From Costa Rica to the CBC

 

Crossing into Costa Rica was sloth-like in speed but efficient, and we were across the border before lunch. 

Then it was about 10 minutes of driving past truck after truck lined up for the return border crossing. Not inspiring for the return.

Cue the tune of the blog: Que Va A Hacer Esta Noche, paying in Costa Rica since 1982.

Some happy - and scary - highlights...

Brasilito - Shore Fishing and Foil Dreaming

Since we were early, we headed straight to Brasilito Beach in Guanacaste province, a quiet town between resort areas. 

The gringo-recommended campground was full, so we stayed at a sandy campground nearby that was run by a local. The place was built of corrugated iron and had decorated with old toilets as planters. Locals often came by in the evening to fish from the shore using nothing but fishing lines, lures and singers. It seemed pointless until one night we saw a massive school of fish congregate together into a bait ball. Then the fisherpeople were going nuts, pulling in fish after fish after fish. 

Our morning view

Campsite

Our beach

Dinner with a sunset

Ivan copying some local influencers

We were a fifteen minute walk from the famous Playa Conchal, a beach of soft, ground shells recommended to us by my friend Meredith. The beach lives up to its resort-quality status, complete with beach chairs and expensive tourist market. 

Fly foiling

There we met an elderly surfer who was selling "fly foil" lessons. To see him sailing above the water at something like 30 miles per hour, arms spread back in cactus pose, was breathtaking. (Watch this video to get a sense of how it works, only our guy's foil had a motor on his.)

We were tempted to try - even at the resort price of $200 for a lesson for two - but decided in the end to simply enjoy the soda and sunsets at our campsite. So yes, let me bore you with another sunset photo. 

Don't worry, the animals are coming soon.

Sunset! You can't see too many.

Pochete - Down Pours and Gun Shots

From the coast we moved on to the tip of the Nicoya peninsular to a campground with the most critical of facilities: a covered roof. 

Pair of Scarlet Macaws.

I have fallen in love with frogs on this trip - more to come

We were surprised to find squirrels here, though they are different from the ones at home, primarily in that they have a thick stripe down their backs.

Once the very bored attendants left for the day, the campground was empty except for us. We took to the beach, and although everything looked fine, there were clear signs everywhere warning us against swimming. 

We'd come here hoping to catch a boat to a popular snorkeling excursion at nearby Turtle Island. Only two things happened.

First, a torrential downpour that promised not to stop for days. 

Second? Gunshots. 

When I heard the first rifle blast, I was in the van pulling out food for our diner. I froze and asked Ivan  if we should leave. 

"Shhh," Ivan said, a finger on his lips. "Listen. Do you hear any screaming?"

"I hear yelling."

"If someone was hit, there'd be screaming."

Then a second shot rang out. 

"See?" Ivan said. "No screaming, no danger." 

We have very different ideas of risk, clearly. Needless to say, that night I made sure Ivan locked the van before we went to sleep and we hightailed it out of there early the next morning.

Montezuma Waterfalls - Crazy Trail (Crazier Diver)

The  next day we headed to Montezuma Waterfalls to hike up the precarious river bed to a beautiful cascada that fed into a natural swimming pool. While there, we saw a local climb roughly 100 feet up the waterfall in his bare feet, stretch out his arms like Jesus on the cross, then literally fall off into a perfect dive into the pool below. 

My stomach flips just remembering.  

 

Hiking up the riverbed

Navigating the steep parts.

The reward. Not as great in dry season, but still a great swim.

Cayuba - Cemeteries, Surfers, Sewage and Ceviche

From the falls, we moved on to another campsite closer to the tourist area, this one run by a local who'd lived in the US for several years. We had beaches for miles, though under all the waves were very hard, molten rocks that pierced your feet. You could see surfers limping their way in and out of the beach's famous waves. 

When the tide was low, with a good pair of shoes you could walk to Cabuya Island Cemetery, which many locals believe to be haunted. Despite my gothic nature, I never quite made it out, being a bit creeped out at potentially being marooned there with the long-dead when the tide rose.  

Our view - that's Cabuya Island Cemetery in the back

Our beach

An ancient Higueron tree, which is a type of strangler tree. Won Costa Rica's "most exceptional tree"  at one point. More exceptional for me was that it was a free tourist attraction - that's not that common out here. 

Sunset. You knew it was coming.

Our campsite came with mostly-flushing toilets and clean showers. But I did experience one nightmarish morning when the German guy next to me clogged his toilet so that when I flushed mine, a stew of sewage poured out of its base like something in a horror film. 

Speaking of stews, we did get ceviche delivered to our campsite by a guy on a bike. Best ceviche we've ever had, although Ivan's lip did end up swelling up pretty badly for two days aferwards.

Best ceviche delivered on a bike!

Beach walk after toilet overflow

For two nights, we had infestations of hermit crabs. They loved our mat for some reason.

Reserva Natural Cabo Blanco - Crabs and Coves

Best hike we completed in the area was through the jungle to a hidden beach, Playa Cabo. 

Capuchin!

Trail bridge

These crabs were everywhere! All in the hills.

Coete

The destination! 

The park beach

And another view

Ivan doing his Karate Kid impression

San Jose to Toronto - From Attack Birds to CBC Recordings

We left the peninsular by ferry and made our way inland to Costa Rica's capital, San Jose, where we stayed in a field in a very rough part of town, then the backyard of a van rental place close to the airport. Because I was flying home for three weeks!

Crazy bird at our campsite in San Jose that kept attacking its reflection in our windshield.

I was excited because (as I've been hinting in the blog) I've been working on a four-part podcast called "Haunted" with CBC Podcasts. I've been interviewing a host of people (you may be one of them) from beaches and campgrounds for the last four months, with not always the best connections. So I was now flying home for a week in Toronto to record the podcast in studio. 

The set design for the Rosebud Motel for Shitt's Creek in the lobby at CBC Toronto

In a radio studio

In the podcast studio

The biggest cultural shock upon my return was remembering that I could flush toilet paper - something I haven't been able to do in over six months. Other than that, spring was arriving in Toronto, and although the days were busy, my producer Leah and I managed to get through all four episodes. 

The podcast is with the audio team now, and all I know is that it is scheduled to come out next year - though exactly when is still up in the air. So stay tuned!

Meanwhile, I returned to Vanlife end of May, and we continued southward. See you in the next post.