Playa Tamarindo, Costa Rica

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We then jumped on the bright yellow American school bus that took us to the border of Costa Rica. Our trip took 7 hours and 4 chicken buses. As we did in Mex/Guat, we walked across the Nic/Costa border, changing our Cordoba´s for Colones (although USD is widely accepted in Costa Rica). Unfortunately , we´ve entered this country in the wet season.. it rained, and it rained. First stop was Playa Tamarindo on the Pacific Coast. Known to the locals, the´Ticos´, as the popular surf and party beach in Costa Rica, we arrived that night to rain and sludge.

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The next day, we took to the street to check it all out. Lots of souvenier shops here, and the prices shocked me.. very much American prices in Costa. The beach is nice, if you can see it through the rain, and I managed to grab some shots with the overcast sky in the background.

Our second day was awsome as we decided to do a jungle river safari and see the wildlife - what Costa Rica´s all about! The rain held off till noon which was great.. and after they served us a very Costa Rican breakfast of fried plantin (the local fruit.. kind of a cross between a bananna and potato), fried cheese, sausages and fruit, we were taken in a cart pulled by two water buffalo´s down to the river. It was such a scenic ride through the rolling green hills and fields of cows and bulls, I spotted a ´Capibara´on the path - this is a very interesting looking mammal (wait for the pics in a few days)! Oh, and what I wanted to see most of all - Toucan´s! The most stunning wildlife. We also saw alot of other birds including the Marcaw.. Costa Rica has over 800 species of birds, 200 of which were in this park, but of course we didn´t even scrape the surface.

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Once we reached the river, we jumped in the boat and cruised down the river while our guides pointed out the iguana´s and monkeys. We saw the White Faced and Howler monkeys in the wild. The black and bright green Iguana´s. We saw croc´s popping their heads up right beside our boat.. eek! Oh, and one of the most interesting things - tiny little bats that hang under a tree branch, very well camoflauged. Later, back at the ranch, we got to hold the baby monkeys they kept there, as well as the baby Iguana´s and Crocodiles! It was a great day.

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We then headed back to Tamarindo in the very bumpy shuttle bus - the roads here are disasterous with their potholes. That night, we had a typical Costa Rican dinner of fish, black beans, rice, salad and potato (or papas as we call them - yes I´m picking up a fair bit of Latin Spanish!) The next day, we decided to go on another adventure which saw us sailing through the tree tops, 50 metres above the ground! Ever heard of zip lining? Its kind of like a flying fox where you are strapped very securely in with a harness and attached to a cable which stretches a great distance from tree to tree. There were 9 in all and we did them all... the photo´s will explain everything. Its quite scary at first sailing through the air with some rope holding you in, but then you relax and its lots of fun.

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By the end, the instructors had us going upside down and Nath and I did one of the cables together, and I was positioned like superman! Oh, and I can´t forget the helicopter where they twisted the rope and while going at great speed, you are spinning around and around. The best bit is the guides took our camera´s - got pics of us, the monkeys in the tree tops, and video as well!

We were lucky this day, the rain held off and we were able to go down to the beach and kick the footy around (I had to stand in at the absence of Nath´s buddies). It was nice to chill on the sand but I still didn´t get into the water. We spent 4 nights in Tamarindo and then travelled to Manuel Antonio.