Rosi Cornwell13th -14th March.
Hollie and I were reunited at the Wet Nose Project and worked a few days together and then got our 2 days off. It only worked out as 1 night away because we still had to rotate the dogs until 8pm the night before our day off, so couldn’t travel anywhere.
So on Monday 13th we packed our stuff and yomped up the hill into town to catch the bus. We went to the wrong bus stop and once at the correct place were told that there isn’t a regular bus to Jaco, which was different to the hourly bus we saw online.
We were advised to get a different bus and had to wait for THREE HOURS. When the bus came I was so relieved as it felt like we were never going to get anywhere!
We changed buses to get to Tarcoles and it started to pelt it down with rain. This seems to be a running theme when I visit the beach! We got off the bus at Crocodile Bridge and headed straight for a shop for the four S’ of sustenance… Sweetcorn… Sweet chilli heatwave Doritos, skittles and Smirnoff ice 8% cans. I also got a smoothie as well… Its all about balance.
We walked in the rain to Crocodile Bridge and below us was a murky looking river.. Apparently the most polluted river in Costa Rica, but some how the most populated with Crocodiles in the world (at least that’s what I think Hollie said). We saw about 10 crocs in the water and one on the land. They are bizarre looking creatures and so surreal to see in real life!
We then got up Google maps to make our way to the hostel. Well actually it was a hotel… And we were staying in a room with loads of pods! Reduced from £70 to £10…mental.
The map said 1 hour and 30 minutes. I don’t mind a walk in the rain, but we decided to stick our thumbs out and try our luck for a lift. There was no immediate luck, and I suspected that nobody wanted two wet people in the back of their cars. We walked a bit, and then I looked and saw a car and I just had a feeling this car was the one. Thumb out, and as it passed the hazards went on and it pulled over! We got in dripping wet and said hola to the kind soul who has taken pity on us. He drove us all the way when all we had asked for was a lift down the straight road. I was very grateful as the road we were going to walk up was very long! He said that his job was an Uber driver, and we hoped that he didn’t think we were asking for a paid taxi ride. He never demanded any money from us, so he was just doing a kind deed!
He dropped us to the reception and we checked in. The lodge was in the middle of no where, surrounded by trees and nature. The pods were just what we needed after being at The wet nose project surrounded by barking dogs.
We ditched our stuff and changed into our swim wear for a lovely rainy dip in the pool. It was super fun, and I was kind of high on skittles so was singing and failing around in the water.
We made a banging rice dinner and watched an episode of Drag Race, although I hardly watched it as I fell asleep… we were both so tired that we went to sleep about 8.30pm. I loved being in the darkness of my pod. All hostels should have pods, they are revolutionary! No squeaky bunk beds!
We woke up to SUNSHINE! The place sounded full of life, the birds were singing and the bugs were all chirping away. I walked down to the restaurant and ordered breakfast.
I was surrounded by serious wild life watchers, all in beige or kaki long trousers… you know the ones that zip at the knees to turn into shorts. They had HUGE cameras, they looked like they could be taking pictures for National Geographic. They were very handy to be around as they would always spot the wildlife and I just needed to follow the direction of their camera! I was blessed to sit and eat my breakfast and see Capuchin Monkeys, Scarlett Macaws, Squirrels, and Birds!
Then Hollie and I had a swim and basked in the sunshine before we had to check out.
We then ordered an Uber to the beach. The receptionist had recommended this beach as it had more around it. However when we pulled up and got out, it seemed very desolate. It had proper ship wrecked vibes. We walked up the beach and Hollie went off exploring. I felt super fatigued so went to a restaurant and got a mojito and chips…. it’s not exactly the perfect cure for being fatigued but it sure did help!
Hollie came back and showed me the pictures of the sea creatures she had seen in the rock pools. I thought I was an adventurous person, but being around Hollie makes me realise, that I am in fact not.
Although maybe this next segment will prove me wrong, as we did hitch hike which is fairly adventurous. The wait for the bus was 40 minutes, so instead of lingering on the side of the road like sad saps, we stuck out our thumbs. There was no luck for a while, so I decided to take my hair down … then a truck pulled over… I don’t know if this was because of my luscious head of hair or it was coincidental timing… probably coincidental timing because my hair is like a pile of straw sitting on my head.. I NEED A HAIR CUT.
The guy had an American flag flapping around behind us, which I had to hold still to prevent it covering his face… how was he driving before we got in?! As we chatted he told us that he was single, and I stupidly forgot one of my mums rules to say that I have a boyfriend/husband to deter unwanted attention. He then decided that as we are both single I could be his girlfriend and move to the UK with him. As taken as I was with offer, I told him that I had misheard his question, and that I did in fact have a boyfriend. He kept nudging Hollie as if she was his wingman, and making winky faces. It would have been soooooo inappropriate and weird if one of us was alone with him, but as we were together we could just laugh about. He dropped us on the side of the road in town that we needed to get the bus from, and we proceeded to run across the road and navigate our way to the bus station. We had to wait a few hours for the bus, but time passed quickly and before we knew it, we were back on the bus to Atenas to carry on our volunteer work for the Wet Nost Project!
Back at the Wet Nose Project there was a new lot of volunteers who arrived, a Spanish Couple who couldn’t really understand anything that we said, and a girl from the States. On their first night here Hollie was cooking up a storm in the kitchen … BBQ jackfruit, bang bang cauliflower, sweet potato fries and breads. Halfway through cooking, the gas went … and Ashleigh (founder of Wet Nose Project) said that Hollie could use the electric hob downstairs, but Hollie said that she needed gas to bake the cauliflower in the oven.
Then as if Hollie had caused it by her need for gas, the electricity went out. All this happened whilst it was thunder storming and pitch black outside. It gets dark every day in Costa Rica at about 6pm! Thank goodness for the UK and our late night summers! So Ashleigh went off to get gas and we all sat in the dark in the lounge. We ate the most amazing dinner at about 9pm. It was truly worth the wait as it was so TASTY!
That isn’t even the story of the oven exploding …. so a few days later the Spanish couple wanted to cook dinner. I went into the kitchen and they asked me how to work the oven. I picked up the lighter, bent down, held onto the ignition (WHICH WAS ALREADY SWITCHED ON AND I DIDN’T REALISE) and lit … BANGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A flame erupted out of the oven, all of the hobs blew off, and we all jumped back. It was literally like in a movie. Thank god there were no dogs in the kitchen, and thank god we only came away with singed arm and leg hair. Apparently they only left the ignition for like 2 seconds, but who knows. It is just a miracle that we came away with out 90% burns.
We then had to cook dinners on a hot plate which was hugely tedious when cooking for 8 people, but we only had to do this for 2 days before Hollie and I packed our bags and headed to La Fortuna! Blog about that coming soon…. includes us getting kicked out of our first couch surfing experience…. stay tuned!
