As I lay here in bed, laughing about
missing toe nail clips and pots of coffee on the beach, I think back
over the past week and all the amazing people I have met, and I am
amazed. “You are never alone when you travel.” My friend Lis
was given that bit of advice before she began her trip through Latin
America, and it is absolutely true. You are never alone when you
travel. You meet the most amazing people. Some of whom are smart,
and some funny, and others kind of irritating, but all of whom create
your experience.
In Montezuma, at La Luna Llena, Lis
and I met the first of our ever expanding gang. A friend of mine
says, “never trust a person who doesn't share food”. Well if
that is the criterion for trusting someone, then Jeff was a fast
friend. We met him at breakfast when he fed us toast and peanut
butter, and instigated a rousing discussion of American healthcare.
He was a very level headed guy, and funny, and pretty much easy to be
around, which is more than I could say for Lis and Sabira that
morning. They held the perspective that the American medical system
is shit, and also that private insurers should be forced to take a
financial loss through being required to insure people with
preexisting medical conditions, while still maintaining that the
medical system should not be run by the government. In general it
was quite frustrating, and made me feel like they have a general lack
of perspective (which is not at all the case), but it was still good
because it allowed us to become friends with Jeff, and to meet Shane
(female) and Amy, two fun princesses from Mass/Cali who had shushed
us from their room the night before, and complained because it wasn't
expensive/nice enough.
The next day we found Lis's friend
Sasha, another sweetheart from Australia, and spent more than 2 hours
trying to leave the hostel to hike to the waterfalls (100 ft. 50 ft.
and 10 ft.). This was a bit frustrating considering how long it took
for us to decide on a restaurant the night before, which in truth we
did not do because everything closed before we could make up our
minds (luckily for us, the pizza man had pity and made us an amazing
pizza after hours). Finally we managed to leave town and head to the
waterfall, which involved a very steep climb up a very dangerous and
high cliff side. The climb was fun, but the water was even more fun.
After several goes on the rope swing, we hiked up to a more private
pond, which was murky enough to allow me to skinny dip. While we
were in the pond, we met the lovely Caroline, a sweet and bubbly lady
from England, who would later be integrated into our group.
From Montezuma, we took an hour boat
ride to Tortuga island. I don't usually pay for tours like this, but
this one was well worth the $35 it cost. We got to go snorkeling
twice, which was absolutely amazing, we got to ride the ocean in a
boat which was beautiful, and for lunch they took us to a beautiful
beach where they prepared a fresh fruit platter, and casado plates
with potatoes, toast, chicken, rice, and beans, as well as free beer
and soda. That night, we had an amazing plate of food including the
best guacamole of my life, met up again with the lovely Caroline, and
decided to build a fire on the beach. Unfortunately for us, it
decided to rain that night, and we were caught in a sudden torrential
downpour. We sought refuge from the rain at Caroline's hostel, but
were quickly kicked out by the staff, so we decided instead to head
to the local park and have a drink. It was here that we first used
the term Pikey Strumpet to refer to Caroline, and it was also here
that Jeff decided to instigate a best fake beard competition with
leaves.
The next day, as we made our way by
bus to Santa Teresa, Caroline decided to join us, and we also made a
new friend named Crazy Carlos. The trip was a bit confusing, and we
ended up losing Jeff for more than a day, and also we got off the bus
at the wrong spot and had to hike 2 kilometers before we found Lis.
Our time in Santa Teresa was pretty laid back, consisting mostly of
swimming in the pool, amazing food (fish tacos, burritos, and beef
kabobs on a baguette with every kind of vegetable and sauce
imaginable). I got to do a photoshoot with Kelsey, a surfing
instructor/apartment manager with a masters in mechanical engineering
and a background as a pole dancing instructor. Apart from meeting a
lovely group of spaniards, and cooking amazing pasta dishes at Don
Jon's restaurant/hostel there is not much for me to say about Santa
Teresa, except that it is wonderful and I am so grateful for the
people that I have met.
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