More adventures

We made it to Nicaragua, after 2 buses and 3 hours at the border. Exiting Costa Rica is the most retarded thing to ever do. There are only a few dudes working at the offices, and even though we waited in line for hours, when we got to the customs building, another 50-100 people got off some buses and pushed in beside us. Everyone in line was pissed!!! There are no signs anywhere of where to go or what you need for the customs officials. None of the border police speak english. We found a tour guide and asked if we needed customs forms and he said "oh, nobody gave you one?!" That was 10 minutes before we went through customs. We walked over to the Nicaragua side where the entry customs official charged us $5 more than he should have (we found out later) then got on "the only bus" for $20 to drive to Rivas. The bus was actually really nice- comfortable seats and a/c. In Rivas, we were planning on taking a bus to San Juan del Sur but again there were "no more buses" even though it was only 3 in the afternoon and the bus from Rivas to SJdS is only 45mins. The taxi driver offered us a ride for $50, but quickly dropped his price to $10...shifty little buggers. Despite the OBVIOUS dishonesty, we took the taxi anyways and found a place to stay for the night. It was $14 with no fan, no a/c, no garbage in the room, shared bathrooms and a little kitchen to use at night. Tonight we are going to another place with a/c, t.v. for $20 a night, we'll see if it is any better.

So we've entered the country of dishonesty...especially when the first 3 people you meet try to rip you off (and succeed at it). Not impressed.

But the past week has been fun. We went to Manuel Antonio for 2 nights and walked around and swam at the national park there. The monkeys and racoons are the biggest threat at the beach because they will steal your bags (almost happened to us!). It was incredibly humid but the ocean was refreshing and lots of fun to swim in! From there we went to Liberia and stayed the night (unfortunately in a very buggy hostel that lost our reservation) because we didn't think we would make the drive in one day. Early the next morning, we bused to Playa Tamarindo and stayed for 2 nights. We were the only people at the hostel we stayed at which wasn't bad-off the main road, a/c and a kitchen. We tried surfing the one day but the waves were inconsistent and would break really close to the beach. Not ideal conditions. We had some delicious, cheap tamales for breakfast and for supper shared a plate of fries, bean dip and a plate of some fried appetizers for only $10! Great deal, we were so full after!

Tomorrow we hope to bus out to a surf beach because although San Juan del Sur is a "surf town," you still have to bus 30-120 minutes away to get to any good waves. We thought we would come here for Christmas, but every hostel we ask doesn't know what the prices are 3 weeks in advance. Quality service. Apparently prices double, but who really knows! Every day is a new advneture...