Photos--a couple from Nic. But mostly of Costa Rica!

A couple pics from our hike to San Ramon waterful on the Volcanic Island of Ometepe in Nicauragua. We hiked on volcano Maderes to see this wateful, and it kicked our butts! I am used to hiking and physical activity, but when I told Joshua we just had to hike a volcano, and he agreed, I was not thinking about how much uphill it was...as in like I developed a wheeze--but I knew if I quit then that I wouldnt make it. People kept saying youre almost there an hr away from the falls, haha. and the last part was the hardest, it wasnt hiking so much as it was climbing. But for me it was one foot in front of the next! I felt like we accomplished so much. haha. 

And now, the rest of the Pictures are from Costa Rica! Walks on the beach in Samara Beach!

Adventure hike at Samara Beach, Costa Rica. We walked for hours, and ended up having to turn back, before the tide took over that portion of the beach!

Date night Samara Beach #1

On date night #1 we went dancing at the local hot spot (it reminded me of dirty dancing movie 2). We also met some cool rastafarian friends there too.Date 

Date night #2. wierdly enough, I was craving sushi. : )I guess after having so much beans and rice, youll eat anything!

Our current hostel. We were staying in dorms, it was awesome, and I am looking forward to doing it again on our trip. It was a wonderful unexplainable way to meet and connect with people. It was so much fun. 2nd picture below, are some friends we made from Australia.

Apparently the only place in the world that farms their own cocoa beans, and makes them into a chocolate bar, is about 2km away from where we are staying, and a short bike ride. We went there on Valentines day for about 26USD per person, we had about a 4 hour tour, got to eat way too much chocolate, from the unprepared cocoa bean, straight from the fruit, to refined chocolate on a dipped spoon. They had us taste different types of chocolate (which only tasted different because of the different trees that grew on different local farms) with all these herbs and spices. For  example have you every had chocolate and garlic, or chocolate and lemongrass, rosemary, or chili powder?

Some more friends we hung out with at the hostel. Tyler & Tiffany : )

Oh, did I mention, I got a cool doo-dad in my hair!

2 days ago I rode my bike 8km to punta uva a nearby beautiful beach in the pouring rain. It was so refreshing. I really enjoyed it!! I was already soaken wet in a attempt to volunteer at a local clinic, and decided I didnt have anthing else to do. So, I just went on the bike ride, and I am so glad I did. We are in a rainforest and have found out it rains alot! In fact we almost left this cool town too soon because of the rain. (the last few days have had awesome weather). Yesterday, Joshua rode with me to Punta Uva. It is so pretty here. I hear howler monkeys often, have seen tucans, the state animal a sloth, fish, turtles, and squirrels. (actually today we were on a bike ride, and the monkey above was throwing its seeds or somthing down and hit Joshua in the back). 

Last night before going out with Joshua to celebrate Mardi Graw at Tasty Waves. Tasty waves is a super cool place. They serve drinks and food. Every night of the week, they have something fun going on, like Trivia night. But, my favorite night so far is 'movie night'. A group of about 30 people showed up, and stationed themselves around a large white board, and a projector plays 2 movies back to back. It is free, and they give out free popcorn. We watched St vincent. It was awesome!!! (and if you havent seen that movie, I highly recommend it!

Trivia Night @ Tasty Waves & the Lazy Mon

We arrived to Puerto Viejo on February 11th, and so far we have got to say it is our favorite place thus far. Joshua researched a hostel named La Ruka, and we decided to stay. When we arrived there were only dorm beds remaining, and we enjoyed it so much the last time we decided we would be ok to stay in dorms again. Dorms are like summer camp. You hang out with your new people (there is always so much to talk about), listen to  music, have pillow talk, and eat and drink together. Everyone is very respectful of each others space, privacy, and tranqulity. So, if someone gets in late, they are very quiet and vice versa. There are 6 beds in our current dorm, and lockers that you can lock your valuables in. We all share a shower. I haven't had a hot shower here yet (but only because you have to tinker with it just right--I think I have figured out to do it now. It is a electric shower, so you can only have a small stream of water to be hot, so dont turn too much pressure on). Right now, it is Joshua and I in one bunk. (I have the bottom-which is the best). Another couple from Pennsylvania, but is relocating to Asheville, NC. There names are Tiffany and Tyler, a guy named Bob who is paying to volunteer at a local Animal Rescue Center, and a girl I haven't met yet. 

