More fire in Cahuita

Continuing with the weekend travel destinations, my friend Rachel and I went to Cahuita on the Caribbean coast this weekend.
We stayed at Bungalow Malú, a really cheap but nice place directly across from Playa Negra. Playa Negra as the name would imply is a black sand beach which I thought beautiful until I spent some time on it being eaten alive by sand flies!

Our first night in town which by the way is more like Jamaica (mucha rasta man) than CR, we met Qeike (key-ye-ek), a local rasta guide and surfer (did I mention he was hot?) All the locals insisted we take a surf lesson with Qeike on Saturday, twist our rubber arms, we were in!

Saturday morning after watching Taylor Swift and Rhianna music videos on my phone for a while we headed out to rent bikes. Once we were sufficiently equipped with transport we headed to the beach. Qeike, whose favorite phrase and response to every question is "more fire" with a rasta accent (obviously!) met us there but decided we should go to the national park for some sightseeing first.

At the park where I clearly said "no snakes" Qeike promptly found a highly lethal eyelash viper. He held my hand and said "do you trust me?" to which my obvious response was "NO". Anyway, thereafter he showed me the snake and I took a picture with my zoom lens.

Next stop bar, followed by surf lessons. Surfing is kewl (that's for you J. Emard) but hard!! I did manage to get up a handful of times. After a shower and nap it was off to dinner for wine and food.

Overall an great trip! This week i am wrapping up classes and packing up to head out to my next destination: Buenos Aires Argentina!

More pictures and stories to come!

This coconut never had a chance

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Snake

Plants, Animals, a Waterfall and a Volcano

Just got back from another amazing trip to La Fortuna and the Arenal Volcano! Costa Rica really isn't so bad. 

Arenal is a volcano that was actively erupting until 2010 so i just missed it! It was mostly covered by clouds, as the locals say it is wearing it's pajamas so I only caught a glimpse of the massive volcano whose shadow I hanging out in a couple times. 

Meanwhile I soaked in the amazing natural hot springs, went hiking and horseback riding. Here are the pics! Enjoy!

Hot springs

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Horse parking! Ha!

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A hummingbird in action! I think I will consider a new career in bird photography

Tucan Sam! Froot Loops anyone?

This is Arenal, just peeking through

Gracias Juan - for the day off

Yesterday was Juan Santa Maria Day so there was no class. As far as I can figure Juan saved Costa Rica from some slimy American named William Walker who along with the Nicaraguan President had designs on taking over CR. Hooray for Juan and a day off!

I celebrated by going on two tours, Cafe Britt a coffee processing facility and Sarchi, a village of artisans who paint beautifully colorful objects. The whole town is painted in this motif, it's fantastic! Enjoy!