Montezuma bus stop

January 25: 94 degrees

Today we are in Montezuma and it is a very small town with lots of artisans, some musicians and a couple of bars and restaurants.  It has one very small grocery store in which they call a "Mini Super".  The feel in Montezuma is a bit hippyish with yoga classes around every corner.  The town is at the southern tip of the Nicoya region and requires travel through the dirt roads of the mountains to get there.

We notice that most of the locals do not live there.  They only come to the town to work and/or for some of the nightly activities.  The town is full of tourists who gather at certain times of day on the beach for either a tour or a water taxi to the other side of the gulf.

Today,  we decided to catch the bus to check out Cabo Blanco National Park in a neighboring town.  We head over to the bus stop and wait.  Here, we expect a regular bus that we have seen pull into town often.  Instead, a much smaller vehicle arrives with a small sign in its window indicating that it is the bus to Cabo Blanco.  So we board and try to pay for the trip.  The driver signals us to have a seat and pay later.  We have a seat and we wait about 20 minutes.  The longer we sit the more we begin to question whether or not this is the right bus.  What can possibly be the hold up?  Was the bus early?  Does it always casually wait this long?  What are we waiting for?  Suddenly, another much larger bus pulls up and drops off passengers.  A few hop onto our bus and we head off.

Our ride was full of views of empty lots, some cows and a few houses along this dirt road.  We stop a couple of times to pick up locals who know this bus route even though there is no official bus stop.  As long as they are on the route, they can flag down the bus anywhere to be picked up.  Sometimes, there are locals along the route to catch the bus to have goods delivered to other people along the route.

Anyway, we arrive at Cabo Blanco National Park at the entrance sign.  It requires about a quarter-mile hike just to get to the visitors center and hiking trails.  We are welcomed by a small information center that describes the three different trails that we can take.  We opt for the middle trail that should take about two hours to complete.  Off we go!

Hiking Cabo Blanco National Park

There are very few other people on the trails so, most of the time, it feels as though it is just Mandy and I.  We intently look and listen for any sign of wildlife.  All we saw that day was a white tail deer, and we heard howler monkeys in the distance.  The good news is that we got our exercise for the day.

We return to our room that is located on the grounds of a yoga retreat.  It is very quiet and we are enjoying the peace when we hear a voice say "hello".  We quickly engage in conversation with Cheryl.

Cheryl is an early 30s New York lawyer who just recently started her own firm.  She was born and raised in NY and, boy did she sound like it.  I think Mandy mentioned her in the blog earlier about people we've met.   Cheryl came to Montezuma for a few days to relax, take some yoga lessons and become one with nature.  Within the first couple of minutes of talking to her, you could tell that she wasn't necessarily accomplishing her goals. In all sense of the words, she was "loosing her shit!".  She didn't know how to relax nor handle activities outside of her normal daily routine.  She expressed that she was used to a Starbucks on every corner and is accustomed to three cups of coffee a day.  She talked very quickly and making lots of money was at the forefront of her mind.  She didn't hesitate to express how much money family members made and a sense of obligation for her to do the same.  At some instances, we could not believe some of the statements that came out of her mouth.  Statements of racism, judgement and blatant insecurity.  

We continued to politely listen, engage in conversation and just take this in as another part of a larger experience.  Once Cheryl left, we had a "holy shit" conversation about her.  Our conversation included a lot of gratitude for recognition of our wants and needs at a relatively young age.  One that allows us to recognize and enjoy the little things in life that bring true happiness to us.  Thank you Cheryl for the important reminders!