Surf Board Pong

The Dangers of a Costa Rican Rodeo

The video speaks for itself.

Breaking down on the Rio Bongo

Sometimes you can't quite cross the bongo. When you can't, this is your only alternative.


The car is down for the count, the remnants of a few hours in the party van can be seen in the background. Juice is clearly flustered/frustrated, and yet this doesn't stop him from cracking a beer.

Costa Rican Traffic Jam

The blog is dead?

It has been a while since the last blog post, I will admit. However, amidst the death throes of the blog (for the record: it was only hibernating) I have made a video of our jump off of a waterfall in Montezuma. I hope that you enjoy it.



This video is from a weekend trip to Mal Pais and Montezuma. Things have been great so far in Costa Rica. We are all working, surfing, and traveling when possible. Things have been great enough to prevent further work on the blog.

Merry Christmas from Costa Rica

I realize it has been awhile since we updated the blog, for anyone anxiously awaiting a post, I apologize. In any case, a lot has happened in the last month. It is hard to believe that we are going on two months in Costa Rica. Our time seems to be flying by as we are all busy with jobs and travel around the Nicoya Peninsula. Things are really picking up quickly in Nosara as Christmas is right around the corner. High season has officially begun and the sleepy surfing village of Nosara is suddenly full of vacationers from the U.S and Europe.

Everyone's surfing skills have improved markedly in the last few months. Our 7am surf sessions seem to be paying off. We recently rented a car and drove to Tamarindo for a long weekend. The drive took two hours due to poorly maintained roads and multiple river crossings along the way. We managed to find some great surfing spots and a lively night life. We were surprised to find a large number of Europeans in Tamarindo and relatively few Americans. After our weekend was over, the four of us decided to take better advantage of our time in Costa Rica and do more traveling.

Scott is back in the states for Christmas and the rest of us are busy at our jobs for the busiest two weeks of the season. In January, Alex (Spanish) plans to go to Brazil to visit a friend from Bucknell. Scott, Michael (Tonto) and I are looking forward to a trip to Nicaragua. We plan to visit some volcanoes in the middle of a giant lake. The island is supposedly beautiful.

Needless to say, we are meeting some interesting people who call Nosara their home. I am sure we will meet plenty of others before we leave on April 30th. We recently attended a local rodeo in an adjacent town. It was fun to hang out with the Ticos (Costa Ricans) and share some of their culture. I was supposed to ride in a parade during the rodeo, unfortunately it did not work out and the same day my camera was stolen. So now I have no pictures to post.

We are looking forward to seeing everyone who has planned a trip here in the coming months and we are always happy to have more. So if you are looking for some sun and surf, let us know. For the mean time, keep checking in, we will get some pictures up as soon as possible.

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and a Happy New Year!!

gringo cameo: steve perlis

After a short, Imperial-infused night of rest in San Jose, I made my way to the bus station a little after five o’clock yesterday morning. Destination: Nosara. A walkable distance from my hotel in a less than pristine neighborhood, the station and surrounding barrio is frequented (inhabited?) by some characters.

San Jose’s homeless population is no joke. It’s a sad, eccentric group and membership is booming. One unlucky Tico—but don’t tell him I said so, he looked happy as a clam—was prepping for the day in what I can only assume is his morning routine. Razor in hand, I watched him taking down the stubble on his face. Sure, that’s the first time I’ve ever seen a homeless man shave, but here’s the real kicker. He reaches into his pocket, pulls out a crack-pipe and a lighter. Seconds later he lights and puffs, all without losing focus from his shave.

This is the kind of guy that can rub his belly and pat his head without missing a beat, and you know that if he had blond hair he’d be walking and chewing gum like a pro. I don’t mean to make light of a bad scene, but when you see that kind of expert multitasking you can’t help but be taken aback and, yeah, a little impressed.

I missed the direct bus to Nosara—which runs once a day at 5am NOT 6am as the airport, hotel manager, tourism office, and bus schedule will try to fool you into believing—but I found an easy enough workaround and made it here yesterday in time for a late lunch. So for now, I’m typing in a hammock and staring at the 200 feet of jungle that separates this balcony from the beach.

I’ve got books to read, waves to conquer, and a mustache to grow. My boss is a nice lady, but I don’t miss her yet. This is going to be a good week.

Sunset Shots

It's been a while since anyone updated the gringo lovin blog. We've been caught up getting jobs, surfing, and enjoying the Costa Rican lifestyle. We've spent the past week or so watching this sunset from the water via surfboard. The pictures are all from Playa Guiones (the same beach in the video house tour), which is just outside our place. The first set of pictures are from Sunday night 11/11.


The rest of Nosara generally shows up during sunset. You can vaguely see a fire in the middle of the surfers.
Spanish sat and pondered life for about half an hour while holding this pose. The next set of pictures are from Monday 11/12.
Over the weekend, after nights of Imperial and the sounds of a local cover band (Los Killer Penguinos) we encountered enormous bonfires on the beach surrounded by about 50 people. This is no bonfire, but a sunset fire just adds to the atmosphere. It also helps keep the bugs away.

