Adios Quepos (at least for now)

Hello,

Since it's been so long since we last wrote (sorry-we'll be better about that), this post will be a little faster paced, and a bit more of a summary.

In general, last week was the culmination of spanish schooling and our water sport adventures.  Tuesday we had a surf lesson (thanks to La Escuela Paraiso).  It was much different from the surfing in Montezuma.  First of all, the weather was very poor.  There was a lot of rain and we had to be careful of the riptide.  Secondly, Ty and Ju had much different experiences.  Ju did well on the first couple of waves (she actually got up without many problems!) but then got scared as the bad weather increased the size of the waves.  Ty, on the otherhand, was more or less renting a board, and surfed on his own.

Most of Wednesday and Thursday were devoted to our Scuba Diving lessons, and as of Thursday, we are officially PADI certified open-water divers!!! It feels so good :)  Ty had a little ear trouble on our final dive before certification, but it didn't hold us back from finishing on time.  Friday was bittersweet, because it meant leaving our friends at El Paraiso, but it also means we are moving on to our next adventure; we will be travelling around Costa Rica for 20-30 days looking for a place to settle into.  Friday night, we celebrated with some friends from the Scuba office at a bar. 

This past weekend was a slow and restful weekend.  On Saturday, Ju was invited by her host family to go to a wedding in town.  It was a very interesting but beautiful Catholic ceremony.  The highlight of our weekend, however, was our trip to Manuel Antonio's National Park.  This visit completely changed our perception of Manuel Antonio and has made Quepos a more attractive place to live on our list.  We decided not to go with a guide, which ended up being a great decision.  We managed to see plenty of animals, including sloths, monkeys, racoonish looking things, birds, butterflies, a bunny-rodent thing, and a frightening wild cat.  The cat appeared out of the bushes and seemed to want something from us (chased Ju around a bit) and freaked us out until we caught up with some tour groups, who finally drew the cat's attention away from us.  The beaches there are absolutely spectacular, alone worth the $10 price of admission.  However, rain stopped our trip short, and we headed back in to Quepos for a relaxing evening.  On the way back, we stopped for a luxurious and delicious lunch at El Gato Negro since they were offering a 50% off special.



The scary cat...even though it's small it looks really mean in person

 

We think they are called Mapatchas



The pictures don't really do the beaches justice



We are headed out of Quepos this afternoon, for Dominical, primarily a surfers town.  We expect to be around the size of Montezuma.  However, it's on our way down south towards the Osa Peninsula and we have heard good things about it.  We'll let you know what we think ;)  Our general plan is to a full loop around the coasts of Costa Rica in search of the match for us.

We miss you and would love to hear from you.  It always feels good to get some comments, like we have friends with us on our journey.  Hope all is well in the USofA. 

Pura Vida amigos,
Ty and Ju