Montezuma

On the February 27 I took a bus/ferry/bus/taxi to Montezuma on the tip of the Nicoya peninsula, arriving just before midnight. Montezuma is a popular tourist and ex-pat spot with many Canadians, europeans, and middle aged hippies, the latter group eager to describe their conspiracy theories. Imagine sitting in a bar full of the characters like the father in "Dharma and Greg". It is amusing for a while but it gets old. But the scenery in the area is exceptional.

On my first day I walked to a nearby waterfall where the braver people were doing some cliff diving. I wasn't keen on the idea, the cliff was not quite vertical and the water at the base of the cliff not deep, so they had to jump out a certain distance or they would probably die. I think climbing up the wet, near vertical cliff face was the riskiest part:

 

        

 

 

        

 

The next three pictures of a bald head sticking above the water is me. Not as exciting as cliff diving, but enough excitement for me:

 

    

 

 

 

The next day I went for a walk along the beaches, cutting through the jungle, which was part of a national park, when the beach dead-ended in rocky ridges. No stories with these pictures, I just like them:

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

 

During one of the cut throughs I passed under a large old mango tree full of howler monkeys, with some much shyer white faced monkeys hanging around the fringes. The monkeys were very happy, lounging in the tree, picking ripe mangos, taking a bite or two then tossing them away and choosing another. Those that paid any attention to me at all just looked at me with bored curiosity. I'm not sure but I think a few of them were throwing their mangos at me, but they weren't very accurate. I took a lot of pictures, but with the less than ideal lighting these were the best I could manage:

 

    

 

 

    

 

 

    

 

A few days in Montezuma is enough. The Canadians are ok, but the old hippies and New Agers can be tedious. On March 3 I took a boat to Costa Rica's most popular, or at least its most over-developed, beach town of Jaco:

Jaco

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