Mal Pais, Costa Rica -- night

I've made it to Mal Pais. This morning, out of pure preference, I lied in bed for at least two hours just thinking. I finally got up out of pure guilt for feeling that it was late in the morning. But I found out soon enough that it was only a quarter to ten, just enough time to check-out of the room and walk to the town center of Montezuma to catch the ten o'clock bus back to the town of Cobano, to transfer to a bus to reach Mal Pais.

Well, upon arriving at Cobano, I decided that I had to eat breakfast, because I felt like I was starving. By opting for breakfast, I missed the ten-thirty bus to Mal Pais, and later found out that the next bus was not until two-thirty in the afternoon.

After eating my breakfast, I remained in my seat and just lounged and observed; the restaurant was located right at one of the four corners of the only major intersection in Cobano.

Afterwards I walked up the block, past the bus stop, and found an open, empty pavilion with benches. I entered and sat down to do a little reading but quickly became sleepy. So I just laid back on the thin metal bench (not very comfortable) and fell asleep. I'll guess I slept for about thirty to forty minutes, after which I woke up and finished reading the chapter I was on in Lord Jim.

From there, I walked to a restaurant right by the bus stop to await the bus. I ordered a lemonade and milked it for all it was worth; from that point, I only had to sit waiting for about fifteen more minutes.

After getting to Mal Pais, I was on a mission to get in the ocean as quickly as possible. I rented a room at the first spot with a vacancy, at 3000 colones per night, and quickly changed into my bathing-suit to check out the ocean. Mal Pais is the southernmost beach on the Nicoya Peninsula which looks directly out onto the Pacific. The waves are a bit irregular, and crest a bit farther out to sea and a decent height of about four, to perhaps five, feet. The foam of the wave then still maintains form and becomes a second line of waves closer to shore, formidable still with a height of two to three feet, this in addition to the water depth, which put most waves over one's head. Nearly every wave I had to jump or dive under. And they came in such rapid succession that left very little time to swim or to float. This place is very popular with surfers, and for good reason.

But I think I'll be moving north tomorrow, to either the next town of Santa Teresa - which is pretty close by - or farther north if possible.