By Eli Karsh-Lombardo
With heavy bellies and full hearts we left the 26-acre permaculture farm that we had called home for the last nine days. We said adios to the giant caldrons of gallo pinto, friendly Bona Fide staff, and stunning volcano views as we began our crazy travel day extravaganza. The day started at 4:20 A.M. with 14 heavy backpacks slowly moving their way down the muddy and dark path to the nearby bus stop. After an hour and a half ride on a packed chicken bus, a calming 2 hour ferry, and another hour taxi ride, we finally arrived at the border. Our luck was apparent as we were rewarded with relatively short customs lines, and we said goodbye to Nicaragua as the immigration agents added our exit stamps to our passports. Next was a luxurious 2 hour Tica Bus ride fit with air conditioning and comfortable seats on the way to Liberia, Costa Rica. Despite five different modes of transportation, we arrived at our hostel in the early afternoon, giving us plenty of time to seize the day in our newest city. The next one and a half days were a mix of catching up on necessities such as laundry and Internet cafes with some beautiful excursions to the Lleno de Cortes waterfall and the Rio Colorado (very different from the Colorado River). We appreciated our time with the comforts of an urban center, and made sure to capitalize on every hour. To finish off the week we loaded into two vans which took us to the coast of the Guanacaste Region to the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. We were greeted by the gorgeous beaches of Playa Nombre de Jesus and Playa Real before making our way up the hill to the turtle house where we are staying. We settled in, eager to start our week of turtle night patrolling, beach clean ups, and relaxation. We all can’t wait to see what this place has in store.
