CHICKEN BUSSES & BACKPACKS

Chicken Busses and Backpacks...77 days in Costa Rica,Nicaragua and Panama

2008-03-30T08:50:00.000-07:00

IF YOU ENLARGE THIS MAP YOU'LL SEE WHAT WE'VE COVERED IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS

Costa Rica days 74/77 Mar. 20/25

2008-03-28T06:23:00.000-07:00

A busy few days. Jim, Don and I went fishing on Sat. Jim has a beautiful 26' boat and his helpers, Francisco, and his young son Byron came ashore in the tender and picked us up in Carillo. We'd been unable to get any ice as Easter w/end around there is crazy. The beaches and campgrounds are packed. Francisco and Byron got us hooked up and the lines out and we headed North out of Playa Carillo.
About 20 minutes later Don got a Mahi. I've never seen one before and it was a gorgeous color. Fransico filleted it but unfortunately although we saw tuna jumping everywhere they weren't biting and we got skunked. Jim figured there was so much live bait fish in the area they didn't need to be biting on stainless steel. We did see a manta ray which surfaced a few times just off our starboard side. The waves picked up after a few hours. We were out from 11:30 until around 5 p.m. Coming in Jim was running about 1/3 throttle and that baby can move! He's got two 140 h.p. Johnsons on it.
After we got home it was into the pool for a quick one and then we sat down to an excellent supper of homemade pizza and cevise (sp) which is a raw fished in lime juice I think. Both were very good and their guests Richard and wife and daughter joined us.
We turned in around 10 p.m. after chasing an armadillo out of the garden who was intent on eating the roses, having already finished off the vegetables.
Sunday afternoon (our last day before leaving) we went down to check out the property below the house where Don and Marion are going to build. Jim had been working on his Cat all day clearing the bush and grass and locating the boundry markers. While there we spotted a howler monkey going up a tree. Imagine seeing wildlife like that right out your window!
Returning to the house Don and Jim were in the pool when I heard "Al, get the binocs and camera"! Jim thought he'd seen the panther again quite close to the house. I managed to get a picture of it and when zoomed in it was a coati. It climbed up a mango tree and took the whole fruit in it's mouth, climbed down and then went back up for another. They have the face of a possum (butt ugly) a body like a racoon and a very long tail with faint rings similar to a coon. When Jim's new fruit trees get bigger they'll be all over the place and other than eating fruit they'll be nice to watch.
That night Don and Marion took us all to a great BBQ place right on the beach. We had a great meal, margarita's, and wine on the huge burl table. The bbq is pretty unique in that the fire is elevated with a chute that the coals come down to cook the food.
Everyone got a little tiddly which lends itself to a fun ride home. (you could be dead drunk and you still wouldn't come close to the way the Tico's drive).
Monday morning came early thanks to some parrots outside the bedroom window. Don and Marion were going to drive us into Samara to catch the bus for the 5 hour drive to the airport in San Jose but the taxi we'd made a previous appointment with and then cancelled showed up promptly at 7:30 so it was a quick goodbye and we were off (including a cooler that had been sitting near our bags out in front).
We were both very appreciative of the hospitality shown us by Jim and his wife Patty and it was great to meet Jo's brother in law Don. I'd met Marion last Spring when she visited for a couple of days. It was a fun three days and far too short but it was exciting to be thinking about getting home and seeing the kids again. That was the one thing we both missed and it's too long a time to be separated from your family and grandchildren.
We had reserved seats on the bus and it left right on time. A very long bus ride which was slowed even more by a bad accident which was on my side of the bus. Some car on a long straightaway was laying upside down beside the road. Shortly after that we came across another wreck on the opposite side of the bus. I'm thinking if you need to go somewhere in Costa Rica pick something big (like our bus) or a monster truck. Maybe even a tank might save your butt.
We arrived at the Santa Maria airport and paid our $26 each so we didn't have to do it the following morning when it would have been busy. We found there was no place to eat until after you'd passed the check in point except for a fried chicken kiosk. We hadn't eaten all day but we needed a meal so we took a courtesy bus to the Casino/Denny's/Hampton Hotel and had a great supper (albeit quite pricey for what we had). Patty had suggested we stay at the Hampton overnight instead of at the airport as they had rooms for $30. Our flight left quite early and we had to get there around 6 a.m. but unless you wanted to doze on a slab of marble with all your bags it was a bad idea. I checked out the Hampton and the other hotel next door and the cheapest room they had (and a smoking room at that) was $182.00! Maybe you got to keep it or became part owner in a time share or something.
As we were leaving we were standing outside waiting for the shuttle to return to the marble slab when some guy asked us if we wanted a lift to the airport. He was wearing airport i.d. so we climbed aboard. After telling him we would have to stay overnight at the airport he told us of a place in nearby Alejuela for $36 a night. Now that's more like it so off we went and he didn't even ask for payment (although we paid him). That's indicative of the great people down there.
Wow it even had pc's for our use! We got a "cozy" room with a balcony right over the Indianapolis speedway! I closed the windows but it seems the only braking source they have are Jake brakes which they use with glee. All the other traffic were motorcycles on their way at high speed to the nearest muffler shop which must stay open 24/7.
We'd set our alarm clock for 5 a.m. but that was just wishful thinking and we gave up and got out of bed early. We got our bags and I headed to the lobby to get someone to call a cab. It was blacker than Toby's ass and as I walked into the darkened reception area a voice said "buenos dias". Scared the hell out of me as an apparition rose up from the couch. Guess this guy works 24/7 as he's the same guy from the day before sleeping there under a blanket. He called a cab which was there in minutes and off we went for the 5 minute ride to Santa Maria.
We checked our bags, cleared customs (that's another story but due to possible jail terms it will have to wait), and picked a place to people watch. All our flights left on time, the longest one being from San Jose to L.A. which was 5 or 6 hours depending on how much you paid for your watch. The flight from L.A. to Seattle was a bulkhead seat which gave us some extra room.
We arrived in Kelowna, cleared customs again (they didn't check our bags) and Paul was waiting for us. He was driving "Rambo" the never say die pickup truck. It got us home by 11:30 p.m. and we hit the sack by midnight. It was a 20 hour day but great to be back.
Paul had put some provisions in the fridge for us and been checking the mail so we were in good shape.
That culminates this blog. It has been a trip of a lifetime. We didn't try to kill each other, saw everything and more than we'd hoped for, met some great people, didn't get robbed and I've got over 6,000 pictures! Jo kept a very comprehensive journal and we've thought about putting it all together in a book format. That remains to be seen as there's lots to do now including getting the boat ready for tourist time.
Many thanks to all of you who followed our adventure. I only wish I'd made a guestbook or put a tracker on the blog to see how many of you there were.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=32022&l=1ff06&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 73 Mar. 21/22

2008-03-22T09:13:00.000-07:00

Crossing the river in the taxi to Jim and Patty's house

Yesterday we said our goodbyes to Tone and Jaime and took a cab to Jim and Patty's house. Passing the beach at Carillo it was packed with people who were visiting the beach for the long w/end.
We arrived at the house in Islita and began to unpack. Then we hit the pool with it's refreshing fresh water. Jim and Patty, Don and Marion arrived from San Jose about an hour later. This was the first time I'd met Don and Patty. They'd been working hard in Hawaii for their pubs St. Patricks day celebrations. It was their 2nd best year ever after doing it for 20 years.
Patty made some incredible mango margaritas. We sat in and around the pool and had a few drinks and some tortillas made by the caretakers wife and some nachos and guacamole dip that Patty made.
For supper we had chicken, dried fish and rice and a veggie dish. After supper as it began to get dark we had wine, port, and cigars. The full moon came up to our left and was partially obscured by clouds which dissipated to brighten up the surf and the patio where Patty had lit some torches on the deck. Off in the distance we could see lightning flashing on the horizon behind the clouds. It was a beautiful evening and we turned in around 10 p.m. Shortly before turning in we heard a strange sound coming from beside the house. Jim new immediately what it was and took off at a run. Damn things he said. We all followed to see what it was and it turned out to be an armadillo who'd been eating the roots of the plants and roses.
He escaped and we heard it again as we were going to bed. How do you catch an armadillo? That remains to be seen.
It was very quiet and the only sounds were a few birds and the surf off in the distance. No chickens or dogs barking!
Jim got up with the dawn and headed for the beach to get in a few hours of surfing which we could watch with binoculars from the deck.
After a great breakfast Jo and Marion headed for a walk on the beach. In a few minutes Jim,Don and I are heading into Carillo to take the boat out to catch some yellowfin tuna that will (hopefully) be bbq'd for a small party tonight in the palapa. Looking forward to getting out on the water even if I don't catch a fish.

Costa Rica day 69 Mar. 17

2008-03-19T10:42:00.000-07:00

This is a sketch Jo did while laying in the hammock. The iguana came along and sat there with perfect timing. I'd like to make a print of this as it's one of her best and very accurate.
A two hour hike along the beach and through the town and then a 2 hour stint on the beach and some hammock time. Jo crashed in the hammock in the yard and did a beautiful sketch of one of the palms complete with a philadendron and an iguana that happened along. She did a great job and I'm sure we'll be blowing it up into a picture. For supper we went into town to a new place for a cascada with pork. It's a typical Tico dinner and very good. On the way to this restaurant there was a vendor selling hammocks which we've been looking for. The local tourist stores wanted $30 and we got the first two in San Jose for $14. This guy had the kind we want and he wanted $25. I asked him how much for 4 and the price came down to around $20. I told him I had to go to the bank in the morning (we need enough to get home plus rum, cigars etc.) so he said he'd be there by 8. The bank opens at 8:30 and I'll be there as I don't want to have to wait all day to get out of served. This will pretty much wrap up our shopping. We also need to make arrangements for a bus to San Jose on Monday and a bus or taxi to get us to Islita on Friday. Only three days left here in Samara and it will be tough to leave.
We had just sat down at the restaurant when we saw Tone walk by on her way to check the internet. She joined us as we were finishing our supper and then we went to the fruit stand where they have ice cream. We pigged out there and then walked some of the backstreets in the dark and checked out some of the other restaurants as well as bars. Tone treated us to a drink. She ordered a sunshine which came green (St. Patricks day). Next door was another bar and it to was on the beach. They had a guy twirling fire so we watched in anticipation but he didn't set himself on fire. I got a video of it and he did pretty good. It was a great evening as we walked back down the beach (which reminds me I need to put some anti blood sucking, man biting, vampire insect spray on. Just thinking of them makes me itch.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31235&l=c9572&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 68 Mar. 16

2008-03-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

It was breakfast in town this morning at the internet cafe. Earlier in the week we'd been there and heard a cd playing that we enjoyed. This morning we borrowed it while we ate and made a copy. We also picked up a few more blank cd's. After returning home to drop the mac off we went for a walk down some of the backroads to the East of us. Came across a huge brugmansia (trumpet flower) plant. I got some pictures of it with it's hundreds of flowers. Unfortunately it was surrounded by garbage and a junked truck. After that we walked to the West End of the beach again. It was more crowded than yesterday. Being Sunday all the local Ticos were there with their families.
I hit the beach about 10 a.m. again for 2 1/2 hours and then retired to the hammock for another couple. Jo worked on ideas for quilt designs and updated her journal. We're now working on portioning out our food and coffee as we'll be leaving here on Friday morning. Tues. we'll hit the bank one more time. Fridays and Mondays are good days to avoid going there unless you pack a lunch. We need to make up a list of what we yet have to buy so I know how much to get out. I know it's $26 each to leave the country. I wonder what they do if you don't have it? I'll have to ask.
No monkeys at the Monkey Mansion today although we heard them early this morning and again around 5 p.m. just as the cicada's were warming up for their symphony. It's 10 to 8 now and getting close to time to crash. Jo's already there.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=31233&l=a92e3&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 67 Mar. 15

2008-03-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

COSTA RICA AS SEEN BY AL
Went into town about 8:30 to get stamps but they're closed until Monday. We'd been awakened by two huge blasts which we've heard several times since and in volleys of two. Probably some kind of fireworks as they like to make sure people are up and about. We then picked up a couple of cd's so I can burn an album for Jim our landlord. When we got back I took care of the cd which he really appreciated and played it off and on all day. I hit the beach at 10 a.m. for 2 1/2 hours and got nicely toasted and then retired to the hammock where I listened to one of my audio books. Jo spent some hammock time down by the beach and got caught up on some sewing and journalism.
Tone invited Jim, Jo and I for supper in the yard for 6 p.m. which is just after dark. She made lentil soup, with blue cheese, and fresh bread backed up by a bottle of Chilean Red. Jo brought a plateful of cut up fruit, and I took a bottle of rum and some coke. We even had a white table cloth (part of Jo's sewing stuff) and a candle. About 8:30 we called it a wrap just as it began to shower. The power had gone off while we were eating but it was quite nice as there was a bonfire on the beach next door where they were burning all the leaves and palm branches they'd raked up during the day making the place ready for the owners over Easter.
This is the third sign of rain since we've been here and it only lasted for about 20 minutes. It was nice to sit out on our balcony under the wide roof and listen to it bouncing off the tin roofs. (Every roof down here is corrugated tin).
We turned in around 9 which is late for Jo, and I began to pay the price for not spraying my feet with Deet. The no see ums but sure feel ums had been eating me while I was enjoying supper. I finally dozed off after several hours of an extreme itch. Fortunately the itch disappears by morning.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30904&l=b4f97&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 66 Mar. 14

