my own again, my first time by myself in Central America. Oh how I wish I knew more Spanish, it would have made everything much less intimidating. My first solo destination was the seaside town of Samara, Costa Rica

My main reason for being there was to learn to surf

I was relatively successful at first and found that I was able to stand up on the board even on the first attempt

The board however was a long board, which made things quite a bit easier:

Evenings in Samara were spent chilling out, drinking imperial and enjoying the glorious sunsets

On the days I was too sore or too tired from surfing I explored some more of the long beach. At one end I found this incredibly refreshing waterfall

I also rather foolishly decided it would be a good idea to try to swim the gap between the main beach and a small island nearby

Not the smartest move as the waves and currents were rather strong and the rocks incredibly sharp. Still I made it back only with only a few cuts on my hands and feet.

Sadly after a week of bliss it was time for me to move on. I was trying to work my way across to Panama City eventually. On the way I decided I was going to spend a couple of days exploring the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, specifically the town of Puerto Viejo

I didn't really like the town. It felt kind of sketchy and was riddled with drug dealers and associated dodgy characters. It didn't help that it rained for a large portion of the time I was there. Fortunately the hostel I was staying in (Pagalu) was great.

The hostel had a great atmosphere that encouraged people to become friends. I immediately hit it off with the people in my dorm, I will remember Puerto Viejo fondly mostly because of them, cheers guys!