Heading over (somewhat of a detour) from Playa Negra via Hotel Leyenda(Puerto Camarrillo) to Funky Monkey Lodge, Santa Theresa!

The next main destination for Sirkussaeter after leaving Playa Negra 21st of February was Funky Monkey lodge, Santa Theresa (Thanks for the tip, Calle). Since it was a fair drive from our current location (google maps suggested 4 hrs), we thought taking a 2 day stop along the way was a good idea. But even though there is a scenic Oceanview route, it doesn’t mean its doable by car, so we worked our way around(see maps below) and made a stop at Hotel Leyenda “half” way, which ended up lengthening the trip a fair amount, as we had to backtrack 1/3 of the way after the 2 day stop.. Oh well, at least we got to see even more of this beautiful country!

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Anyway, despite it being a longer drive, the 2 day stay at Hotel Leyenda in Puerto Camarrillo was nice. We got to test the car on more dirt roads with steep in- and declines (not knowing that that was going to get us ready for the unknown roadchallenges that lay ahead…).

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Puerto Camarrillo – Nice swimming and boogie boarding in the waves on Playa Camarrillo, one of the long stretches of beach in Puerto Camarrillo. Enjoying beachside pipa fria (coconut water served from a freshly opened, chilled coconut with straw) and a delicious ceviche meal again IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE up in the hills of Puerto Camarrillo. We went to a renowned surfbeach/nature reserve beach (also located in the middle of NOWHERE), Playa Silvestre Camaronal, with hatched Turtle nests and stunning views. Erik played in the waves with his surfboard for a while (and to this day he claims that this beach is the one with #1 waves). Not a beach good to swim/bodyboard on due to the size of the waves, rip current and waves breaking fairly close to the pebbled beachshore, but cool to watch Erik mastering the waves and just take in the breathtaking scenery around with the nice ocean breeze in the (continuous and lovely) 35 degree celsius weather.

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Hotel Leyenda (21 st-23rd of February) is also located in kind of a remote place , however, of course the little hill-village has a world class Argentinian restaurant, “El Colibri”, where we enjoyed our until now best carnivorous meal, and of course overate! (on this trip fish and vegetables have been our main food source, which is good for us, but there’s nothing like a good beef once in a while).

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Pack&travel – Many people that we befriended along the way ask “So, how do you pack for a 6 month travel?” The answer isn’t straight forward, and we must admit that 2 FTB (full to busting) bags are left at Uncle Inigo and Auntie Marians place in Ft Lauderdale to be sent home… Learn as you go I guess.. Now we have 3 big Northface bags and 4 rucksacks, which covers most of what we need for all places we go. When traveling for a longer period of time, short term stays in hotels can feel more stressful than relaxing, and also puts a strain on the family spirit. You need to organize your packing (I mean; I organize the packing, Erik carries everything in and out of the car with the kids help) according to what you need at the certain place you’re staying; Snorkelling gear&swimwear? Rain coats? Mosquitonets for the beds? Trousers and long sleeves or shorts and t-shirts? Flop-flops or closed-toe shoes? Washing clothes in the bathroom sink is a must, and a piece of thin rope found somewhere along the route of our travels works as a dryingline. We’ve stocked up on rubber-covered metal clothespegs, a wine opener and luckily our own “bob the builder” (my dad), hooked Erik up with a Leatherman for xmas, which has been in good use the whole way. And of course mum&dad stacked us with colourcoded vacuum clothes bags (according to the color of our rucksacks), electric toothbrushes (all the same, therefore all named) and headlamps (a must here where it gets pitch black at 6 pm and there are poisonous serpents to step on…). Lets not forget all our computer devices for homework and medical studies with all the chargingcables and adapters needed, the kids schoolbooks, card games (svarteper has been a huge winner – thank you Farmor!) and a medical survival pack. Wet packs, watershoes and yoga mat are a must too! And luckily I have a dear friend that knows me(us) so well by now, that she sent with us a little survival pack of her own, that has come in real handy: earplugs (already use on the first plane ride with a howling baby in front and 15 hrs to go..), waterproof cards(perfect for humid conditions as well as sailboating), foldable shopping bag, band aids(yes we are doctors so yes we packed adrenalin and the works, but no we didn’t think of bringing band aids, and yet yes, we have almost used up these ones..), Norwegian chocolate bars (that are being carefully distributed, we still have 3 left), book for memories and so on – thank you, Mette!