2008-03-16T07:30:00.000-07:00

Same old, same old.. Roosters at 5 a.m. closely followed by grandpa howler who sounded like he was in the bedroom with us. The noise of the surf outside was also accompanied by the cicadas or whatever it is that lives in the trees and sounds like a turbine screaming. I got up (sleep was impossible by now) and filmed the morning symphony so I have the sound track for future use. It's daylight now at 6 a.m. and I've been typing out on the balcony. The dawn begins to appear at 5:30. It's amazing how the howlers know when it's exactly 5 a.m.
Last night I was plagued by no see ums who managed to each take a chunk out of me. I think I wore down my fingernails scratching. Tonight they'll go hungry as I'll paint myself with poison and see who dies first, me or the bloody bugs.
The local squirrels are out in the trees over our heads doing their acrobatics. These squirrels are bigger than ours and are a rusty color on their backs with huge bushy tails. They seem to take delight in cheating death while jumping onto branches that shouldn't be able to hold them. They also enjoy eating the almonds and then throwing the nuts down onto the tin roofs. Well it's time for a breakfast of granola and yogurt. The monkeys have shut up and now they're probably on the move to find a place to rest for the day being as they've managed to wake up the whole world. It's amazing how noiselessly they move through the trees once they've finished howling. You could walk right under them and never know they're there (until they pee on you).
After breakfast we walked down the beach to town and then through town and down some of the backstreets rounding the West end of the beach and then headed East back towards the beach where we were yesterday. The tide was much higher this time. Met a lady from Victoria and chatted with her for a while and then walked the beach back to Samara. We checked out some of the souvenir shops and then went to the fruit stand on the way back. Picked up some fruit (pineapple, limes, coconut and guacamole) and as we were leaving the kid there was squeezing oranges into juice. Now that's real orange juice not the stuff they sell down here which tastes more like orange pop. We each had a large cup of that and I think next time we'll buy it from him as it's the real thing. I also noticed they had ice cream! That's now on my list.
We haven't had a coconut since we've been here and they're laying all over the place. I borrowed a rusty machete but ended up cracking it open on a rock. Jo drank the juice and then I began prying out the meat. mmmm it was great. Next time I'll use the machete and open some from the ground.
Jo just read in a book that the tides lately have been between 6 and 8'. That's a lot of water and the beach is so flat that it represents a few hundred feet! She also read that no alcohol is sold from Mar. 20 to Mar. 22nd (Easter?) Now that's important! We've been planning what we'll need to bring back home so we'll need to stock up before we leave here next friday morning. We also need to pick up some souvenirs which needs to be done before then.
For supper we walked down the beach to Shake Joe's and had a burger and a beer while I contacted a few of you via skype. Fun talking to the kids especially Isabella and Diego when we can actually see each other.
Before leaving Shakes we put on some bug repellant as the sand fleas really attack with a vengeance after dark. Seems to have worked as I'm not scratching tonight.
Behind us and below our bedroom window are a family of Ticos (locals). They get up at dawn and the little guy gets picked up by a van to go to school at 6 a.m. In the afternoon it's siesta time and then they eat supper around 8 p.m. The lady has an outdoor kitchen and does her laundry and washes the dishes outside. Not sure how many live there but there seems to be quite a gang of them from Mom and Dad (grandparents?) to daughter and a couple of young ones. She has a beautiful garden of flowers and a variety of palms. They also have a young dog which the little girl looks after. We've also noticed a lack of cats around here. That's no loss for me. Most of the dogs have owners which is something you don't see in San Jose where dogs live off the streets. There are some resident chickens which I guess you'd call "free range' if you can call garbage free range. Garbage pickup here is pretty random. We put our edible scraps in a container only accessible by chickens and birds. Everything else is put into plastic bags (including toilet paper) and they pick it up when they get to it. Today was the day and just in the nick of time as it was starting to pile up.
For any of you who have a computer and haven't already done so download skype. It's free and you can call anywhere in the world for .02 a minute and if you call another computer it's free and if you have a video camera you can see each other. Best thing we've done and I highly recommend it.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30899&l=9d2bb&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 65 Mar. 13

2008-03-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

We were again awakened around 5 a.m. by the howlers who were right outside our window again. There is another trooop about a quarter of a mile away and they seem to wait until they hear the howl of the other troop before responding. I guess it's a way of saying "we're over here so you guys stay there". There are around 5 or 6 of them including 2 very young ones, an adolescent, parents and an old guy. They all seem to keep an eye on the young ones while they're playing and even the old one carries the young ones on his back when a big leap from tree to tree is required. I filmed them for quite a while and then went down on the ground to get them from beneath. Jo was also down there and all of a sudden without any warning they all peed at the same time. It was a regular shower and just missed Jo. This isn't the first time this has happened to her and the first time it happened they were a better shot. This was quickly followed up by a mass pooping of the troops which also missed the mark. They hung around for the better part of the morning in the trees surrounding our rooms. Some of these trees are almond and papaya so when they're not eating they're sleeping (or practicing their marksmanship). It's too bad they're such poor shots (well not for Jo I guess) as it would have made a memorable story and picture for the kids.
We headed into town for breakfast to our usual eatery where they have internet. They don't charge us anymore because we spend money there. After breakfast we walked to the post office and Jo picked up two aerograms so she can send letters to the kids. Problem is now we don't know if they include the postage or not.
We also picked up some fresh fruit at a roadside stand. You could smell the fruit from out on the street and it was enough to make your mouth water.
The afternoon was spent with Jo in the hammock and me in the water. After that I dozed for an hour or so in the hammock on the deck and killed a couple of rum & cokes and a stogie. We've also found that the r&c are good with a little orange juice mixed in.
Just before our supper (sandwiches) I went back to the store and picked up some more supplies (rum, coke, yogurt, and a pen for Jo who's burning up the pages with her journal).
She has been drafting an idea to write our story. Some of the titles were "77 days in Costa Rica" and "Pura Vida" which is the national slogan of Costa Rica meaning "Pure Life". I'm in favour of "Chicken Busses and Backpacks" so we'll see who wins. Your suggestions and comments are welcome.

Costa Rica day 64 Mar. 12

2008-03-14T16:51:00.000-07:00

Wow less than 2 weeks to go. Today we walked to the West end of the beach to hopefully do some more snorkelling. Nada. The water was pretty rough and there were a lot of rocks in the way to get to open water (and I have tender feet.) Low tide was at noon and we had left at 9 so we wandered back after Jo spent an hour looking for treasures in the tidal pools. Came home with some abalone shells and a blue crab sighting. Made a quick lunch and then it was into the water for me for an hour or so. Waves are still pretty big. Jo sat in the hammock and updated her journal. The power was off today from 8 a.m. until about 3:30 so I dozed in the hammock. I've been getting about 4 hours a day in the water and sun which is enough at one time. I should be back to my black self by the time we leave here.
This was our night out for supper so we asked Tone (the Norwegian translator) to join us. She suggested a Mexican restaurant about a quarter of a mile East on the beach. Had a great meal and a couple of beer and then came back by way of the beach. The tide isn't quite so high tonight and we'd put on bug spray to ward off the sand fleas (or the bloody man eating cockroaches that come out at dusk). Last night on the way back from supper they tried to eat my feet off. Talk about an itch! They went hungry tonight and we came back all intact. It's now 8:54 p.m. and time to call it a day.
Jo and i were talking about what a great place this would be for the kids and grandkids to see. We were also wondering what will we do next year. We've seen pretty much everything Costa Rica has to offer and although this is a great place I think I'd get bored just laying around here for an extended period of time. One of my dreams has been to see the Tonga Islands via boat.. Maybe that's an option for next year. Rent a sailboat and cruise the islands. Live on the boat, snorkel all day and explore the islands. We'll have to look into that. It would also mean getting an underwater housing for my camera as the water and reefs there are supposed to be incredible. We haven't found calm enough water here for good snorkeling. It just occurred to me that I've been spelling snorkeling wrong for the last two months. Forgive me for those of you literate enough to have noticed.
Well that's a wrap for today. Tomorrow is a shopping day in the village and then some more of the same.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30765&l=7ed6a&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 63 Mar. 11

2008-03-13T08:32:00.000-07:00

We were awakened this morning around 5 a.m. by a combination of roosters (some must have missed the soup) and howler monkeys. We've been hearing the monkeys every day but they were some distance away. This morning it was obvious they were getting closer. Well while we were eating our breakfast on the balcony they appeared in the tree right over our heads. Two of them crossed the roof and from the kitchen window you could see their fingers gripping the roof edge less than 3 feet away. They continued heading east through the tree tops. There were about 5 of them including two babies. About an hour later they came back and rested in the tree about 20' from our deck for a while. Got some good shots.
I had mentioned to Jim that I'd tried to buy some stamps yesterday for souvenirs but the guy didn't seem to understand what I wanted so Jim called him and explained it to him so he's got some ready for me. Guess we'll head into town and pick them up. I have some from Nicaragua and Panama as well as a few coins from each country. Jim also brought us up some coffee he just ground from Tanzania and blended with Costa Rican coffee. Can't wait to try it out.
Went for a swim this afternoon while Jo hammocked. Can't believe how warm this water is. I snorkelled this morning for over an hour down at the East end of the beach. Water is very clear and the reef is mostly rock and quite shallow. Saw two puffer fish but couldn't catch them w/o having fins. I swam back towards our place and Jo was following on the beach. Then it happened! She couldn't see me (I was a long way out) and she saw a school of fish jumping out of the water. She thought they were eating me or something and ran for help. The first person she came to was the mngr of the first place we stayed at and he told her to go and get one of the fisherman down the beach. In the meantime an ambulance was heading down the beach with his lights flashing but she couldn't catch it (thank god). By the time I got to shore I couldn't see Jo so I walked back to where I'd gone in an hour before. There she was climbing out of a fishing boat. I'll let her add her version to this story.
So here it is...actually, that's just about exactly the way it happened. I was checking every two minutes or so, keeping an eye on Al's whereabouts. When I lost track of him, but saw another diver in wet suit and yellow with black fins in the same area, diving in and out the water... I was certain Al was in trouble and this fellow was trying to rescue him. The diver actually stood up at one point and then dove back down in a hurry. Then I saw what looked like a fish or a few fish jumping along the water. Well...you can imagine...I thought Al had been attacked and was being carried away in pieces. I was so grateful when I saw Al walking down the beach toward the fishing boat I was in (to go rescue him) that the young fisherman was probably paid a full day's wages as a reward for wanting to help. (10,000 colones = $20.00) It took me the rest of the day to "snap-out-of-it." JO
Tonight we were going out for supper to the internet place but it's closed on Tuesdays so we went back to the beach to a place called "Shake Joe's". This place is really neat. They've got burl tables out on the beach under the palms and instead of chairs beside most of the tables they've got what look to be beds but about half the length. Like a wide ychesterfield with a headboard. They're complete with a cover and pillows for your "whatever pleasure". I'll have to get some more pics of this. They've even got an outside pool table. We ordered a burger each and a beer and when we finished the lady at the next table was sitting there with her mac out. (her computer). We asked her if they had wireless and they did, so nothing do but order another beer and get on line. Our total bill for two burgers with fries and three beers came to 4600 calones. That's about $9.00. Geez and free internet as well. We'll have to hit this place again and it's even closer than the old wifi place and right on the water. The tide was high again tonight and coming into the tables while we were eating. The surfers were having a ball.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30653&l=f8331&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 62 Mar. 10

2008-03-11T17:02:00.000-07:00

Jo slept in this morning so when she finally got up we headed into town for breakfast which is our plan for every 2nd day. In between we'll walk in and have supper. Breakfast here consists of granola, yogurt, and fresh pineapple & bananas. Lunch and supper is sandwiches laced with peppers, guacamole etc. We ate at the internet cafe and after calling Lance, Maggie and the kids on skype I updated the blog and facebook, left Jo with the computer and then headed out to do the shopping. First it was groceries, then cigars (which I found cheaper than I'd paid in the past), then it was to the bank which is something you don't do on a Monday morning. That took care of an hour. I mentioned to Jim how inefficient they were and he said he didn't mind as last year there was no bank and they had to go all the way into Nicoya to do their banking. Good point. I'll never bitch at the credit union again. Leaving the bank I headed out to find some dvd's so I could download my pics as a backup. Lucked out and got two for $1.50. I now have about 6 or 7 dvd's containing backup for all my pics and I keep them in a separate backpack in case the mac gets stolen.
I got back to the internet cafe and Jo was still there plugging away. We headed back to the room with our groceries which had since reached their expiry date and had a rum and coke and a little hammock time.
By 4 pm the tide had really started to come in. By 5 pm the dry creek bed next door was filled with tidal water and the dead palm branches were all bobbing. I've taken some pictures of the high tide and it's my goal to take some more in the morning from the same vantage point showing low tide.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30652&l=72b03&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 61 Mar. 9

2008-03-10T08:49:00.001-07:00

After breakfast we went for a long walk to the East end of the beach. The tide was a long way out and I paced it off from the water to the high water mark from last night. 150 paces and it went out farther as we walked. I wish I'd taken the mask and fins with us as with the tide being so low it would have been good snorkelling. We didn't bring the fins as they were excess cargo in our backpacks. At the far end of the beach was a large fishing trawler that had come in. They had just unloaded their catch into some large stryofoam tanks on the back of a truck to be taken to market. The tidal pools donated some brittle starfish to the collection and another couple came across a large beautiful shell. That convinced me that tomorrow I'll take the mask in the hopes I can find something offshore. The walk took about 2 hours and it was time for lunch by the time we got back. It was again time for a hammock and a cold one. I showed a slide show to Tona from Norway and Jim our landlord and he enlightened us on Costa Rica having been born here and educated in the U.S. He's been here for about 20 years but doesn't own this property just the buildings. He has 8 year leases. That''s quite an investment for such a short lease.
After the slideshow we went to check out the tide which was now quite high. Like really high and washing around the log we used for a bench. It's supposed to get even higher tonight so we moved the log so we'd have it for tomorrow.
Lots of bats out tonight and the familiar sound of what I guess to be maybe the grasshoppers in the trees. As soon as the sun goes down they start their song. It begins as a vibration that builds in intensity and becomes almost a loud whistle which lasts for about 30 seconds. I've never heard anything like it before. It goes from a one cylinder engine trying to start to a full out turbine!
It's hard to believe we only have another 2 1/2 weeks left but this is a great place to become beach bums after all the miles we've covered. It's nice to go to bed and know we don't have to haul our packs to another bus station and head off once more.

Costa Rica day 60 Mar. 8

2008-03-10T08:47:00.000-07:00

Same old today. Beached it until it got too hot and then retired to the hammocks with a couple of rum & cokes. The water was calmer today so I put on the mask and snorkel and ventured in for an hour. Not a lot to see although the water was quite clear. Turned in early. We'd left the giant grasshopper on a shelf over the kitchen counter. Bad idea! Jo got up shortly after retiring for a drink of water, turned on the kitchen light and lo and behold every huge ant for the surrounding 3 miles was trying to steal our prize! It started out as a small squeal that quickly turned into a "Al, get out here!" I've never seen so many ants in one place and these guys were big! Out came the bug repellant and pretty soon they scattered everywhere. On the floor, walls, counter, some even headed for a swim in the sink. There were so many we had to sweep them out the door. There was enough repellant in the kitchen to have killed us all by morning. No doubt the ones that did escape must have had a helluva hangover this morning. That done we returned to bed. Then I started to tell Jo some ant stories. How they were probably army ants that eat everything in their path and now the grasshopper was gone (in a ziplock in the freezer) and they couldn't open the fridge door, that we were probably next on their menu. Closing the bedroom door wouldn't work because they'd chew through the wall. The good news was they work in shifts. A day shift and a night shift. We may still be partially alive by morning and they'd be full by then but then the day shift would come on and they'd be real hungry. I think Jo scratched all night. A great bedtime story.

