Santa Teresa

After our hike through Cabo Blanco National Park, we kept going up the coast to the surfing town of Santa Teresa. We didn't have a room booked when we arrived, and were surprised to see the town much busier than we had anticipated. After asking around at 5 places, we decided on staying at Don Jon's. The bottom room in the below picture was ours - A large room with a fridge, private washroom and three single beds!

We had planned to take surfing lessons on our only full day in Santa Teresa, but I was feeling under the weather so we cancelled those plans. We ended up relaxing on the beach and had a great time.

Cabo Blanco National Park

After three nights in Montezuma we left town and kept heading North up the coast. We decided to stop off at Cabo Blanco National Park for a hike.

There are two trails to choose from - A 2km loop which takes about an hour, or a 4km hike to the beach, which takes about 2 hours each way. We wanted to see the beach so we opted for the 4km route. It turned out to take us much longer than 2 hours to get to the beach, due to the constant climbing up and down along the trail - It was a lot more rough than we had expected!

We were given a map with listings of indigenous trees at the beginning of the trail - This tree grows spikes all over its bark as a defence mechanism.

We had brought a picnic lunch to eat on the beach, and this guy was stalking us the whole time we were eating, looking for an opportunity to steal our sandwiches!

The view at the beach

We tried to go for a swim to cool off after the rough hike, but the beach was covered in tiny, pointy rocks that were painful to walk on, and the surf was so strong that it kept pushing around huge rocks with each wave - We both got hit pretty hard on the ankle with rocks while in the water!
A big upside of the beach, though, was a huge flock of pelicans that were feeding close to the shore. They kept swooping up and diving into the water trying to catch fish. It was amazing to see!

Posing for a quick picture before starting the 4km hike back to the car.

Night Shots from Montezuma

Kyle took these photos with a 15-second shutter delay on the beach in Montezuma, taking advantage of the bright light of the full moon

Rainsong Wildlife Sanctuary

While in Montezuma, we decided to visit the Rainsong Wildlife Sanctuary.
Run entirely by volunteers and on donations from supporters, Rainsong houses injured animals and rehabilitates them for release when possible.
They are also currently in the midst of an initiative to hatch and release baby sea turtles into their natural habitat.
Check out their website here: http://www.rainsongsanctuary.com

These are only some of the residents we met during our visit.

Zip-Lining in Montezuma

While in Montezuma, we took a trip to the local zip-line tour!

Halfway through the tour, we stopped at a water fall to go for a quick swim

The view was gorgeous!

Kyle enjoying a post zip-line beer

Showing Off My First Car!

Anna and her Uncle Kyle

Vancouver Visit

We interrupt our regularly scheduled honeymoon photos to bring you highlights from this weekend's trip to Vancouver to visit with the Washbrooks!

Anna checks out some Sea Stars at the Vancouver Aquarium

Kyle checks out some fish from inside a bubble

All ready to watch Dora in 4-D!

We went to the park - Kyle took a turn on the monkey bars


Kaeli loved the monkey bars - Especially once she got up the courage to try them on her own!

We went to the Capilano Lake and Dam - The view was amazing!

Anna tells Uncle Kyle a story

Kaeli and Anna played tug-of-war with Kyle's hand on the drive back to the ferry!

Montezuma

After our brief stay in Jacó we boarded a ferry from Puntarenas to Paquera and headed to our next stop - Montezuma.

We hadn't booked a hotel room before our arrival, and hoped we could find a room when we got there. We started with the El Pargo Feliz, and got a room no problem! While I was paying another couple came by looking for a room, and the manager told them I'd just taken the last one! Turns out that they were a very nice couple from Ontario & Quebec and we bumped into them every day while we were in Montezuma!

As with every other place we'd been to, the hotel had several hammocks that we took full advantage of.

We stayed in Montezuma for three nights. Kyle signed himself up for a day of scuba diving while we were there, which he thoroughly enjoyed, and I took in a yoga class.

