Montezuma

Montezuma with Martha, Jess, Madi, Alexis, Gabe, Nick, Colin, Nathan, James, and Isaac. My experience in Montezuma was exactly what I had been envisioning during the last year when thoughts of what my time in Costa Rica would be like circled my head. Adventure. Mishaps. Community. Awe. Dirt. Tough. Beauty. Rewarding.

After I told the man selling tickets for the ferry what I needed, I suddenly had 5 tickets in my hand instead of 1. I realized that I had ordered 5 tickets for the ferry at 1:00 instead of 1 ticket for the ferry at 5:00. The cashier and I laughed it off as we waited for 4 people in front of me to buy the extra tickets that I had just purchased so that I could be reimbursed. James almost missed the ferry and we all hung over the edge as we watched him sprint to buy his tickets and clapped when he made it on in time-or late I should say. Luckily, “tico time,” is a very real phenomenon that we have benefitted from more than once. We quickly realized that the sun would be setting during our ride and settled in to enjoy it disappearing behind a group of islands in the distance.

Near the end of our time on the ferry, we started to notice all of the locals crowding the front when we realized, everyone here is trying to get on the same bus-the last bus of the day. We grabbed our things and managed to weave ourselves into the sweaty mob ahead. When the gates opened to release us, all manners went out the window, and the race began. People around us were yelling to grab the attention of members of their party that had fallen behind in the crowd while all eleven members of our group tried to keep track of each other. We were fortunate enough to make it on the bus, and got our first taste of a truly local travel experience. There was standing room only for the hour and a half ride. I must clarify that this is entirely not the same thing as standing room only on a bus in the States. We held ourselves up by our arms while we wound our way to Montezuma, slamming on the breaks all the way. And…the back door which I was standing directly next to was wide open for half of the journey. It was definitely an experience for the books, and I was pumped for the challenge. On the bus, we met two German boys our age who were traveling the country for 6 months with no agenda. Wow. They didn’t give off the serial killer vibe so we decided to let them come stay with us since they didn’t have a place for the night (sorry, Mom).

When we arrived in Montezuma, a man named Ronald was waiting on his motorcycle to give us the keys to our Air Bnb. I could tell something was wrong the second he started walking toward us, “How many people do you have?” “10, just like we agreed on,” (the Germans and a few others from our group were far away and could not be seen). “I was told that you would only have 5.” And thus, the scam began. We had to go and talk to the owner, Richard, who attempted to milk us for every penny before we finally decided that we would seek a refund (which we still haven’t received) and find a hostel we could park it at for the evening. This ended up being a huge blessing in disguise.

Our hostel was only a two minute walk from the bus station and was situated right on the beach. I’ll admit, the full body workout from the bus ride and the confrontational nature of the haggling had gotten the best of us, and, swiftly after checking in, we gave into our screaming American desires and binged on pizza at a nearby dive. I have no regrets. We settled into tables on the beach for the night and embraced all of our newfound instant friends staying at the hostel with open arms. That’s the aspect of traveling that I didn’t anticipate, and oddly enough am the most enamored with: the instant bond that exists between people traveling in the same place. We spent hours with Germans, Canadians, Californians, and native Costa Ricans sharing experiences, life stories, and, yes, a drink or two. We are even meeting up with the Germans again this weekend in Playa Negra.

A few of us woke up a wee bit later than everyone else (woops!) and missed the first group’s venture to the same waterfall that we came to Montezuma for in the first place. I woke up, walked a few steps to the ocean to get my morning “shower” in, and saw them walking towards me looking quite exhausted. They had accidently hiked straight uphill an hour past the waterfall without realizing that the waterfall was, in truth, only about a 15 minute trek downriver from where we were staying. I joined them to raid a nearby convenience store for breakfast, and then Colin, Nathan, and I decided to find this waterfall for ourselves. Luckily, Nathan, who was in the morning group, wanted to revisit the waterfall and was able to lead us.

When given the choice between walking along the road or the river, it didn’t even take a full second to decide to take the river. This is where the theme of my day began: if the boys can do it, I can do it. They took off in a full sprint and began leaping from rock to rock over gaps that were as long as my body. I struggled at the beginning- stumbling, pausing to observe, and trying to figure out how to turn off my brain and let my body do the work. I’m covered in bruises and scrapes from trying to coach my body how to move both swiftly and smartly, and I’m proud to say that by the time we left the waterfall to come home I was keeping up with the boys-well, sort of.

When we got to the waterfall, I was filled with awe. This was a place where natural beauty met human skill in the most incredible way. Locals who had lived near the structure for their entire life had an almost superhuman ability to scale the structure. They would take a running start before masterfully making their way up the 60 foot waterfall in no more than 15 seconds before executing stunning dives and jumps without even flinching off a surface as wide as one foot. They knew every crevice, jut, and indention on the waterfall just as well as they knew their own birthdays. There was a little tico no more than 8 who was climbing a nearby 20 foot rock (what we were jumping off of) while studying what the big boys were doing over on the waterfall. There is no doubt in my mind that this kid will be them someday-if not better.

Meanwhile, I was having the absolute time of my life. I was able to crawl up behind the waterfall after being pounded by its force as it tried to not allow me to enter. Once I fought my way up (with the help of Nathan) and made it behind, I was treated to the most incredible peace. The sun shining through the waterfall created a rainbow right in front of us as the waves crashed at our feet. We were safe in a space about three people wide where I could not shake the feeling of overwhelming and pure contentment. I really can’t do the experience justice in words, but I can say that it’s one of those moments where all you can really do is close your eyes, breath, and feel how small you are in the grand scheme of things.

The adrenaline from being behind that waterfall had me craving more, and I promised myself I would do a front flip off of the 20 foot rock. I climbed to the top did a funny little, “I’m nervous,” dance and did my fifth pencil jump of the day. I returned to the boys who gave me a quick pep talk. I climbed to the top dida less funny, “every tourist in Montezuma is staring at me,” dance and did my sixth pencil jump of the day. I returned to the boys for a long pep talk. I climbed to the top, actively turned off every instinct in my body, and threw my body off the rock head first. I had done it. When I emerged from under the water the smile on my face said it all, and I couldn’t stop smiling for hours after. I’m scared of more things than I can count, but here I’m learning how to flip the switch and just do in more ways than one.

When we returned to the hostel it was about time to pack ourselves up and head back to our bus (where we got a seat). Here’s to what I believe will remain my favorite place in the world for many years to come. Time to wrap up this longggg and windingggg ramble of mine. Thanks for sticking with this to the end.