Costa Rica day 59 Mar. 7 Samara

2008-03-08T07:20:00.000-08:00

We ate a quick breakfast, got packed and called a taxi as we were anxious to get to our new place. It's really nice and Jim again made us familiar with everything we needed to know. The place is quite large and has shutters on all the windows. The safe is under the master bed but too small to be of any use to us other than our passports and money (if we had any)
We unpacked and began making up a shopping list. We then hung one of our hammocks up on the deck where there is a nice breeze. You can't really see the ocean from the balcony due to the trees in front which provide shade but you can certainly here the crashing waves as it's only about 100'.
I introduced myself to a lady about our age who rents the only other unit. She is Norwegian and is translating something from English to Scandinavian. She's been here about two months and speaks very good English
About noon we headed down the beach for the 10 minute walk to the grocery store. I took one of the backpacks as we had quite a list. Now that we have the fridge filled up and a new bottle of rum we're all set. Tomorrow I think we'll head into town and have breakfast and then go to the wireless place to get things caught up. It's very quiet here so far and everyone speaks English. Col. Klink and his buddies will have to find someone else to irritate now.
We went to the beach around 4:30 but from here the actual sunset isn't visible although I still managed to get some good pictures. By six pm it's totally dark so we came back, made a sandwich and then listened to a few more chapters of the audio book I'd downloaded before we left. Jo lasted for about a half an hour and then it was lights out. She didn't sleep very well last night as the nazis were making a racket and kept her awake. They're worse than the dogs. We'll see what tonight holds in store
LINK OF THE DAY
Show people this album by sending them this public link:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30164&l=4f7e7&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 58 Mar. 6 Samara

2008-03-08T07:18:00.000-08:00

We headed down to the other end of the beach this morning. The tide was a long way out due to the nearly full moon and there were pieces of coral littering the beach. In places the beach had to be 200' wide. We stopped in Samara on the way back and checked our email. Nothing but junk. We then headed over to the grocery store and picked up some coke, water and limes. Next door is a coffee shop so Jo had her fix and I had a coke. On the way back to the beach we stopped at a small bakery and while waiting outside I noticed they had a sign wi fi. Yahoo and it's fairly close to where we're moving to tomorrow and it's free. The other place we went to were charging $3.00 an hour! Crooks.
This place we're in is nice but so full of Germans I feel like I'm in Hogans Heroes and Klinks are everywhere. I guess we should have guessed that with a name like Kunterbunt Cabinas. Really looking forward to the place tomorrow as it's a beautiful two rooms overlooking the ocean and the mngr/owner Jim seems like a pretty nice guy and speaks English. It comes complete with two fans, hammocks, a fridge, and a safe in the room so I can lock up the mac when we leave. It's also about 10 minutes closer to downtown so we can bring groceries back to the room and keep them cold without having to share a fridge with Col. Klinks buddies and a bunch of dirty dishes.
We watched another beautiful sunset tonight and I'm not sure we'll be able to see it from the new place. It clouded over this afternoon but it was still stifling hot. It doesn't start to cool off until 4 p.m. when a bit of a breeze comes up. We should get more from our new balcony as this one is at right angles to the ocean.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30163&l=ba46f&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 57 Mar. 5 Samara

2008-03-08T07:12:00.000-08:00

Last night we had a great sleep until the 4 a.m rooster got going. That woke up the dogs who woke up the birds and that was the end of the sleep.
We skipped breakfast and headed down the beach towards Samara. We passed a couple of hotel/cabinas for rent and inquired at the first one. $85.00 a night. We got out of there fast. The next place was about 200' farther down the beach. It looked like a nice place and the manager was busy painting pictures which he sells as a sideline. He also wanted $40 night but we thought we'd take a look. It was up over the office and was beautiful! Two rooms finished in hardwood. Three beds, a separate room with a fridge, table, and a coffee maker. No cooking facilities but with a fridge we can make sandwiches and have our granola and yogurt for breakfast and make icecubes. It also has a balcony facing the beach which is 100' away from our room. It's very nice and he mentioned that the local roosters were now soup. We also didn't see any dogs. They're probably also in the soup. This is a good sign! One of the dogs that woke us up is the same breed as the neighbours dog back home. Small a yappy says Jo. They should be used as dog food for good dogs. Too bad they don't have anti freeze down here.
We went on to Samara and hit the bank and the grocery store and had breakfast at a nice place in town. We stopped at a hotel that advertised wireless to see if we could rent some time but the owner said it was for guests only but that the other two places in town also had wireless. Our new place is only a few hundred yards from downtown so it will be very handy as well as close to the grocery stores.
After we got back here we walked the other half of the beach which is covered with bits of coral from the offshore reef. The surf has been high since we got here and no good for snorkelling although there were some surfers a long way out who were really doing well.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30162&l=460da&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 56 Mar. 4

2008-03-08T07:10:00.001-08:00

Our bus didn't leave until 9 a.m. so we had breakfast and then headed to the bus station 4 or 5 blocks away. What we thought might be a 4 or 4 1/2 hour bus trip was taking much longer and it was an hour in a traffic gridlock before we even got out of San Jose. There was a pit stop about 11:30 and we weren't even near the halfway point. About 2:45 pm we stopped at a roadside busstop to let someone off when we saw a hwy. sign indicating Nicoya. We were headed to Liberia where we'd planned to catch another bus back to Nicoya. Jo asked the driver about it and we jumped ship and crossed the road to catch the Nicoya bus. This ultimately saved us at least two hours and probably more. The third bus to come along about 3:30 took us into the Nicoya bus station where we caught another bus to Samara about a half an hour later. Our first stop in Samara was to the bank which had closed 5 minutes earlier so we went to a restaurant and had supper and then picked up a bottle of rum and some coke. They called a cab for us but it never showed up so they got a friend to drive us to the "hotel". We're about 3 miles out of Samara and across the street from the water. The other half of the hotel is directly across the street and is on the beach. There are tables and chairs out on the beach side as well as a couple of hammocks. When we checked in we were told the room is $40 a night (exactly twice what the 2007 book said) We'd expected to pay $20 and were hoping to stay for the remainder of our time here but I don't think that's going to happen now. We're booked for three nights and will spend some of that time looking for a cheaper place maybe closer to town. It's only a 20 minute walk along the beach and we can go in there to get some groceries as this place has a fridge and hotplate downstairs that we can use.
Update ..... we found a place on the beach closer to town. It's the same price but it's beautiful. It's an upstairs 2 room suite with a fridge! Yahoo icecubes and cuba libras,
The manager is a hippie about my age who paints as a sideline. Originally from California he's seems like a great guy and he didn't give us the same flak we got here as far as maybe not being able to stay due to bookings coming in for Easter. We are the only ones upstairs and have our own balcony, hammocks, and a coffeemaker. It's right on the beach and we should be able to see the sunsets from our room. We move in on the 7th and have booked it for the full two weeks until we meet up with Jim,Patty, Marion and Don in Islita until we leave on the 25th.
This beach is crescent shaped and directly North of one of the other places we've stayed. There's also a reef out in front so we may be able to get in some snorkelling, something we haven't really been able to do to this point.
The alarm clock here starts to crow at 4 a.m. quickly followed by the howler monkeys and then the dogs chime in. By 7 a.m. all the Germans who are staying here start coughing in case we managed to sleep through the earlier cacaphony. They were out at the tables last night and seemed to be having a race to see who could smoke the most. One nice thing about this place is that they sell beer and will make you breakfast for $6.00. We'll probably pick up some granola and yogurt for our breakfast. There's also internet in town but unlikely to be wireless. I'm not sure how theft proof this place is so for the next little while I'll carry my laptop with me.
It's nice to be near the water again and we're looking forward to soaking up a few rays and getting in for a swim.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30161&l=0b4a4&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 55 Mar. 3

2008-03-08T07:05:00.000-08:00

It was a long day today. We got up at 5:30 and after a glass of orange juice we packed over to the bus station. The 6 a.m. bus left promptly at 5:55. Too bad if you were late. It was first gear for the next 15 minutes while we crept through the sleeping village picking up people as we went. Initially there were about 10 on the bus but by the time we reached David an hour later it was full. We bought our tickets to San Juan and left a half an hour later. By 9:30 we reached the border. More chaos. First it was over to get our passports stamped. We then got into another line to turn in our entry permit that we recieved 5 days earlier. Then it was into a room with our packs and a drug sniffing dog did his thing. Next we put our packs on a table for inspection. All this was just to get out of Panama. We then took our packs back to the bus which had disappeared. We found him about a block away and loaded our packs back on the bus, drove a hundred yards and started all over again on the Costa Rica side. This time we gave our passports to the driver who took them somewhere while we waited in a compound. When he returned the customs guy had our passports and called out names to come and pick them up and show him your bags at the same time. He didn't even open ours. Guess they trust Canucks. That's the last border crossing for us until we leave in three weeks yahoo!
The whole process took about an hour and a half which is better than some we've been through. The next stop was at the midway point at the summit of the mountains we'd been climbing. We had a half an hour to grab our first bite of the day so we bought some chicken, rice, and salad with a couple of cokes and some pineapple and watermelon. It was very good and was under $10. We saw some beautiful sites en route. Mostly fields being prepped for pineapple cultivation and in various stages of growth. We were on the opposite side of the bus so the view was different than on our trip down. We followed the Rio Grande for many miles.
Arriving in San Jose at 5 p.m. we were ready for a shower and a beer. First we walked to the bus stop (a different one) and bought our tickets to Liberia for tomorrow. It was about $4.00 each for the 4 1/2 hour ride. We had our room booked at the Classic Hotel B&B for the 4th time and ate some supper and had a beer. Then it was onto their computer to see if we'd rec'd an answer back to our email of last night attempting to book a room in Samara. It was there and we're good to go. It's a cabina a short way out of town and not far from the beach. This will be three weeks of basking and no travelling!
While eating our supper in the lobby of the B&B we overheard a guy from Seattle telling someone he was having all his dental work done here over the next week. The dentist speaks English and has some very modern computerized xray equipment. He was going in to get three caps done and ended up getting 10 done for $50 each! That sure beats the $1,000 each our crooks charge. So I'm going to check it out in Samara to see what I can get done. Hell for $50 he can use a chisel on me.
Our bus doesn't leave until 9 a.m. so we've got time to enjoy the complimentary breakfast that we missed on our last stay. We can even sleep in. It's been a long day with 11 hours on a bus so the shower and sleep are welcome. Hopefully we can find a wireless outlet in Samara. We know we can get money there as we hit the bank there a couple of months ago. Thats our day
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=30159&l=b714d&id=680056043
Al & Jo

Panama day 54 Mar. 2

2008-03-02T17:20:00.000-08:00

After breakfast this morning we caught a ride with a guy who took us partway to the Cascada (the waterfalls). We then flagged down a taxi (actually it was an old van) who took us and every other person he could pick up towards the falls. It cost us .50 each so no one complained. We then walked back the 4 or 5 km. to town along the river. Lots of coffee plants along the road so Jo was busy stealing beans. We've got enough now to start a real crop if we don't end up in jail first.
We'll be offline for a while now as we leave very early tomorrow morning to catch the bus back to David where we catch our next bus for the 10 hour ride back to San Jose. We'll stay at the same B&B as the other 3 times and then catch a bus on Tues. morning to Samara on the Pacific coast.
We tried to make reservations in San Jose for tomorrow night but we needed a phone card to do it from the office so we took the mac down there and used the skype to do it. Voila no problem. This thing is really working for us. Thats it for today.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29708&l=b4d3c&id=680056043

Panama day 53 Mar. 1

2008-03-02T05:15:00.000-08:00

We left the hotel around 9 a.m. and walked for a half an hour out of town to a 90 year old guys house called Mi Jardin y Su Jardin. My garden is your garden. It's free to walk in and the flowers were magnificent! Bougainvillea were everywhere as well as ponds full of Koi. We spent about an hour or so there and then headed back into town, crossed the river and headed up a road that paralleled the river. About a half an hour later we came to the fair grounds which we can see directly across the river from our balcony. It closed at noon and by this time it was 12:30. There was a lady there who let us in for $1.00 so we wandered around and checked out the flowers for a while.
Leaving there we headed further along the road which wound up the hill at a steep angle and encountered many switchbacks. In some places the road had collapsed into the valley far below us. Needless to say I got my butt over to the inside of the road. I can't imagine the people who live below the slide area as it's a very long way down!
We walked for about an hour and a half uphill until we came to a place with a great view of Boquete. The hike was made easier due to the constant mist and stiff wind that was coming from the clouds over the volcano even though we were in the sunshine for the most part. The wind at the top was really strong! No place for a panama hat as I had a hard time keeping my Cat's Ass hat on. Got a few shots there and then Jo climbed under a fence and borrowed some coffee beans. We now have enough to begin the Okanagan Coffee plantation. Gerry rip out your grapes.
We then headed back down which took us 45 minutes at a brisk walk. Altogether we were walking for 5 hours and covered about 5 miles. I'd better go for my medical checkup when I get back while I'm still so healthy.
Last night was our first time hooking up the skype with Lance and Maggies computer. After a little fiddling we were able to see them which was a real treat! We also talked to Gerry who's now officially retired. (again).
The wind howled again for most of the night but it didn't seem as cold. It doesn't take very long to warm up in the morning though.
Today (Sunday) we're going to check out a waterfall that's a few miles out of town. Like I need the exercise.
LINKS OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29706&l=513b0&id=680056043
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29704&l=25e9b&id=680056043
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29702&l=fb22b&id=680056043

Panama day 52 Feb. 29

2008-02-29T16:46:00.001-08:00

We cleared out of David this morning at about 9 a.m. (or what we thought was 9 a.m.) Turns out there was a clock at the bus station that told us we were out by an hour as it was closer to 10.
We boarded the old school bus for the one hour drive to Boquete. I think it cost $1.50 each. The drive was mostly uphill all the way and the bus stopped wherever anyone wanted to board it. At one point it pulled over under a orange or lemon tree and as it pulled away a branch flew in the upper half of the windows. As it passed me I was treated with some fresh fruit that got knocked off. We disembarked at the town square which is only two blocks from where we'd made reservations so it was no hike to get here. The place is beautiful! Our room is close to the river which passes by our balcony. There are flowers everywhere and the river flows at quite a clip. It's also cooler (in the 70's) and very windy. We went for a walk after settling in. Lots of art and souvenir shops. We also saw some huge cactii. Stopping for lunch we had a great meal of a B.L.T on pumpernickle bread. We then found a wireless internet about a block away which is free. Tied the skype but no one was around. We also bought a 26'er of rum for $7.50! Yeehaw. I've died and gone to heaven. Beer is $1.00 a bottle.
When we got back to the room I turned on the mac to download the days pictures and lo and behold we've got free wireless here! Now I can have a cold one while I type.
Tomorrow we're going to a coffee plantation (so I can boost some coffee beans to bring home). Then maybe a hike up the hill across the river. We've also heard there's a bus that will take us near a waterfall which we want to see and it's only a 4 km. walk downhill to get back. That's it for today. This is THE place!
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29520&l=ba8d9&id=680056043

Panama day 51 Feb. 28

2008-02-29T13:52:00.000-08:00

Well David isn't much more than a big noisy city. Other than the city park across the street there are countless clothing and shoe stores. We were able to find a bank that would accept my m/card so we got enough U.S. funds to last us through our next stop and get us back to Costa Rica. We've booked a place in a small village East of here called Boquete. The population is only around 1500 which will be quite a change from here.
We took a cab to the bus station this afternoon and picked up our tickets for Monday morning. The bus leaves at 8:30 a.m. so we have to leave Boquete very early in order to catch it. That will be a long day for sure. We'll probably stay in San Jose again and then take another bus to Liberia where we'll catch another one in the direction of Punta Islita where our third bag has been stored at Jim and Patty's.
There was another concert in the city park across the street tonight. We missed a bunch of little girls all dressed up in traditional clothes. They must have been dancing. There was also a young guy about 17 singing. He had an incredible voice like that of an opera singer which you'd never figure coming from such a young man. During the concert we were standing down on the sidewalk with parked vans behind us on the street when all of a sudden they started letting off fireworks on the street side of the van. These were skyrockets and going off right over our heads which was a little unnerving to say the least.
You'd think that would be the excitement for the day but as we lay here listening to the audio book on the computer there was an earth tremor! We were shaking and vibrating for several minutes. Hopefully that's over with. I thought someone was under the bed for a minute there.
That's about our day. Looking forward to leaving in the morning as this is just another big noisy city. Every driver is in love with his horn and the car alarms only work when someone is singing in the park. When we made our reservations this morning for the next three days Jo talked to an American who was on the other end and he described it as a beautiful place with a veranda facing the river and very quiet. There's also a lot of jungle trails with wildlife according to the travel book which is our constant companion. It will be nice to get back to the piece and quiet of a small village. Guess we're still hicks at heart.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29514&l=6af3b&id=680056043