Yesterday, Joshua rented bikes for 5$ each per day, and we have LOVED it!. Our bikes have baskets in them, and we can travel much farther with them. Plus everyone here travels with bikes. Puerto Viejo is a coastal city on the Carribean side of Costa Rica. The city outlines the beach, and the buildings are all so close to the water, that it actually doesnt seem like there is much of a beach at all. All the buildings are small, and as far as we have seen there are no resorts. 

Last night, our new friends that we have met at the hostel over the last couple nights told us about a trivia night at a bar a few minutes bike ride away. We all rode our bikes together to the bar, and signed up on a team. Our team's name was the Green Frogs. Joshua chose the name. Not sure why he said it was the first thing that came to his mind (and no one had any other ideas lol) There were 5 of us in total. I was reassured that we had a chance at winning because I had Joshua on my team. Anyone who knows Joshua knows he is full of random facts (actually there have been many people on our trip asking Joshua "How do you know that"?) The categories were odd jobs, something to do with karate etc. There were bonus question in which, whichever team guessed the played song first got a free round of shots. In the end there was a final question, in which you could wager however many points you wanted. The question was "which country has the most coastline". Answers like Antartica, Chile, Australia, Russia, and Canada were discussed. Which do you think. Answer: Canada. (Which we guessed correct so we got a free round of chile tequilla shots!). After that we planned to go to lazy mon, but had about a hour stopover at our hostel along the way where we played some cards, and chatted. We then rode our bikes, and made it to the Lazy Mon! It was so much fun! Also, it was fun that we came in a group. I really enjoyed this! The dancing  was a bit reggae, mixed with Carribean, mixed with tribal dancing. The music was also reggae, caribbean, mixed with Bob Marley, mixed with rap. It was pretty cool, and it was alot of fun to dance, and also watch all the locals dance. 

Afterwards we decided we were hungry, but it was late, and no where was open, and we didnt have cash. But there was a street vendor grilling some delicious meat on a stick. After riding around on our bikes we went back there and "the boss" (the mans wife) said in spanish "Oh no problem, just come back and pay us tomorrow". This would never happen in the states!. So, we sat down got some carne on a stick, and IT WAS DELICIOUS! We also had like a 15-20 minute conversation with "the boss" and 2 other locals at the restaurant while we were eating (as well as their fat dog drooling at our feets-typical lol). The cool part of this though is that we had a 15-20minute conversation in Spanish. Mind you our spanish is very bad (although they did say without prompting that my spanish was better than Joshuas-a proud moment in my mind ; ) ), and they were using basic words, and some spanglish. We still enjoyed it! They fared us buenas dias as it was 2 am, then we rode back on our bikes and fell asleep! : )

The hostel we are staying has a kitchen. So, we have had the opportunity to cook our own food with people who are also cooking in the same space. It feels very familial. Of course everyone cooks and buys their own meals, but one thing I really like about the people  here is everyone is willing to share their food. Alot of times someone will buy a snack such as a pineapple, or canteloupe cut it up and bring it over and share with the group. It is very simple here. You live life in the basics. I need to get more water. I am hungry, I will get food. I think I will go for a walk. Let's watch the sunset. Let's talk with these people. And it is all very new and very interesting. About a week or so ago, we thought maybe we would but our trip shorter than expected (the 3-6 mo estimate), and maybe we still will. But, at this exact moment I don't want to. : )

San Jose

We arrived to San Jose about 230 in the afternoon. We knew where we wanted to stay at, (they supposedly had hot showers, and we hadnt had one in 3 weeks). Turns out, they moved to a different city or something, and so we walked several kilometers in the wrong direction, and out of town away from the other hostels for nothing. lol. well...part of traveling we surmised. We ended up finding this awesome hostel with super hot showers (which we didnt know until Joshua took a shower, and came back telling me I was going to be so excited.. I thought he was messing with me at first). They also had a rooftop bar, and a pool. Also, I had the best margharita of my life so far here. It tasted like lemon meringue pie a bit. so goood!!

We also stayed in our first dorm here. It was a super cool experience. It was a great way to meet people, we had some "pillow talk" until after 11 last night, with our dorm mates (a girl from Australia, and a guy fro Chile), just talking about our countries, and the world. Super cool. But, when our cool dorm mates left this am, and we were left with two older, creepier dudes, we decided to take our packs and head for Puerto Viejo. Also, city life is fun for a bit, but in reality it sometimes iis a lot of swerving in and out of people, dirty and smelly streets, tons of traffic and horns, and expensive prices. We took a bumpy 5 hour bus ride through mountains, and it was gorgeous! Of course we both took some naps along the way..something about Costa Rican buses, they make you sleepy!