Got off the plane and had a couple hours to kill waiting for Ethan and Cleary to land in San Jose, Trish was a couple days ahead of us and meeting us in Montezuma. So I took off to downtown San Jose, where everyone was preparing for a parade. It's an annual parade where 3000 horses from all over Costa Rica converge on San Jose to celebrate the "cowboy" culture. (No TLC graffiti) Vendors are walking around selling cowboy hats, thousands of people lined the road to listen to music and wait for the horse parade. I wanted to see the Teatro Nacional but it was closed due to the horse fiasco - oh well, maybe on our way back through San Jose on the way out of Costa Rica.
I caught a bus back to the airport and met up with Ethan and his brother Cleary, we were picked up by a couple Ethan knows - family friends. This couple Margarita and Ralph run an Eco Tour business in Costa Rica - they import 1000 students a year for Eco Tourism projects like trolling the beaches looking for turtles laying eggs (to prevent egg poaching - the eggs are sold in bars as afrodesiacs!). We stayed with Ralph and Margarita in a small town 30 minutes outside San Jose called Atenas (picture of Ethan in their pool). They took us into their home and fed us - amazing hospitality. They are growing their own coffee (picture here of coffee beans and coffee plant), growing fruit trees, buying up all the land around them on the mountainside - looking to build a sustainable life as much as possible. They have cows on a farm nearby, are planting fruit trees, and trade with other neighbors for chicken, eggs and dairy. They are starting to make cheese and wine, and within a few years hope to entirely self sustain - perhaps using barter with neighbors for healthcare (a doctor is moving near soon) and other goods and services.
So we woke up early in Atenas and started making our way to the airport for a 30 minute flight to costal, beach town, hippy and surf hideout Montezuma. We'll spend 5 days in Montezuma. The plane that brought us here fit about 12 passengers - both our luggage and persons were weighed to ensure we meet the weight limits of the plane!
Today in Montezuma will be settling in, booking a canopy tour for tomorrow (zip lines!) getting car rental and surfboard rental figured out, and relaxing in a hammock reading Accounting!
