Crossing the Gulf of Nicoya

After our last breakfast at Aves, our transport came to pick us up and bring us to the beach. It was Zuma tours that provides a taxi boat from Montezuma to Jaco and crosses the gulf of Nicoya. They provide transport also from Jaco to our hotel which is south of Jaco by about an hour in Manuel Antonio.

Here’s a photo of Marie pointing to the boat and the porter carrying our wheeled luggage and more photos from our 40 minute boat ride:









Our shuttle bus dropped off folks at hostels and hotels in Jaco and Quepos and we passed these African palm farms that provide palm oil:



We safely arrived in La Mariposa which has a lovely view of the water and is on a cliff. Hotels are up on the cliffs for the views, but also development near the beach and near the most popular national park is not permitted in order to conserve the park and area.

At the hotel, we were greeted by a squirrel monkey which had longer fingers than mine, enjoyed the pools while our room was still getting prepared, and monitored the poolside iguana who had eaten a nearby sunbather’s lunch.







For lunch, we headed up to the bar where there was a swim up pool next to it, so I had jumped in and shared a salad and french fries with Marie.



Alas, our room was ready which was on a higher floor with an ocean view and in the corner with a wraparound deck! So beautiful!



We washed up and walked 3 minutes into town and down the hill, where we perused souvenirs and shops. Marie had researched all the restaurants and we decided on Karolas which was a part of the nearby Los Altos resort. We both ordered the typical Costa Rica fish dish which reminded us of Jo’s cooking with the side salad, vegetables, plantains, and mahi mahi. Afterwards, we walked up the first hill to an ice cream shop where I had a chocolate cone. We then walked back and up a hill to the hotel and Marie took a picture in front of the sign: 

We went to bed early as we wake up early for our guided tour of Manuel Antonio park, the most popular in all of Costa Rica!

Santa Teresa

Today was our last day of yoga. We had asked for more rigorous yoga which had gotten our retreat mates a bit more sweaty and tired, but we were grateful they were understanding and willing as we enjoy power yoga and more active flows. We did still have to do this arm exercise which was bit more like the Haka or grunting arm movements, but Linea, our Danish yoga instructor loved it. She also encouraged us to do it for longer when we return home….

We had a delicious breakfast of eggs, “ranch” sauce which was a spicy tomato, and some fluffy pancakes. We’ll sure miss the food here!



Included in the retreat was a massage as well from Sarah who is studying to be a massage therapist. Marie and I had booked ours on the last day as we figured we could use them after our hikes. It was lovely and was from a room that had a nice view of the canopy:

Then we sunned by the pool and Marie took a photo of this guanacaste tree which is the National tree of Costa Rica:



Lunch consisted of a quesadilla, but Sarah called it a burrito, and then we relaxed by the pool before our fried shrimp snack. The plan for the afternoon was to head to Santa Teresa which is on the western part of the peninsula, famous for the surfing and sunsets. 

Our taxi drove us west about 30 minutes, and we walked around town in search of souvenirs, visited the local grocery store, and bought some sandals. The road was dusty, but it was your typical surfing town with hostels, surf boards, and dogs up and down the roads. Sarah mentioned the roads were much worse during the dry season. Some photos below:

We then headed to the beach where we watched the sunset, enjoyed a few cocktails, and chatted about the week as it was our last night together. 

Afterwards, our taxi picked us up and returned us to Aves, our hotel, where we enjoyed fresh tuna sashimi with lots of garlic, and a chicken dish with mashed potatoes and vegetables. All supremely delicious. 

Then we had our final closing circle where everyone talked about their highlights for the week, settled up with the hotel as several of us are leaving super early, and said our goodbyes. Marie said she would do another yoga retreat, as did I and this was our first so we weren’t entirely sure what we were in for. But we had a wonderful and relaxing experience with phenomenal food. We’ll probably interact in the future with our retreat mates via social media and our standing WhatsApp group chat, but for now, Namaste yoga retreat friends, Namaste. 

Cabo Blanco

Our morning routine has been nailed down with yoga and then a hearty breakfast. The folks here even know I like hot sauce with my eggs and offer me a homemade sauce now (in the beginning they offered me sriracha, because apparently they love sriracha). Some photos of today’s morning yoga:





Today Marie and I booked a hike at the nature reserve and first conservation park in Costa Rica: Cabo Blanco. We learned Cabo means cape and our airport taxi driver took me, Marie, and Sarah - our retreat masseuse and de facto retreat leader to the park.

