Let me tell you something - not every trip is worth taking. I have learned the hard way this time. What was supposed to be a highlight of my Central American trip so far turned almost into waste of time. Well in my opinion anything travel related is not a waste of time, but can surely be disappointing at times if things don't go as planned.

Such was my trip to Uvita. A small beach town known for its whale tail shaped beach. It looks great on google images...

The reality is a little different though. So let me take you on the journey.

I had previously contacted one hostel in Uvita with a pitch for volunteering gig. We were in touch for a day or two but than the host stopped responding. So I slowly changed my plans and right day before I was on my way there anyways the guy send me a message that I can come. I had mixed feelings but didn't hesitated to refuse as I already booked a flight from the country in short time and he took disrespectfully long to respond.

In any case I was on my way there. Just to see if I am missing out a lot.

Rejoined with my Chinese friend Chris we met in Quepos bus station and shared the ride together. It would be a total downer without her. Uvita failed us on so many fronts.

First thing we were let off the bus in wrong place as the driver said it is the only bus stop in town. It is a small place but can take a walk to get around. And so we did. Carrying our bags on a dirt road for about two or three kilometers to reach the hostel I was having reservation for.

Next we found out that not only the hostel lady doesn't accept Bitcoin but also no credit card...

Another mission was to convince her that she has to rent us bikes free of charge as that was in the description from booking.com.

It worked and we tried our best to make it to this infamous beach before dark.

Shortly before sunset we parked our bikes and were ready to hit the beach. It is however a gated one. There is some sort of natural park and one is supposed to pay the entry fee. I have no idea how much as I have been successful to talk our way in without paying right before the closing hour...

We took few pictures right before the dawn and headed our way to the supermarket to buy some bread and sardines. In my whole stay in Costa Rica so far I have been to a restaurant once - so high are the prices here.

We were the only guests in the hostel and that was the only interesting thing about it, otherwise it was quite dirty and unorganized. Beds were poorly built and overall experience was five out of ten. It can still be way worse though. Leave a comment if you want to find out the name of this place.

Next day we woke up fairly early and headed to the beach from the other side - thinking we will avoid paying again.

Now looking back at it we did pay with our time and effort to say the least.

A dirt road turned muddy jungle path but we were already almost there and proceeded even with considerable discomfort. Our sandals and crocks were full of mud very quickly and we thought about giving up.

At some point I had my eyes wide open as the whole scene looked like from Crocodile Dundee. I had a feeling there could really be one or two crocodiles living around in this river delta.

I didn't say a word to my fellow traveling friend as it would spark potential chaos. At the beach there were few very typical birds which are called deadly chicken or something like that - please pardon my ignorance...

The beach itself wasn't bad but I am afraid I had a swim in sewage water. As I have dived in I smelled it. Stopped Chris from getting in and we ventured disappointed back to the hostel to enjoy our breakfast.

At eleven was time to check out and catch our busses. On our way to Uvita we have passed insanely promising beach that I just had to visit and potentially surf at.

But about that in the next report.

All the best,

Global Local