Montezuma

Where is Montezuma? 

To be exact, the GPS coordinate is:

Latitude: 9°39'55.8"

Longitude: -85°3'24.59"

Montezuma is located in Puntarenas Province on the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. 

See Montezuma on the bottom right? Perfect spot to watch the sunrise!

There's a saying that goes "in Costa Rica, babies' first word is Pura Vida". It literally means pure life, however the real meaning is closer to "plenty of life", "full of life", "this is living!", "going great", or "real living". After a week here, I can see why there are several stories of tourists who came here on a visit and fell in love with the place, so they went home to pack up everything and moved here. Even Mel Gibson lives here: http://blog.propertiesincostarica.com/2007/07/mel-gibson-purchased-25-million.html?m=1

Montezuma is a small beach village, surrounded by high cliffs where the rivers come together to form these iconic and picturesque waterfalls, and nestled within a jungle full of monkeys, iguanas, and other animals. In fact, there's an iguana staring at me while I write my blog. 

The other day I even saw an armadillo running in the aisles in the supermarket.

Montezuma is a vibrant town for its size, known to attract artists, yogis and Giants fans.. Chico's Bar was surprisingly filled with Giants fans on the night when the Giants clinched another World Series championship title! No better way to feel right at home.

In an older post, I talked about how Costa Rica doesn't have a standardized system of addresses. Well, in Montezuma, you don't need a map and a GPS definitely won't help you. The town has two roads. At the intersection is the town's center, lined with restaurants, hotels and shops. The rest of the roads aren't paved, and the roads will change path after a storm, so the best way to explore is on foot.

There are beaches everywhere.

So far traveling on my own, I haven't had a chance to get lonely. I've met so many interesting people all with unique backgrounds and rich stories to tell. I guess because Montezuma isn't the typical big city travel destinations like New York, London or Paris, so the people who find themselves here are usually avid travelers. 

From the first day, I met a couple from Colorado at the complimentary breakfast at Hotel 1915 in Alajuela. They are semi-retired and come often to Costa Rica for weeks at a time. This is their 9th trip! On my shuttle to Montezuma, I shared a long bus ride, then a long ferry ride (with a dance party on board), and then another long bus ride with Nadine and Toby from Germany, Sarah and Jennifer from LA, and Laurent from Tahiti, so we had plenty of time to chat. I even ran into Nadine and Toby again at one of the three iconic waterfalls in Montezuma.

Once I got to La Escuela del Sol, everyone here at the school/hotel has just been incredibly friendly and helpful. Rachel, my roomie here and surfing buddy, has been a delightful company, with a great sense of adventure. Speaking of adventure, tomorrow she's heading off for a week of travel around the country, so I'll definitely miss her company. Tonight we're going to have a final dinner at Jill and Todd's (two other students at the school) house at Kabuya, the next town over. It's been a full first week, and I haven't even got to the surfing, fire dancing, canopy zipline, etc. part yet.

Until next time, pura vida!