Well, there’s a fancy title if I ever saw one and it’s one designed to have caught your attention, but I’m afraid I need to come clean. I was only there for a 2 week holiday, and so the Chronicles as such, don’t exist.
Way back in November 2002 I hopped on a plane with a group from Surf South West to Costa Rica for a tropical surfing holiday. I’d only picked up a board a few months earlier in the Summer and I think I thought I was going to be better at surfing than I actually was. In fact, I’m still not much better even over 10 years later! Thank God the guys are amazing instructors and incredibly patient.
Back then I wasn’t interested an awful amount in photography – I just simply knew nothing about it. The shots posted here are all scans from a point and shoot film camera. Nevertheless some of them have a timeless quality (at least to me) that can be a trouble sometimes to replicate with modern equipment.
If you’d like a Costa Rica story I could tell you about how I was robbed. Costa Rica is the most beautiful and friendly country I could imagine, yet why is it everyone I meet who has been has a similar story?! Anyhow, I awoke one morning to discover a crowd of people around my bed gently checking to see if I was OK. Unbeknownst to me, my roomie had gone for a surf check at 5am and had left the door open to our apartment. On his return from the beach a bit later he’d discovered a vagrant man making his way out of the building. It turned out he was an opportunist thief – and he’d taken all of my money and bank cards. I guess I’m lucky my throat wasn’t cut in my sleep – my bed was right by the door and that’s what the other guys were worried about. There’s a somewhat happy end of course – everyone else on the trip clubbed together and gave me enough cash to get through the last few days. A kindness I’ll never forget.
If you’re thinking about visiting this beautiful country and you happen to read this please don’t let this story put you off one bit. It’s an unbelievable place with warm and welcoming people. I promised myself that I’d be back. I haven’t yet, but I always keep promises …
