I left Miami early in the morning yesterday (Wednesday) and landed in San Jose, Costa Rica before midday. The idea to come to Costa Rica was absolutely spontaneous and I honestly did not give it much thought back home. Again - no expectations, I did not think of what I should be prepared for until I landed. A little schock was therefore unavoidable... I don t know what I was thinking of when I booked a 7 day stay at a surf camp. I knew I wanted to try surfing without being exactly sure what's all about (we were looking at windsurfers with Massimo in Mexico and I was convinced it was this that I was supposed to be doing here but I was wrong - this morning proved that I am actually supposed to do surfing, not windsurfing). And I had no idea where I was headed - so when I arrived and checked out the destination it turned out that it would take me 6 hours by bus to get to the west coast of Costa Rica (Nicoya Penisula) where the camp is located. Now, the bus left at 3pm and the ride was above all my expectations! First 2 hours were ok, then we got into really dangerous, mountain roads with plenty of curves. Arrived at 6pm in the port village Puenteneras, exactly in time for the sunset (sun sets at 6 every day here, perfectly balanced day...) Another 2 hours on the ferry and the next 2 hours were just unreal to me - only dirt roads, hills and valleys, the bumpiest roads ever, most of the time the bus was going at 10km/h, totally unreal slopes...Pitch dark and I m in this bus, having no clue where I was going - that was the moment when you start thinking 'Whatever' and that London is a beautiful city.... Got to Playa Santa Teresa around 11pm, tired and shocked... I was supposed to get to the surf camp by cab but since it was 11pm and no cab driver knew how to get to my final destination I simply decided to stay for the night. Playa Hermosa is just 4 miles away and it is considered a Surfer's Paradaise...Naturally because of the waves. So the next shock was actually to get to my room, some 100m from the ocean (a very simple, Fiji-style room) and to hear the noise of the ocean... I immagined that waves must be suitable for surfing here but judging by the noise of the ocean in the middle of the night I thought that I was up for at least a tsunami - I seriously could not get the idea of a tsunami out of my head for the whole night... The ocean gets MAD here....And naturally, at the very idea of taking a board and hitting THOSE (immagined) waves I only thought - Max, you're an absolute idiot and you are going to die here:) Right, got to the camp in the morning - I am the only guest staying here until the weekend where more people (Americans) are coming. It's run by Austrians and they are also surf instructors. The house is away from the neighbouring villages and it's on the hill 10 minutes from the shore and the ocean view is totally spectaular - there is a huge open roof with high viewing beds and even though I have my own room I can simply stay/sleep on the high bed watching the ocean, looking for whales and sharks (apparently numerous). There's also a HiFi on the roof so guess what I was doing this afternoon - laying on my bed watching the ocean and the waves, U2 playing loudly and the whole place all to myself! A defining moment. I think I know where I m sleeping tonight... But naturally, I am on a so-called surf camp so there is a board allocated to me, and surfing is what I am supposed to be doing here - I have an instructor available for 2h a day... So straight after arrival I was dragged to the beach - and after being being spoken to about the reef breaks and swells and overheads I took my time to explain that I know NOTHING about surfing... I have been shown quickly how to handle the baord, and various positions, and naturally how to jump on the board. And this, my friends, is simply impossible - everybody on the way told me that it is difficult, and the guy on the bus was saying that's he's been doing it for 10 years and feels he still doesn't know much, but honestly I tried 20 times today to catch the bloody wave and then to jump on the bloody board - but I am just not made for it:) It's a fabulous feeling when you catch the wave and ride on it - it's soooo fast and feel you're absolutely out of control - but it's one thing to catch the wave and the other to stand on the board in the middle of the water... I can catch the wave sometimes and then ride on it but getting to the vertical position is another story...I can hardly get to the position at the sand (you really need to be fit to jump up straight from the horizontal position...) let alone doing it on the water while riding the wave!!!! And the waves are BIG here, biggest ever seen of course, they're my height at the moment but over the last days they were getting up to twice overhead (3-4 meteres...) I have seen the instructors surfing and naturally remained with my mouth open - you just see them riding the huge wave and then being swollen by the ocean in a matter of a half a second... Once when I was coming into the water (thighs deep) this massive wave came in and I found myself totally dragged somewhere and my board 5 meters away. It really makes you think about the power of nature. What do Europeans know about hurricanes, tsunamis and the stuff... Simply by looking at the waves I am thinking how little I am, I cannot do anything at all when faced with the nature... There is a place around here where 20 people a year go out for a surf and never see the shore again... I seriously started thinking about distributing all my belongings now to all of you in case I am bound to see my end in the Pacific:) Not the kind of death I have ever considered but the life experice teaches me that the unexpected and things not considered before are the ones that actually materialise. So just in case, it has been a pleasure guys:) I will try to be careful though (in case you mind) - I have to give surfing a go since I already got here...I would alos like to explore the area a little bit - you can hire bikes or even 4x4s (I'd love to get on those!) cause it's only dirt roads here and it's kind of difficult to get around otherwise. Apparently there's amazing wildlife around here - I have seen a HUGE green lizard (some 50cm big!) on the road so far, but there are supposed to be monkeys, boas and tarrantulas in this area. And scorpios naturally (I have been asked to shake all my clothes when I take them down a rope - a couple of days ago there was a guy in our camp who put his shorts on and then got a good couple of stings in his ass by a scorpio - not a thing I would like to experience:) And yes, if a scorpio is big enough you can die of it in 30 minutes.) When watching the ocean you see beautiful eagles flying around, but also some more funky colourful birds if you're lucky! I haven't really made my plans yet for the next couple of days apart from surfing but will try to update the site frequently. A long pause might mean I rest in the Pacific swollen by a wave or a current - you're all invited to Playa Hermosa to say your farewells. Everyone would like to die in a paradise:)