I spent $65 on a FRUIT & it WASN'T a scam... Motorcycle Adventures in Costa Rica [Vlog 74]

Good morning! I am here at the place I stayed in San Jose and today I'm gonna head upward towards Lake Arenal and just explore. I don't know where I'll end up. I'd like to camp tonight so the idea is to go up and explore around Arenal and in that area check out water sights. I've heard there's a really beautiful water area. So that's it. Let's see where I land today. Who knows? Welcome to vlog number 74. On this vlog I go exploring around Costa Rica's Lake Arenal area and eventually make my way over to Puerto Viejo and in these explorations I come across some amazing gems like a dog jumping on my leg in the middle of nowhere, an impromptu campsite, and the most surreal looking waterfall I think I've ever seen. But what I did not expect was that my explorations would lead to so many exotic fruits. One of which I unknowingly paid 65 US dollars for and that was just for the fruit itself. So the first of these explorations was just outside San Jose where I ran into an incredible array of roadside food stands. Oh my goodness these fruit stands are stacked and there are so many. Look and they're just I've never seen so much fruit in a and it's all these so I'm psyched to check them out. The way in which I like to explore a culture's gastronomy is through what grows in the area naturally. And at this market I not only found some gems but I found something that I know you've all eaten but maybe have never seen where it comes from. Alrighty look at this. Does anybody recognize this shape right here? What does this look like? Maybe a clue. It's a nut. Starts with a c. It's called a cashew nut. I think they have to process it in order to get the nut out but this is a cashew. It comes on a fruit. I don't know if that's widely known and you can eat the fruit. So I'm gonna try it now for the first time ever. They told me that you can eat the whole thing so I'm just gonna bite into it like an apple. Oh my goodness it's extremely bitter on the outside. I'm gonna peel the skin a bit. Oh like a coating. Well I think it's fair to say this is not my new favorite fruit and thankfully not what I paid $65 for but there's more to come. That was a fruit sand papaya and that's what we're gonna have now for lunch. If you are not putting lemon in your papayas you are for sure missing out. By lemon I mean lime. Lunch break time. The ride up towards Lake Arenal was just so beautiful. There were little bridges and just so much greenery and lushness all around. You could feel the climb in elevation and started to see some mountain views. I decided to pass through the town of Monte Verde which is a very popular tourist town. Turns out it also has a really nice community vibe. Pulled over right here to be in the shade to kind of look at my phone. Looks like I stopped at Monte Verde Whole Foods. Case Co-op. That totally looks like a place I might enjoy. Okay that place is way up my alley. I got some awesome stuff. Dried apricots. Dehydrated bananas. Love these. And dried figs. Haven't seen these in forever. Super jackpot. Did you know that Costa Rica is kind of known for their papayas? Apparently they say papayas are really really really good in Costa Rica. I think the horse is going to run over you. This place is super adorable. People are like picnicking on this little lawn. The vibes are just like pleasant and peaceful and uh I'm really psyched about the snacks I got. So plan now. The lake. I thought I'd camp at the lake tonight but I just found another camping place about half an hour away so I think I'm gonna do that and um that way I don't have to kind of race against the dark and then put up my tent in the dark. So yeah let's go check out this camping site. Look at these two chihuahuas. Oh my god they're so cute. I slowed down to say hi and check them out. They're so cute. This is where I was thinking to camp. There's a gate. No cars in the parking lot. Let's go check it out. Oh I don't have a clue where to go but there oh there's somebody. Hola. Hi. Hi how's it going? Um do you guys know, are you guys camping here? Yes. Do you, are there people here for? So today there are not but the camp is open. Okay. So you can park, you can camp here and then tomorrow you arrange for them. Oh super. When you go up also. You go up this road? Yeah. Okay super. Awesome. Nice to meet you. Thank you. There's a few of these camping sites so let me see which one is good for a tent. Oh look at this. Oh my goodness. That is a snake. Okay I picked it. This is where I'm gonna camp. Probably put my tent right over there and then the view of the soccer field. Couldn't be more Arnal area and in search of this supposedly insane waterfall and I was in luck because I was able to take this super quaint dirt road to get there and of course was gifted with my most favorite surprise. Hi cutie pound. Hi. What are you doing out here all by yourself? Hi sweetie. You are one sweet pup. How sweet you are. Hi. I'm trying to balance the bike. Hi sweetie. Do you want to come say hi? Come up on the bike. Well then the bike is heavy. I'm gonna put it down. Where'd you go? Oh there you are. Oh who's a sweet puppy huh? Even with all the spectacular things I experience, these simple of cars. I parked my motorcycle right there. Alright so I really don't know a lot about this place except that a friend told me to come and that the water is really beautiful and really really blue. A lot like that cenote that I went to in Mexico. Vlog number I don't remember but I'll put it because I think they're very similar. So it was a $13 entry fee and I didn't bring my drone because it's raining and drizzling. So not a good time for droning. I can see the waterfall now and it's pretty magnificent. The water is like crystal. I don't know why the water is that color. It's for a volcano and basically the chemicals