San Jose

I spent 2 nights in the capitol city of Costa Rica relaxing in one of the nicest hostels I´ve stayed in, Costa Rica Backpackers.  The place was equipped with 2 big projector screens on which were played movies, a small outdoor swimming pool for cooling off, a restaurant, hammocks, free internet, and friendly staff.  San Jose itself was just another not-so-special city, but it felt safe enough to walk around during the day.  I was pretty happy to sit in the hostel and catch up on some reading, talk to other travellers, and do a little shopping to replace the jeans that no longer fit (blame it on poor-Central American laundering, or delicious, free, and plentiful food in Guatemala).

I was happily re-united with Carlos, a friend I´d met in Guatemala, and of course, even more excited to see Kendra´s smiling face and receive all the hugs she´d brought me from friends back home.  She arrived close to midnight on the 22nd, and although I expected her to be exhausted from travelling and wanting to just rest for a day, we all decided to travel together the next day to Tortuguero on the north-eastern tip of Costa Rica.