Panama day 50 Feb. 27

2008-02-29T13:46:00.000-08:00

Well last night was an experience to say the least. Our room was nicely equipped with 3 bunkbeds. period. We both took a bottom bunk and after covering the windows with blankets we listened to another 10 chapters of an audio book I have on my computer. That usually puts us to sleep (and then we have to replay the last 3 chapters the next night).
Jo was the first to wake up freezing as it gets cold in San Jose at night. She grabbed an unused blanket and I toughed it out with the sheet which still had three threads to the inch left in it. The next wake up was when someone turned on a light in the hall and it illuminated the whole room. I thought someone had come in but if they did they found it was too cold to spend time robbing us and left to find a warmer room.
We got up just before 6 and skipped the breakfast and headed with our packs to the bus station which the travel guide book said was just three blocks away. Well they got that part right but the bus we needed had moved to a new facility 2 km. away so we cabbed it. Nice new facility and we got our tickets and left promptly at 7:30 after picking up a sandwich and some drinks for the ride. We stopped around 9:30 for a pee break and then hit the road again. The bus wasn't full and because they gave out claim tickets for baggage we'd stowed our packs underneath which gave us some leg room for a change. We stopped again around noon at a nice place and had a pork chop, rice and salad for lunch. We left there after about a half an hour only to stop about 15 minutes down the road. We waited for another 20 minutes while the yahoo who'd missed the bus leaving caught up to us by cab.
The Pan American Highway climbs for the first two hours of the trip out of San Jose through beautiful country with a good highway, pullouts for slower traffic, and many switchbacks and hairpins. It's hard to get pictures while speeding along and invariably there'd be a blurry tree in the middle of every picture. We were on the wrong side of the bus to get pictures of the clouds below us and the river we followed. We went through a cloud forest and dense jungle and on up to where the trees were very low to the ground and scrubby. This was all a protected game reserve which is really nice to see that land has been set aside to be saved as is.
As we neared the border the trucks began piling up beside the road. It also began to thunderstorm very heavily. Fortunately the exit to Costa Rica was under cover and all we had to do was get our passports (which we now know the number to) stamped. I think that cost about $2.00. We then piled back in and headed to the Panamanian side. First we got our passports signed and turned in our lies about not bringing any plant material into the country. Then we went to another wicket to pay the $10.00. Then we retrieved our bags to be inspected. When I picked up our packs there was a guy sitting in the baggage compartment who wanted a dollar. I asked him what that was for and he said for watching our bags. So much for needing a baggage claim check as he didn't know me from his illigetimate kids. I told him to see my business manager who was still getting something stamped. Next we took our bags into an inspection area where he did a less than thorough job like pulling out Jo's emergency toilet paper and dirty laundry. (It's all dirty at this point). Then the guy who showed us how to fill out the entry forms wanted a dollar for not robbing us. Jo's a soft touch and paid them both. I'd have just played dumb and told them I'm American and don't savvy the lingo.
At last we were back on the road after they finished spraying down the bus to kill the Northern roaches, soon to be replaced with Southern ones. The first thing we noticed in Panama was how clean and well kept everything was. It was obvious that they are a lot better off than either the Nics or the Ticos. It took about an hour or so to reach David (that's pronounced Duh veed not David.) That's so they can tell the tourists from the Latinos but we fooled them by practicing earlier on. We caught a cab right away for $1.00 who brought us as close as he could get to the Hotel. It's across from the central park which was blocked off due to a bunch of local garbage trucks who were having a parade with all their equipment. Really! This was accompanied by lots of horn honking and fireworks. After they all left there were some singers and dancers in the park which we watched from the balcony of our hotel. It was quite entertaining and the singers were really good. My favorite was La Bomba and I think Ritchie Valens is alive and well.
We checked out another hotel for tomorrow which is just around the corner and $10 cheaper. This room has two single beds and the one I'm on creaks if you look at it. It's a nice clean room though and has a/c which will probably give Jo a cold again if we leave it on. Her cold by the way has gone thanks to the antihistimine we got in San Jose. We picked up some more before we left just in case. Actually I think it's draino in a tablet form as it sure worked fast on her.
We have hot water in this place so it was a great long shower for both of us. This is a very modern high tech city. The internet in the foyer only requires you to insert a dollar and then your good to go for an hour. Tomorrow we may look for a wireless place. That's it for today. We're looking forward to seeing the downtown core but other than that I don't think there's a heck of a lot else to see so our days here are numbered and then it's on to Boquete which is East of here and higher up and thus cooler.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29513&l=a981c&id=680056043

Al Cotton

Costa Rica day 49Feb. 26

2008-02-29T13:43:00.000-08:00

What a day! We took a cab from the central park to the Transnica bus station. The cabs here will pick you up even if they have passengers so we stopped off at two schools to drop some kids off and then off to the depot. That was like driving in a demolition derby. Bicycles either have the right of way or a death wish as they ignore the horn completely. We got there at 7 a.m. and I went to get some orange juice for the drive. We already had 3 large sandwiches which we bought yesterday and they sure came in handy. The bus left promptly at 8:30 a.m. and two hours later we were at the Nicaraguan border. The bus drivers helper took our $8.00 each along with our passports and headed to wherever they stamp them. We had to wait outside the bus in the dust and wind and the beggars (buggers) until he came back and then we were able to board (1 hour gone). We then headed across the border to the Costa Rican side. Everybody off along with our packs while we waited in line for an hour to get them stamped again. How could it take so long to get your passport stamped when the guy doesn't even look at your face? There were at least 150 and probably more, people standing outside waiting there turn to go in. We then went back to the bus to be told we had to get in another line to have our baggage inspected. Great but there was no one there to check the bags. The inspection area consisted of two long benches that we threw our bags on and waited for a half an hour for the guy to show up. When he saw we were Canadians by the flags on our packs he waved us through. Thank you God! We finally got under way at 12:30 only to be stopped at 1:00 pm for a roadside check where we again had to show our passports. You've never seen a border crossing like either one of these and it's a major deterrent to stay out of Nicaragua.
I noticed when we boarded the bus that it had music and movies. Yahoo. Ever watched the same Claude Van DAMN movie three times in a row? Geez by the third time I new the lines. The music was old 60's stuff from much music which beat the hell out of C.V.D. We gradually began to climb over the mountains only to get stuck behind every tractor trailer in Central America which were having a helluva time making it up the hills. The bus seats were becoming like cement blocks as were our asses. We stopped for 15 minutes to let the blood begin to circulate in out butts again. Jo went to the can which was a good thing as the bus didn't have a bathroom. Fortunately I'm like a camel but the thought did cross my mind "what if?".
When we arrived at 6:30 we found that this bus station was only about 4 or 5 blocks from the B&B we'd booked last night by email. Same old story. They didn't get it so there was no vacancy but then he offered us a backpackers room in the rear. It has three bunkbeds and a shared bathroom and shower. For sound effects we have to people on either side of the building coughing up chunks of lung. Fortunately we have the room to ourselves so we have lots of room. We'll both pass on having a shower here. The room is $10 each and the tv doesn't work and there's no fan or a/c but that's ok. We had to make the beds up ourselves so we got to pick the best mattresses. ha. We also had to cover the windows with the blankets or we may as well have slept on the sidewalk. I'll have to take a picture of the room with the blankets adding the ambience. It's a good thing I've lost some weight or my butt would be touching the floor on this mattress.
We'll skip breakfast tomorrow and get over to the other bus station as early as possible to hopefully get a ticket to Panama. It was too late today to go over there and get a ticket so we'll see how that goes. That's it for today. Another long day coming up and hopefully the border crossing will go better.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29511&l=3f2bc&id=680056043

Nicaragua day 48 Feb. 25

2008-02-29T13:36:00.000-08:00

A rest day. We had breakfast and then went to the bank to get enough U.S. to get us to Panama. We also went to the farmacia to get Jo some more antihistamine and then went looking for the post office. Bought a set of stamps for the Nic. album and we have a few of their coins to be included as well. We also went to a new internet called the Garden Cafe which was wireless and free! Brought the blog and facebook up to date and then tried out Skype again. Talked to Lance, Tony, and Jo's mom and her sister in Hawaii. I'm going to like this cheap calling. We talked for over an hour and think we used just over $1.00. I had hoped to catch up with Lance again around 3 pm to see how the Skype computer to computer worked but the two wireless internet places were both closed by 3. Bummer.
We have to be at the bus station tomorrow by 7:30 a.m. which leaves at 8 for the 10 hour trip to San Jose. Two of those will be messing around at the border I imagine. We're using the transnica busline for the first time so we'll see how that goes. At least we have reserved seats. If the bus isn't full maybe we can put our packs on another seat instead of on our laps.
We also picked up 3 sandwiches to tide us over until we reach S.J. Jo sent the B&B there an email to reserve a room for us. This is the same place we've stayed twice before. Hopefully they get it as it's close to the other bus station we need to get to Panama. I think that may be a long trip to and so far we don't have a place to stay down there so we may have to wing it.
There are some street entertainers here every night. One is dressed like an 8' tall lady and a little guy dressed llike a dwarf man. They're accompanied by two small kids who can really beat out a tune on their drums. I got a video of them the first night and was hoping to get a photo tonight before we leave but wouldn't you know it, they're not out today for the first time.
Well that's a wrap from Nicaragua.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29510&l=b133b&id=680056043

Nicaragua day 47 Feb. 24

2008-02-25T08:15:00.000-08:00

We made our own breakfast today consisting of granola, yogurt, bananas, pineapple and watermelon and then went and joined up with Claude and his wife Nicole for coffee. On the way back we stopped at another internet cafe and had a coffee while I tried to get on line. Yahoo it worked and it was free. Two hours later we headed back to the hotel. I was able to get skype working and called Lance and Maggie but no one was home. Next I called Paul and Dana and Dana was there. It seemed to work good but we'll need to get a mike and an earset. Not bad for .02 a minute! I bought $10.00 worth of time which should last a long time so we'll see how that goes. Should have done that a long time ago. It will also be handy on the boat this summer.
We're pretty low on cash and the banks were closed today (sunday) so we'll hit them tomorrow and get some U.S. money as we'll only be here for tomorrow leaving on Tues. at 7:30 a.m. for San Jose. Then it's off to Panama and changing our money again, this time to Balboa's. The money here is in Cordoba's and in Costa Rica it's Colones. Here in Nicaragua you get 575 cordoba's for $100.00. In Costa Rica it's about 500 to a $1.00. Either way if you do the math that's a helluva pile of bills that aren't worth much. The guys at the border had stacks like 4 or 5" of bills they were willing to exchange for Colones or U.S. dollars. We stayed with the bank. The cost to leave the country is $2.00 and the bus is $15 each. It also means another few hours messing around with the immigration/customs guys.
We had pizza for supper tonight. I had a medium and Jo had a small for $8.00 which left us with about $4.00 in our money. We don't want any Nicaraguan money left over except what I'm bringing home for my album and that's why we'll be getting U.S. dollars at the bank tomorrow.
Only took a few pics today mostly of a bullet pocked wall down the street. Must have been a real blood bath here at one time.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29209&l=6f9e1&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 46 Feb. 23

2008-02-24T07:58:00.000-08:00

Slept in this morning until 7:30. Jo had a good night so the antihistamine did it's job. We had breakfast at a waffle house. 3 egg omelette with ham and cheese for me so I can get the cholesteral back up. Jo had a huge waffle and managed to eat it all. We joined our neighbours from Quebec and after that they were going to Masaya to the market so we joined in. It was about a half hour bus trip and then we walked for a mile or so. We came to an old fort which had a craft market so we spent some time in there. Lots of neat stuff and they will haggle with you but we didn't buy anything (most of it is too heavy to carry). We then walked another half an hour to the real market. Gag a rat! It was all enclosed so no breeze. A million shoe stores, & stifling hot. Then came the good part. The fish (fresh?) . Geez even the flies were staying away. It had to be 95 degrees in there and these fish were about to be cremated! We got out of there pretty damn quick. We then backtracked to where we caught the bus. Neat bus. Two seats on one side & one on the other and when they were full they folded down a 4 seat to fill up the aisle. The person at the back invariably needed to get off first so everyone on the aisle seats had to find a place to crawl while they folded up the seats and made for the door. The drivers helper stood in the open door as we sped along hollering to pedestrians that there was still room for one more. When we passed a bus he'd lean out and wave at the other bus driver and at one point he nearly had his head taken off by the other busses rear view mirror! He didn't see it coming because he was looking back. I figured what was coming and started to get my camera out but he spoiled my day. This would have been a picture for the Enquirer too!
We got off the bus early and walked to the bus ticket office and got two tickets back to San Jose for Tues. morning. We'll spend a night there and then jump a bus for David in Panama and spend some time there. There's lots of history here in Granada but how much history can one person take. I've got enough trouble remembering the '50s let alone going back to the 1500's. This place is full of churches but most of them are pretty run down. Jo went up to the bell tower in one of them and got some good shots. Too damn high for me. That was a sure nosebleed.
I did get a good shot of a horse pulling a cart with a refrigerator on it. The fridge weighed more than the horse! Also some good shots of ladies carrying loads of fruit on there heads in a high wind. No action there either.
We picked up a dozen beer on the way back and made a good dent in those before going across the street for supper. I had a footlong hot dog that probably was what it was. Jo was more conservative and had a BLT. Jo just read this and steamed her glasses up. Something to do with my poetic license I think . We came back here for another beer and I ran a slide show for our neighbours of the wildlife (animals) that I've taken pictures of.
Tomorrow maybe we can find an internet. I say that every day but something always comes up which is a good thing as I'm getting an education which is a helluva lot more than I got when I was younger. (Teachers always misunderstood me). Well I'm all typed out so that's a wrap.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29207&l=442bd&id=680056043

