friends are fun!!

This weekend my sweet friend Anne Taylor came to visit!!  It was THE BEST!!!  It was fun to be able to introduce her to my life here.  She was able to spend a couple nights with my host family and we headed to the beach for the weekend!

There are so many beautiful places to see and fun things to do in this country!  We decided to explore the Nicoya Peninsula on this trip (southwest part of the country).  It was a long trek on the public bus, 7 hours, but it was totally worth it!  And, the bus ride was split up with a 70 minute ferry ride across the Nicoya Gulf...absolutely stunning!

She got in Thursday afternoon and we went exploring downtown.  My host-brother, Brandon and his cousin Emma, were being great tour guides!  We took a picture with John Lennon (without glasses), in China-town!  (Yes, San José has a China-town.)

Friday morning we left at 5AM to catch the bus to Playa Santa Teresa!  Hop on a bus, a ferry, and another bus in Costa Rica, and it will take you here...Santa Teresa!

Saturday we opted for some adventure and rented an ATV and took it all over the peninsula!

Meet Peli.  Short for Peligroso (“dangerous” in Spanish).

Montezuma Falls is one of the most popular waterfalls in the country, and after visiting it’s obvious why...it’s stunning!!  It’s a sizable waterfall, and you can swim at its base.  Locals boulder up the side and cliff jump from 8-40+ feet, which is crazy to watch!  We also stopped at Cemetery Island (you could walk out to it at low tide), and a secret beach in Mal País!

Montezuma Falls

Montezuma Beach 

Cemetery Island

Thanks for visiting, Anne Taylor!  Such a blast to have you here!  Glad you got to taste a bit of what life is like here and how beautiful this country is!

Top:  Santa Teresa
Bottom:  Nicoya Gulf from ferry