Read Me. If you have too much free time.

Apologies for the delay in posting! We have about four towns and six days to update you on-- you might want to get a fresh cup of coffee or something. And also a snack.

When we moved to the new hotel in Granada, we met a group of people who were on a GAP trip. (We're not sure what GAP stands for.) One of the tour leaders had approached us at the bar one night, and chatted about very random things- completely unexpected, until she asked what it had been like for us as a couple to be traveling in CR, because her girlfriend is going to be visiting in a few weeks. She and her tour group turned out to be great, and we spent the evening chilling with them, then went to our favorite karaoke bar. (That would be the bar where the lesbo karaoke duo from long island pours free shots into your mouth.) That hotel is the current winner of the "best place ever" award.

Our last day in Granada, we hired a car to take us to Laguna de Apoyo, which is this huge beautiful lake that we had seen from a lookout point called "El Mirador" in Catarina the day before. The driver took us to a place that he liked, which was actually a resort that we got to use for free. Laguna de Apoyo is a crater lake, and is known as one of the best places in the whole country to go swimming. (Certainly better than Ometepe...) We swam in the (warm!) water, sunbathed on a boat dock, and hung out in the pool there. The water was clear blue, and a circle of beautiful mountains were all around us.

We woke up early to catch 12 hours worth of busses back across the border from Nicaragua to Costa Rica. Highlights included waiting in a trash-strewn gravel lot for 4 hours while a line of 150 people moved forward, achingly slowly, and the fact that the two girls in front of us stared at us silently like children of the corn. Once, one of them picked her mom's nose, and no one talked about it. SO WEIRD. (Right, so we were staring at them, too.) Fortunately, we had just picked up a book compiled by Wally Lamb that includes the stories of incarcerated women, detailing their abuse and trauma histories and lives in jail. This uplifting volume certainly did wonders for our spirits.

So, ten katrillion hours later, we make it to Brasilito, Costa Rica!!! We had a reservation at a place called Hotel Olitas, but didn't really know where to find it. We stopped at a little restaurant to ask directions. When the spanish-speaking man who helped us heard where we wanted to stay, he immediately dropped the spanish and the accent, and said of the Hotel Olitas owner "Excuse my french, but that guy is a crazy motherfucker."

We did not go to Hotel Olitas. We stayed across the street, in a place that had a pool, in a room that was almost big enough for both me and Gwen to stand up in at the same time. Almost. Fortunately, the room held a bunk bed, so we could put our backpacks on the top bunk, because there certainly wasn't any floor space. Also fortunately, the room had a TV, so we caught up on our "Denise Richards...It's Complicated" when it was too hot to sleep. In case you were wondering if we this show is good at all, it's not. At all.

In Brasilito, we found a nice open-air restaurant with wireless that served as an excellent office, and some of the best fried chicken, ever. We walked to Playa Conchal, which is a beach made entirely of crushed white shells, and bodysurfed in Brasilito, where the waves were better. I saw some people snorkeling on Playa Conchal, so I grabbed my goggles and went to swim out near a ridge of rocks that had recently been covered by the rising tide. I saw a few random yellow and blue striped fish, and some larger black ones, and then saw a whole school of the striped fish lined up just above the top of the rocky ridge. They were very daintily eating algae and things from the rocks- every so often a wave would come and swirl them away, but then they'd find their way back to that same spot. I had decided for some reason that paying to rent a snorkel was silly, so I'd been holding my breath and just using my goggles to see these fish. After feeling moderately hyperventilated and lightheaded, I'm splurging on the snorkel next time.

Luckily, on Playa Conchal, we also happened upon a very swanky resort with a breach in their security fence that served as a perfect doorway to plush towels, weight machines, treadmills, hot tubs, and unlimited free cocktails in the afternoon. Swanky swanky. However, it was also basically the largest collection of wealthy white people we've ever seen.

We had seen howler monkeys on our walk to Playa Conchal a few times, as well as some huge iguanas. (FYI: Howler monkeys have bright white balls. Unexpected, eh?) One day while we were inside the resort, we caught a glimpse of some monkeys just outside the fence. I'd been practicing my howler monkey howl (not so good yet) and tried to call to them, and caught the attention of two of those previously mentioned wealthy white people. Soon, about 9 people were all pointing and looking at the monkeys...but it was striking that not one single person wanted to actually leave the grounds to get a better view.

We left Brasilito on Wednesday morning to head to Samara, which is another coastal town. We stayed in this cute little hut about 5 feet away from the beach, which got less cute when we realized that about a million ants also lived there with us. The ocean was crazy warm, and the beach was home to lots of cute little crabs that would pop in and out of their holes. We also saw so many iguanas- the biggest of which was eating a banana peel in an old fire pit. The second night we were there, we stayed in the absolute nicest place we've been in so far. We had to call around from Brasilito to find a place that would allow Gwen to receive a call on Friday morning for a grad school interview, and this was the only place that would let us use their phone! The beds were made with crisp sheets, the towels were folded into flowers, and bright red (real!) flowers were strewn all over the room and bathroom. They also had free boogie boards and laundry, so we boogied and laundered to our heart's content.

Also, just a note, if you ever think that eating a WHOLE ENTIRE pineapple for lunch, as well as a chicken empanada, is a good idea, it is. A great one.

That night, we were discussing dinner plans at the hotel when two other kids who were staying there started chatting with us, and suggested that we all make dinner together. They had just gone on a charter fishing tour and had a blackfin tuna to eat...so of course we said yes. That dinner was epically delicious- the best part was the fresh spicy tuna sashimi. The conversation was pretty funny with these two frat boys from the University of Michigan, who were on a "first initial of your first name" basis with each other. Ben and Dylan, aka B and D, turned out to be excellent chefs, and provided us with the inside scoop on their frat's initiation policies.

And now, at this very moment, we're waiting for a bus that will take us to a bus, that will take us to a ferry, that will take us to another bus, that will deposit us in Montezuma, which is supposed to be an amazingly beautiful place, with an inspiringly creative community. All of that travel wouldn't look very necessary if you were to consult a map- we're just going about 70 kms down the Pacific coast- but the only passable roads take you in a huge circle.

Ok, well, now we're IN Montezuma and finally posting this novel of an entry. We ended up spending the night in the port town of Puntarenas last night, and taking a ferry early this morning. The lonely planet guide says that the town of Puntarenas is low on places you'd like to take your mother...and I'm pretty sure this might be one place that no one's mom should go, unless she really likes rooms that get rented by the hour. The first place we checked out had condoms available at the reception desk- we opted for the $12 room guarded by an elderly couple, both of whom told us to watch our backs. So we went out for pizza, and came right home (to read aloud. really. it was too sketchy to leave our room! so now we're halfway through "The Secret Life of Bees.")

Montezuma is full of very nice sweaty people who all do very complicated macrame projects by the side of the road, and sell their finished products at tables in front of their work stations. Right now, we're sitting at a hippie dippie organic coffee shop- the exact kind of place that's hard to avoid in noho- but it's the only place with wireless. It is, however, inspiringly creative. I just got back from a walk on the beach where I found this beautiful and smooth driftwood that I'm going to craft into wind chimes. Or maybe some macrame.

From Montezuma, we will try to head to Mal Pais and/or Santa Theresa, which are similar surfer towns, and then to Quepos, where we've rented a house for the month and already have one visitor scheduled! Anyone want to come hang out with us on the beach with Catherine??

Lots and lots of love to every single one of you. After you just read this and know all about what Gwen and I have been up to- or even know MORE than you'd like to- we would like to hear from YOU!

xoxoxoxoxo margaret and gwen