Al Cotton

Costa Rica day 45 Feb. 22

2008-02-24T07:54:00.000-08:00

We slept pretty good last night although Jo is still suffering from severe head cold. We went for an early morning walk to the waterfront down the street but there wasn't much to see. It was getting quite hot by the time we returned to the hotel to see if we could see the room we wanted but the people hadn't moved out so we went for another walk towards the market where we bought some fruit and something for Jo's cold. Sinutab down here cost about .20 each! She couldn't get any at this drugstore so they gave her an antihistamine which really seemed to do the job.
The market was something to see. People everywhere and selling everything imaginable. They take their goods to the market by horse drawn carts and then the poor horses have to spend the day standing by the curb in the sweltering heat. We stopped for a smoothie I think its called. Banana, strawberry, and orange juice with a bunch of ice and then blended. It was excellent. We'll have to make some of them when we get home.
Our new room on the second floor is quite small w/ no a/c but it has a fan and a private bathroom and it's only $13 a night. It's much cooler up here as it catches the breezes. It's also quieter as we're not so close to the street or the main lobby.
We met an older couple from Quebec who spend most of their time here and in Costa Rica. He advised us of things to see, places to go and where to eat. They joined us for supper and a few beer. He also gave us the name of a place in Panama called David which he says is really nice and about a six hour bus ride from San Jose which costs about $15 so that could be our next target although we have to get back to San Jose and spend a night there in order to catch the bus which leaves at 7:30 a.m.
I found a wireless internet this morning and it was working fine but all of a sudden it just lost the signal and I couldn't get it back. I'll try again tomorrow. It was very hot this afternoon so we sat around and drank beer until it was time for supper. There's a lot of disrepair around here but there's also a lot of improvements going on at least on the street right out in front and continuing to the waterfront.
All the store fronts are very low key. They are right on the sidewalk but no windows only a door that opens. You have to look in to see what they sell. Most have a courtyard inside where you can sit and have a drink or something to eat. The restaurants all have tables and chairs outside but depending on where the sun is most of them are too hot to sit outside. There's a building down the street and the wall is pockmarked with what appears to be bullet holes. I asked the Frenchman and he agreed they're probably left over from the last war w/ the Sandinistas. He said most of the places have been replastered but this one seems to have been missed. I'll make a point of getting a picture of it.
That's about our day. We paid for another 4 nights so we'll be here until at least the 26th which I think is Tues. Hopefullly tomorrow afternoon when it's too hot to do anything else I can get the blog and facebook updated.
LINK OF THE DAY http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29097&l=4aada&id=680056043
Al Cotton

Costa Rica day 44 Feb. 21

2008-02-24T07:49:00.001-08:00

We ate breakfast around 7 a.m. at the Guanacaste Hotel where we boarded the Central bus to Nicaragua. About 2 hours later we arrived at the border and traffic was lined up for a long way and that was just to get out of the country. We took our visas and paperwork and walked ahead to the immigration office and got in line. About a half an hour later we had our passports stamped and reboarded the bus which took us about a mile where we again disembarked this time with our bags and went to the customs office. We were 2nd in line as we had our packs with us. After waiting for about a half an hour a customs guy showed up and he had a button to push similar to those in Mexico. Green light you vamoose and red light assume the position. Jo and I got a green light which didn't make much difference as we went back to the bus only to have to wait outside for the busdriver to bring our passports back. He'd gone off to get them stamped. He finally showed up and we were able to board again and take our packs off. Lots of beggars in the bus station.
This was a great bus compared to what we're used to. Air conditioning, music (50's rock) and reserved seating. The driver was inside a windowed compartment and the whole front of the bus was blocked off with curtains that prevented us from seeing where we were going. Then a door was closed and locked so we were captives. As we left the bus station we were told to close all the curtains. The drivers helper came through minutes later and I asked him if we could open them. He said sure. Don't know what thaat was all about but at least we could see out the side.
The scenery was very flat farmland and the highway was paved (it's the Pan American Hwy.) Off in the distance we could see some very high volcano's and Lake Nicaraguea which is the largest lake (and polluted) in Central America. The whole trip took about 5 hours but at least two of those were spent at the border. No problems just bloody slow and disorganized.
We got off the bus at the bus station in Granada. We hadn't heard back as to whether we had reservations or not so we hoofed it forever to the hotel only to be told that there was no vacancy and that theyd changed their email address and don't check the one we used. We got the address out of a 2007 book on Central America. I think he was handing us a crock but all of a sudden he remembered a room w/ air and tv for $30/night. When I told him we had wanted to stay for a week a single cheaper room became available tomorrow for $13 a night. We'll move into it tomorrow.
This place is right in the heart of Granada which is very picturesque. Lots of old buildings and churches and quite close to the water where we can catch a ferry to head up the lake in a few days. The streets are cobblestone and there are lots of horse drawn carts. buggies, hotels and bars. We went to the bank and got $100 worth of cordobas. Not sure how long that will last but it will get us going. On the way back we found a place that claims to have wireless. We'll get back to that. We then went for supper across from the hotel at a place with an open window facing the street. We each had a cheeseburg and several beers for $13.00 or 2800 cordobas. These burgers were huge and mine came with jalepino peppers. I was going to order a double as we hadn't eaten since breakfast until I saw that a double was a pound of meat! The single was a half a pound and was very good even if it was dog meat. It also came with cole slaw and home made potato chips.
Lots of homeless and very poor people but the town is relatively clean compared to what we viewed on the way here from the bus. I'm sure we will be able to spend several days here. Great place to take pictures.
We checked out the internet place after supper but couldn't get the mac to work. It didn't even show a signal although the kid running the place had internet access with his blackberry. That was our day. Good to be off with the packs and the shoes. Tomorrow we'll scout around. It's too bad it so hard to get pics from a moving bus as we saw lots of scenery plus a huge truck full of bananas with the guys sitting on top of the load going along for the ride. The temp here is in the high 80's and the country is very dry although the humidity is quite high. Nice breeze off the lake which by the way is home to the worlds only fresh/saltwater sharks. We won't be swimming though as it's supposed to be very polluted.
Last night I took a picture of the full moon from our balcony but didn't find out until today that shortly after I took the picture there was an eclipse. Jo's fast asleep already and it's 7:30. That's what backpacking does to you. I sweat off another few pounds walking here. Should have taken a cab but didn't realize how far it was. Good exercise anyway.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29095&l=249bb&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 43 Feb. 20

2008-02-24T07:43:00.000-08:00

We got up bright and early and had breakfast at 6:30. The bus from the game reserve was supposed to make it's return trip to town at 7 a.m. so we headed down to the road to flag it down at 6:50. It came by 30 seconds after we got there and that was our ride into Monteverde. We got in town and pulled up right beside the bus we needed to catch to Canas so we pulled out right away. It took 2 hours exactly for the 42 km. busride which will give you some idea of the speed and the road. These bus drivers are the delivery boys, mailmen etc. They stop anywhere and for any reason. Our bus was even packing a washing machine, tv., and all of some guys earthly possessions. We also nearly acquired a biker who came around one of the hairpins on the wrong side. The bus was an old bluebird school bus and was apparently still using the originally brake. I say brake because it seemed it only had one judging by the grinding and wailing as we came down the hills. He picked up parcels from locals along the way along with mail as they flagged him down along the road. He'd then stop a few miles down the road, honk the horn and when someone came out he'd hand over the parcel. The front of the bus around the driver seemed to be where everyone got caught up on the news along w/ the driver. He'd look at them while he was talking and gesture with both hands while the ruts took over the steering of the bus. A novel concept to say the least. Sort of like auto pilot.
We arrived in Canas at 10:15 and it was followed almost immediately by the bus to Liberia which took about an hour to an hour and a half over paved roads. (The Pan American Hwy.) We also passed huge wind turbines and the hydroelectric facility created by the Arenal Dam. Between the two of them they probably account for most of the electricity in Costa Rica.
The bus station in Liberia is a grungy place and if you need to use the banyo my suggestion is to go in your pants. I didn't go but Jo did and I thought she was going to lose her lunch when she came out. We then tried to call the Hotel Liberia which the book said was a great place but there was no answer. Well here we are at the "great place" It's not really that bad but we had to book our bus tickets today or miss the early bus so we had to backtrack 6 blocks to the Hotel Guanacaste to buy the tickets. Had we known we'd have stayed there as it seemed like a nice place. We're having our laundry done right now for 1,000 colognes per kilo. Wow clean clothes! On the way back from buying our bus tickets for tomorrow we came across a bunch of cell phones, adaptors etc. in the grass beside the sidewalk. Probably somebody got ripped off and looked like a vendor as there were a bunch of them. We let them lie and proceeded on to a dept. store that wasn't for tourists but for the Ticos. I desparately needed a shirt and we found them for $4.00 cndn so I bought two only because they were made by American Collection and had AC monogrammed on the pocket. Now that's classy eh?
We stopped at two internets but no wireless so we rented a pc to check our mail. Not much going on except Gerry is now retired officially and out of the real estate racket. Paul and Dana are going to take over the housesitting duties for the next month (that's all the time we've got left down here) as Doug is heading out of town for a few weeks.
Tomorrow at 8:30 we pull out of here by bus and head to Granada in Nicaragua. It's half the price up there and we'd like to be able to meet up with Jo's sister and brother in law along with Jim and Patty in late March just before we go. If we stay up there we may be able to afford to hang out until then. The hotels in C.R. are costing more than we figured. Some of them have been isolated so your obligated to eat there (at their prices) or go hungry. That accounts for the two last nights candlelight dinners although they were very good. Liberia is a pretty good size so eating tonight shouldn't be a big deal. The bus to Nicaragua will take us right across the border which should help jump the border hoops. We'll then have to change some money into cordobas. Granada is supposed to be the jewel of Nic. and is home to a lot of historic bldgs and pretty scenery. (some of the places we've stayed in also seem pretty historic at least as to when they were last cleaned).
It was very cool last night and this morning due to the dampness in the cloud forest. Within an hour of leaving though we could feel it warm up and we're again in the 80's with a nice breeze. Scrap the socks again and on with the thongs (my feet I mean).
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29094&l=1c8e6&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 42 Feb.19

2008-02-24T07:37:00.001-08:00

Our room here at Monteverde is excellent and we had a good nights sleep after a long day yesterday. We had our breakfast around 7:30 and started walking to the park entrance at 8:00 a.m. It was pretty muddy but the temperature although colder wasn't really that bad. We reached the entrance at 8:30 and were told the park was currently at capacity and we may have to wait for two hours. To kill some time we went to the humming birds exhibit/souvenir shop. Lots of humming birds at the feeding stations and got some good shots. We then went back to watch a video presentation of the park but I was a little disappointed in it. It was more of a pitch to get donations for the park.
We returned to the entrance at 10:00 and were good to go. We started up the trail and into the mist. It was time to dig out our poncho's. It wasn't raining but more of a drizzle with high winds. It was a pretty muddy walk for the first hour as was the half hour walk to the park. We reached the turnaround point after an hour and started back on a different trail which was much easier going and downhill for the most part.
Beautiful lush greenery but too late to see any wildlife which call it a day by 9 a.m. We got back to the cafeteria at the park entrance about 12:30 and grabbed a quick bite and then struck out on a different one hour hike. It also was an easy walk and we got into a small waterfall before turning around to come back. About halfway back there was a small group of people with a guide who motioned to us to come but to keep quiet. There in the tree above our heads was a quetzal. This is a beautiful and very rare bird that everyone who comes here hopes to catch a glimpse of. We not only saw it but were able to get pictures of it! Another stroke of luck! The guide asked us to send him our pictures as he was as excited as we were.
We got back to the park entrance at five to 2 just as the bus was getting ready to leave although the time schedule said it left at 3 and we were going to walk back. As it was we'd walked for six hours so we took the bus which dropped us off right at the driveway to our B&B. I showed the pics of the quetzal to the owners and they told us how lucky we were.
Now we're going across the street to a restaurant for supper and planning tomorrow. Looks like we can catch the bus to Canas right out in front. We'll have to change busses in Tilaran but that's ok. We were going to go farther but we ate at the Canas hotel while visiting the Palo Verde river trip and it was excellent so we'll stay there tomorrow night and then head off to Liberia or North from there towards Nicaragua with maybe an overnight in between. It will be warmer and dryer than up here and we're looking forward to that and being able to do some laundry. .
Just got back from supper across the road. Pretty classy place (right up to my standards) and it's the second night in a row for a candlelight supper. Got some sunset pictures from their deck and tried to make reservations in Canas but they were booked so we may continue on to Liberia and stay there for the night. The bus passes through here pretty early so we need to get breakfast done before 7 a.m.

Another lucky day with some beautiful pictures of the cloud forest.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29089&l=c7cbe&id=680056043
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29088&l=4a4ee&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 41 Feb. 18

2008-02-24T07:32:00.000-08:00

Well last night we watched the volcano from our patio after a nice pasta supper by candlelight in the dining room with a view of the volcano. Not much was going on so we turned in round 10 p.m. and got up about 2:30 a.m. and went to the observation deck at the end of our bldg. The huge boulders we'd been watching were now visible as fireballs racing to the bottom of the mountain. They bounce for hundreds of feet and when they land they break up slightly amidst a fireworks of sparks and then continue their journey to the bottom. It's very hard to get pics or vids but I did manage a few although they're not very good. We watched them for about an hour and then turned in again.
Breakfast was included in our lodging so we got to the dining room about 7:30 and what a feast it was. A buffet with pancakes, sausages, eggs, cheese croissants, orange juice, blackberry juice, lots of fresh fruit, mango juice, and coffee. A great way to start off the day. There was a free tour at 8:30 which we joined in on. It followed the same route we took by ourselves yesterday but the information was our reason for going. There's a guy who lives in a house on the property who made a deal with the owners years ago that he can stay until he dies and then his house and property will revert back to the lodge. The lodge began as a small farm and then in 1968 the Smithsonian Institute used the area and grounds to monitor the volcano which had erupted that year for the first time in over 400,000 years. There are now a total of 4 craters, labeled A,B.C,and D, The last big eruption was last Sept. 18th.
The first year the volcano erupted over 80 people lost their lives and the nearby farms were lost under the debris. The govt. paid the farmers and they moved farther back and began farming again. Years later it was decided to build a dam near the village so the village was moved to a new location and the water now covers the original site. During the dry season the lake lowers and some of the village is visible on the surface.
The portion of the tour we took was quite interesting. We learned that one of the unique trees we saw yesterday is eucalyptus which was imported to be used as telephone poles. The other trees we noticed were pine trees. Neither of these are indigenous to this area and the birds and animals avoid them other than the birds that build the hanging nests. There are two colonies of these birds in the vicinity and each colony is headed by one male and 20 or so females. They build many of the hanging nests in the tops of the eucalyptus but some are decoys to protect the legitimate nests. The main predators are the toucans and the fer de lance snakes which abound in this area. They are extremely poisonous.
There is a small display of the venomous snakes of the area near the entrance to the dining room. There must be over 20 poisonous species around here. We also saw a few more varieties of birds this morning. After a lunch of cheeseburgers and heineken we boarded the "jeep" to the boat. By going by "jeep/boat/jeep" we saved about 6 hours of bussing. The boat took us the length of Arenal lake where we boarded another van to take us to Monteverde. This van had 9 people in it plus all the luggage! It was uphill all the way on roads that make our logging roads look like super highways. Very steep hills and extremely winding. It was like an oven in there and the driver kept stopping, getting out and checking the front tire. We finally made it to a place with a compressor so he filled it up and away we went.
By this time we were in a thunderstorm and the windows were all fogged up which made the trip even more interesting. He dropped everyone off at their respective lodgings and then took us and the van to a gas station where he changed the tires.
Our place is quite a way out of town on a rocky gravel/mud road but quite close to the entrance to the park and hiking trails. Unfortunately although the rain has stopped the trails will probably be too muddy for hiking. No problem we can call a cab to get to town and see what's going on there. The scenery between here and Lake Arenal is unbelievably beautiful with the cleared areas devoted to very green hilly grasslands dotted with cows. Beyond that are rainforests. There are also coffee plantations here so I'm hoping to get some beans to grow.
Gerry I haven't forgotten your pepper seeds so be patient. That's about it for today.
Al & Jo
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29085&l=be6ff&id=680056043

