Destination Pavones - home of one of the largest left-hand surf breaks in the world (just to be clear, that is not me in the picture above, but we had the same size waves). However, we have to rewind a bit. I still had a border to cross.
As usual, this was a nightmare. But I accept partial responsibility this time. Coming into Costa Rica you have to provide evidence of your onward travel arrangements out of the country. For me this is likely to be a $1 chicken-bus to the boarder with Nicaragua and then a short walk - not the kind of thing you can book online. While this is annoying, it is not unusual, I should have bought a return bus ticket or something. As I got to the window and lined up, I saw that they were asking for people's flight/bus itineraries. I hastily hand-wrote a made-up flight itinerary to Colombia with flight times, a reservation code and even a 2-hour stopover in Panama city to make it more convincing. It took the boarder guard about 2.6 seconds to laugh in my face and tell me to provide her with a printed itinerary. Arse.
Complicating matters further was the fact that I'd already cleared immigration out of Panama - I was now stuck in no-man's land! OK, I wasn't really stuck, because the boarder is about as heavily patrolled as my local post office, but it was a pain in the ass walking 1km back into Panama (in 35 degree heat) to look for an internet cafe. Thirty minutes, and some serious photo-shopping later, I possessed a moderately-convincing printed flight itinerary. The boarder guard probably didn't believe it was real but, since I had lost about half my body weight walking around in the searing heat with my full backpack, she let me through. I got a 25 day visa - you normally get 90.
After all this messing around at the border, I missed the last bus to Pavones so had to spend a night in the town of Golfito. I can't recommend it. The place is full of strange, dingy, "karaoke" bars. There are about ten of them, which seems like overkill for a tiny town of 2,000 people. They also have big boards blocking the view from the street. This made me think that they were strip bars, but how could there be that much demand? I was so intrigued that I considered going into one to have a look. The band of drunk indigenous people lying outside each one made me change my mind. The mystery remains unsolved.
I got up bright and early the next morning to catch the first bus to Pavones. After bumping along some dirt roads for three hours we stopped at a broken bridge and everyone got off the bus. "Is this Pavones?" I asked. "Well, kinda", Pavones was another 8km down the road, the bridge had recently broken and that was as far as the bus was going. Everyone started walking so I followed. Words cannot describe how hot this country is - it was midday and about 40 degrees in the shade. Walking with my 20kg backpack was not fun. After about 4km I took a rest/passed out on a bridge and was offered a lift by a local woman. After convincing myself she wasn't a mirage I jumped in and was driven along the lovely beachside track to Pavones.
Now, I wasn't actually planning to stay in Pavones, but the neighbouring village of Punta Banco, where someone had recommended a great place to stay. My guidebook described the walk between the two villages as "a nice long stroll", so I strolled off. I still wasn't there 30 minutes later and was about to pass out again. Just as I was ruing not staying in Pavones, a quadbike skidded to a halt behind me. It was a local surfer named Clay, who chucked my backpack on the front of the quadbike, me on the back and then sped me to my destination. It was 5km in total. I would probably still be there if he hadn't come along.
I arrived at Rancho Burica, built by 21 Dutch friends after a couple of them discovered the area while backpacking. The place is literally at the end of the road, right on the beach, and on the fringe of the jungle. From that point it is rainforest all the way to Panama.
This is the best accommodation I've stayed in on this trip. I had the Jungle Lodge all to myself - a top-floor, wooden room with double bed, balcony and hammock overlooking the jungle.
The wildlife was ridiculous. Just lying in the hammock I saw squirrel monkeys, bright red macaws, scorpions, bats, hundreds of weird crabs and the odd snake. You'd normally pay mucho dinero to see all that. And you'd have to get off your ass to do it!
But the main reason I'd come was to surf this famous break! The first day there was no surf, the second it was quite good, but the third day it was huge! The waves were almost three meters high and people from all over the world had come to surf. There were photographers and film crews recording bleached-blond surfers pulling some serious moves. Best waves I've ever surfed. Period.
My camera isn't waterproof so I've stolen the picture below from the internet - the waves were bigger than this.
It was hard to leave but I caught the 5am bus out of there this morning. I am trying to get to a small beach on the Caribbean coast to hopefully see some turtles lay their eggs. I've made it as far as San Jose today, only 3 buses and a boat to go...
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