Sometimes travel means taking a chance. Does it work? Sometimes yes, and sometimes no.

I was up before seven AM, watching the sunrise and checking out the seashells. It’s so beautiful here in Montezuma. It has a quiet serenity, especially this early in the morning. And everyone is missing this beautiful sky.

Morning at the beach in Montezuma, Costa Rica

Unfortunately, there was still no water running in the hostel, so no showers for us until we move on to our next destination. We did pack hand wipes, so those will have to do for now.

Montezuma, small town, lovely place

First, though, we checked out the rest of Montezuma.  The vendors were setting up in anticipation of buses of tourists moving through. Jewelry, shells, and plenty of trinkets. Nothing exciting enough for me to buy, yet.

Not sure what kind of lizard, but it moved fast

On our walk around town, I spy my first, large lizard! The lizards in New Mexico are pretty tiny. So, I’m excited. But no iguana yet. Rebecca shook her head at me as I ran to catch this lizard’s photo. But I had to get a shot! He was so cool.

We found a place open for breakfast and took our time. All the while, an inquisitive blue jay checked us out. He hopped around from chair to chair, probably wanted to make sure we knew he was there, and probably hungry. It was hard to miss him though with his beautiful blue feathers. I think the animals must know I’m a soft heart for sad eyes.

An Unofficial Taxi

The inquisitive bird at breakfast

We finally packed up, checked out and went to grab a taxi. We found an unmarked, unofficial taxi hanging around.

As per guidebooks, you should never, ever take an unofficial taxi (and I second that). But as it turned out, this time it was a good call.

We wanted to get to Santa Teresa and he offered a cheap price. The ride was interesting, kind of like being on a wooden rollercoaster as he maneuvered the bumpy roads in his beat-up car. We had figured from the map as to where we wanted to be dropped off, but when we got there, he refused. Did that worry us? A little, but he ended up taking us right to the middle of town (we would have been on the far edge of town otherwise). I should add that his conversation was all in Spanish, with us attempting to suss out the details and respond as much as we could, plus we think we know our numbers in Spanish, but we still get them mixed up.

But it worked out perfectly!

Be in the Know: One of the most important things you’ll do is negotiate prices, so know your Spanish numbers.

Santa Teresa, Just right for surfers and beachgoers

Our next stop was atTranquillo Backpackersin Santa Teresa.A clean, large hostel with small bunk rooms. And they have running water! let me tell you that I’m very happy about that.

Rebecca and Guillaume using the ping pong table at Tranquillo

While there we met up with Guillaume, a French-Canadian. That night we made dinner
together – a huge batch of spaghetti. For some reason, he really wanted carrots in the spaghetti. I forgot to ask him if it was a French-Canadian thing or just his thing. All in all a great dinner, but I don’t plan on having carrots in my spaghetti again.

He also gave us some suggestions on where we might go the next day. There’s an island that’s reachable during low tide that’s cool to see. We’ll try to check it out. More exploring yet to come!

Want to see more:
Day 3 in Montezuma, Costa Rica
Day 5 in Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

I’m Sonja Dewing. I’m an award winning creative writer, a published author of Toy of the Gods, an adventure in the Amazon. If you’d like a free copy of the prequel, Ire of the Gods, sign up for my email list and you’ll get it right away.