Santa Teresa, CR
Don’t come here alone, as I did, is my first piece of advice. Or at least stay in a hostel for a few days and get to know the scene. An extroverted introvert like myself doesn’t thrive in complete solitude. It’s actually somewhat excruciating, hence the bottle of liquor.
Regardless, there is some spectacular beauty here, and the collective sense of gratitude for being here is felt by every person I’ve met, including the locals.
More than once, you’re likely to have a mango dropped (or thrown) into your path by a howler monkey. Everything here is a fucking mango tree, and the medium-sized monkeys with the gigantic hanging scrotums are the most exciting creatures that inhabit them.
The falling mangoes all appear to be almost entirely intact, with just one bite missing. It’s like one of the monkeys picked a mango, took one bite, was satisfied, and then yelled “MANGO FIGHT!” Hence, the falling fruits.
I was told they were called Congo monkeys. The consensus seems to be they are ‘howler monkeys.’ I call them ‘apocalypse monkeys’ or ‘rapture monkeys’ because the collective sound of their calls in the canopy sounds, I imagine, what the end of the world would sound like - a far-reaching pitch of demonic voices saying nothing in particular. It would be fearsome if you didn’t already know the sound was coming from some silly monkeys (with huge balls.)
I haven’t done much here besides the occasional surfing lesson with Cesar, the Tortuga Island snorkeling tour, and many super long walks on the beach in one direction or another while I let psilocybin make worlds in the waves for me.
The crashing tide here is a wonder on its own. You walk out into the surf, get waste deep, dive in as white water comes charging, reemerge only to find that the next wave has already risen and crashed to block you from recovering your vision or take a deep breath. Eventually, you discover it’s best to let the tide carry you, as long as it doesn’t carry you farther out to the point of no return, where your feet can’t touch the sand, and your only option is to swim towards shore against the suck.
In the shore-break, the tide will push you out and quickly take you back in. Don’t forget to hold your nose and close your eyes. Don’t forget to laugh, lest onlookers perceive you to be struggling like some retarded adult drowning in 2 feet of water. After a few turns, you’ll find that you’ve let go of appearances and instead are enjoying the ride.