San Jose and Jaco

San Jose (Novemeber 22) and Jaco Beach (November 23-24)

San Jose:

November 22 was my friend Jordan's 22 birthday. Since it was a Friday, and we only had class until 11, she decided she wanted to go to San Jose to see a wildlife sanctuary and eat at the Hard Rock Cafe. After class, we walked over to the bus station where we met our other friends Chris and Charlie. The bus showed up shortly after we got there and only took about an hour and a half to reach downtown San Jose. Technically the animal sanctuary was closer to Heredia, so we called an uber to take us there. For some reason it ended up being a 45 minute uber ride, but we got there eventually. We didn't know this at the time, but I guess you are supposed to make a reservation for the sanctuary ahead of time. Luckily the staff was really nice and let us hop into a group that had just begun. This place, the Toucan Rescue Ranch, is known for rescuing sloths, owls, and, of course, toucans. The tour was about an hour and we got to go around and see all their animals. My favorite one was the tyra, which is kind of like a cat mixed with a weasel. There were also otters, parrots, porcupines, and ocelots. I did also see rabbits, guinea pigs, and chickens, but I was informed that they were for food. After the tour finished, we ended up paying $40 each, which was like double what I thought and then called an uber to go to the Hard Rock.

The tayra from the Toucan Rescue Ranch

It took a while to get to the Hard Rock Cafe because we left the Toucan Rescue Ranch right at rush hour traffic. By the time we got there I was absolutely starving and I planned on getting like everything on the menu. I ended up getting a twisted Mac and cheese with garlic bread. For dessert, I was hoping to get the Apple crumble, but they didn't have it. Since it was Jordan's birthday, she got a free Sunday and they sang for her, which would have been cooler except we were the only ones there. At the end, I got a shirt and we took an uber back to the bus station to head home.

My Mac n cheese was sooooo good!

Jaco Beach:

Our plan was to stay the night Saturday in Jaco and just hang out on the beach. I went with my friends Valerie, Jordan, and Chris. Our other friends Katie and Lilli went down the night before so we had plans to meet with them and stay in the same room as them. We left really early, at like 6 am, on Saturday so that we would have an almost full day at the beach. Since there wasn't a direct bus from San Jose to Jaco, we had to take a bus to Puntarenas and then a bus from there to Jaco. This was relatively easy, except it took us a minute to find the bus station in Puntarenas. Overall, it was about 5 hours of travel until we finally got there. For the night, we were staying at the Selina, the largest chain of hostels in Central America. This place was right on the beach and had a pool, a bar, some stores, and even a place to rent surfboards. We got there around 12 and couldn't check in until 3, so we just stored our stuff and went to get lunch.

Val and I on the bus

We walked around the town a little bit and decided on a taco place that was literally called The Taco Joint. I got fries and a quesadilla. The owner was really nice and the food was pretty good. The fries were delicious and they actually had seasoning on them. After lunch, we went to just hang out on the beach for a while. Jaco is the surfing capitol of Costa Rica, so there were some pretty big waves we were playing in. Because of the waves, this beach was also known for having rip currents. We were careful and no one got hurt so it was a lot of fun. After swimming for a while in the ocean, we got out and went to the pool. Some people went to take a nap, but I just hung out with Jordan in the outside hammocks for a while.

Me hanging in a hammock chair at the beach

The plan was to watch the sunset then go walk around town then grab food for dinner. After everyone woke up from their naps, we went to the beach right outside our hostel and took amazing photos of the sunset. Then we went shopping in some of the boutiques. There were ones with really cute clothes and souviners but I didn't end up getting anything. My friend Lilli did though, she bought something in almost every store we went into. On our way back to the hostel from shopping, we went to the grocery store and bought a bunch of boxes of Mac n cheese for dinner. We cooked it up in the hostel and then just hung out and talked for the rest of the day. Valerie, Jordan, and I wanted Togo get ice cream from this cute gelato place, but it was closed so we got monster shakes instead. We came back around 11 full of sugar and ready to go to bed.

Sunset picture with Val, Lilli, and Katie

The next morning, people in my group were leaving at different times. Katie and Lilli went to catch the bus at 9, Jordan and Chris were leaving at 11. And Valerie and I were leaving at 2 with Cierra who was also in Jaco, but with her parents. In the morning, we basically just got breakfast at a bakery then hung out in the pool and on the beach. Val and I wanted to do surfing lessons, but they were a little too expensive. We finished our time in Jaco by just chilling around the hostel in the pool and on the beach. Around 12 we went back to the Taco place for lunch and then got gelato. By the time we finished with that, Cierra was at our hostel ready to go and the bus was almost there. Right before we left to go to the bus station, we saw a pair of scarlet macaws, which was kind of cool.

Val, Jordan, and I with our crazy shakes

At 2, our bus came across the street from the Selina and with the help of some Ticos, we got on and headed back to Puntarenas, then San Ramon. Jaco was probably my favorite beach that I visited while in Costa Rica. The sand the clean and soft and the water was comfortable. The town was super cute too. I would love to go back and learn to surf there some day.

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