46day I think?! lost count.

Hola!
So we made it to Costa Rica! It took a long time at the border since we caught it at a time when everyone was trying to cross over. We waited in a really long line up but met some awesome people that were also headed to the festival coming from Ometepe, Nicaragua. It was nice to engage in some conversation with some liked-minded people in english! We finally got out of there and tried to drive to San Jose as quick as possible to meet Joey and Lisa who were flying in at around 930pm. It wasn't so far to drive and we thought we would make it in no time but it was slow going because of a one lane highway and as soon as it got dark there was no way we were passing anyone so we just stayed behind a huge truck and managed to make it to the airport at 930 exactly! We waited for our friends and started playing this horrible game where everyone took turns exclaiming: "OooH! There they are!" and everyone would look and get all excited, but really they weren't there. We ended up playing this until 1am! Turns out they missed a connecting flight because of weather and they were delayed until noon the next day. It was hard for us to figure this out with no internet or phone. Eventually we just parked somewhere for the night with a new friend we met at the airport who slept in the front seat. It was great to finally meet up with Joey and Lisa the next day! We took off right away towards Uvita and the Envision festival driving up through windy mountain ranges. I think we were about 3000 feet near the top. And drove past some valleys high in the mountains with beautiful pristine lakes, clouds and mist. At one point we had to stop and unload all of what was stored in the top front as the board was sagging from all the alcohol and beer we stored there!!

We had some trouble with the brakes of the van at the bottom of the hill and percariously pulled up to the festival. (The boys later bled the brakes and they are now working fine). We tried to set up camp under the canopy of a big tree but quickly moved after Lisa met a massive spider! There were spiders and fire ants all over. When I woke up I could see tons of spider webs in the grasses shining in the sun. I had to throw a few out of the tent... who knows how many I didn't see. We all got bit several times by the ants. It was hard to stay out of the way of their little ant highways! I was really sick this first night (and still have a cough almost 2 weeks later) and went to bed early after checking out a bit of circus/fire performance. The days at the festival were stifling hot! I wanted to attend more workshops but it was almost impossible in the heat! It forced us to wake up early even though were camped in the shade and we practically ran to the beach or waterfalls everyday. Security was blocking us from walking to the nearest beach because they said there were animals that would bite in the river you had to wade through to get there. So we drove with two ticos (locals) to a beautiful deserted beach. It was the first time in the water in Costa. It is SO WARM!
At low tide, almost hot! It was a peaceful place to swim and play.

 A while later (during the day, not after this pic was taken) I went in to swim on my own and went in to my stomach and swam about. A wave came in and suddenly I couldn't touch the ground anymore. I swam to shore and expected to touch right away but could not for a long time. I was getting tired of swimming and can't really swim exceptionally well so I panicked and started yelling for help. Everyone was quite far away so I don't think anyone heard me. I let some big waves push me in and was finally able to touch. I had a hard time catching my breath and shakily made my way back up the beach. I let everyone know what happened and that if someone wants to go swimming on their own it would be good if someone else kept a close eye on the one swimming. I passed out in the van. It took me a long time to get over the fact that I felt so close to being taken away by the ocean but I am much more cautious swimming now and definetly learnt my lesson. I just wish I wouldn't of had to learn that way. I am here and OK!
The festival was lots of fun! So many amazing artists and the festival landscape was so creatively set up! It was hard to stay awake after each day of brutal sun and I went to sleep earlier than I would've liked everyday and so missed a few djs I wanted to see. But so awesome!!! There were workshops during the day then an opening ceremony every day at 6; yoga to the Earth Harp a wonderful goddess played. It's hard for me to explain so watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJUZGy26_Uk
Then music all night!

One day during the fest we went to some waterfalls! You could slide down the waterfall into the pool below or walk down the river to some pools in the sunshine below. Someone brought a cooler full of this beautiful mud that they shared with everyone there and we all covered ourselves in this greyish-blue clay/mud! It was so soothing for the bug bites and was a great exfoliant! We let it dry and jumped into the cool pools. It was the cleanest we felt in a while!

The best performance of the weekend I think was by Lunar Fire, check it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtUX354ol7s

We left on Monday morning and drove with 3 other amigos to a little beach town not far called Dominical. We had trouble getting their as the brakes kept on being engaged! We pretty much crawled along. The van finally made it and the boys worked on it the next couple days and they bled the brakes and now they work fine! We found an incredible spot to camp on the beach.

We spent the next couple days relaxing in our hammocks, swimming in the ocean and hanging around the site. Joey and Lisa took surfing lessons. Eric bought a used surf board. We did some yoga. Had a few campfires. Joey and Lisa treated us to dinner at Tortilla Flats one night. (Thank youuuu!!)One night Sean and I went to a bar called Maracatu and saw this wonderful audio/visual performance by "the Yes Tribe" Our new doggy friend accompanied us to the bar and then hung around at the bar with us! She waited until we went home and happily trotted back home with us. One day we drove to another beach down the road for a little visit to get away from the brutal humongous waves that had been at Dominical for the last couple days from the full moon. There was such a high tide one day that Joey found some fish that had been thrown up on shore by the waves from the fishing boats. We asked if we could eat them but a tico (local) told us they were endangered and poisonous!

The morning after Sean and I took a walk along the beach at low tide. We found 11 beautiful sand dollars!! Later, Sarah and I got coconuts for everyone and we squeezed some limes and rum in them and sipped to our delight!

We met an awesome dude from Switzerland that camped near us for one night that was riding his bicycle from Mexico to Panama!!! Everyone we meet looks at us like we're crazy when we say we drove from Canada but I think this guy really takes the cake!

Nearing the end of Joey and Lisa's visit, we took a trip to Manuel Antonio Wildlife Refuge. We drove the van up this massive hill and it lost so much power that we all had to get out and push! It helped the van a bit further but it eventually stopped near the top of the hill while it steamed and smoked like crazy!! Sean and I were stuck on the side of the road with no shoes and I had no glasses to see. Sean had badly burnt the bottom of his foot from pushing the van on the hot concrete! There were tons of cars that got stuck behind the van  and someone towed the van up the hill enough to get out of the way. But then Sean and I were stuck on the side of the road in the shade for a while not knowing what was going on! We saw a fire truck go by us and I had visions of the van engulfed in flames. Sarah brought our shoes down for us eventually and I walked up to see the van still intact. Joey and Lisa got a hotel room where the van stopped which was conveniently at a part of the hill where there was a beautiful view of the northwest coast of Costa Rica... you could see for miles! Sean stayed at the hotel while we all went to the wildlife refuge. Joey and Lisa payed for a tour while Eric, Sarah and I just walked around. We saw a sloth lazing in a tree!! Sarah and I walked to the top of a path that gave us another beautiful view, this time of the southeast coast. So we saw down both coasts! It was really nice to finally go for a good hike. We walked down to a nice beach and took a swim. It was nice to get a relaxed swim in away from the crazy waves that had been at Dominical. At the hotel we were relaxing by the pool under some mango trees! Little ones kept on falling all around, they smelled so incredible! YUM!

We've seen some incredible sunsets here... life is good!

Thanks for coming to visit Joey and Lisa!! So great to spend some time with you guys here. We are back in Dominical in our same great campspot. We got new neighbours; a couple that drove from Quebec! Last night we had a campfire and some cool cats came along. A girl was playing the violin, a few people played my Dad's guitar and sang and Eric and Sean played a makeshift bass made out of a big bucket, a bamboo stick and a long string!! SO epic! We gathered quite an awesome crew around the fire last night. It was nice to meet more people and listen to music. yey!