Montezuma

If you have ever been sad that you can´t be a true hippie wherever you are currently located, I suggest you move to Montezuma. It is a super cool little town with brightly painted buildings, a silver shop, a mini library, some sodas, organic food, and a small school. Right outside of the town there is a tent community of surfers and hanger outers that do just that: surf and hang out. Further down the beach there is a park that visitors are not allowed to take rocks or shells from where countless people have done the rock stacking thing and free standing rock towers are everywhere.
Besides that Montezuma is spectacularly beautiful. I think the beaches are the most fantastic in Costa Rica (apart from the rip tide). There is almost white sand, beautiful blue water, rocks and trees everywhere. I was lucky to be there in there off season, so it was also very peaceful and uncrowded. The town people are an eclectic mix of foreign and tico. It seems that many people come here and just can´t seem to leave. I met an American who had come to teach English two years ago and had met her husband and now Montezuma is her home. The kids are mostly blonde with blues eyes and great tans with wicked fast Spanish. And a fair amount of people wandering around have dread locks. I like a place where at the same time there is nothing and a lot to do and everyone is some of both.
While in Motezuma I spent a lot of beach time, and again got thrashed in the Pacific (Take home message: the Pacific is rough and there are lots of rip tides), watched surfers, boogie borders, and this one guy who looked like he was training for either male cheerleading or the Mr Fit constests (you know the kind of dorky white guy all slathered up with copper tone oil falling down into a pretty impressive push up and then springing back to his feet. On second thought maybe he was just hallucinating.)
I also went to the waterfalls that Montezuma is famous for. The first one is 30 to 40 feet high and has a fantastic swimming pool. I spent a fair amount of time there before I decided to scurry up the side of the mountain (I am getting used to rock climbing without a harness) and head to the second set of falls. This was easier said than done. I met a chick named Fran from New Zealand on the way and we decided to hang out together as we climbed over the rocks so if we got seriously injured at least someone would know. Thinking back I never told her my last name or where I was staying and she didn´t tell me either so I am not sure how much good that would have done. Well my hand was better from my friend the buller ant (finally), but the Costa Rican Ant Alliance was unfortunately done with me. On the way to the falls I was looking for handholds instead of closely inspecting where I was placing my feet and I was brutally attacked and battered my a large team of fire ants. My poor feet may never forgive me for Costa Rica. First is was bandaids for lacerations, then superglue, then duct tape, and now ant bites.
The 2nd falls are the ones where about 10 people a year die from being stupid and-or high and deciding that jumping off the 30 feet cliff is a super idea. I watched two German guys do just that even after I shared my Lonely Planet which said it was not the best idea. (thankfully they were alright). The 2nd and 3rd sets falls were beautiful and completely worth the destruction of a large fire ant colony in addition to my feet. Fran and I swam for quite a while with a German couple, that was staying in my hotel, that also scaled the mountain. As we were about ready to leave a guide and a large group came from a different side of the trail, upon close inspection we saw a manmade staircase that led to a well marked path that was an easy walk. Funtimes. I love risking life and limb when it is completely unnecessary.
On the walk back to town Fran told me about a private beach North of town. I went there for the afternoon and swam in the tide pools that a local pointed out to me. The tide pool that was my favorite was like a jacuzzi. The waves broke all around it and the water gushed in. It was nice to avoid battling the strong current for the afternoon. When I was leaving the guy who had shown me the pool and I had been talking to offered to give me a ride the couple miles back into town on his four-wheeler. I was happy to take him up on his offer, which also included a tour of all of the sites, and suggestions of where I should eat. We ran into Fran on the way into town and I made plans to eat dinner with her later.
Montezuma was a perfect and fitting way to end this ridiculously fast 5 weeks.