Monkey stole my banana....

and my bag of chips too.

I´m currently in Montezuma, Costa Rica, camping right on the beach underneath almond and coconut trees which more often than not have monkeys playfully swinging through them. Just yesterday a mischievious cappachino monkey (black with a cute white face) scampered down the coconut palm my hammock was tied to and grabbed food out of the bag I had hanging halfway up to keep away from animals and insects.....of course, I failed. Anyway, it was enjoyable to watch the little rascal climb up the tree, eat my last banana and then return before I could grab my bag for an entire bag of chips which it looked like he thoroughly relished. Monkeys are putting me on a diet ;) It consists mostly of fresh coconut and pineapple anyway, the former being in excessive quantity here, only leaving the hazard of having my hammock under one of the trees dropping coconuts...it´s a risk I´m willing to take for free food...heh.

It has been a month since my last blog, but for good reason! So much has happened with very little down time (at least near internet) for writing it all down. I have since traveled in the last month from El Salvador, through Honduras, into Nicaragua and then Costa Rica with a very brief stint back in Portland for Thanksgiving.

So, since my last post I've been along the coastline in El Salvador, first at Playa El Tunco where my first night there was one of the most romantic ever: I found a cheap quiet hostel, then wandered into the small town where I had a fish feast and watched the sun set blazing red into the ocean, then I wandered along the beach in the growing dark to find a spot to stargaze undisturbed. Then, I came back into town to check internet only to discover that I was going to be whisked back for Thanksgiving! Wonderful news to end a wonderful day.

Later on, I met up with fellow travelers who had been up the coast surfing and together the five of us moved to a hostel just south of La Libertad in the nontourist town of Playa San Diego. The hostel, El Roble, had been closed for many months but the friendly woman who runs it usually with her British husband (now away back home after a brief deportation) decided to open it up for us, basically giving us the keys to the castle! She and her family came and cleaned, offered us coconuts to drink and free shuttle service into town to get groceries. That night we feasted on fresh fish bought straight from the pier and cooked up by Cashe, our Canadian cook. Actually the five of us, Cashe and Shayne from Calgary, Sara from Sweden, Ian from Ireland and myself from the States, celebrated the wonderful providence of having the run of a secluded hostel in a tropical setting by staying there for most of that week!

The owners were the sweetest people, offering us everything we could desire, letting us play our own music, filling up the two pools, cutting open fresh coconuts and giving us well-seasoned advice on our future travels through Central. The town was sweet too, as I walked to the beach from the hostel, two little girls came up to me and gave me a candy and a flower for my hair, their faces beaming and wanting nothing in return but a smile. My time their is filled with warm memories and perhaps someday I´ll return.

The itch to go south (due to the imminent departure from San Jose, Costa Rica, to go home for Thanksgiving) came before Celeste was able to make it there though, I missed her just by a few hours. She relished being there as well with our new friends, as I ventured down to Nicaragua....

Soon to be continued.....