Al Cotton

Costa Rica day 40 Feb. 17

2008-02-24T07:29:00.000-08:00

An incredible day!
I got up and went to get some things I'd left on the clothesline last night to dry. Some desperate bugger stole my shirt! Now that's something, to steal a guys shirt right off his back. He must be worse off than me for sure. He was a gentleman though as he left my gaunch and a pair of socks. He also took a ladies things that was staying there. I guess a present for his wife.
We ate and went to the internet for a couple of hours and then took a cab to the Arenal Observatory Lodge where we're booked in for one night. We arrived here at noon but check in wasn't until 3 so we checked our bags and went for a walk along one of the hiking trails. The gardens here are beautiful and it's like going to the botanical gardens all over again. We then followed a path past the swimmng pool and hot tub until we came to a sign that read falls. We hiked through the woods amongst ferns, unusual trees, and mosses. It was an easy hike compared to some we've been on, all except another suspension bridge. This one at least had wire sides on it so I wouldn't slide through and fall the 60' to my demise. Why do all these things bounce so much when I took such great pains to not shake it? Maybe it was my knees knocking. Anyway I survived the crossing even though It felt like Blondin crossing Niagra Falls on a tightrope.
The falls were great and on the way back we saw a toucan which was much different that the one we saw on the East Coast. When we got back to the lodge it was only 2 pm so we sat on the observation deck and had a beer and watched the volcano which was right in front of us as huge boulders came tumbling down the slope. You could see the smoke when they first appeared over the top of the crater. They continued to smoke and pick up speed as they tumbled down until when they reached top speed (I figured about 100 mph) they began to bounce. You could tell how far they were bouncing because of the smoke every time they landed. They must have been covering over 100 yards between landings. It was incredible to sit in a comfortable chair, sipping a beer and watching this display which continued one right after another.
We had supper at 6 pm and then went into the reception area where they had a dvd going of a day last Sept. when the volcano really got going. We bought a copy as it's very impressive and then got the receptionist to book as a "jeep/boat/jeep" ride to Monteverde in the cloud forest where we have a place booked for tomorrow night. We'll stay one night there while we look for a cheaper place. This place is $108/night incl. taxes and a free breakfast and a short hike in the morning. It's the best value we've had since arriving here. What an incredible place! I'd recommend this to anyone! We've got a huge room, two queen size beds, extra pillows, extra towels, a beautiful bathroom and a balcony that we can sit on and watch the volcano. It began raining shortly after we got back to our room so we'll get up before the sun comes up and try and get some pictures. We have seen the same boulders coming down only now they're balls of fire and they shower sparks whenever they hit the ground. They're too far away to film and that's why we bought the video.
Just off the observation deck when we were having a beer they put out fruit for the birds. And birds there were! Most we had never seen before and I got some great shots (check out facebook). They also had some coatamundie's come for fruit. At one point there were 22 of them! We can see the volcano from the bed so we'll be sleeping with one eye open tonight. We don't leave here until 2:15 tomorrow so we have lots of time for another hike.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29078&l=597f7&id=680056043
Al Cotton
al.cotton@shaw.ca

Costa Rica day 39 Feb. 16

2008-02-24T07:26:00.000-08:00

We had breakfast at the den of thieves and then packed up and went to the internet place. A beautiful sunny morning and while I downloaded pictures to facebook Jo went out and got some really nice pictures of the volcano and the church. We spent the afternoon checking out the souvenir shops and bought a new road map as the other one was turning into dust. Scotch tape was no longer working.
While walking around we bumped into Bris who was the girl from Kelowna who was robbed the other night. She and her two buddies are leaving this afternoon for Monteverde. She's hoping to meet up with her father shortly and although he was also robbed up in Nicaragua he lost what she still has and vice versa so they should be ok once they hook up. She was in much better spirits after I told her about Lance getting his journal back after about 15 years. I'm sure she'll make out ok.
Back to the internet after our supper of pork chops, rice, beans, and salad. Got a few more pics downloaded while Jo sat nearby working on her journal.
Heard the church bells at 6:30 & thought we better get moving to make the lightning strike a little less accurate. Made it back to our new digs which aren't bad and it has a good lock on the door, along w/ tv, a/c and a fan.
Tomorrow we're off to a place where we'll have a view (weather permitting) of the lava and fireworks which are on the other side of the volcano from here. It's a little pricey but it's only for one night and then we'll head to the cloud forests of Monteverde where we'll probably need our rain gear again but the wildlife is supposed to be excellent. (I'm talking about the nature's kind of wildlife).
It was nice to have a day off and get a little caught up on the computer. We may be offline for another stint depending on the services next week. I'd like to thank those who are following our trip. Some were concerned when there were no blogs for so long and thought maybe we'd been shot, eaten,fallen into a pothole, open sewer or worse.
I'm going to try and mark our path on this new map so I can post it. We've covered a lot of ground so far and the trips only half over.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=29077&l=f5ff6&id=680056043

Al Cotton

Costa Rica day 38 Feb. 15

2008-02-16T16:35:00.001-08:00

It was a short night after being awakened by the screaming, swearing and crying after our next door neighbors got home around 4 a.m. and found they'd been robbed. The police arrived and questioned them and they had a pretty good idea it was this kid Jeremy who they knew from previous runnins. One of the guys who came here at the same time we did mentioned that Jeremy had been sitting with him that night and a guy approached him with a box with some brand new shoes in it. Jeremy had said that $80 for them was too much. Coincidentally the next morning Jeremy shows up wearing the shoes. Part of the $400 loot?
We walked downtown and lo and behold the bank honors master card! It's the same bank that didn't in San Jose but now we're good to go for a while longer. We checked out the town which is loomed over by the Arenal Volcano. The peak is cloud enshrouded but it's still pretty ominous. We also found a wireless internet and I was finally able to get my blogs done and downloaded two days worth of pics onto facebook. The picture part is pretty time consuming taking about a minute per picture.
Tonight was our night to visit the volcano and we were to leave at 5 pm. When we returned here to pay for tonight we were told the place is booked for the w/end so this is our last night here. We found another place for the last night in La Fortuna so today will probably be an internet day as we have two hours to kill before we're able to move in.
We left here about 5:30 and arrived at the base of the volcano around 7 pm. It was very dark and damp. We set out along a jungle trail with about 25 others. Flashlights were essential as the trail was rough and muddy in spots. We hadn't gone far when we came to a suspension bridge over a fast flowing river. The bridge was about 75' across and was limited to 5 at a time. Well it's a damn good thing is was dark so I couldn't see. I was halfway across and holding onto the guy wires when I realized there was no net between the wires and the actual bridge! A huge fat guy was behind me (that made up for two people) and the bridge was bouncing like a trampoline. I was loaded with camera and backpack for my laptop (which I was now afraid to leave in the room) and getting across that damn bridge really freaked me out. I had visions of ending up in the river and not stopping until I reached the coast.
We hiked for about a half an hour through the jungle and you could hear the volcano off to our right. It sounded very much like thunder. We finally got to a lava field where we crossed and found (or tried to) a comfortable spot to view the fireworks. The top was still shrouded in clouds but occasionally you could see sparks and glowing lava for brief periods. It was too far away to get pictures so I guess we'll get some postcards. Our flashlight began to get weaker as we walked out so we followed another couple as close as we could. We had brought long pants and rain gear and sprayed our deet on but there were no bugs. After we got out someone spotted a small snake on the road. He said it was a coral snake but it was a look alike as the colored stripes are in a different order.
The next stop was a half an hour away wherre some of the people went into a hot springs in the river. This river really moves and it's hard to believe it could be so hot. We hadn't wanted to do the springs so we hung out with some of the others while the rest went in in the dark with their flashlights. We did see a coatamundi that our driver was feeding bread. The face resembled that of a bear.
Arriving back here it was lights out pretty quick. Jo's picked up a cold and hopefully it will pass quickly. We've made reservations at a place on Arenal Lake for Sunday night where you can view the volcano from your room (or so we've been told). That's it for today.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28461&l=bd298&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 37 Feb. 14

2008-02-15T11:11:00.000-08:00

Well happy valentines day! Had a quick breakfast in San Jose at the B&B & then made our way to a new busstop about 6 blocks away. We were first in line for the bus to La Fortuna. We had to check our bags in the underbody compartment so I did that while Jo jumped on and got us the two seats up front and across from the driver so I could take pictures through the windshield. It was about a 4 1/2 hour bus ride and it stopped a lot to pick up more people so we finally moved out of the "gimp" seats and moved to the back.
About a half an hour from the busstop we passed an accident on the hwy on the opposite side. Some guy on a motorcycle had been hit and was laying in the road. This brought to my attention that half the motorcycles down here (that use every lane in random fashion) don't have any rearview mirrors! Now that's a death wish if there ever was one. Around 1 pm. we started to experience drizzle and low clouds after climbing to a very high elevation on twisty, hilly roads. This turned into a full blown downpour when we arrived at La Fortuna.
As we retrieved our bags a young guy was there trying to round up people to stay at this place 3 blocks from downtown. He was talking to two guys from Alberta and we overheard the $7.00 a night per person which really got our attention so we all piled into a cab which he provided because of the rain and off we went. The pavement ended after two blocks and out front is almost cobblestones but not that orderly. We have our own room, hot water shower, internet if you can ever get onto it, and a kitchen/fridge for our use. The electrical outlets are different so I found a store and got a cheap adaptor. The hot water shower is an electric gizmo in the shower head but it seems to work. I'm going to get a picture of the fancy wiring job used to activate it. It's the kind of thing you want to throw a cat into first to see if it lives.
After checking in and paying for a trip tomorrow night to see the lava and hot springs we went for a stroll downtown. Had a great meal consisting of a pork chop, rice, beans, fried banana, and two kinds of salad for under $5.00. Then Mario brought us some excellent rice pudding with cinnamon in it for dessert. We then continued our stroll through the rain wearing our "big bird" yellow ponchos. We looked like a couple of ducks. This is the first time we've had them on and they do the job although they're very hot. They had some amazing souvenir shops with large wooden bowls which I'd love to get back but they're too big and heavy. Jo has had to chuck her runners a few days ago (either that or they ran away on their own) so her valentines present was some new ones. We also bought some more baking soda to fill mine but I think they're also beyond help. The good side is they guarantee you a seat to yourself on the busses.
On the way back to the unit we picked up some granola and yogurt to have for breakfast and then came back and sat on the patio. No sooner had we sat down when Jeremy the guy who rounded us up at the bus stop arrived with 3 more candidates for a $7.00 room. One was a young girl from Kelowna named Bri accompanied by two guys from the States. She'd been in Nicaragua for the last month, had sold her condo in Rutland and hit the road.
She and the guys went out around 10 pm to the disco while Jo and I were going to bed. Later in the evening (I thought it was morning) we heard some very heavy banging on a door and a lot of yelling. Turns out when they came back around 2 a.m. their door was open and all their belongings had been rifled through. Bri lost everything of any value. All her money ($400), her camera with all her pictures, her passport which had been under the mattress, her id including her visa etc. They called the cops and it seems this Jeremy guy is a seedy type as they knew him well.
She needs to go to San Jose to get another passport and they close Fri. at 1 for the w/end so she's stuck here although the police have offered to drive her. One of the American guys gave her $100 as she's completely broke now. She'll have to stay here for the w/end and then head to S.J. on Monday.
We always carry our cameras, passports, etc. with us no matter where we go so all that's in our backpacks are clothes and replaceable stuff. I've burned all my pictures onto dvd's and think we may mail them home as a backup. We also have photocopies of our passports, credit cards, social insurance etc. that we keep separate from the orig. A good lesson for all of us as when we checked in they offered these tours which tells them when we'll be out of the unit for hours at a time. Their place next door was opened with a key as there were no visible signs of entry and someone must have known they were at the disco while their room was being tossed. Live and learn. Now it's time to think about our next step.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28460&l=ea4c4&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 36 Feb. 13

2008-02-15T11:10:00.001-08:00

We skipped breakfast this morning and headed straight to the bus station. No reserved seating but we got there around 7 a.m. which gives us a pretty good shot at a seat. By 8 a.m. there were a handfull of people there and that was it so we had our pick of seats. Unfortunately I got on the sunny side and the lady in front of me decided to close the window. I hope she cooked. We moved back in the bus which was much better. It took us over an hour to get out of San Jose due to a traffic jam which was miles in front of us. These bus drivers sure have patience! We finally got to the source of the tieup and a bus was laying on it's side right near the airport. (remember what I said two days ago about the bus drivers only using the brakes when death was imminent?) How do you flip a bus? These guys have talent! The traffic continued to be tied up for quite a while after the accident scene but we finally headed out of town. The scenery was incredible as we climbed up past coffee plantations, farms and holstein cows. The green grass was brilliant so they must get a lot of rain up there. Bromeliads abounded in the trees although we didn't see any butterflies and not many birds. Lots of flowers, brugmansias, oleanders, and bougainvilleas added a lot of color to the one and half hour trip that turned into two and a half.
When we were about a half an hour from the volcano the bus stopped for a 10 minute banyo break and then it clouded over and began drizzling which isn't good for volcano viewing. I was surprised he stopped in view of the fact he was running so late. The trip cost about $3.00 each for a round trip and that gave us 3 hours to prowl. The entrance fee was $10.00 each. When we approached the park entrance we paid our fee and you could smell the sulpher in the air (even over my rotten runners). We walked along a paved area for about 20 minutes uphill to the viewing area. There was a platform for taking pictures and it was well back from the edge of the crater so that's where I headed (just to get away from the edge). It was a breathtaking site and my first time seeing a volcano. Huge! The clouds had lifted and the entire area was clear. It had rained recently when we began walking and the steam was rising from the walkway. After getting our pictures we walked for another uphill 20 minutes to the crater lake which is separate from the actual volcano lake. Beautiful but with no life forms in it due to the sulpher from a previous era. The walk in here was very nice and very damp with water dripping off the overhead vines and trees. Moss everywhere but no wildlife to speak of other than a squirrel and a couple of birds. I bushwacked a little hoping to see some colorful frogs but didn't see any.
We had a lunch of bread and some kind of nut stuff (nutella?) It tided us over until we got back. We also went into the information center where we bought a dvd on the cloud forest which I'll incorporate into my dvd when I get home. Not sure if I've mentioned it earlier but I also got one on the wildlife of Costa Rica which is very good. I haven't watched this new one yet.
We had a bite to eat after walking all over hell looking for some baking soda to fill my shoes. I think they're beyond help but we'll see in the morning. Which reminds me of the other day while on the chicken bus it was standing room only. I'd tied my shoes on the back of my backpack and one fell on the floor. Jo picked it up and tied it to her belt while some lady grabbed a seat that came available right next to Jo and it should have been hers. Well she paid the price as the shoe (which really was reeking) was right in her face for the whole trip. Everytime I looked at her I nearly broke out laughing. She was even holding her nose! Jo didn't notice this as her back was to her but when I told her last night she nearly wet herself laughing. This also reminded me of an earlier blog where I mentioned that our mngr in Cahuita was pretty stingy with his toilet paper and you had to chase him to get some more. Well we were with some friends on the patio one night when he appeared and everyone jumped him for more paper. I hollered over to him not to bother as we were all using the towels. That spurred him on to cough up the paper!
We still haven't been able to reach anyone at Arenal to make reservations so we're going to leave San Jose in the morning and wing it to La Fortuna/Nuevo. We'll find something around there and it will give us time to find exactly what we're looking for. This used to be the best area to view the lava at night but about 2 years ago the flow changed so we're trying to get into a small village a way off the beaten path where it's more visible. Viewing the lava is quite difficult due to cloud cover but we've also been told that Feb. is the preferred month so we're keeping our fingers crossed.
Tomorrow will be another long day travelling and we've got about a 10 block walk to the correct bus stop with our packs so hopefully we'll find something quickly when we reach our destination.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28456&l=0c6b1&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 35 Feb. 12

