"Tourists don't know where they've been, travelers don't know where they're going."
Well, I guess it's safe to say that I just experienced the biggest culture shock on my trip yet going from Bolivia to Costa Rica, the land of rich English speaking tourists and resorts. There are school groups, families, and groups of friends on two week vacations here, but almost no backpackers like myself. Every town is flooded with tourists and resorts, it is the typical "vacation spot," which I use to love, but now, just think is very fake. Once I arrived in San Jose, I found my way to a national park and beach to hang out for a few days. There was a pool, a wall with projected movies at night, and a lot of people. I met two Canadian guys there, and followed them to two other beach towns where we hung out on the beach, swam, and went out at night. We also visited some waterfalls (good for swimming in, the ocean is so warm it doesn't even cool you down from the scorching heat outside), and on our way there, ran into a family of howler monkeys. These small monkeys are extremely loud, and make a roaring sound like a mad lion, I found them amazing. Then, my parents and brother came down for a visit!
They flew in for my brothers spring break, and while they were here, we visited two cloud forests, saw lots of animals such as tarantulas, monkeys, cawatiis... And stay at la playa grande, a very nice beach with less tourists and good surfing (which we attempted to varying degrees of success). It is a different kind of traveling for sure, when you are alone or with your parents, but it provided an oppuritinuty to do things I normal wouldn't do. After they had to go back home, I headed over to Nicaragua. I went straight to Ometepe, an island in the huge lake, before getting bored after a few days. I am now jumping around towns, but my goal is to end up in a beach town, live and surf there (in the mornings) and volunteer in an orphanage in the afternoon. Hopefully I will have that all set up by next week!
1 comment:
I really want to see pictures of Ted and Jeanine surfing! How was Nicaragua? My dear friend is from there and her family snuck into America on a home made raft and she did military service to earn the privilege of staying. She used to tell me that if a white woman wants to feel like a goddess, she need only head to Nicaragua, where everyone swoons over light skinned people. Did you get that goddess feeling or was she exaggerating? LOL!
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