Travelling to Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

Before I start off today, I want to welcome the influx of new followers I’ve had over the past few days! Hi there!! I’m so excited to share my adventures with you all! I also post lots more content on my Facebook page. If you are looking for more Hostels and Hot Rollers excitement, come check it out!

Although our stay at Villas Macondo was lovely, Shaun and I were ready to leave the hustle and bustle of Tamarindo, and head to the more relaxed beach side community of Santa Teresa.

Our bags are packed, and we're ready to go!

Our bags are packed, and we’re ready to go!

So, we said out goodbyes to Bearly Bear,packed the last of our belonging and headed off to meet our shuttle for the 5 hours trek down the coast.

Now, for those of you who haven’t had the joy of experiencing the roads in Costa Rica, let me try, and paint a picture for you. Have you ever been to Disneyland? Obviously I have a zillion times, and I love it all, everything except the Matterhorn. The Matterhorn is a rickety old roller coaster, disguised as a majestic mountain. As you ride it, your knees bang together, and against the side, you’re violently thrown left, right, up, and down. You never know what’s coming, and so bracing yourself is nearly impossible. Riding in a big van along the coast of Costa Rica, is essentially Disneyland’s Matterhorn.

It was immediately apparent that neither Shaun or I would be enjoying the good ole vehicle power nap we were hoping for.

After making a couple stops along the way (including one to help pull a gigantic semi full of water pipes off the side of a cliff), we made it to Santa Teresa. Battered, Bruised, but in one piece

When it came to unpacking, I had my priorities.

When it came to unpacking, I had my priorities.

We checked into our hostel, and let me tell you, we’re real “hostellers” now! The days of a/c, and laying poolside with Bearly Bear are over! That being said, we aren’t in the traditional dorm set up We are in a one room cabina in the middle of the jungle. As we swung the huge iron barred door shut the first night, and looked out the bars on our window Shaun said “this must be what prison feels like”. I tended to agree.

Down the path to the beach

Down the path to the beach

After throwing our stuff into our room, we went off to explore the area. First things first, the beach!

It of course, did not disappoint. I cruised around while Shaun checked out the surf. It was just gorgeous!  After lounging beach side for a while we decided it was time for a happy hour. Unlike Tamarindo, most businesses in Santa Teresa are not beach front. We did manage to stumble across one of the few little beach front bars and enjoyed a cervasa while waiting for the sunset.

Our first sunset in Santa Teresa

Our first sunset in Santa Teresa

If there is one thing that Costa Rica knows how to do, it’s make a gorgeous sunset!

We could have stayed there all night but ultimately decided it was best to head back. Limited beach front views mean big beach front prices in those establishments lucky enough to have them

We continued to learn this lesson later in the evening when we popped into the other prominent beach front restaurant near our hostel for dinner. We ended up sharing a main because the prices were to rich for our blood! It was well worth it though. Nothing beats being able to watch the waves and have the hermit crabs tickle your toes as you eat. Plus the food was delish! A quick stop at another little bar down the road, and we were back to the “prison” for the night.

Despite our new found lack of a/c, we both slept very soundly. A long day of travel and a couple cervasas will do that to ya!

That’s it for now, but I have lots more to write about this new phase of our adventure!

What is your best “roughing” it experience?

Pura Vida!

Kate

Follow me on Twitter: @caketress

My First Blog Award- The Liebster!!

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What a wonderful way to start my week!! I was so excited to find out that Wendy from Life Unmapped, nominated me for a Liebster award. I’m still grinning to myself as I write this, so thank you so much Wendy. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it!

So what is the Liebster award? Well it’s an award given to new blogs with under 200 followers by their fellow bloggers. It sounds like such an amazing way to connect with our blogging peers!

Here are the rules for Liebster nominations.

  1. Thank the person who nominated you and link back up to his/her blog.
  2. Answer the 10 (or 11!) questions which are given to you by the nominator.
  3. Nominate other bloggers for the award who have less than 200 followers.
  4. Create 10 questions for your nominees to answer
  5. Let the nominees know that they have been nominated by going to their blog and notifying them.

