Costa Rica Pt. 2 - Guanacaste

New Years eve on the beach was awesome. Except for getting pushed into the pool with my camera and cell phone in my pocket…and waking up with a killer hangover…and not remembering half the night. But the rest was awesome. I won’t bore any of you with details of the five hour bus ride to Guanacaste, but I will say I was squashed in the very back of a 14 person van surrounded by six girls and we can just leave it at that.

We all checked into our rooms and got ready for our 9pm “New Years” dinner. This was the first time I experienced what lonely planet calls the “seductive sluggish pace” of life. Seductive? Bullshit. It took 45 minutes just to order. That’s not sluggish, that’s slow.

By the time we finished dinner, it was about 20 minutes before midnight so we all rushed down to the beach. Fireworks were going off at all the different resorts that lined the beach as well as being lit off by strangers as close as 10 feet away. We watched the display continue on for the next hour or so while we drank Chivas and ran screaming into the ocean. From there, things got blurry. I remember getting pushed into the pool back at the hotel. The next thing I remember was waking up the next morning.

The next day was our beach day. Having dealt with my phone (at least done what I could for the time being), we all ventured down to the beach. The rest of the day was spent jumping in and out of the water and lounging around in the sun. Frankly, after the previous night, it was a much needed day of rest. After the sun had set we took a trek to Coco beach, the next town over, for some dinner at a well known restaurant called Father Roosters. Our large ass group of Gringos sat outside on the sand to enjoy the stars and a delicious meal.

Our final full day in Guanacaste was packed with adventure. Because literally we went on an “adventure tour.” We took an hour bus ride into the jungle to the Buena Vista adventure park. Our first event was horseback riding, which is something I had never done. In all honesty I was a little nervous. I mean, no one wants to end up like Christopher Reeve, right? But this is 2012 and I’m venturing out of my little box – so I got on and we all rode down to the hot springs. The horses were rather tame. All of us big guys got put on the heavier horses and just meandered behind the rest of the pack.

The hot springs consisted of:

Sitting in a steam room for 10 minutes.

Applying a coat of mud to your body.

Standing in the sun to let the mud dry.

Washing the mud off with insanely cold water.

Jumping into a hot tub.

The whole process is supposed to open up your pores and all that mumbo jumbo. I don’t really get it, but the girls kept raving about how soft their skin felt, so it must have worked. I had fun, so whatever. The next step was a tractor ride and a quick hike up to a waterfall. Then it was on to, arguably the best part of the day, zip-lining.

Some people (not gonna name names) were nervous about the whole thing. While we were putting on gear, those who had done it before kept joking about the risks involved, heightening their nervousness. All of that subsided almost immediately. After the first line, everyone kept raving about how much fun they were having. Which makes sense because it is A. Lot. Of. Fun. Hell, on the last line we even got to go upside down.

The last activity was a 420 meter waterslide. That’s eleven football fields long…ELEVEN!! This wasn’t a tame waterslide either. You hike through the canopy to the top and sit in an inner tube in front of a water reservoir. A guy at the top then opens the reservoir to let enough water out to shoot you down. You’re shot screaming down this slide that doesn’t bank at the turns and the inner tubes don’t have handles, so you tumble around with water blasting in your face. It’s insanely scary and for many in the group it wasn’t fun. Naturally, I went twice.

Both bus rides too and from the adventure park, we all strained to see monkeys, but disappointedly never did. The next morning, however, while everyone was trying to get a last few moments at the beach, Daniel spotted a family of monkeys in the trees. Finally, our trip was complete. We could go back to San Jose happy.

Monkey pics soon!