from the volcano are what make the water blue. Alright this is another hike to Bozas. This is the pools. It's really beautiful. The water is just as magnificent and if you can see like where it gets shallow it's really really really really clear and see-through. It also smells a little bit kind of like that sulfur volcanic smell. You can do more hiking in here. Already taking off from Rio de Celeste. Now I'm headed down towards the lake to ride around and check out a camping spot that I almost stayed. Well this is where I thought I would camp last night. Didn't make it. Even though I didn't camp here I definitely noted it as an amazing spot. I decided to continue on and on Google I found something that really sparked my interest and if you've been noticing a theme in this vlog well this happened to match it. So on Google I found this pineapple farm that happens to give tours and as you may have recognized I have a large love of fruits. So I figured why not stop by and check it out. In Google. Okay. I think he thinks I'm funny for just arriving. How are you? Good, and you? Very good, thank you. My name is Mike, nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. What time do they arrive? In 10 minutes they arrive. Oh. They drink a pineapple juice. So a tour of people were on their way and they gave me delicious pineapple while I waited but I started to doubt that I had the time to serve me a virgin pina colada. Okay even the guys said you should probably go get to Puerto Viejo if that's where you're going today. So I'm not going to do the tour but I did enjoy pina and a pina colada and yeah. Tour is just not for me. It would take too long. I just love the idea of learning about the pineapple plantation and just more about pineapples. That's why I wanted to come. So I will be on my way to Puerto Viejo. Well, I realized my plan was a little too ambitious for the day. So instead of taking a guided tour, I decided to take a tour of the plantation on my own with my drone. But before I did that, something weird happened. OMG. Look what happened. My pink bag just fell off. Ooh. Didn't make me fall. That's good. You know, sometimes these things, they get loose. It's crazy. Well, I'm happy that happened here. Whereas if that was going fast, it would have been not so fun. Oh man, these are heavy. Okay, so it goes on like that. These things are like so easy to screw on and off. The dial was jammed and I was really struggling. I think I need to get like a tool to turn it. But to my surprise, in this empty road, somebody arrived. Hello. I am so grateful for moments like these. It always seems like help shows up in the exact moment I need. I know I say this stuff all the time, but it never ceases to amaze me. I think this is what forging your own journey is all about. When we break from the safety of the well-known path, we are shown that something greater is always there supporting us. At least this is what I choose to believe. And I've experienced it time and time again. But it's only through the path of the unknown that it becomes so clear. So I'm making my way to the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, where you will finally learn about this crazy expensive fruit. And just how crazy I am. But before that, the road gifted me with one more really interesting tropical treat. Have you ever seen this crazy looking thing before? And can you believe that this is a fruit? Well, the audio got corrupted here, but does anyone know the name of this fruit? If you do, tell me in the comments. This giant bean pod looking thing is called the ice cream bean. And appropriately named because it's sweet and creamy. It has this really interesting velvety texture that when you put it in your mouth, it kind of just melts away. It's really cool and tasty. Heading over to the Caribbean side felt so nice. You start to see the water and feel the ocean air. And just the general vibe of the Caribbean. I made not one, but two coconut stops. And soon landed in the town of Puerto Viejo, where I spotted the golden egg. Okay, the GoPro froze, but this was really exciting. I'll explain in a minute. I just needed to find a place to stay and drop my bags in order to carry the durian. So I asked him to wait for my return. Yes! Okay, for those of you who don't know what durian is, its nickname around the world is called the king of fruits for a reason. There's a lot to say about durian, but foremost, it is not commonly found in this side of the world as it's native to Southeast Asia. And personally, I've learned about this fruit for a while now, but I have yet to ever taste it fresh. So to say the least, I was really excited. Now let's talk about price. Around the world, durian is not exactly cheap. It is one of the most coveted and desired fruits out there with almost a cult-like following. I'm no expert, but in Southeast Asia, you may expect to pay between $2 and $4 per kilo. Let me also say that in this moment, I wasn't doing the currency conversion in my head, so I really had no idea what I was paying. He told me $7,000, which I thought was the price for each durian. And again, I wasn't doing the conversions in my head, but $7,000 is about $13 US dollars. Turns out it was $7,000 per kilo. The total was $35,000, which is equivalent to about $65 US dollars. Thankfully, it was my last day in Costa Rica, and I had extra pesos. But still, at the time, I had zero clue what I was paying. The funny thing is, this looks almost like a drug deal. And in many ways, it feels like it. Due to the rush of emotion that durian brings. I'm a huge durian fan without even having tasted it. So even with this durian being a 10 on the expensive scale, and probably a 2 in quality, it was still worth all $65 of it. And I was very happy. I can't believe I'm having durian right now. This is an exciting day. It's a perfect dinner. This is like the best day of my life.