Too little time to write!

It's been a little while since I last took the time to write and a lot has happened. Quick overview:

Snorkeling/Tortuga Island trip - Had a good time, ate my money's worth in fish, though it left me slightly less than satisfied; the water was a bit too murky and choppy for snorkeling (it had rained the day prior), though the day was beautiful. It's definitely a tourist-trap type of thing.

Cabuya/Cemetery Island - Lots of fun; had to wade out to the island between the tides, left at low tide so we found the land bridge. The cemetery was really neat, the most recent marked site was from 2008; some of the headstones were really cool (pictures somewhere). No luck lobster hunting. It was beautiful day and we had a fun time and completely free.

Mal Pais/Santa Terasa/Plya Carmen - Waves were incredible (8-10ft). Surf board rental was cheap ($8/day) and surfing was a lot of fun. The towns run together and are mostly a really long road about 300' from the beach with tons of shops overpriced grocery stores & restraunts, and tons of folks from British Columbia Canada. We etrented our board from a little shop caled 'The Shit Hole' by recommendation from Joe Burger (Rainsong volunteer). The shop was awesome and the Italian guy running the place was awesome, treated us really well and when we returned the bord with a broken leash, he told us not to worry about it (we heard some horror stories about other rental places)! If you make it to Mal Pais and are looking for a board, get it from the Shit Hole! We stayed with Neils (a friend of Rainsong) at the hostel he's trying to get up and running for $5/person/night, which made the trip a bit less costly. Overall, we spent too much money between food, entertainment, and souvenirs - mostly because everything here in Costa Rica (especially the Gringo towns) are expensive by American standards.


My time here at Rainsong has been a mixed bag. There is a lot of dramaticism emanating from our host; everything is freak out, as opposed to a constructive conversation or lesson. Expectations run high, learning takes place through trial and error. Though at the end of the day when everything's been taken care of, her story begins to come out, which is very cool. If I can stand to, I'd like to write a book on her life of pirates, shipwrecks, Sea Turtles rescues, land disputes, and hidden treasures. Lots of seat-of-your-pants stuff.


Today is the 8th, and we've got 10 days left here at Rainsong. Our plans afterward are looking very open. We ended up deciding to push our visits to Dominical and Boruca until after we renew our Visas (by staying in Panama for a minimum of 3 days) which will give us a more time in Guanacaste and Panama before New Years.

TIffany has a nice travel itinerary worked up for the Nicoya Peninsula and Guanacaste Provence. All that's left is to figure out bus routes, our New Years plans and booking the Waterfall Hostel in David, Panama and We're waiting on some info from Tiffany's friend Rachel to see if meeting up with her is still a-go.