Funky Monkey Lodge (23 rd of February – 3rd of March) – After a somewhat stressful, yet scenic, last leg on the trip to Santa Theresa, we arrived in the surf village of Santa Theresa and to Funky Monkey Lodge, our home for the following 9 days. This is a chill place situated up along the hillside from the main street of Santa Theresa with really nice people, on site dogs & cats (to the kids joy) and delicious breakfasts(Acai/smoothie bowls, Gallo Pinto, omelets, breakfast burritos). Sushinights Wednesdays and Saturdays add to the healthy feeling. Of course they offer yoga and artesian silk classes as well as bodywork-out on the pavilion, surf lessons with Nacho and SUP-yoga in the mornings/at sunset. Photocred to @elianamartinezphotos for beautiful pics of Mille&Noah from the photoshoot and surf photos of Noah and Erik from their 6am surf lessons!

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Santa Theresa is a more busy place than Playa Negra, and it took some time to get into the more busy way of living again(=more sounds, more traffic and more people around). Erik suffered another round of cuts and bruises surfing, and had a(n agonizing few days) time-out from surfing, but the days flew by with swimming in the sea, hiking up the incredible steep trails of Montezuma waterfalls, good dining and relaxation by the pool. The Main Streets hustel&bustel with numerous restaurants, dogs and monkeys all around and people transporting surfboards (longboards and shorter trickboards) alongside or more often straddled across (!) ATVs or their motorcycles on a road where 2 cars can barely pass each other. There are trucks and cars speeding along and whole families(=mother, father, a couple of kids and a dog) crammed on a moped or an ATV. Having worked so many years in a trauma hospital, it makes my stomach flip several times during one day, but then I realize, this is how things are here, and it often goes well – PURA VIDA!

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Surf lessons at 6 am – Noah and Erik with Nacho – and they were both caught on film by Eliana! photocred @elianamartinezphotos.

Montezuma Waterfalls – a spectacular hike!

Because of the natural geography of the Nicoya peninsula, the rainwater that falls naturally flows toward the Montezuma side, that again leads to the presence of many waterfalls with water in them year around. All rivers in Costa Rica are considered public if they have water in them year round. At the Montezuma falls (3 separate falls) there are swim holes, ropes to swing you out in to the water or you can even cliff dive (into the lowermost and uppermost one). People do die there, due to falling off the slippery cliffs on to the rocks at the bottom and so on, so unless you’re confident of the depth at any place or ascend with great caution, its best to just enjoy a nice and cooling swim and watch the local boys who grew up here entertain with daring jumps and dives. There are some things to be ware of, though: flash floods! If a heavy rainfall occurs upriver and the water in the fall turns brown, you need to exit immediately! A 20 minute walk up the riverside took us to the lowermost waterfall, with the reward of enjoying a nice, cooling swim (the water felt cold, but truth to be told it was probably the same temperature as on a supernice summer day mid-august in Norway. Its just that the air temp is a roaring 35 degrees here, so everything below bathwatertemp feels cold 🙂 A steep climb holding on to roots and ropes, followed by a less steep incline through the jungle with the grand finale of straight downward rapel lead us to waterfall 2+3 (nerve-racking for mum to see Mille and Noah go down that last stretch). Mille, Noah and I jumped off the cliffs here, Erik in swimming-quaranteen due to the surfboard cut on the forehead remained on the dry side of the cliffs and served as a photographer eternalizing the trio jumping on film…

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Sunsets at Playa Santa Theresa – Sunsets are – as always here in Costa Rica – breathtaking! And again the green glimpse as the sun plunged down behind the horizon appeared!

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Playa Suecos – The Swedish beach. At low tide, large natural pools ideal for snorkeling appear amongst the volcanic rock/corals offering body temperature water.

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“How lucky am I to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard“.

-Winnie the Pooh-