La Marejada Hotel Playa Grande

... br>wave, at least according to our instructors, is the one that looks like<br>a frickin tsunami, going a million miles an hour and frothing with<br>whitewater. Then you turn around, with your belly on the board, facing<br>the beach. And start paddling.. away from the wave. Whoever made up<br>surfing was on a lot of drugs. Then, when you hear the waves crashing<br>behind you like they are going to consume you whole, you paddle faster,<br>and then when the wave starts ...

Well, today was pretty non-eventful as far as activity goes. I had a nice leisurely morning with the villa to myself just chilling out and getting ready. This is not like Germany where the only t.v. station in English is CNN. Here they have about half of their stations in English with Spanish subtitles so it was nice to get to watch some of the morning talk shows that I never get to see because I am at ...

... at the restaurant in the lobby which looks over the golf course. It started pouring down rain but I was still hopeful that they would not cancel the sunset cruise that the resort provides. I think because the rain is so common here it takes a lot to cancel things, so sure enough they did have the cruise. The van took us about ten minutes away then we hopped on a little float that took us out to the ...

... t too far-fetched for me to find one in Costa Rica.<br><br>The rest of the afternoon was spent lounging by the pool. At least for me. Others were otherwise occupied. One was getting a massage on the beach, one was hanging out with the cute resort doctor and one was hanging out in the villa. We all met up at the pool and although we had placed bets on when the rain was going to start coming down, based on the black clouds overhead at lunch, it ...

... my name. It looked so blue, cool, and inviting all I wanted to do was dive in&#8230; but first we had to find a camping spot. I had read in the Lonely Planet, a.k.a the Bible, that there were two places to camp. Bev and I drove all over town looking for these spots and they seemed to be no more. Most of the town was up for sale and there were many half-built buildings, which gave it a ghost town feel. It didn't help ...

... and the volcano rises to 3000 feet above us into the mist, but when the clouds clear, you can see the cone spewing out hot lava and big rocks that come tumbling down! Our best viewing session was catalyzed by a 3am pee break I took...I just happened to glance out of the window of our hotel and saw the whole thing in action!! Of course I woke up Malin...and although she wasn't as enthused as I was (given the time and circumstances) she thought it was cool too. Yes ...

Ad-libbing buses on leap day from: Tamarindo to Liberia Liberia to Canas Canas to Tileran Tileran to ... I missed the last bus out of Tileran to Monte Verde, so I got on the bus about to leave for Volcan Arenal. It is easy to change plans when you make them up as you go along. Yesterday, after arriving in La Fortuna near the Volcano Arenal, I went on a tour recommended at the hostel to the hot springs and to see the red lava flowing ...

... at the hotel; internet, swimming in the lake, lots of tea and then hammock time (don't touch this...). Went to pay my bill and then realised I didn't have enough cash on me (thought I had enough) and the only place that had an ATM machine on the island was 2 hours bus ride away (meaning I'd miss my boat for today). Luckily they accept Paypal payments for half the bill so the day was saved (happy days). At 3.15 I had to tear myself away from the hammock and after bidding an ...

I had an amazing time in La Fortuna in the end. I went rapelling like I normally do and enjoyed just as much as I did the first time. I am getting better and sooner or later could move on to the next level. However it is a tour that they do everything for you and it is the same each time, so I am really exaggerating when I say that I could do it any better than I am. In the afternoon I went caving, which I had never done before ...

... that the new noise had been caused by the wind blowing a section of the metal roof off of the building, then causing it to thrash around against the adjacent attached pieces of metal roof. I highly do not recommend staying in that canyon, despite the delightful proximity to the World of Insects. After making it into town by 5:30, in plenty of time to catch the bus AND get some cafe negro (no cafe con leche for me in Costa Rica - way too much milk) from the stand next door ...