What a mixed vacation… My sister, Isabella wanted to visit Costa Rica and visit me. So she her husband Sebastian and a friend of mine, David, flew to San José. Over the two and a half weeks we see some Jungles, a lot of wildlife, go surfing, explore beautiful waterfalls and diverse beaches. However I also got sick and had to fight a fewer and my sister ended up going to a hospital for a day. Still it was a wonderful time and we managed through it.

I sit in the bus to San José. My excitement is high as I haven’t seen my sister in four month. Another day another border crossing. At some point you think you know how long it is going to take, but in the end you’re still surprised on how long it actually takes. This time I thought it might go fast. Wrong again. So I get picked up at 8:30 a.m. and we get to the border quickly. It doesn’t take a lot of time until the first drama starts. We barely missed the bus and have to wait for another half an hour to get on the next one. Every luggage is stored perfectly and we are ready to roll. In this case we roll for exactly one minute. All the luggage is offloaded again. Really? I could have walked that distance… A guy collects all our passports and we have to go through immigration of Nicaragua. Once everyone managed to pass through we go to the bus again. This already took an hour because the guy, that took our passports was running around for a while until we got it back. The luggage is safely stored and we are ready to roll. You guessed it. We roll for another minute and get out again. Got damnit I should have crossed the border by foot I think to myself. It would have been much faster. At some point you just don’t question the ridiculousness of it all anymore and you just endure it. So I grab my luggage and make my way through the long immigration line of Costa Rica. To enter the country you sometimes need to show proof that you will leave the country again. I didn’t have it so I created my own pdf. I nervously speak with the immigration officer and answer all her questions. Luckily I wasn’t asked about my exit though. After a few questions I get the stamp and we are finally ready to roll. This time for real. So the bus is rolling down agonizingly slow. But at least it’s rolling now. Usually I don’t mind the time on a bus but this day I want to see my sister so I was impatient. Here’s a lesson I learned on the road. Once you plan on certain times you will be late every time. Don’t plan on timings and you are going to be fine. So after sitting in the cold bus for 8 agonizing hours I finally come close to San José. Of course they also damaged my surfboard… Again! If you are traveling with one definitely get a board bag or other protection. Don’t be like me.

It is finally time to meet up with my Isabella, Senbastian and David. We catch up on stories and decide to leave San José as soon as possible. San José is quite strange. A lot of homeless people sitting around and begging for money while hoards of trash fly through the streets. Once you come closer to the center it becomes suddenly clean and fancy. The outer skirts have a ghetto feel. In comparison to other main cities in Central America it is quite safe and secure though.

We gather the next morning to catch the bus. We wanted to catch the early bus. However it was fully booked though when we came to the bus station. We get tickets for the later one and go for coffee. Afterwards we get in and apparently it has no AC. So we drive in the midday heat to the beach. This will take two painful hours. The sweat is dropping from our faces and after a few minutes we are mostly drenched. At a construction side the bus was waiting for about fifteen minutes. Without the airflow of the windows it felt like a sauna in the bus. I could already imagine three Finnish people sitting in the back and creating an infusion. Finally we arrive in Jaco. We get of the bus ready for the ocean. We look for our accommodation and it is literally in front of the bus station. What a luxury! We jump into the ocean as fast as possible. The green jungle is rising on the hills around Jaco. It is damn hot and humid but endurable with the ocean breeze. The waves are crushing down on the beach.

I was used to the dry bushes of the dry season. Here the Jungle is standing out green and lush even in the dry season. The jungle is also unbelievable loud. You can’t imagine what kind of sounds birds, frogs insects and monkeys can create day and night.

We want to rent a car to explore Costa Rica. For me it is strange to have this many known faces around. Names from home fall into stories. They trigger my memories. These far far away memories of home. Known faces with their own story continuing as we speak. It is nice to not be the only one that is looking for what to do and where to sleep. This gives me a little rest. It almost feels like a normal vacation for me.

