Good Times in Bad Country

The boat ride from Hermosa/Jaco went something like this: iT wAs ReAlLy BuMpY. The wind was terrible and we felt each and every bit of the ocean. But we arrived safely in the quaint, Pirates of the Caribbean looking town of Montezuma, which we promptly left. We were headed for Tara's favorite place in Costa Rica: Malpais.

Malpais is another surf town but not as hardcore on its surfing as Hermosa. There are only dirt roads at the end of the peninsula (where Malpais and other beach towns exist) which, in my own construction of the History of the Peninsula, is why it's called Malpais (translation: Bad Country). Walking through what is supposed to be the green forest is actually painted with dust, giving the effect of a black and white film.

But Malpais had the Sweet 16 thru Elite 8 games on so it will get no dust complaints from me.

Our first evening in town was deserving of rest after the boat ride and an early beach day that morning. Tara listened to her body. I listened to Jay Bilas and Dick Enberg call the Duke-Purdue game. After a lovely Italian dinner, I paid the price for not resting and crashed, hard, by 11pm. Tara was a rock star and stayed out 'til 2am.

Now, if Tara was a city council member in Hermosa, she is undoubtedly the Mayor of Malpais. On every street corner, in every shop, on every wave she knew someone. Bless her heart, she always made me feel welcome and paid attention to.

The next morning, my hungover travel companion was a trooper and surfed a long session. We followed that up by cooking an epic meal of very traditional American taste. We feasted on beans and eggs and salsa and avacado. It was good ol' fashioned breakfast burritos and we ate like good ol' fashioned Americans: fast and a lot of it.

The highlight, for me, of Malpais was our day hike out to the waterfalls. When our ATV rental plans fell through, a friend of the Mayor's invited us to tag along with them. Once there we found ourselves overlooking three cascading pools, each higher than the last. We made some warm up 2-4m jumps and some rope swings (note: don't ask Tara for rope swing advice unless you enjoy face planting). Then it was time for the Big One. The Big One, as I've named it, was a 45m leap performed by the locals and scrutinized by the visitors.

Tara did it first and I quickly followed. I knew that the longer I stood over the jump, the less likely I would do it. But I did it and lived to blog it. We rewarded ourselves by feasting at a resort overlooking Malpais where we ran up too high of a bar tab and probably over-stayed our welcome. But we were high diving champions so screw them.

One of the main reasons for staying until Tuesday - in fact the only reason we were staying until Tuesday - was Monday's Raggae night. This is just a huge party and Tara's favorite in Costa Rica, the theme of Malpais.

But, Monday was also the first night of passover. Fear not. We did a little internet research and were set to have what was likely Malpais' only Seder. Our Seder Plate had as follows: chopped apple with a sprinkle of wine (marror), an egg (the egg), parsley (the parsley), a lime (bitter herb), and a sea shell (the bone). The used our brows for salt due to the hot humid climate. It was quite a site. We shared the Passover story, recounted the 10 plauges, asked the four questions, and I hid the aficomen. And, of course, we did not forget the traditional four cups of wine (boxed wine, standard), especially not with Raggae night fast approaching. Our matzah was a tortilla and you all should be glad to know that Tara indeed found the aficomen. Amazing girl that Tara Michelle.

Well as best night in the country go, Tara and I had the best night in the country. So much so, that neither of us heard my alarm go off for our respective 8:30am buses. We casually awoke at 10:00am, chuckled at our tardiness, spent a zealous hour ignoring the hangover and dealing with our absenteeism, then settled into the reality of our hangovers. We dealt with it by watching 4 hours of television in our miserably hot room. We were a spectacle that Tuesday but managed to catch a sunset.

Missing the bus meant one more day with my perfect travel partner. She prepared me well to spread my wings and fly solo and has been a great guide and a better friend all along the way. Another close friend of mine said that good travel partners are hard to come by. Well Tara is as good as they come.

My solo travels will encompass the mountains of Costa Rica as I am no surfer and that's what they do at the beaches here. I did, however, very much enjoy my time with the ocean. No complaints. Pura vida.