Two days of intense swell later and the moment comes for goodbyes. The day when you have to pack again, another destination checked off on the map. Not so far from my Costa Rican home but so exotic at the same time. It’s time to walk again between the checkpoints and cross the no man’s land between the two borders, under a warm wet tropical sun at its best. Dealing with the little businesses that come along with every frontier; the tricky tricks they find to let you get rid of your last coins. The guys that want to carry your bag less than five meters but insists it’s worth a few dollars still! It is a mess. It is colourful. It is Latin America. This is a place I love. This is a place where I chose to settle down and spend a part of my life. A place where encounters are made and unmade. A place where projects start but never finish, where people talk a lot and lie a little bit. A mix of beautiful things and sometimes the less beautiful. Wild nature, sometimes protected, sometimes not. Animals everywhere, surfers, hipsters (they grow fast!), storytellers, sons of rich people pretending to be roots because it makes them look cool, and poor people that pretend they have found a way to become famous. A nice and colourful mess in which everyone can find their place. As far as making the decision to come here, I am glad I did it. I go back with a lot more than I had when I arrived. I choose to remember only the good bits, it was a first time. You never forget your first time… SUP
