29/12/09 - day 20.

woke up very early for some reason at half 6. didnt feel that tired, but did feel particularly hungry so got up and waited til 7 for them to put the breaskfast out so i could gorge myself.

something had caught my eye when i had been researching san jose the previous night. it was that you can do a bungy jump off a bridge just outside the city. i had told myself i would only do it if had the time before i left costa rica or had time to fill. but i couldnt get get the idea out of my head so i gave them a call and asked them to pick me up from the hostel i´d be staying at in san jose at 12pm.

walked to the bus station at 9ish to go to san jose and got a cab from there to the hostel as it was a little too far to walk with all my stuff. after checking in etc, i wandered into the city centre to have a little look around. its not a grimey and didnt feel anywhere near as unsafe as some people would have you believe. returned to the hostel at midday to await my bungy pickup.

they were surprisingly prompt (20 mins late) and i got to the rio colorado bridge about 1 - 1:30. the jump was 80 metres high and the bridge was over a river. i was extremely relaxed about it until the very last moments when i was standing on the edge of the platform. then i felt very nervous. it wasnt just because of the slap dash nature of the way they hadnt weighed me, preferring instead for me to just give them a rough estimate, or the fact that the guy was asleep in the back of a car when i arrived. his slow countdown from 5 to 1 seemed to take ages then i jumped and it was awesome, feeling was just as good as id remembered from previous jumps id done in new zealand.

afterwards they gave me a certificate, dvd and t-shirt which i hadnt realised were included in the price (about 35 quid) so that was a good bonus.

got back to the hostel about 3pm, went for food as i was starving. went to what they call a "soda" which is just a place where locals go for cheap meals - had rice and beans with chicken - and continued walking into the city in search of a padlock and pen. i realised i didnt know the spanish words for either of these items or the names of any shops where they might be sold so it was a bit of a mission. a mission involving much pointing and confusion.

got back to the hostel about 5pm and had a lengty chat with patricia (dutch girl who works at the hostel) and nathan (american guy who also works at the hostel) about the city and where is safe and where to avoid. nathan has lived in costa rica for 7 years so he was a good source of knowledge as well as being highly entertaining!

went with nathan and another fella staying at the hostel to the supermarket nearby to get some food for dinner and some beer. although i had bought some pasta, patricia and nathan kindly insisted i ate with them (possibly cos they´d have a few drinks) so i tucked into a big old salad they were having. went out for a couple more beers and got to bed around 1am.