We decide to go to Manuel Antonio with our newly rented car and I am starting to feel bad. I notice that I will get a cold. I tell myself that it will pass. The next day we went into the national park and I start to feel worse. Looking into the trees for wildlife I notice how I can’t even focus. My sight gets blurry and I start to sweat profoundly. At some point I couldn’t even look up anymore. I told the others I was not feeling well so I went to the beach and just fell asleep for two hours. I can tell you one thing fever dreams on a beach feel very different. You wake and you’re still in paradise. You just can’t appreciate it because your body is too exhausted. The rest of the day I lay down and sleep. I slept for 15 hours and then at least the fewer was gone. I still had an unbearable pain in my throat and a bad cough which was staying for a week.

From here we make our way up north. On the way more trouble starts as my sister needs to go to the hospital. This is not how we imagined the vacation together. Me sick and her in the hospital… What are you going to do? Be angry at the universe? These things happen from time to time and acceptance helps the most to cope with the situation. She had to stay in the hospital for a night. Meanwhile we stay in Tamarindo as Sebastian visits her all the time. We stay in Tamarindo for about a week. So my sister can recover.

During this time we explore some beaches. We visited this one desolate beach that is still stuck in my head. It is a hidden beach where you can only get there by driving through a dirt road. We lay down in the shade of the trees and relax to soak it all in. I am starting to recover so I get active again. Even if I’m still sick I get my goggles and go exploring the sea. I see crazy fish, sea urchins and the usual hustle and bustle of the living ocean. Every time you look at it, it seems so different to our own lives. Like an alien world on the same planet. For me it is always stunning. Just swimming around and looking at things.

I try to sell my surfboard. I expected more money for it though. Apparently it was broken at one point or looked broken so it did go for less money. The demand for shortboards in Tamarindo is not too high either as the wave is a beginner wave. While I was looking for a buyer I decided to take my board out one last time. I could have not asked for a better last session on the board. I caught waves rode the lip and did some fun turns. It looked gushy and small in the beginning which is not really fun on a short board. It quickly changed into roaring waves with a fun left to ride as the high tide approached. This is the perfect goodbye for the board. I end up selling it for 70$ at a local surf shop. So regarding the costs I bought it for 200$ and had to repair it a few times due to transport. Was it worth it? Money wise not really. Experience wise? Yes of course! I learned to ride a pretty small board, a 6.0 to be precise. It has improved my pop up and my surfing tremendously as you have to work so much harder to catch a wave. The pop up has to be faster and you really have to pump through the wave to not loose it. Cost wise it might have been the same as renting one. It was worth it in my opinion. The place I sold the board to had a squirrel running around. This was really cool as it was used to people and just started climbing them. The surfboard might have been sold for a low price but this experience was priceless!

From here we pack our backs and head inland to another jungle. La Fortuna is the perfect place for it. The town itself is quite touristy and not really special. It is just a bunch of restaurants stacked next to each other. But the surroundings make up for it. Hot springs, a volcano, jungles, waterfalls, rope swings you name it. It is here! So you can have a lot of fun in the area. The first evening we check out one rope swing. It is a waterfall nearby the town. You can cliff jump or you take the rope to jump into the water.

Another day we set out for a little adventure on a hidden waterfall. My sister found it and it is not supposed to be crowded and isn’t supposed to cost 18$ like the famous Fortuna waterfall… For us it is a little too pricey for literally just falling water so we decide to take the risk and hike to the one Isabella found. To get to the waterfall you pass a gate that is telling you that this is private property. There is a small path next to the gate where you can pass through, though. I get increasingly worried as we make our way through the humid jungle. Is this legal? What are the laws on trespassing in Costa Rica? At one point during the hike we hear water rushing through. When we reach the point we are unsure if we should continue. It is the river and we see the path going on the other side. After thinking about the options and seeing another small group pass it we decide to do it as well. Shoes off, smartphone stored in the backpack and it is time to cross. At one point the current was pretty strong and I almost fell into the river, but in the last moment I caught my balance again. Phew that was pretty close. We all make the crossing safely but cautious. After we crossed the river we hike a little longer and then we get rewarded. It feels like being in a dream. The colors of the green jungle, the blue water and the black lava rocks paint a beautiful canvas in front of our eyes. Tugged away in the jungle the cold and clean water is flowing endlessly through the lava rocks. The jungle with it’s crazy sounds is adding to the sound of the rushing down the mountain. Truly a magical place. We see another group that ordered a tour guide for a about a 100$ per person. David went in flip flops though. If this is not the funniest thing. Imagine ordering a tour guide and then someone is showing up and doing the same thing for free in their flip flops.