So here are the questions I received from Wendy, along with my answers

1). Where is the last place you travelled?

The last place I travelled was Disneyland! Although I haven’t spoken about it much on this blog, I am a Disney fanatic! I got at least once a year. This year was particularly special because I went to run the Disneyland Half Marathon. Words cannot describe how amazing this experience was. I even got to cross the finish line with Shannon from The Birthday Dinner, as she finished her very first Half Marathon. Such an accomplishment!

 2). What is your earliest travel memory?

 When I was very young, my family would travel from Victoria to Vancouver to visit my “Nan”. It was always such an adventure, because we would have to take the ferry. I have very vivid memories of these ferry rides, and the excitement I would feel throughout the whole process. Although my travels would get more extensive as I grew older, these hour and thirty minute ferry rides seemed like huge journey’s to me!

3). Do you prefer to travel with others or on your own?

 My instant reaction is to say with others, but probably because I have never travelled extensively on my own. A few trips here and there, but I’ve always ended up meeting up with people I know at some point. The best trips I have had have been with one or two other people. I find there is often a tipping point with travelling in groups. Suddenly there are too many people to please, and decision making can be difficult. I’ve definitely had more than one occasion where my travel group has spent more time deciding on where to go for dinner, then actually eating dinner!

4). What is your favorite food or drink you’ve found while travelling?

 If you read my must sees post, you’ve already heard about my love affair with Mandarina smoothies in Costa Rica. I could probably extend that to all fresh tropical fruit. There is nothing more amazing then eating freshly picked pineapples and bananas!

5). If you could only complete one item on your bucket list, what would it be?

I’m staring blankly at the screen with this one! Only one item, that seems impossible! Geez, well, seeing that I’m freshly off the Disney run circuit, I would love to complete their coast to coast, and double dare challenges. Runners who complete a Disney race in Disneyland and Disney World in a year, get a special “Coast to Coast” medal. In addition, each race weekend includes a “Double Dare” Challenge. Runners complete a 10km run on Saturday and then the Half Marathon on Sunday.  You get a medal for each of these runs. So, if I all the challenges, I would end up with seven medals! (but whose counting ;))

6). Do you have a favorite travel destination?

 Not surprisingly it’s Costa Rica. That being said, I feel like I have so many places left to explore, the answer will likely change depending on what beach I’m laying on!

7). What is your preferred method of travel (airplane, train, bus, car…)?

When exploring a country, I like the freedom of having a vehicle. It’s nice to have the flexibility of stopping whenever you see something that strikes your fancy. This won’t often be the case for us during our Costa Rican adventure, but we might rent one on the odd occasion.

8). What is the one thing you never leave home without?

No, it’s not hot rollers! This answer was easy, a couple good books. I love reading, and travelling offers the perfect opportunity to sink your teeth into literary adventures. I also like finding books in hostels to swap with. I often end up reading things that I would never have picked up on my own!

 9). What is your favorite travel film or book?

 Hmm, rough one. I think I’m going to stick with the basics, and say my lonely planet books. I often pick one up before going travelling, and gain so much valuable knowledge from them. Reading them prior to departure also gets me so excited for the adventure to come!

 10). What are your three favorite blogs?

 Oh gosh, they change so often, and there are so many! Here are my current faves:

So, with that, I now present to you my nominess for the Liebster Award!!

And here are their questions:

1) Where is the most memorable place that you’ve travelled?
2)What was the biggest adventure you’ve had while travelling?
3)What is your favourite part of Costa Rica?
4)What travelling experience made you feel most outside your comfort zone?
5)What brought you to Costa Rica?
6)If someone came to visit you for the first time, where is the first place you would take them?
7)When travelling, what is the one item you would never leave home without?
8)Plantains or Papaya?
9)How did you feel when you read about your Liebster Nomination?
10) What are your three favourite blogs?

What fun! Can’t wait to hear your answers! Have you ever won an award??

Pura Vida

Kate