There is this saying in Swedish which translates into something like "away is good but home is the best." I can now at least say that I have seen a bit of Costa Rica and not only my surfboard...
The Nicoya Peninsula, which is the "hook" sticking out from the north of the mainland, is about 3 1/2 hours away from here, and involves a boat ride and a long stretch of very questionable "road". I pretty much wept of joy when I saw tarmac again. We started out in Malpais, a beautiful stretch of sandy white beach. As it is low-season (and recession) the place was pretty quiet. Me and Corinne watched an amazing sunset followed by a lovely meal cooked by a women who was French... and from the same area as Corinne... and from the same town... and the same school. As they kept narrowing it down I was worried it was going to be reveled this woman was in fact the sister Corinne never new about...
On we went to Montezuma, a well known "hippie" town. We could both feel the love and peace envelope us as we sat down to have a vegan burger at "Organico". I knew this wasn't the place for Corinne when she noticed the sign "we are a smoking free community" in the street. "Well, I am a French individual" she resorted while lighting up her cigarette... As our stomachs struggled to digest the spiritulina enhanced tofu burgers, we both decided that Montezuma was best left to its hippies and to get out of there as early as possible in the morning. The plan of a long night of sound sleep was abruptly interrupted when we both flew out of bed as the lightning hit less than 100 meters away. Me and Corinne curled up like 2 characters from Scooby-doo as the vicious thunderstorm descended on us.
The thunderstorms here are like nothing I have ever experienced. I have always loved watching the lightning, counting the seconds until the rumbling of thunder arrives to figure out how far away it is. One of my early, fond memories is doing just that at my mother's father's summer house. This is something all together different... sort of like a Swedish summer storm on acid. 10ths of zigzag lights are illuminating the sky and there is NO time to count to see how far away they are... the bungalow is shaking and your eardrums are threatening to burst as the thunder descends on you. Poor Frida actually pied herself the other night and I wasn't far off doing the same.
The return to Hermosa was a joyous moment. Not only was I delighted to see the swell again (no waves in Montezuma) but Wendy and Alvaro introduced me to Juan for the first time. Talk about love at first sight! Made by hand just for me under Alvaro's watchful eye and I can't wait to feel the thrill of him dropping in to the wave under me. He has to stay dry for a couple of more weeks though while the moulding settles and in the meantime, hard-core training is what is on the menu for me. It is actually kind of a miracle that I am even able to type this blog given I can't feel my arms.....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment