Day 39 - Believe Surf & Yoga Hotel, Santa Teresa

We had two key objectives for the day, the first was to clean the girls as they were absolutely filthy from the mud and river crossings of the day before. We were also going to do some zip lining in the jungle canopy, an absolute must do activity when in Costa Rica. There would be the usual beach time and a few beers as it was our day off, but it was essential that get these two objectives completed. Whilst the hotel did offer breakfast, it was not cheap. In fact, Santa Teresa in general was pretty damn expensive by our standards and on our budget. The really average meal we had had on the night before might even have been the most expensive since being in Cabo San Lucas. There was a great little spot right next door to the hotel called Le Patio, which did coffees and breakfast, and was actually very good and much more reasonably priced. We researched our zip lining options over breakfast and booked a tour with a local company for 11:00 that morning for about US$120 for both of us, which wasn’t too bad. We had seen other companies in Tamarindo and Samara offering tours for about $100 each. It was actually the same place where Jorik had taken his kids when they were much younger when he first visited Santa Teresa back in 2009, which would give him the chance to relive what he said was a great experience all those years ago. However, an 11:00 start meant we needed to shake a leg and get a move on as we had about a 20-minute ride to get to the location. We caught up with the receptionist back at the hotel about being able to wash the girls that afternoon to ask if they had a hosepipe we could use. I am sure they didn’t want us washing our filthy bikes in the surfboard wash area. Unfortunately, as it happened, the hotel was undergoing some maintenance and there was no water pressure at the time. I did check, and sure enough, the shower in our room wasn’t working so they weren’t trying fob us off, there genuinely was an issue with the water at the hotel and there were a few guys digging holes and stuff. As such, we would need to make another plan for washing the girls. We headed over to the zip lining place and arrived in plenty of time for our briefing. There was an English family there, who live in Belgium now, but have been travelling in Mexico and Costa Rica for about a month with their 4-year-old daughter and the lady’s mother, who appeared to only speak French. The French lady wasn’t going to go zip lining, but the family was well into it. We got into our harnesses and then were taken up a track in a truck up into the jungle. It was an awesome experience; way better than I was expecting. I was super impressed with the young kid, who looked a little frightened on her first experience as the guide strapped her to him for a tandem ride, but by the 2nd ride, she was well into it. A very brave youngster and it was awesome to see how much she enjoyed it. To be fair, I was a like a little kid as well. I was whooping and hollering as I sped along these awesome routes through the trees, particularly as the backdrop was magnificent, with glimpses of the sea and the vast canopy. A thoroughly enjoyable experience and a massive highlight of the trip. It was also great to do something other than just riding the bikes, even if it was a little expensive for our budget. Buzzing from the zip lining, we headed back towards town to see about getting some cash, getting the girls cleaned up, and I also wanted to sort out 1 of my jerry cans, the one that had been broken back in San Juan del Sur by Luigi when he was pissed. The bungy cords were not holding it steady enough and it kept moving around. The screws that held the bracket in place had been lost, probably due to all the vibration from the roads we had been riding recently, and I wanted to get them replaced and make the jerry can a little more secure. We haven’t really used the jerry cans on the trip, other than for some water back in Baja when I was a little dehydrated and needed to take a lot of water on the day after our camping experience at Papa Fernandez. We hadn’t run out of fuel, although we had come close a couple of times, so I wasn’t that attached to the jerry cans anyway. However, the bikes look great with them on, even if they are not that practical. As we got into town, we found a place to park up and Jorik went in search of an ATM, and I went in search of some screws. There was an ATV hire place across the road from where we had parked, and I figured that they must have a workshop that I could rummage through to find the right kind of screws. Sure enough, a young lad came over to me who spoke some English and we dug around through some tins in his workshop and found a bunch of screws that would probably be suitable. He was happy for me to take them, so he got a sticker, which he was made up about. In fact, he called a mate over, who also wanted a sticker, and then another chap came over asking if he could also have 1 for his bike. The stickers are clearly a hit. Whilst Jorik was still on his mission to find some cash, I noticed that they had a dedicated washing area for the ATVs and a young lad was washing a small motorbike at the time. I asked my new friend if we could wash our bikes, but he was adamant that he would have to charge about US$8 for each bike to be washed as it wasn’t his call and his boss might get a bit upset if he did us any favours. As I had already scored some free screws from him, I didn’t want the lad getting into any trouble, so after some haggling, including the offer of more stickers, I caved and said that I would check with Jorik if we were prepared to pay that much for the bikes to be cleaned. Once Jorik had found a working ATM and sorted out some more cash, we agreed that as the bikes really were filthy, they could do with a professional clean. To be honest, the lad did a very good job, and I don’t think the bikes have been as clean on this whole trip. Whilst my bike was being cleaned, we grabbed a beer from a local supermarket and sat back in the blistering heat to watch the dude doing his cleaning thing, throwing in the odd comment here and there to ensure that a thorough job was being done. Cassy cleaned and gleaming from the oil that he sprayed over her when had finished cleaning her, a bit like WD40, and Jules next up, I set about looking at fixing the jerry can. It wasn’t a particularly difficult job, but in the heat and humidity, I was sweating so much it looked like I had just stepped out of a shower. The girls attended to, we headed back to the hotel for a swim to cool off and then some beach time in the afternoon. The clouds meant that we once again missed what must be an absolutely magnificent sun set when it is clearer, but it was by no means to be sniffed at. Costa Rica is absolutely amazing and beautiful, and I accept that we might not have a magical day every day, it was just a shame knowing that whilst a great sunset, it could be better. It just means I’ll have to find a way to come back again. We had learnt our lesson from the night before, so we headed to a local cantina type place for dinner, which was much more reasonably priced and pretty good. We had a pretty big day the next day, so it wasn’t a late night, but after such a great day, we were happy to crash, particularly as the yoga lot back at the hotel are not exactly the party type so it was like a church when we got back to the hotel after dinner.