Whilst in Tamarindo, I applied to a few work exchange opportunities via www.workaway.com, one of which really stood out to me in Jaco. It was hostel made up of dorms and tents and the owner was on the lookout for people to help out at reception and maintain the place whilst the she was out. I’d also heard really good things about Jaco including the beach, surf, and the nightlife. I applied, got the position, and started on the 1st Aug. My roommate and co-worker, Sara, was from Finland and we hit it off instantly. We spent our first night together exploring the main area and chatted about our journeys so far over a pizza. The next morning we had our training delivered by a legendary couple (Mark and Lorna) and off we went with it! The Hostel was also home to three lovely dogs: Teka, Nacho, and Susie. They were pretty independent except for when you had food.
My co-worker Sara from Finland
Here’s what I got up to during my month in Jaco:
Whilst working at the hostel I started taking Spanish lessons at IPAI language school. I’d studied GCSE Spanish at secondary school but in all honesty I didn’t care for it much at the time and preferred other subjects. Now that I’m older I have more of an interest in properly understanding the it. Learning Spanish privately coupled with working in the Hostel helped my language abilities immensely, and I was been able to check in the Costa Rican guests (ticos) in their language – success!
Despite the KFC less than a minute away from the hostel, Sara and I cooked most nights, saving us money for beers. As she was vegetarian I was appropriately introduced to veggie curries, stir fry’s and the lot. My meat intake reduced dramatically, however, every now and then I couldn’t resist a fat burger. One of our favourite eateries was a local place called soda Garabito. Soda’s are small restaurants that serve classic Tico dishes such as galla pinto, salsa, and variations on pollo.
Homemade guacamole, galla pinto, and salsa
Another amazing thing that’s happened is that I can now surf! Following the disaster that was our DIY surf session in Tamarindo, Sara and I had a proper lesson given by Mark. We entered the sea just after low tide and were talked through the proper techniques (apparently it’s not ‘just stand up’ haha). After 30 minutes of wiping out we eventually rode a few waves and experienced the exhilarating feeling that keeps surfers coming back.
Surfing in Jaco
Something else completely crazy happened. I was in the bathroom one day and started to feel a bit strange, almost like the floor was moving. I instantly panicked that I was maybe still drunk from the day before, or that maybe I was suddenly very unwell. I went to the main house to tell Sara who mentioned she felt a bit out of it too and that she thought the kitchen felt it was slanting a bit. After a few minutes of us being more confused than usual, the owner came bursting in “did you feel the earthquake?!”. Ah, so we weren’t drunk or unwell, there had been a 6.1 magnitude earthquake originating from San Jose. Bewildered and weirdly fascinated, we explained we’d never felt one in our lives until now and it was a mad sensation! I never suspected an earthquake at the time because nothing fell over or crumbled out of place, but this is a result of the tight building regulations that are enforced in Costa Rica to withstand such tremors in the earth. CRAZY!
When it turns out that Ring of Fire isn’t just a drinking game
Whilst most things in Jaco were incredible, there was one literal bug bear which was the mosquitoes. Day and night I would get absolutely killed by the buggers and it would leave very unattractive scars behind. I don’t know what my blood type is or if I have too much ketchup in my blood but I must be super tasty to them as they wouldn’t stop!!! Yes I wore 50% DEET all the time and used a plug-in deterrent but they still had it in for me.
1,000 mozzie bites on my foot
Spending more than just 3 nights somewhere means you really get to know it, and I interpreted Jaco as a surf town, a bit touristy but still full of locals, and big on partying. Whilst there I partied at Swell, Jaco Blu, Orange, and Wishbone. I also enjoyed many casual evenings at Mono Verde, Los Amigos, Green Room, and Cheerleaders. Jaco also comes out top for sun and sunsets for me, as I spent many days sunbathing on the beach and many nights observing the sun disappear on the horizon.
Girls just wanna have sun
Chasing sunsets again