We hang out, climb the sides to jump into the water try to swim against the current and dive below. The water is so cold that I can’t feel my fingers anymore at one point. Doesn’t matter we’re having fun. The refreshing cold is actually a welcome change from the usually too hot and humid climate. We top the day of in some hot springs. It is actually a river that has warm flowing water. How incredible is that? The place is quite crowded so after this amazing waterfall it just feels mediocre. Still relaxing. It is like sitting in a natural hot tub.

The next day we go for a different adventure on the volcano. We find a hike that looks fun. We go there in the morning and check it out. It is in a national park so of course we have to pay a tremendous amount of 15$ per person just to see the jungle… This time we swallow the cost and go in. There is a path directly at the entrance and we decide to take it. Later we found out that this was the most difficult in the whole area. Isabella and Sebastian weren’t too happy about it but they managed. David went in flip flops again. Quite exhausted we still decide to carry on to see the viewpoint.

We carry on, on the normal pass. the rest of the hike is quite easy and not as wild as the first trail. At some point Sebastian still had enough. He is saying he will wait right here and we should carry on. We convince him otherwise and we continue. For a good reason! After five more minutes we reach the viewpoint. Sometimes you don’t know how close you are to the destination and you just have to push through. The mountain is tugged away in the clouds and got a misty feel. You can see a lot of green and some hills around the area. As we enjoy it the sun is even coming out. You can feel how the humidity is much lower when you are standing above the jungle.

We top it off with a coffee and chocolate tour at the end. Here several things about the plants are explained. It takes about a year or two from plant to cup, while in the west we usually knows the brown roasted coffee beans in the final step. I often think about the time it takes when I enjoy my coffee now! This gives me more appreciation about the coffee and how the caffeinated drink has captured the world of all cultures. Also the coffee plant has several layers. One layer is called the parchment layer and it is used to produce parchment paper. I bet you didn’t know that. Another cool fact is that Coca Cola get’s their caffeine from the leaves of the coffee plant. Anyway on the tour we got great insights on how to ferment cacao beans, how to use the product and how to create a chocolate bar on your own. All in all a pretty interesting tour and I definitely learned a lot. For me the main takeaway is that we need to know more about what we consume everyday. It is quite strange how much we consume and know so few things about.

After this it is already time to say goodbye. The vacation of Sebastian and Isabella is ending. They are flying back home to the used environment, family and friends. Life will continue and the story of a great vacation will be told. For David and me more adventure is waiting. We head to Playa Hermosa. Playa Hermosa is known for breaking backs, boards and leashes. The wave is fierce. When we get there it is massive. I decide to stay out and watch for this time. The sun is painting the sky red as it sets. A light breeze is passing through the hair and the surfers give a great show to watch as they paddle into these intense waves.

The next day we go to a different beach. We get a board and go surfing. It looked choppy first but then big sets for a longboard come in. I paddle into a wave and look about two meters down into the drop. Nothing to scary my pop up is know on time and it is no problem. I do a few turns. It is always fun to switch between a longboard and a short board. The longboard teaches you to go back to the technique. Every turn you do you have to commit more with your bodyweight and the technique. After that I meet some different people and we decide to go surfing one last time. We get up at 6 a.m. and we order an uber to the beach. Three people, three boards no problem. The uber driver will always figure it out.

We get to the beach and there’s beautiful waves. A bunch of people are already in the water. We go in and start to surf. You look up and you see only the beach and a green wall palms. It doesn’t get any better than this. The only problem when you’re at such a beach. You can’t really know where you are in the water. If the reference point is all green you’re going to have some trouble. The current was pushing us constantly to the side so it was a lot of paddling and looking for small details at the beach. This time I took a small surfboard again. It is the best session I could have asked for. Sun is shining, a beautiful beach and I even got cheered on for a few waves which never happened before! I still think about this particular wave I rode in that session. Beautiful lefts and rights at the beach break.

It is time to say goodbye to Costa Rica as well. We’re headed to Columbia. Reflecting on the country I can only say I’m stunned. It is a less dangerous version of the countries nearby. Everything is pretty relaxed and Costa Rica has beautiful people and landscapes to explore. If you don’t want to watch your back all the time it is the perfect place to go. Only thing left to say is: It was nice!