The Mattercycle Diaries:
A Journey Through Latin America, Part 2

I left La Fortuna on Wednesday morning, after hiring a van service to transport me to the remote mountain village of Santa Elena. The van picked me up at my hotel at 8:00 in the morning and drove me, along with several other passengers, to nearby Lake Arenal, where we boarded a boat and were transferred to the other side. There we were met by more vans and driven, over very rocky roads, to Santa Elena.

This is a small town that seems to survive on tourism, cheese and coffee. It was actually founded in the 1950s by a combination of American Quakers who left the United States in protest against the Korean War and some local farmers. There is not a single paved road in the entire village, which makes for very uncomfortable rides to and from town.

In Santa Elena, I opted for one of the really cheap budget accommodations, which was ten dollars a night. My room was certainly not clean, smelled really bad, had no hot water and was filled with moths and ants. However, since I was only staying two nights, I decided that I would just make the best of it. This hotel had pulled a sort of bait and switch. The picture on the front was obviously photoshopped, and promised both hot water and cable TV...and had neither of those.

After getting settled in, I explored the town and then arranged to go on a night hike in the jungle to see all the nocturnal animals. Sadly, there were not too many out that night. I saw a few raccoons (boring, since we have those in the United States) a coati (which is actually a daytime animal and was just out past his bedtime), a tarantula, several katydids, a walking stick, and two huge wolf spiders, which are capable of jumping six feet.

The next morning, because my arm was hurting so much, I decided to go ahead and see the local doctor. She examined my arm and told me that it was not broken, and told me to keep it in a sling for three days and gave me some medicine. (I did not follow her directions on the sling, but have been taking the medicine.) While I was at the doctor, this guy who works there invited me to go to a local coffee shop that night to see some guy from Argentina who plays the sitar.

After leaving the doctor, I went to the cloud forest at Selvatura Park, where they have these suspended bridges that are way up in the canopy. I spent about two hours hiking on their trails but, sadly, still did not see very much wildlife.

That evening, I decided to take the guy from the doctor's office up on his offer and went to the cafe, where the Sitar guy was playing. I was far away from the tourist section of town, and was the only gringo in the entire place. I was getting a real taste of the local scene. (Incidentally, I also had to wear the sling while I was at the cafe because the doctor who examined me was one of the people I was hanging out with and I didn't want her to know that I was disregarding her medical advice.)

Early the next morning, I was picked up by a van service to be transported to Samara Beach (I am writing this post less than half a mile from one of the most amazing beaches I have ever seen.) The van services (called Turismos) are efficient and a good way to get around if you do not have a car. However, I have noticed that they do not always seem to plan things out that well. I have been in some Turismos where they cram 12 people into a tiny van made for ten and then, for part of my journey to Santa Elena, I was the only person riding in a 25 passenger bus.

After about four hours, I arrived at Samara beach and checked into a much nicer hotel, called the Casa del Mar, which is directly across the street from the beach. After getting settled, I went over and went swimming and met a group of people who were staying in the hotel. They have rented a nearby villa and we have developed a little social circle. Friday night, we went out for some of the nightlife and, I must admit, I overdid it quite a bit. I drank way too much but made it safely back to my hotel and actually felt (mostly) ok the next morning.

So, here I am at the beach, where I think I am going to stay until next Friday. There is a very active social scene here and even an anti-social recluse like me is getting to know people.

Now I am off to swim and spend the day on the beach (provided it doesn't rain like it did yesterday afternoon. If you want to know where I am, do a google image search for Samara Beach (the connection speed here is too slow to upload any pictures.) Later this week I am going to do snorkeling, kayaking, and maybe even try my hand at surfing. I was born and raised in Southern California and have never been on a surfboard in my life. Might as well give it a shot.

Hasta luego.