The Pipe House Hostel

I had two days and three nights to myself on my vacation in Costa Rica so I booked a room at The Pipe House Hostel – I figured it could either be a colossal flop or a really cool place to stay.

Turns out, it was a really cool place to stay!

Felipe, the owner, was very friendly and helpful. The “room” was comfortable and had just enough room for all my stuff. And the shared spaces were all clean and tidy – and very comfortable.

I first arrived at 10:00 pm, so basically just crashed in my room. The next day, however, I got to do a bit of exploring around the gated compound. There were a handful of other people there as well, so I said hello to them. I found Felipe working on things in the back, so was able to pay up with him and arrange for a Farm Tour the next day. He gave me suggestions for lunch and directions on how to get there.

Most of that first day was spent on the beach, just a short two-minute walk from the compound. It truly is a beautiful beach, and quite popular with the surfers -many of whom would happily give lessons to newbies if need be.

Walking the beach that day, I actually ran in to one of the scientists that I’d be working with in a few days, so I arranged with her for them to come pick up the donations I had brought them, and ended up having dinner with them all that night.

The following day was my Farm Tour, a very interesting experience. It was a 100-acre farm with 250 head of cattle. The owner of the farm did speak some English, thankfully (because my Spanish really sucks). I got to milk a cow, feed the chickens, watch the baby piglets with their mamma, ride an old wooden cart pulled by two very large oxen around part of the farm, and then ride a horse around the other part of the farm. All in all, it was quite the day.

The next day was my check-out day, so took my time packing everything back up then just hung out in the communal area waiting for the scientists to pick me up for lunch.