2008-02-15T11:08:00.000-08:00

Well today we walked, and we walked, and we walked. Explored all the museums and the central market along with a handicraft market where we picked up a couple of hammocks. We kind of fell in love with the ones in Montezuma and thought they'd be nice to have at home. Got a good deal on two of them. Saw an exhibition of sketches by Rembrandt in the museum but couldn't take any pictures and it was so damn dark in there they may as well have been my sketches. Saw lots of gold artifacts done by the mayans along with carvings done by locals. The detail in the gold and copper was amazing (and it was also under lock and key). The handicraft area was also fascinating with lots of stuff we hadn't seen before. Unfortunately we've got a long way to go and who's going to carry it for us?
We stopped across from the main park at McDonalds for lunch as they had a balcony overlooking the park. Sat with a fellow named Tom from Pennsylvania who joined us to the market on the way home. Interesting guy and he told us the best way to marinate meat is with papaya juice!
Jo tried to make reservations for us in Arenal where we could watch the volcano which is active but they're booked up until the 21st and we couldn't reach any of the other ones. This prompted us to change our plans once more and decided to go to Poas volcano instead. The bus leaves from near here at 8:30 and the book suggests getting there an hour early so we can get a seat. This is the largest active volcano in the world and you can get right to the edge of the crater so it will be interesting to see if I can get pictures while laying on my belly and holding on with both hands.. If I even feel a tremor I'll be a trail of dust over the horizon.
No emails from anyone lately. Where is everybody?
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28455&l=7c892&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 34 Feb. 11

2008-02-15T11:07:00.000-08:00

Breakfast this morning consisted of a granola bar and coffee each before saying our goodbyes and heading to the bus stop to head to Limon. We'd planned to spend a night there and then head to Torteguera by boat for two nights. Well it now seems no one will touch a master card and we were getting low on money so the only option was to catch another bus to San Jose, the capital. Surely a bank there would fix us up. We did more backpacking today looking for money than anywhere else. It's very frustrating to stand in a line of 75-100 people for hours only to find out they don't want master card. The ATM's wouldn't work either. We finally found the Bank of San Jose would bail us out so we got $500 in colones (259,000 of them) and then caught a cab to the B&B where we stayed the last time we were here. This time we were clever enough to request a room at the back of the bldg rather than the front where you get all the street noise (and there's lots of that!)
The bus to San Jose was first class and the first one I've seen w/ a bathroom. These things sure have power as we passed everything on the road (mostly tractor trailors going uphill). You really have to hang on as these guys only slow down when death is imminent. That's one of the things about the chicken busses. If you don't get a seat and it's an hour ride over rough winding roads it's tests your strength to hold on with one hand while holding onto the laptop bag with the other. You don't want to use the overhead rack as things get stolen quite easily from there.
When we got off the bus in San Jose Jo went to use the banyo and there was a lady sitting outside the door that you pay and she gives you a small amount of toilet paper. What a job! She's got a big bag of rolls of toilet paper and she just tears it off and waits for a customer. Guess it pays to help keep the bathrooms clean. I wonder how she decides how much is enough. I think I'd be tempted to waddle to the door with my pants around my knees and ask her for some more.
After checking in we headed out for our first meal in two days. There's a Nicaraguan restaurant just down the street so we went in and ordered bifstek. You'd think I'd know better by now but Jo hadn't tried it yet so thought we'd give it one more try. Well Jo got the hoof of the bull I missed and I got the hoof that he bangs into the ground to toughen it up.
We're going to stay here for a couple of nights and check out the museums and art galleries before heading up North to Arenal and the cloud forests.
Jo just heard there's a tour from Arenal to Torteguera for $35.00 which is a lot cheaper than the trip we'd planned from Limon so that's probably now an option for us.
The bus trip today was the best yet as it was half empty so we each had our own seat and a place to put our packs. While having supper we were quite close to the Coca Cola bus depot. I'd estimate there are at least 60 busses an hour passing through there, sometimes coming in 4 at a time. I was able to get a few good pics from the bus window. One of the barrio on the outskirts of San Jose which we'd passed by on the way going to Limon. We also saw a local homeless guy down the street who we'd seen last time but this time he'd improved his living conditions. Instead of crawling into a garbage bag this time he had a cardboard box to put his head in. Things are looking up as there's no shortage of garbage bags or boxes. Unfortunately most of the bags are empty and litter the streets. We've been told there are two museums that are a "must see". One of them is the gold museum which is the largest collection in Costa Rica and the other one is the Jade museum. I'm taking a hammer and chisel to both just in case.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28454&l=0c9ef&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 33 Feb. 10

2008-02-15T11:06:00.000-08:00

Another night from hell thanks to the neighbours. They spent about 3 or 4 hours getting high on something and then went out around 9 pm. When they came back they kept us awake until 1 or 1:30 and then one of them got up about 5 hacking and coughing up chunks of lung, dragging chairs around and just being a regular pain in the ass. I'll be glad this is our last night here.
Jo has gone snorkelling with Lisa and hopefully the ocean will cooperate. I got hardly any sleep last night so stayed behind to catch up. Jo wasn't going to go but I talked her into it. The guide said if it's no good he wouldn't charge them so we'll see what happens. We went to the bank yesterday morning to get some more money but they don't take M/C. Great! So we're getting low on $ and will replenish the coffers when we get to Limon tomorrow. They take m/c here so we're good to go and Jo was able to use my card for the snorkelling.
You learn as you go and in hindsight we should have brought a visa card as backup as Jo also has m/c. Something to remember down the road.
It is fairly cloudy out today which is a first and we had a brief shower while sitting out here on the covered patio earlier on. I thought about heading back into the park to meet up w/ Jo as the guides give them the choice of coming back by boat or walking back from the point which is about 3.5 km. Scratch that idea I'm going back to bed for an hour. The sunburn feels much better today, I'm just tired.
We've made reservations in Tortegura North of here for Tues. and Wed. night. The only way in is by boat which goes up a canal lined with mangroves and there's a lot of wildlife along the way. We'll stay for 2 nights and do some touring around while we're there. According to our map it looks like we can take another boat down a river to a small town where we can catch a bus into San Jose. We'll probably stay there for a night and then head up North to Arenal and the volcanoes.
There's a book of Costa Rican maps at the reception desk that I've taken pictures of. My plan is to put them on photoshop and then highlite our route. So far we've covered quite a bit of ground. We also identified several of the wildlife pictures I've taken. There's one particular bird down here that we first heard in Playa Coco and it seems to say "kick your feet". Turns out it's a Kissidee. We've also got an abundance of blue tanagers and hummingbirds flitting around in the yard surrounding the patio. This patio is in a central courtyard and about 15or 20'x40. It's covered and has tables with table cloths that were last washed by the conquistadors but it's a central meeting place for everyone and there's always free coffee out here. We also have use of the kitchen and fridge which is real handy. For the most part (except for the youalls) everyone gets along great and help each other with ideas, translations, and advice. Lisa the Dutch lady has proved to be a great benefit to us and is an accomplished world traveller on a very limited budget. She speaks several languages and helped us this morning by making our reservations in Tortegura.
Rene the manager is a real character and it's hard to pay him. He keeps saying "manana" or "piano" which I'm told means chill out I'll get it when I get it. If he's not quick he won't be getting it as our bus leaves very early tomorrow and he seems to disappear for hours at a time and leaves the desk empty. His son helps him and prefers to tell visiting backpackers that "we're full" which was the case when we got here but our cab driver straightened him out. That's it for now we'll see how Jo makes out when she gets back.
Well Jo and Lisa got back and had a good snorkel seeing lots of fish. We all went out to Miss Ediths for lunch. I settled for a pineapple milkshake which was closer to a sunday with lots of ice cream (the first since I left home. That was my meal for the day as I haven't been a whole lot.
We sat up and talked on the patio for a few hours and then turned in around 8:30. The youalls had gone out but they showed up around midnight and were at it again until Jo banged on the wall so hard I thought she was going to make another door. That seemed to do the trick and we were good for the rest of the night.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28452&l=09de0&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 32 Feb. 9

2008-02-15T11:05:00.000-08:00

According to the snorkelling guides it's still not a good day to snorkel so we headed back into the park and just veg'd on the beach. Saw some white crabs, millions of ants going about their business and some howlers. Big surf. Jo went in for a few minutes and I stayed in the shade and dozed. When we decided to come back home I was fried on my head and I'd been in the shade all day!
We stopped at a shop where the famous 90 year old folk singer Walter Ferguson lives. His songs all revolve around life here in Cahuita. Jo and I first heard his music at Playa del Sol and it's part Spanish part English and part Caribb. We bought a cd of his music and left it with the lady in the hopes she would get him to autograph it. We'll pick it up tomorrow and I plan to use it as background music when I compile my pictures onto a dvd.
We made sandwiches for our lunch today which was a nice change. Found some real good heavy wheat bread, some processed ham, cheese, and tomatoes. Had that for supper to and then I hit the sack early as the beach burned me out.
LINK OF THE DAY http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28410&l=0584f&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 31 Feb. 8

2008-02-15T11:04:00.000-08:00

We headed of this morning to Manazanilla on a chicken bus it was a pretty bumpy dusty drive for the most part. Manzanilla is a small fishing village and near the end of the road as far as Costa Rica goes. The only stop remaining is Sixaola at the Panamanian border. The village itself is comprised mainly of a town square with a park, beach, Maxi's restaurant and another smaller restaurant. We had a good lunch when we arrived around noon upstairs at Maxi's overlooking the ocean. Our friends who accompanied us headed straight to the beach. Lisa from Holland, a couple of German girls and another fellow from Holland. Lisa was dying to get snorkelling but the weather/water still wasn't condusive. We joined them after lunch and had a layed back beach day until it became time to leave at 5:15. The bus ride here stopped at every little bush to pick up and drop off and it was standing room only for the most part. Coming back it was faster and we made it in an hour but it was still dark when we got here. Hopefully tomorrow will be a snorkelling day.
LINK OF THE DAY http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28409&l=57e54&id=680056043
Al Cotton

Costa Rica day 30 Feb 7

2008-02-15T11:03:00.001-08:00

We had our granola and yogurt for breakfast and then headed down the street to the bus station. The bus showed up right on time at 9 a.m. and off we went towards Manzanilla. We got off after about 15 minutes at the botanical gardens which was a short walk from the drop off point. The bus driver advised us when we got close to the "entrada panducci". That spelling is probably all wrong but it means the entrance to the sweet bread I think.
We had read that it opened at 10:00 a.m. but when we got there it said closed on Tues. through Thurs. We waited by the gate until 10 watching the multitude of birds and then Jo got someone's attention. He went and got the owner who asked us to come back tomorrow. We explained we couldn't so he let us in, where he gave us a map of the grounds and the propagation area. The path was about a km. long and most of the trees etc. were well marked. He also told us there are lots of toucans and that to find them you listen for cricketlike sounds coming out of the trees. He also pointed out a poison dart frog right at our feet. We later some many of them. Bright red and about an inch long. We saw all kinds of exotic trees along with fruit, spice and medicinal ones. It was a seed collecting frenzy for a while. We saw star fruit which we've tasted, pepper, vanilla, lime, and pomegranate. Also, on a huge rotting tree we came across three large centipedes. We saw a few toucans but I was only able to get a picture of one which I've zoomed on the computer. Beautiful birds with many colors. We spent three hours there before heading back to the bus stop on the dirt road. This was right across from the beach so it was cool and within site of Puerto Veijho which was just down the road.
I took about 150 pictures plus what Jo took so we downloaded them when we got back. The total number of pics so far is around 3500 which is about 100 a day. For supper we went just across the street. Jo had chicken and rice which was cooked in coconut juice. I had a cheeseburger which was good. The bun wasn't toasted, the hamburger was about the size of a looney and it came with ham which down here is the processed minced stuff you get in the packages. I'd have thought real ham would be abundant down here but haven't seen any yet (or pigs either for that matter).
Jo managed to reach Lance and Maggie tonight. We only got to talk to Maggie and Bella but seems like she still remembers us. It was good to hear their voices. I think we're out of time on the phone card and most of the pay phones down here don't work. We'll pick another card up next time we go to the mercado.
Tomorrow if it's nice we'll go snorkelling. The water is still murky from the rain and high waves of the last couple of days. You have to go with a guide ($) as they don't want you collecting which I can't blame them.
It's 8:10 now and nearly time for lights out. It gets blacker than Toby's ass by 6 pm. Looks like we'll stay here for at least another three days as it's cheaper than Manzanilla so we'll see that by bus and then return here. After that we still may go to Panama by bus as we're very close. There's also a canal that goes North from Limon but it's an overnighter I think. It's supposed to be good for bird and wildlife watching and we had such good luck in Palo Verde it's worth the $.
We got new neighbours yesterday. They're two American girls and a guy. The couple is from Oregon and the girl is from Franklin N.C. They partied all night and kept us awake. A fellow from Spain approached them around 10:30 and asked them to tone it down and that nearly turned into a fistfight. By the time I got out there everyone had disappeared. This place pretty much shuts down by 10 when they turn off the porch lites but these inconsiderate idiots didn't get the picture. They should have gone to La Viejho where the lifestyle is more suitable for them. Rene our mngr/owner talked to them in the morning and looks like things are now in line. (Hopefully)
Well that's it for tonight.
LINK OF THE DAY http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28405&l=328af&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 29 Feb. 6

2008-02-15T11:02:00.001-08:00

Well this morning I tried to get on line w/ the mac. The girl in the internet place last night got on for me but this morning nada. I'm doing something wrong and it's extremely frustrating. After breakfast we walked to the Playa Negro just North of here. The surf was up and the beach really is black unlike the one to the South (Playa Blanco). The beach is all sand but fairly narrow and it's lined w/ driftwood and millions of coconuts. If I had a machete we'd be drinking coconut milk. We bought some yogurt and granola last night in the super mercado and had that for breakfast. The yogurt was mixed fruit and quite good. They make an urn of coffee out here on the patio around 6 a.m. each morning so we were good to go.
Tried to call Lance and Maggie last night on the receptionists cell phone but the line was busy. Too bad I don't know how to work this video that's built into the mac. Next time I travel I'll look into skype (I think it's called.)
Jo got to be the designated blood donor last night for the mosquitoes. I escaped unharmed. It just occurred to me I think it's eating bananas that attracts them. I'm sure I read that somewhere. We got rain last night and that brought them on as well. Walking to the beach today you could feel the humidity emanating from the dirt roads. It had to be 100%. I think in future we'll stick to Playa Blanco as the black sand sticks to everything and it's all intertidal so quite damp.
On the way to the beach we passed the local school. All the kids were in the yard getting their lessons under a shade tree. All around them were the adults who were also learning. I was hoping to get a picture but they were gone when we came back.
We had supper at the same place but this time we got a whole plate of the breadfruit. They hadn't salted it so when we asked for sal (salt) it came in a dish and we put it on with our fingers.) It was a downer of a day for me because I'd been counting on being able to get on line all night and then nothing. There is no wireless in town as we've looked. We had kept an eye out for the girl from the previous night but haven't seen her. She's the only one we've seen with a mac.
The toilet paper in this place is on rolls which may be sufficient for one day so it's a constant search for Rene to get more. We finally started using our own.
Well that's it for today
LINK OF THE DAY
Show people this album by sending them this public link:http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28377&l=6e708&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 28 Feb. 5