Upon arrival, the park ranger advised he was no longer accepting cash, but we should pay on our way out as his internet was down and could not charge our credit cards for the $12 foreigner fee. So we headed off on the trails and had a choice of the Danish trail which is a 2 km loop and the Swedish trail which was 5 kms one way. We decided on the harder Swedish trail which would be 10 km or roughly 6 miles roundtrip.

On our hike, we heard howler monkeys, heard many birds, saw a lizard, and many crabs. And we navigated the muddiness as it rained last night and technically this is rainy season. But we lucked out as it did not rain on us today despite our concerns and we made good time both ways. However, we were lapped by several pairs of young hikers. Some photos:











Here’s our packed lunch from the retreat caterer, since we were not at the resort:



We arrived at the famous beach, scarfed down our packed lunch, and walked around. We ultimately decided not to go in as the waves were thrashing and the beach was a little rocky. This may have been because we’re close to the full moon (the bioluminescence tour was cancelled for this reason). We were prepared to go in though and had packed for it:





On our way back, we made even better time, but for the last one km (which felt a lot longer), we hopped onto the Danish trail. Upon our arrival to the entrance, we realized the ranger had left - perhaps it was because his internet was down or presumably the park was closed? Anyhow, our taxi was ready to take us back to Montezuma.

As we headed to our hotel, we saw one of the hiking duos that had lapped us. They tried to hitchhike and although we initially turned them down, ultimately we felt like we should help them out. So they hopped into the back trunk area of the SUV. We learned they were French and brother and sister. This was a little surprising as we had seen her topless at the beach. Oh well, I guess they’re French? They were chatty and we dropped them off at the fork as they were staying in a hostel in town.

We returned to Aves and we dipped in the pool and enjoyed our late afternoon snack of a grilled whitefish and vegetables, with a fruit smoothie.

Then we had our evening yoga class which included relaxing pigeon poses and a nidra session which is close to sleeping:





Here’s a photo of our nightly walk back to our room after evening yoga - the hotel lit up with pretty lights:

Dinner was a tasty creamy pasta as we chatted about our days. Our retreat-mates had done an ATV tour today and were out and about exploring. As such, we decided we would do a little exploring all together tomorrow at Santa Theresa as our yoga retreat ends tomorrow!

Montezuma

This morning we had our first flow class. It was beautiful looking at the ocean and birds flying over the canopy - really idyllic and very Costa Rican. However, the class was probably a little beneath mine and Marie’s level and preference as it is more slow moving and meditative. However, I think it was a good way to start off the retreat. Some photos below - I even broke out the yoga shorts in public for the first time because it was so hot:





For breakfast, we had a delicious empanada and started a trend of iced coffees in preparation for the famous Montezuma Waterfall hike. Breakfast below that comes with beans and rice and fried cheese:



To start off the hike, we walked down the road where we saw a lizard and howler monkeys before turning into the forest:

We had to pay a fee and we navigated down to the major waterfall which was the lower one. The scramble was bit tough and steep, but it was worth it as I point to it here along with some photos that give you a feel for our hiking adventure:







Although the water is normally clearer, we enjoyed the refreshing water after the humid hike and treaded and swam toward the waterfall:







Our next stop was to the upper waterfall which apparently is smaller, but you could overlook the other waterfalls. We got a bit turned around and ended up walking past the paths down to the upper falls, as we walked past them thinking we still needed to continue to the upper falls - we learned there’s actually two upper falls. We hiked back up to the road through a circuit of hanging bridges, which was an experience onto itself.









We returned to the hotel and took dips into the pool before our tasty lunch pictured below and before bruschetta of various types which was our afternoon snack before evening yoga:











At dinner, I drank my first Imperial, the Costa Rican beer along with a delicious lentil and chicken stew and pasta salad:



We’ve learned that the Nicoya peninsula, which is where Montezuma is located, is a designated blue zone where people live longer than average. No wonder people like to retire here! Apparently, there are five blue zones in the world: an island in Greece, Okinawa - Japan, Sardinia - Italy, and Lomo Linda in Southern California in addition to Nicoya. Apparently the folks here live longer due to the stress-free attitudes, water that is enriched in calcium, the sun providing plentiful doses of calcium D, and the healthy eating of squash, beans, corn, and etc. 

To say the least, the food has been tremendous thus far and we learned that the hotel doesn’t offer this many meals, but our retreat organizers coordinated directly with the hotel manager, Jo, who attended chef school and is a local Costa Rican. Apparently, the previous caterer was an Italian expat living in town, so it wasn’t as much of a local experience. Jo described the rest of our menu for the week and I’m sure it’ll be delicious and this Nicoyan living and eating will add days to our lives!