Tim’s Nomad Diaries

Pics from the land of ‘la pura vida’–pure life–Costa Rica trip in 2005. As with Barcelona, Costa Rica is one of those places that you just fall in love with and vow to return to for an extended period of time. They both breath life–you can just feel it in the air, the positive energy just all around–which gives rise to huge ex pat populations.

Good friend Jason, now in Honduras working with the Peace Corp, managed to score a couple of free plane tix and was kind enough to bring me along. As soon as arriving in San Jose, we quickly took off for the Pacific side, and the storied long playas with vindicative waves always ready to thrash upon an unsuspecting surfer. Since we only had two weeks for the trip, we had to decide which area we wanted to focus on; as the whole reggae, Jamaican influenced Carribean side endured one of the most vicious storms in recent history and was essentially underwater when we arrived, the Pacific side was kind of chosen for us!

Everything about the trip was incredible, from the mouthwatering sunsets of Santa Elena, to the lush rainforest’s of Monteverde that make you redefine your previous notion of what green is, to the Howler Monkeys deep bellows and occasional special pooh deliveries from above while hiking through the jungles. Overall, however, our first destination , the wonderful, incredibly laid back hippy town of Montezuma was probably the most memorable. To say ‘town’ might be kind of a stretch; more like a large community of ex-pats and some travelers, with a handful of bars and restaurants all clustered in this small central strip.

Everyone is always smiling here, good vibes bustling, and few cares or concerns about the outside world exist. People migrate over here to help them stop thinking and just SEE. Like one of my favorite characters I have met, this hapless old American nomad named Charlie–I think this was his name if memory serves me correct–who was backpacking through South and Central America in his younger days, came to Costa Rica, and couldn’t find the will to leave; it’s fourteen years later and he’s still here! This guy, probably well into his fifties, always just had a hamach, a hat to protect him from the sun, and a cooler filled with beer, and nothing else. Somehow he just kept appearing in the background while Jay and I where wandering around for those three days in Montezuma; no matter where we went, whether it was a day long hike through the jungles and along the empty coastline, or whether it was hopping from rock to rock through the stream en route to the waterfall, there Charley was, perched under the shade lounging on his hamack, sipping a cold one, and grinning like he KNOWS something that we don’t. Charley’s the first certified Dharma Bum that I met, and I’m quite sure if you plan on visiting Montezuma, Costa Rica yourself someday, you’ll be bound to still see him there, with that same omniscient smile.

Santa Elena:

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