Puravida in Costa Rica

We start our 4 1/2 month journey with two layovers in Frankfurt and Santo Domingo.

At this point, we still had no plan where to spend our first night. On the plane, we finally decided on Manuel Antonio on the Pacific side of Costa Rica, as the bus ride there was only supposed to take 3 hours.

Unfortunately, we had bad luck and the journey took 5 hours due to a landslide that brought a tree onto the road.

Exhausted, we finally arrived in Manuel Antonio and immediately found a cheap hostel (Costa Linda $12/night). It is located right in the jungle, we had several wildlife visits.

Unfortunately, Isabelle was a bit sick after the long journey, which lasted quite a long time and made her homesick, among other things.

Nevertheless, we had wonderful days at the beach, very relaxing with beer and coconut.

Since I had already traveled around Costa Rica three years ago, I already knew a Tico (Costa Rican) in Manuel Antonio. And through him, I quickly got to know others.

On the second day at the beach, two Rastafarian Ticos came on a jet ski and asked if I wanted to go out with them. Since I love action and jet skiing, I got on and the three of us rode on a jet ski to the big rock.

Actually, I thought we would just take a quick ride, but then the two Ticos suddenly showed up with a harpoon and informed me that they would be fishing out here for an hour.

What an experience, we even caught a really big fish. But unfortunately, I didn't put on sunscreen and got a very bad sunburn that didn't turn tan quickly.

I enjoyed the following days in Manuel Antonio in the shade.

From Manuel Antonio, we continued to Uvita.

Punctual as we Swiss are, we were at the bus stop at 5:30 in the morning. Unfortunately, the bus was late, which wouldn't have been a problem, but the bus in Quepos left half an hour earlier than the schedule said.

I had to get used to that again, the buses here in Costa Rica just go as they please.. Puravida

So we took the bus to Dominical so that we would at least be somewhere near Uvita.

There we were able to wait on the couch at some surfers' place for the bus. Everyone was very helpful and dropped everything to help us.

Three hours later than expected, we finally arrived in Uvita, where Rutbin (whom I knew from my previous trip) was already waiting.

He had already organized cabanas for us, two minutes from the beach.

The cabanas belonged to Wiliam and Andrea, whom we quickly became friends with, because we already had the name in common at the greeting and they already provided us with food.

During the day, we went to the beach with Rutbin, which was also a national park ($6 entrance fee), we could almost completely sustain ourselves from nature.

Rutbin brought us fresh coconuts and opened them with his machete, we drank the milk and ate the flesh or took a coconut shower.

Like in paradise, I felt like a goddess whose coconut milk gives the skin a soft silky shine.

We also did a dolphin tour where we had to be patient in the beginning, as we had to go very far out until we found a pod of dolphins. When we finally found them, it turned into a real show, the dolphins played with us, raced each other, and performed tricks that I only expected to see in shows organized by humans.

The tour took us to smaller islands and other beaches like Playa Ventana.

Uvita is most famous for its whale tail, which can only be seen at low tide.

Unfortunately, all these beautiful experiences couldn't cure Isabelle's homesickness and convince her to continue traveling, and she returned to Switzerland on December 24th.

At first, my world collapsed, as I couldn't imagine how I could handle 4 1/2 months alone. I also had a big fear of traveling alone as a woman in these countries.

Thanks to my boyfriend back home who supported me a lot and told me to go through with it and even see it as an opportunity. Because now I am completely free!

I was surprised and motivated by everyone's encouragement.

And ultimately, I didn't want to cancel my trip under any circumstances.

I had already found a very good friend in Andrea, who invited me to dinner every evening and also invited me for a few beers during the day.

During the day, I could still go to the beach with Rutbin, where we hunted for coconuts. Over time, I learned how to handle a machete myself to open the coconuts or go on adventurous waterfall climbing tours. I became the jungle machete girl!

In the evenings, I went with Rutbin on his motorbike from club to club and got to know more and more Ticos. Sometimes we just rode into an alley with our motorbikes and a speaker and danced in the street.

Or we had a bonfire on the beach and admired the stars, on clear nights you could see so many stars like I had never seen in my whole life.

I had a beautiful time in Uvita and was practically never alone.

On December 25th, I invited Rutbin for Christmas dinner and cooked Alpine macaroni, a typical Swiss dish. But unfortunately, I forgot what Tico time means and had the food ready on time according to the time we agreed on. He showed up about two hours later. But that's completely normal here, Tico time.

I even received Christmas presents and was able to give some as well.

As usual, I packed way too many clothes, so I gave away some to Andrea, who was very happy about it and gave me a bag and chocolate in return.

From Rutbin, I received the best Christmas present ever, my own machete!

As difficult as it was for me to move on, my spirit of exploration and adventure forced me to do so.

It was a hard goodbye, as I had become very attached to these Ticos and Ticas.

Since my colleague had a niece in Costa Rica, I went to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast. Her colleague was also visiting from Germany, and since my colleague's niece still had to work on a volunteer project, I knew that I could spend time with her colleague in Puerto Viejo and wouldn't be alone. But I wouldn't be alone anyway.

After a 5-hour bus ride, I got on the bus to Puerto Viejo in San Jose. Unfortunately, there were no more seats, so I stood on the bus.

At first, shocked that I had to stand on the bus for 5 hours, but then another chance because I sat down at the feet of two Austrians who immediately recognized me from Uvita.

So my imagined 5 hours of standing on the bus turned into a incredibly fast-passing time with very funny and adventurous travel stories. And I had already found new friends with whom I will definitely stay in touch.

The sjo-uvita bus crew

Along the way, I also met two guys from San Diego on the bus. They also hadn't made a reservation for a hostel yet. So we looked for accommodation together, which turned out to be more difficult than we thought.

We went to every accommodation but it seemed hopeless.

As a last resort, a woman offered us her attic, which had a roof but was open on one side, so we would sleep on the floor with open walls.

At the last moment, before I would sleep outside on the floor with two bus acquaintances, three beds became available in a hostel (Spanish by the Sea $12).

There, we met Germans and Swiss people with whom we spent the rest of our time in Puerto Viejo, like a little family.

Unfortunately, we had to leave the hostel the next morning as they already had a reservation.

So the search started all over again.

Again, just before it got dark and just as we were about to give up and find a place to sleep outside, we found a very nice hostel (Sel et Sucre $12). Three of us found a place in a dorm with 8 others.

But the next challenge was already waiting for us. The water pipeline for Puerto Viejo was damaged. For 4 days, we had no water, not for showering, washing hands, flushing the toilet, or cooking.

I am pretty easy-going, but after a day at the beach, you're very grateful to be able to shower and rinse off the sand!

Well, one day without showering is okay, but 4 days?!! My hair looked like I had dreadlocks..

We bought water from the supermarket to at least wash ourselves a little. The toilets were overflowing and smelled awful.

When the showers started working again before New Year's Eve, I enjoyed it even more. 

Actually, it was a good experience, I don't think we will ever forget it and from now on, we will not take showers for granted but truly appreciate them!

After a successful New Year's Eve party with many new good friends, I continued with Rob and Luis from San Diego by bus to the border with Panama.

Goodbye Costa Rica!