Let's go into the Jungle...WElcome To sAnta tereSa Sweetys!!

Hey my friends, WE are back!

Right know WE are in Costa Rica, so buenos tardes amigos!

This time WE report about a hidden place, where u sleep next to the jungle, a surfers paradise...welcome to SANTA TERESA!!!


OUR plans in CR are as follows: First WE want to go to Santa Teresa. Why? WE asked a very, very lovely friend of us for a hint and he told us to go there...so thank YOU MILTON!!

After that we wanna see an active vulcano...a wish of US since ages!! WE will go to the volcano Arenal next to La Fortuna. Undeneath u see OUR map :)

WE have 11 days for this adventure!

OUR planned trip through CR. 1. Santa Teresa; 2. La Fortuna (vulcano) 3. Back to San Jose and in the right plane to Rio de Janeiro!!

The first night WE stayed in San Jose, the capital city of CR and i have to say,...it is pretty ugly. Almost nothing to see, a lot of holes on the streets and the food is quite expensive...all in all YEAALLK!

Nevertheless, all busses come from and go to San Jose, so when u wanna go to a specific place u have to pass San Jose.

Catedral  metropolitana..

MIKE resting..

me after a walk through the city...seems not so dangerous during daylight ;)

However, how to get to Santa Teresa? There is a direct bus going at 6 am and 2 pm...WE didn't want to get up sooo early nor arrive late either. For this reason, WE decided to do it our way...turned out to be a bad idea. WE took the bus to Puntarenas, then the ferry and then again a ?direct? bus to Santa Teresa. The bus to Puntarenas did not depart from the Coca Cola bus station...where it was supposed to leave,...so WE had no clue what to do. A crazy guy at the Coca Cola station offered US to bring US to Puntarenas for a cheap price...if WE would have been that stupid WE would have taken his offer and probably would have woken up somewhere without OUR kidneys. i believe WE r too smart for such a trap.

Arrived in Puntarenas, WE took the ferry to Paquera (see map).

Child feeding gulls with peanuts or crappy crisps.

MIKE and me on the ferry.

Wrong again, in Parquera, there is no direct bus to Santa Teresa...:P
In Paquera, a taxi driver got badly on OUR nerves...he offered to bring US there for a bunch of money...so no..FU.. Off!

WE decided to take the bus to Montezuma, get off in Cobano and take the bus to ST. i have to say...the streets leading to ST r not very good. Holes, stones, dust and bridges which really do not look save at all! i asked myself: Why the hell is no motorcyclist wearing a helmet?

MIKE in the bus to Santa Teresa...with an open door!!!

Finally after exhaustive 10 hours of travelling, WE arrived in ST and found OUR place to stay: Meli Melo's, a lovely bed and breakfast with an open air bathroom (no spiders included). i highly recommend this place!! Great owners, very friendly, good breakfast and clean! WE stayed in a private room.

Open air bathroom @ Meli Melo's.

Unfortunately WE could stay here just for 2 nights because they were booked out for the rest of the week. Weekends in ST r very famous among surfers because of the waves...
So WE moved to Las Casas Blancas for 2 nights; a very dirty hostel. On the other side, the owner is cool but his prices r compared to other hostels or Meli Melo's not worth the money!
For the last night WE moved to Don Jon's...here it is great: cool people and clean and nice dorm rooms.

Don Jon's.

In general, Santa Teresa is a hidden place on the map; u wont find it on google maps. U have a lot of nature around, an astonishing beach and small shops and surf schools. Here r some pics of this lovely little paradise grown out of the jungle:

Street in Santa Teresa. On the left side are hostels, shops, surf schools, etc. and on the right side u can go to the beach.

Here, a way to the beach...be aware of those huge reptiles that like to shit on ur head!!

The beach in the morning.

To relax, go in a natural hottub...;)

Or u can do squats on the beach.

Beach during sunset...all surfers go crazy because the waves are high.

If the beach gets boring, u can hike up the paradise hills and i can tell u, they offer u a great view...have a look ;)

Awesome view from the paradise hills.

Or u go in the jungle...as WE did...

On the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula is a huge nature preserve called Cabo Blanco. After less than two minutes WE could spot ther first "new" animal...a coati, which is something like a nose bear; unfortunately too fast for OUR camera. Right after WE heard some rustling in the trees above US...and we saw the first wild monkey in OUR lives - a white-faced capuchin (see pic below).

Further on the way WE saw the first big spider - actually a little bit frustrating. I thought they would crawl around everywhere but u really have to search for them. Surprisingly jiny seemed to have lost her fear of animals with more than 4 legs (and also of height)...probably also a result of MILTON's hypnosis.

After about half an hour of jungle madness WE found the hidden beach - locals told US that this beach is particularly nice, because not many people know about it.

          At the beginning of the dusk WE started heading back to avoid being still in the wild when it gets dark. A few moments later I had my personal highlight - something bigger was moving in the tree to OUR left. It turned out to be an Anteater! I couldn't resist moving closer to observe this strange creature. I knew that I came a little bit too close when it started snorting but therefore I got a very nice shot (see below)

The anteater mesmerized ME so much that I totally forgot about the time (although jiny called ME several times) - the sun was already pretty low and it was time to get out of the jungle. Just in that moment WE heard a very deep, loud and frightening roar - howling monkeys, easy to identify by their orange and black coloured fur, were swinging above OUR heads in the tree tops.  Although not that big they sound like King Kong himself - WE started moving faster. jiny tried to protect US with her walking stick against the bats whizzing soundless above our heads;) - actually very effective although this was more dangerous for ME than for the bats...thanks god she didn't do that with her firesticks!

On OUR way back WE also saw variegated squirrels with their typical red/black fur and a very bushy tail, lineated woodpeckers with their nice, allred mohawk and an armadillo...by the way the only animal known to reproduce itself by laying one egg wherefrom always 4 genetically identical quadruplets hatch. Just before the sundown WE made it out of the jungle waiting at the beach for the taxi driver to take US back to our hotel. There WE saw lots of funny coloured crabs while watching the sun going down.

Later WE found out that all the animals WE have seen also live right around our hotel/hostels - actually very annoying. Have you ever tried to sleep when howling monkeys are sitting above your window howling the whole night? - This is such an infernal loud noise that even earpax are worthless so the only way is to get used to it:( 


After the jungle tour MIKE changed a bit in his behaviour...see underneath! Bananas r sooo cheap u get a bunch for less than a dollar!

Donkey Kong?

No, wait...this is MIKE as we actually know him - working our all the time...and everywhere!

Tomorrow WE will leave this place and will go to La Fortuna...WE will report u about the vulcano the next time ;)

With these pictures WE say good bye fo this time:

C Ya soon!

Kisses jiny & MIKE