At this point, the sun looks as if it is melting into the water. Not a bad way to end a strenuous day of surfing...

Rainy Season

Esta lloviendo como gatos y perros.

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Eating Like A Tico

The staples of the tico diet are rice and beans (arroz y frijoles). A typical meal or casado usually consists of mixed rice and beans, meat (generally chicken or fish), a fried plantain, and an ensalada which can include any combination of fruits and vegetables. The national dish is gallo pinto. According to wikipedia, "The name gallo pinto means 'spotted rooster'. When the beans and rice are combined, the rice gets colored by the beans, and the mix results in a specked appearance. Nicaraguans traditionally prepare it with small red beans, while Costa Ricans usually use black beans. Beans are slowly cooked until the juice is almost consumed."

Having recently discovered our tico heritage, we are diving headlong into a steady diet of rice and beans. We generally drench our rice and beans in lizano salsa (pictured left of Spanish's meal). Lizano salsa is better known as cowabunga sauce due to the fact that it is pretty cowabunga. We stocked up on tico food at the local super mercado, which by the way was not local or super. We have heard that the best food is found by stopping local delivery trucks to pick up fresh fish, chicken, bread, fruits, and vegetables from various trucks. We aren't privy to the truck schedule, and it will be time consuming to stop each truck individually. Yet the lure of amazingly fresh local food is too tempting to ignore. Apparently the beer truck is off limits. Beer distribution is monopolized in Costa Rica, and the beer truck is accompanied by an armed guard to protect this cash business. Bummer.
The local liquor is guaro. "It is a clear liquor made from sugar cane, and therefore has a slightly sweeter taste than comparable liquors. Guaro is a popular alcoholic drink in Costa Rica, although in many places guaro can refer to almost any liquor. guaro is made by a distillation process of sugarcane juices, resulting in an alcohol that is clear in color and has a slightly sweet flavor.
Sometimes guaro is referred to as a "soft vodka" because it has a lower alcohol content than vodka. In Costa Rica, the goverment nationalized the manufacturing of Guaro in an effort to quell the clandestine production of liquor. The "Fabrica Nacional de Licores" (National Liquor Factory) was founded for this reason, and currently produces the only legal brand of Guaro, the Guaro Cacique." For our purposes guaro is Spanish for "cheap booze that mixes well."

Click COMIDA for more information regarding the tico diet.

Photo Diary Of Our Flight

We landed in Nosara a week ago, almost to the hour. To commemorate our week in the jungle, the gringo lovin' blog offers a look at that epic flight. Below we are walking out on the tarmac to hop on the "puddle jumper" leaving San Jose for Nosara. They have pretty stringent weight limits for such a small plane, and we paid mightily (in Costa Rican terms) for our overweight luggage.

We were flying lowing enough to have a consistent view of the Costa Rican landscape throughout the flight.We landed at the Punta Islita on the way to Nosara. The Punta Islita tarmac is gravel, and right on the beach. The above picture was taken from the plane! During this harrowing landing, it felt as if we were going to land on the beach. As the tarmac was one-way and this close to the beach, the takeoff was as nerve-racking as the landing. If the pilot didn't take off soon enough, we were headed directly into the drink.This picture was taken just before we landed in Nosara. The center "city" of Nosara is quite small. Notice the condition of the roads. If you want to get anywhere in Nosara during the rainy season, you have to accept a certain degree of muddiness.

Nosara House Tour

After days of searching for places to stay in Nosara (often in the back of pickup trucks while being pummeled by the rain) we finally found a place to stay. For the next two months, this place will be home. I hope you enjoy the tour.

Cowabunga Living

The four idiots are officially checked into the new "Cowabunga Pad" for the next few months. Spirits are high and our new place is totally righteous. Amenities include four surfboards, prime beach location, waterfall pool, wireless Internet, sick balcony with pong table, vault, ample bed space and hot jams. We have made it out to surf twice. Tonto dominated the gnarly waves while Adam, Scott and Spanish got dominated.

We live in a surf town in the jungle. Our flight into the town was amazing, but reminded us of something out of the movie Blow. Nosara is small but everyone has been really nice to us and now that the rainy season is almost over, the town is about to become overwhelmed with tourists. This is good because everyday we have gotten completely drenched by the rain. There are no paved roads, which is common in Costa Rica. For the first few days, we had to choose between three or four places to eat. Luckily, all the food has been really good. There are several dogs who like to follow us around town. One has hung around so much that he has earned the name Mr Balls.

Today we trekked a few miles to the supermarket which is anything but super. The trip back was tough due to the typical afternoon downpour and an inch or two of mud on the road. Needless to say, the dry season cannot come soon enough. Our boy Juan Surfo is hooking us up with some bikes and possibly a place to live for the second half of the trip. Three of us have jobs already and the fourth will have one soon.

There are tons of girls around who totally dig Spanish's latino style and his general "I just don't give a f**k" attitude." We are psyched because a bunch of new places are starting to open up this week. Look for a tour of our crib and more updates coming soon . . .

