Hayley in Wanderlust: Quepos and Jaco

At the fresh, new age of 22, I boarded my flight (the day after my birthday) to Costa Rica. The start of Chapter 2.

I landed in San Jose, which reminded me of Gauyaquil in the sense that it's one of those strange 'nothing' cities. I spent two nights there because I couldn't figure out where to head to first. Apparently, this trip has unravelled all the focus I used to put into planning my life. Now, it appears I'm even more dithery, but I'm definitely not as stressed, which I take as a positive.

Eventually, I decided to head to Quepos, a small town on the Central Pacific coast, located near to the Manuel Antonio National Park. I booked myself into 'Central Backpackers' because my guide book reccomended it...
I should not have listened to my guide book.
I should also, by now, have learnt not to pay for a place until I've actually seen my room.
It's not that the hostel was bad, the manager was lovely and breakfast was good. It's just that the dorms were being renovated so I was put into a small room and I happened to be the only guest staying there. Bit shit. Travelling solo is awesome, but having come off such an amazing couple of weeks surrounded by people I'd grown to know and love, being totally on my own again was a little bit soul destorying. Thankfully, my two nights passed quickly and I checked myself into 'Wide Mouth Frog' a much nicer hostel, that had a pool, a very friendly dog called Mocca, and most importantly, other backpackers.

The beach in Quepos isn't particularly big and practically disappears when the tide rolls in. But the grassy banks are pretty to sit on and watch sunset. In Manuel Antonio, the public beach is much nicer and the bus journey there only took 15 minutes and cost me 320 Colones (about 45p).

Costa Rica is ridiculously expensive but it's public transport is cheap.
I don't really get it.

I had wanted to visit the National Park, but broke out in some hideous allergic reaction and didn't want to leave the hostel for fear of scratching my own arms off in public. That would have been kinda gross.
(But dw I'm all good now, thanks for asking).

Next it was a short 1.5 hour bus journey to the touristy town of Jaco. Despite being over run with Gringos and feeling like a tiny slice of the USA, I actually really liked it. It's one of those places where the touristy tat of it all adds to the atmosphere. I stayed at the incredible 'Room2Board' - a hostel that is basically a hotel. It had a pool, was impressively clean and had a yoga studio to boot. It was more expensive, at a full $16 a night, but the money was completely justified.
At this stage, the allergic reaction was so painful and sore, I sought medical advice from the chemist. She gave me two different sets of tablets to take and said that I was strictly not to drink. They worked, but not drinking was novel. Not that I need alcohol to talk to people (ask anyone who knows me, I'm probably on the annoying side of chatty), but having a beer and sitting around a in hostel come hand in hand. It just makes it easier, because you can, at the very least, nod at someone vaguely friendly looking who's also on their own and drinking in the hope of striking up conversation…

'I am not an alcoholic, I am a drunk. Alcoholics go to meetings and I go to parties' - truth.

 

Anyway, not drinking did encourage me to be healthier and, it has to be said, yoga as the sun sets over the Pacific Ocean is officially my new favourite thing ever. I'd forgotten just how much I love yoga and why I became so obsessed it before I came away. I mean, absolutely no other form of excercise has ever, or will ever, get me willingly out of bed at 6am. It made me almost (almost) look forward to going home, so I can get back to practising more regularly.

Not that I was all that focused on home, as I lounged by the pool and bathed in the Central American sun, that is... 

-xo

Hayley in Wanderlust: Ecuador

I'm not even sure how it happened, but I blinked and was suddenly in my final South American country, bringing leg one of my trip to a close. 

Time flies. Ok people?

First up was the little beach town of Montanita. It's a lively surf town, where life is laid back and sun drenched. Obviously, I thought it was *everything*. We stayed at an adorable hostel, run by a crazy French guy called Nico, named 'Chillhouse'. It's a rare kind of hostel, one where the owner will always interact with you, and where getting to know all the other guests is easy as pie. It's probably one of the few hostels I've stayed at where turning up on my own would almost have been better than turning up as a group.

Thursday-Saturday nights are when the town really comes alive, with 'Hola Ola' kick starting things with their Ladies Night on Thursday. Cheap drinks, 2-4-$5, and an aerial acrobat make it a great way to start your weekend. Friday night's are all about Lost Beach Club, which served up so much Deep House I felt like I was back in some grotty Manchester nightclub two-stepping to a DJ my housemates love, who's name I could never remember. Saturday night's... Ok, I didn't actually make it out on the Saturday night, but it's Montanita's biggest night of the week.

Personal faves included 'Cocktail Alley', which is what it says on the tin. An alley, lined with cocktail shack after cocktail shack ($4 for a Passion fruit Daiquiri, anyone?) and Rastapan. A bakery that only sells three types of pizza bread and are totally delicious.

Next stop was Banos, but it meant spending the day in Gauyaquil. Don't spend anytime in Gauyaquil... The highlight was an American style shopping centre.

Banos, however, is beautiful. Set back in the mountains (this made me sad), the tiny town is largely famous for the 'Casa de Arbol' (treehouse) and it's swing at the end of the world. We stayed at 'Great Hostel Backpackers', which is another one of those fab hostels you never have to leave. We went white water rafting, which was SO much better than it was in Peru. We even all fell out at one point, which just added to the fun. Seriously considering never coming home and just learning to be a rafting instructor instead, as the views are always incredible. 

Getting to the treehouse and swing is either a two hour hike, or a $1 bus ride. No prizes for which option I chose. Contrary to what the photos depict, the swing is no where near as scary as it looks. Clever photography and the tree's surreal geographical setting are what make it look so high adrenaline. 

I almost jumped off a bridge in Banos too. Harnessed and attached to a million ropes, of course, but I didn't because I'm a wimp. 

I'm also a chronic overthinking. 

Final Ecuadorian stop was the capital, Quito. This is also where I turned 22. Quito feels a bit like La Paz, in the sense that it felt like you were constantly at rick of being robbed. It's still a fun city though. We stayed at 'Vibes' in the new part of the city, and it was perfectly located close to all the bars and restaurants. 

I don't remember the Friday night, so I feel the less said about that the better.

Saturday was all about starting birthday celebrations. The two girls I was travelling with and I headed up to 'El Panacillo', which is a big Virgin Mary/Angel statue that sits on one of Quito's hills. It's actually kind of scary looking and reminded me of the Weeping Angels from Doctor Who. We ate at a fab veggie restaurant called 'El Mapel' and then headed to a club called 'Bungalow 6' just after midnight when it was my actual birthday.

Honestly, I was sort of worried about being away from home for my birthday. Considering my flight to Costa Rica was the following morning, I had accepted the fact that my 22nd was probably going to be a low key affair, and that maybe i could convince someone at my hostel to go for a quick drink with me. Instead, I had one of the best birthday's ever. The two girls I'd been travelling with made sure I had a fab day, and everyone from the hostel celebrated with me. It felt like I'd known them all for years, not just weeks or hours. Even on the Sunday, a small group came with me to visit the equator (crappiest tourist attraction ever- I completely recommend it) and about 15 of us went for breakfast. They even bought me out a huge cake. It's a testament to how like-minded and big hearted your fellow travellers are. 

Feeling happy and grateful, I packed up my bag and headed to the airport. 

Time to start the second chapter.

-xo