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The Trip 2013 - San Jose to Puerto Viejo

13th August 2013
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costa rica
puerto viejo
samara
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Note: This is a condensed version of the pictures I took with some added narrative. The rest of the pics can be viewed in the album The Trip 2013 - San Jose to Puerto Viejo. Each picture can be clicked to see a larger version and comment / like.

After finishing my 17 day adventure from Antigua, Guatamala to San Jose, Costa rica and sadly said farewell to most of my fellow travelers I had a few days rest as recuperation with Kelsie before she had to return to Australia. We spent most of the 4 days chilling out and exploring the city.

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We spent some time exploring the compact market places, there were some interesting shops..

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I even had some time to do some shopping for some new shoes that were destroyed up Concepcion.

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I found San Jose to be a rather gloomy, concrete jungle of a city with much of the architecture reflecting that feeling

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There also seemed to be a lot of homeless and poverty

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Sadly I finally had to say goodbye to Kelsie too after nearly two months of travelling together.

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I was now on my own again, my first time by myself in Central America. Oh how I wish I knew more Spanish, it would have made everything much less intimidating. My first solo destination was the seaside town of Samara, Costa Rica

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My main reason for being there was to learn to surf

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I was relatively successful at first and found that I was able to stand up on the board even on the first attempt

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The board however was a long board, which made things quite a bit easier:

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Evenings in Samara were spent chilling out, drinking imperial and enjoying the glorious sunsets

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On the days I was too sore or too tired from surfing I explored some more of the long beach. At one end I found this incredibly refreshing waterfall

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I also rather foolishly decided it would be a good idea to try to swim the gap between the main beach and a small island nearby

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Not the smartest move as the waves and currents were rather strong and the rocks incredibly sharp. Still I made it back only with only a few cuts on my hands and feet.

Sadly after a week of bliss it was time for me to move on. I was trying to work my way across to Panama City eventually. On the way I decided I was going to spend a couple of days exploring the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, specifically the town of Puerto Viejo

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I didn't really like the town. It felt kind of sketchy and was riddled with drug dealers and associated dodgy characters. It didn't help that it rained for a large portion of the time I was there. Fortunately the hostel I was staying in (Pagalu) was great.

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The hostel had a great atmosphere that encouraged people to become friends. I immediately hit it off with the people in my dorm, I will remember Puerto Viejo fondly mostly because of them, cheers guys!

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