-The Box

Howler Monkeys

Imagine the worst kind of skull-pounding alarm clock blaring at you early in the AM. You can't control the timing or the volume, leaving you no choice but to wait it out. It might take ten minutes, it might take thirty. Maybe it will stop for a minute, leaving you just enough time to drift into sleep before your dreams are dashed by another shrill cry. Last night, our alarm went off for close to an hour.
In Costa Rica, that alarm clock exists in the form of a howler monkey. According to wikipedia, howler monkeys "have an enlarged basihyal or hyoid bone which helps them make their loud sound. They are considered the loudest land animal." In addition, howler monkeys are hoodlums and scallywags. They are the telemarketers of the animal kingdom. Please stop calling me howler monkey. No, I am not interested. And while you're at it, learn how to pronounce my last name.

Click PIPES to hear our Costa Rican alarm clock.

Our Own Movie Trailer!

Memoirs of San Jose

As we left Laguardia airport there was joy and fear in every one's eyes, not knowing what lay ahead everyone was in good spirits and looking forward to the upcoming months. Several hours later we finally laid foot in San Jose, and began our lives as a illegal migrant workers. After a friendly cab ride we arrived at our hostel and explored San Jose for 2 days. When i first asked Storm (rugged Americano who owns the hostel) what's there to do in San Jose he replied with "nothing", "this city has nothing to offer, and its a f**king dump", after the initial pessimistic vibe we decided to wonder the city on our own. After 2 days of exploring we have already come up with some interesting observations. 1) All the roads are filled with booby traps be it large holes on the sidewalk, large groups of fire ants, or your casual turd. 2) We reference all Costa Rican money as gold mainly because most of the coins look like gold, as a matter of fact Tonto carries with him a sack of gold wherever he goes. 3) There are lots of sketchy areas where you don't want to be at night, especially the park that's filled with transvestites. Not that sweet. On a side note we did find a cool looking gecko in our shower today, which was pretty neat. Overall team moral is high as we prepare for our move to Nosara, everyone seems to be ALL SET WITH SAN JOSE, and looking forward to the beach and the jungle. As we get farther away from civilization we will unleash our inner Tico and become one with nature.

Devin vs. A Surfboard

Battle Royale:

In the right corner donning a mustard suit and hailing from Salisbury Maryland; the Fuhrer of Furious, the Shah of Scro, and the Sultan of Shmeeb: Devin "when I say I'm going to Costa Rica I mean I'm going to New York" Otway.

In the left corner, a surfboard.

Surfboard: Excellent swimmer. __________Devin: Requires floaties.
Surfboard: Is a whopping 72 inches in height. Devin: Is smaller than a bread box.
Surfboard: Is a surfboard. __________Devin: Is a shmeeb.
Surfboard: Is ridden almost daily. __Devin: Hasn't been ridden in months.
Surfboard: Rides waves like it's it's job. _____Devin: Doesn't have a job.
Surfboard: Is sporting a new coat of wax. ___Devin: Is sporting a mustard suit.
Surfboard: Is related to millions of other surfboards. _Devin: Has a hot sister.
Surfboard: Is "finding" itself on the coast. ___Devin: Didn't come to Costa Rica.
Surfboard: Is a surfboard. ______________Devin: Is a condiment.
Surfboard: Is a surfboard.________Devin: Didn't come to Costa Rica.

And the winner is:........................(the dots are meant to be a drum roll)............................................................by a landslide, through sheer force of gnarliness, we are stoked to bestow victory to.................Devin Otway, for gutsy execution of the condiment costume.

Destination Nosara

Here is a picture of Nosara. At the moment, all we know is that it looks like this, that Uncle Juice Box may or may not run a real estate development company there, and that we are moving there for an undetermined period of time.
We are staying in a hostel in San Jose for a few days before flying to Nosara on a puddle-jumper Friday morning. We have checked out a few apartments online, (most are on the beach, in the jungle, and surrounded by monkeys) and will hopefully move into our new place at some point early next week.

Baller Status

This picture is Tonto on one side of the limo on the ride from CT to LaGuardia at 4 in the morning.
Before starting our jobs as migrant workers in the jungles of Costa Rica, we figured that we would ride to the airport in style.

First of many

What started as a crazy idea one drunken night at Bucknell University has become a reality. The four idiots finally made it to Costa Rica, after months of planning and several phone calls and e-mails the four of us and Tonto's surf board made it in one piece to San Jose. While most of our friends are slaving away at unwanted jobs we decided it would be a good idea to try life in Costa Rica, and enjoy some pura vida!!!. We all decided to get one-way tickets and embark on this unknown journey into the abyss of Central America. As far as our plans go we don't have many, initially we plan on living in this town called Nosara and find jobs, but if that doesn't work out who knows where we could end up Brazil?, Argentina?, Panama, Peru?, Jail?. We are mainly looking forward to getting nasty at surfing as master tonto will gear us up into prime shape, and help us dominate the ocean. In return we will try and teach tonto some Spanish considering he knows nothing (less than Sidelsky Spanish). Adam, will try and keep his hospital visits to a minimum keeping in mind his proven track record as a sick child. Overall were going into this knowing nothing about nothing, but were fairly certain that when it's all said and done we will learn more about ourselves and other cultures, than we thought possible.