The town was small but very popular, especially with people around our age. There were a lot of little restaurants and bars, and even a few street performers!

Our hotel backed on to the beach, and we took walks on it each day - Kyle liked going from rock to rock, seeing how far out he could get at high tide.

Jacó

After leaving Uvita, we were headed further up the coast to Jacó, a town that Lonely Planet warned was either loved or hated by those who visited it. Bob from Arizona winced and said "why are you going there?" when he learned of our plans.

We ended up really hating Jacó. The town was so busy and SO Americanized, it felt more like Miami than Costa Rica! We were not impressed.

However, as much as we disliked the town itself, we absolutely loved the hotel we stayed in. We chose the Vista Pacifico Hotel literally because the guide book noted it was Canadian-run. The owners, Jan and Greg, are originally from the GTA (just like us!) and are amazing people. We had a wonderful time! (Funny though, that we have so few pictures of a place we enjoyed so much!)

We booked the cheapest, smallest room they had but when we arrived we found out that the person in the room before us hadn't left yet. Greg simply said "No problem!" and upgraded us to the biggest room they had at no extra charge! It was really more of an apartment, with a kitchen and separate bedroom. Jan and Greg later said they were happy to upgrade us and that it was their wedding gift to us!
Just up the stairs from our room was the pool, BBQ (both of which we took full advantage of) and common area where everyone hung out.

There were a few animals running around the place - This is one of their dogs, Rubio (which means "blonde" in English).

Jan suggested we go out to a nearby resort that night to watch the sunset. They've built a huge amphitheatre into the side of the cliff and anyone - guest or not - can come for free. We got a couple of drinks from the bar and enjoyed the beautiful sunset.

Uvita - The Toucan Hotel

After our night with the random Costa Rican family (who spoke zero English, but we were able to communicate enough to find out that the Mother's name is Maria, and for her to point us in the right direction to a soda (mini cafe / shop) for dinner) we were able to check into our hostel, The Toucan Hotel.

We based our entire holiday on the Lonely Planet guide book, and it highly recommended The Toucan. Once we arrived, we knew why.

The Toucan is by far the most hippie-esque place we stayed. The staff were laid back and super friendly, the common areas were brightly decorated with art, and if you couldn't book a room, they rented out hammocks for $4 a night.

Yes, this is a horrible photo of me (which I didn't know was being taken - Thanks, Kyle) but it gives you a better idea of the decor of the place!

This is where we spent our night at the Toucan. $6 got us the Treehouse, which is equipped with hammocks. We went back and forth trying to decide if we should set up our tent, but after a few drinks decided to be adventurous and sleep in the open. (A decision I would later come to regret, as I slept for maybe 2 hours. Kyle loved it.)

We happened to be staying there on a Saturday night, which is their weekly Jam Night. They brought in guitars, a drum kit, keyboards, conga drums and mics, and they owner & staff had a blast rocking out while guests and locals enjoyed beers at the bar. Kyle and I made friends with the bartender, Bob from Arizona, and he kept us in drinks all night long - Rum and vodka from water bottles he'd brought in with him in a backpack. Kyle took advantage of the night to enjoy the cigar Adam had given him as a wedding gift!

Uvita

Rather than spend a fourth night in Bahia Drake, we decided to start our drive up the West coast, and headed for our first stop - Uvita.

We thought we'd be able to stay the night at the hostel we'd reserved for the following night (The Toucan), but it turned out that they (and a couple other hostels in the area) were packed!
We lucked out, though - One of the people at the hostel arranged for us to stay with a family down the road for the night. Kyle suspects the family was starting up their own B&B, as they were undergoing renovations to a beautiful home. Maybe we were their first customers!

We had heard there was a waterfall close by, so we had to check it out. It was only a 2km hike, we were told - No problem!
Until we discovered the 2km was all entirely uphill and it was sweltering hot out. We were so glad to see that freshwater pool by the time we got to the top!