The calls of Montezuma

As I sit less than 100 yards from the holiest site in Costa Rica, having just returned from mass, I feel cleansed, though that has more to do with the first non-humid night since arriving in Costa Rica.

But first back to the beach. After two days basking in lovely Samara and Playa Carrillo, we made the unnecessarily clockwise journey around the Nicoya Peninsula to Montezuma, the beach that time forgot. If you look on the map and wonder why you just don't drive straight down the coast, it turns you have to pay attention to tides when you take that road, so we went the long way.

Montezuma was just as described, a hippie beach enclave. Almost immediately we met the town pot dealer. One of the signs of Costa Rica's relative wealth is the lack of people on the street trying to sell merchandise. This did not apply to our friendly pothead, who offered bud every time we passed him.

The second day I took a boat ride out to do some snorkeling nearly Isla Tortuga. After signing up for the excursion, I learned to my chagrin the island is not named as such because it has turtles, but because the locals think it looks like a turtle. Saw some small fish, many colors, but nothing noteworthy. The boat ride up and down the coast made the trip worthwhile, though. The jungle goes right up to the beach most of the way around the peninsula.

After leaving Montezuma and taking the ferry to Puntarenas, we headed south (technically it's more east I think) along the Pacific Coast in search of a non-touristy city. Came up snake eyes on that roll, as we ended up in Quepos, near Parque Nacional Miguel Antonio. Saw a ton of howler monkeys, even more iguanas, some small-dog-sized-but-rodent-looking things, assorted lizards, and a pretty cool crab.

Still in quest of a non- touristy city, we curled back inland for what turned out to be a much more vertically challenging drive than anticipated. Highway 2, the part of which is the Pan-American Highway, climbs up a mountain for, no exaggeration, 50 consecutive kilometers, maybe more. One lane, each way, nowhere to pass, and buses and trucks climbing at a conservative 30km/hr made for a long drive, but I don't think I have ever seen more beautiful scenery. The lush, green foliage mixed with the clouds we drove through made for a spectacular combination, and the view when not cloudy (I'm told) extends to both oceans.

The day finally ended in Cartago, a decidedly normal city I'm looking forward to exploring in the morning. I will include more about this very interesting church in my next post.