2008-02-15T11:00:00.000-08:00

Another great day and good news! The camera is working again. It had been locked into high definition which changed the configuration of the pictures. I guess it just needed to dry out. The other great thing is a lady in the internet room, following Paul's instructions, got the computer working on DSL so now I can update everything. I've been doing the blog as a draft and then copying and pasting.
We had an early breakfast yesterday and got onto the trail in the park by 7:30. We checked in at the interpretation booth, gave a donation of 2,000 colones and off we went. We hadn't gone 200' down the packed sandy trail when we were bombarded with almonds from high above. The monkeys were so glad to see us. Shortly after that we came across a path of green leaf cuttings crossing the trail. At last, the leaf cutting ants. We watched them for several minutes as they carried the pieces of leaves into the nest & got some pictures. This park is more of a leisurely walk than a hike like the other parks we've been in. A high canopy with beautiful ferns and philadendrons. In places where it's muddy there is an elevated walkway. It was while crossing one of these that Jo spotted a green racer snake about 2' long.
The path goes for 8 km to the next village and follows the shoreline so it's shady and cool. We walked a total of about 5 miles there and back saving the last of the trail for another day. Following the path we then came across howler monkeys, white chinned monkeys, coons, and finally a sloth who was scooting up a tree. I got a short video of him and Jo got a good shot although his head was hidden behind some leaves in the canopy. Towards the 4 km mark we were approached by a white chinned monkey standing upright in the middle of the path. I walked up to him and he climbed a small tree while I took pictures. Jo was standing behind me when he came down & walked quite close past my legs. The next thing I knew he was on my back! Scared the hell out of me. I swung around to shake him off and he got down but not before stealing a banana that was one of several we had in a pocket in my pack. The zipper on the pocket was broken and he'd seen them in there. Jo couldn't get a picture of the monkey on my back as it happened so fast we didn't have a chance. Maybe we should have gotten a shot of my shorts! He followed us for a while but I picked up a Tarzan club and he got the idea pretty quick. About halfway along the trail we came upon a park volunteer who had a questionaire to fill out. He wanted to know why we chose to visit the park and I explained that I'd heard monkey meat was quite good when cooked right and that sloth made a good stew. He was French so probaby thought it was some kind of gastronomic delight he hadn't heard of
We stopped part way back for a rest and to enjoy a shady spot on a fallen tree and watched the waves. We'd walked for about 6-7 hours. That's a long way for a guy like me who drives to the bus stop. The legs are really getting into shape and we're eating very well with lots of chicken, fish, veggies, and the best fresh fruit I've ever had. The pineapple and watermelon is incredibly good!
After we got back I downloaded our pics and then went to try the internet again. Our room doesn't have a three way outlet so I can't charge the mac up although I can do the batteries for the camera each night. Glad I have two of them. Well now we've found we can get on line with the laptop and plug it in in a covered dining area just outside our room where there are tables and coffee along with a 3 way plug right next to a table. I'm now in heaven!
For supper last night we walked around and tried a new place about a half a block away. I ordered chicken w/ coconut sauce and Jo had a seafood/rice dish. While waiting the waiter brought over something we'd never seen before for a snack. We both fell in love with it and it turns out it's fried breadfruit! First you peel it and then boil it and then salt it and fry it. I asked for another dish of it but we had eaten the last they had. He assured us they'd have more today so we'll be back.
The restaurant is open to the street as most of them are, but even though the street is dirt the wind was blowing the right way and the traffic is low and quiet unlike some of the villages we've been in where motorbikes w/o mufflers prevail.
It's dark here by 6 and all the locals come out and socialize. The kids are really cute with little pom poms in the girls hair. The locals here are darker than on the Pacific side and are decendants of Caribbean and Jamaican. The town is reasonably clean with the usual homeless dogs present. Lots of people on bicycles and most of them speak English moreso than the Pacific side.
We met a Dutch lady last night who highly recommended the boat ride up the canal through the mangroves to the next village North. Lots of birds, snakes etc. so that's now on our list of things to do. We'll stay overnight up there and then return the next day. We also want to head to Manzanilla just south of here for a few nights and right next to another game preserve. It's a small fishing village which is to our liking as the food is great, few tourists, and very friendly people.
Well my mornings work is now done so we'll head out for breakfast and then hopfully update the facebook.
Maggie and Lance if you read this let us know by email when we can reach you.
LINK OF THE DAY http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28374&l=6c9eb&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 27 Feb. 4

2008-02-15T10:59:00.000-08:00

Another fairly early start. After breakfast of a pancake, coffee and juice we headed to the bank as there aren't supposed to be any at Limon. Waited for the bank of Nova Scotia to open and then were told they don't do master card. Checked out and took a cab to a different bus station near the museum which appeared to be an old fort. Great bus station. Much classier than the Coca Cola from yesterday. Traffic with all the busses in San Jose is unreal! We bought tickets for Limon which left in 15 minutes. Another great ride on a Mercedes! We were on the L.H. side so a lot of the pictures were blurred by oncoming tractor trailers but the views were incredible. Worth the $4.00 each just to see that. It was a 3 hour ride up mntns. out of San Jose and into the rain forest. Completely different than the lowland dry forest we had grown used to. Very lush with beautiful flowering trees, huge leafed philadenderons,vines, and something that resembled sea oats that towered over the bus. Drove through what I guess to be a cloud forest and then a tunnel that went right through a mountain! It was very dark in the tunnel and my backpack was next to me in the aisle so I had a firm grip on it. Coming down out of the rainforest it leveled out to fields of pineapples, and bananas as far as you could see. As we approached Limon (on the Caribbean coast) we passed huge yards full of containers and semis waiting to pick up the produce and take it to the ships for export.
As soon as we got off the bus we were approached by Edgar the cab driver. He was quite a salesman but we told him we wanted to eat first in the depot. A great bus terminal! We had bifsteak (that's the way they spell it),rice and beans and a coke. Edgar stayed at our table to avoid us getting away. Good thing as he was the best! He suggested an inexpensive place about 50 km down the road near another game reserve which is what we're here for. Off we went in his old Honda and breakneck speed. The road was quite good as was the toll road we took in the bus to Limon. We followed miles of beautiful beach and banana plantations. All the bunches of bananas were covered with blue plastic bags. Edgar explained this is to keep the mosquitoes off the fruit. We then came to a banana processing factory where he pulled in. We could see the large trucks of green bananas, the sorters, and the wash/debugging facility. From here they went onto a conveyor and then into a truck for export.
The next stop was a fruit stand beside the road where he explained the different kinds of fruit. Breadfruit, small honey bananas, watermelon and coco beans (nuts, whatever you call them but not coconuts) He told us how to eat them and we bought one just to get the seeds to bring home. We next came to a coco tree on the L.H. side of the road. he pulled over and drove down the wrong side (with an oncoming car) and then onto the side to show us the tree complete with seed pods. He picked one and cracked it open on the road. It was filled with a white milky substance which you eat. The seeds can be dried out and ground up into coco. (our next project).
He also pulled over to show us two guys fishing for bait. They used a termite nest, dig out the termites and use them as bait to catch bigger bait. When we got to our destination it was no vacancy but Edgar talked to the guy and here we are. $25/ a night. Nice enough place and about 100 yards to the beach and the entrance to the reserve is only a block away. The book says "lots of sloths, capuchin monkeys, snorkelling on a reef, snakes, etc. " Sounds like heaven to me. I still have leaf cutter ants and a yellow boa on my list.
We picked this place as it has internet but it's DSL and I can't get old Mac to work, so hopefully Paul can talk me through it. If thats the case I can update facebook finally. There's no wireless around here. We checked in, looked for wireless and then headed to the mercado to get a bottle of $10 bacardi and some coke which is now in process. I think we're going to like this place and tomorrow we'll check out the beach and maybe a hike. We figure 3 days here and then 3 days farther South in Manzanilla at the South end of the road. More bugs here but we've got our 99% neat (repellant from hell) and a mosquito net so we'll be in good shape. If that doesn't work we're taking our malaria pills every Thurs.. Any bugs bite me they'll get what they deserve. A lethal dose of Bacardi and deet.
Our stomach turmoils have ceased and we're back to normal on that front (or rear as the case may be). It wasn't the water but our systems getting used to the different bacteria. Thanks to Nic and Doug for their advise. We never had diarreah but just stayed "loose". That's a little different than hanging loose, for you novices. We're in great physical shape now and ready to hike anywhere. It will be nice now to get in some beach/snorkelling time. We're still only eating twice a day and don't miss the extra meal and the "no junk stuff diet". I've never eaten so healthy but you don't know what fruit is until you've tried the stuff down here. The closest I usually come to fresh fruit is wine aged a year.
We're "happy in the jungle" and all is well.
From this coast we'll head back to San Jose and then take a look at Arenal the volcano/cloud forest, hot springs. There is a lot to see and do around here so we may stay longer. There's also a lot to see in San Jose according to Jo so we'll spend a few days there. It's quite a bit higher than the coast and we had a cool night last night with no need for a/c or the fan.
LINK OF THE DAY http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28371&l=41285&id=680056043

Costa Rica Feb. 3

2008-02-15T10:57:00.000-08:00

Sunday and we're off. Booked out of our place in Quepos and bought our tickets to San Jose ($5.40 ea. for a 200km trip). The bus left at 12:30 and everyone got a seat. (They were reserved). We keep our backpacks w/ us on the bus and squeeze them in between our legs and the seat in front of us. It's tight but at least secure. Our ride was a 1st class Mercedes bus with a helluva lot of power! We also had Mario Andretti behind the wheel. You don't need to go ziptrekking for a thrill ride. Just get on a bus that's 20 minutes late! We passed everything on the road by twice the speed they were going! There was one accident I saw where a car had gone end over end. We were going too fast to see but it looked very recent as there were people milling about.
The bus trip took 4 hours and dropped us off at the Coca Cola bus stop which is the main terminal in San Jose. It was only a block and a half to the B&B. This place is very secure and you have to ring a doorbell by the gate at the street and someone buzzes you in. They have internet so I may see if I can hook their cable up to my mac. After checking in we walked over near the bus station to inquire about catching the next bus to Limon and found out we need to go to a different terminal by cab.
The scenery from Quepos to here was out of site! We went from sea level and climbed forever up steep winding roads. Cars were pulled over at every wide spot with boiling radiators. These busses live a hard life! There was a 15 minute break about halfway here at a Soda where you could go to the banyo, get a pop and a bite to eat. We stayed with our bags on the bus and had our water, gator aide, and two bananas each along with a granola bar.
Supper last night consisted of 2 cokes, and a loaf of bread and 5 pieces of bbq'd chicken. We brought it back here to eat. The chicken (5 pcs) came to under $3.00 and was great.
We have a huge room with 2 dble beds, a/c,fan,t.v. and private bathroom w/ hot water (most are cold water down here but it's not cold). The temp here is quite a bit cooler and I'd guess in the high 70's so we didn't need the a/c. The only downside to this place is we're in a front room and the street noise is very loud. Something to remember in the future. Seems like everyone in San Jose is glad we're here as they all greet us as they pass by with their horns or if that doesn't work with their Jake brakes (although there's no hill).
Well time to call a cab to get to the bus stn. Next stop the Caribbean side where we're hoping to get some beach and exploring time in. We've got a mask and snorkel and there's a reef there. I also realized that now my camera is on the fritz it's stuck in high definition mode so the pictures are elongated. Hope it doesn't interfere with adding them to facebook. Paul if you read this can the h.d. be converted on the mac to standard format?
LINK OF THE DAY http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28370&l=68acf&id=680056043
Al & Jo

Costa Rica day 25 Feb. 2

2008-02-02T16:23:00.002-08:00

HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL EVER SEE THIS?????

Stayed in a nice place last night right downtown. This place (Quepos) is quite nice and reasonably clean. Had a great supper of lime chicken and Jo had coconut curried chicken. Went back to our air conditioned room and crashed. The hotel electrical outlets won't accept our plugs so I can't charge the computer or camera batteries. We also had no luck at the internet place across the street as they're on dial up. Found this place today but they close shortly so I'm going full throttle.
We caught a bus this morning to Manuel Antonio Nature Reserve for about .23 ea. What a ride. Straight up and then straight down. Paid $7.00 to go hiking. We didn't use a guide as the hotel mngr. told us not to. I've got to be brief here so I'll get the picture of the baby sloth posted and then we'll be getting the boot. It was on a pretty deserted trail and there it was about even with our hips on a tree about an inch thick. Just hanging on and apparently sleeping. We also saw some white faced monkeys, coons, and some dizzying heights for pictures. Another really hot hike but worth it.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28367&l=23bed&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 25 Feb. 2

2008-02-02T16:23:00.001-08:00

Stayed in a nice place last night right downtown. This place (Quepos) is quite nice and reasonably clean. Had a great supper of lime chicken and Jo had coconut curried chicken. Went back to our air conditioned room and crashed. The hotel electrical outlets won't accept our plugs so I can't charge the computer or camera batteries. We also had no luck at the internet place across the street as they're on dial up. Found this place today but they close shortly so I'm going full throttle.
We caught a bus this morning to Manuel Antonio Nature Reserve for about .23 ea. What a ride. Straight up and then straight down. Paid $7.00 to go hiking. We didn't use a guide as the hotel mngr. told us not to. I've got to be brief here so I'll get the picture of the baby sloth posted and then we'll be getting the boot. It was on a pretty deserted trail and there it was about even with our hips on a tree about an inch thick. Just hanging on and apparently sleeping. We also saw some white faced monkeys, coons, and some dizzying heights for pictures. Another really hot hike but worth it.
LINK OF THE DAY http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28367&l=23bed&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 24 Feb. 1

2008-02-02T16:01:00.000-08:00

We got up before dawn today and got all packed to leave Montezuma. Got to the bus stop at 7 a.m and the bus was to be there waiting at 7:45. It showed up at 8:15 and after much shoving, elbowing etc. we got on. There's no such thing here as manners apparently and we have to get more aggressive than we're used to. The driver was busy most of the time talking to the guy across the bus and behind him. Problem being he had to look at him while he was talking. When he wasn't doing that he was on his cell or stowing stuff under the dash & driving w/ no hands! The bus took us to Paqueral where we boarded the ferry to Puntarenas It was a big ferry and held a pile of vehicles. It took just over an hour to get to the other side and then we boarded a bus to the bus station. The ticket office was a couple of blocks from the depot and we were lucky a lady showed us where to get the tickets or we'd have been sitting there out of luck. The bus got there at 12:30 and we thought we were going to Jaco where we would catch another bus in the morning as it was getting too late to catch a bus w/ no reservations in Quepos which is just outside the game preserve of Manuel Antonio. It's hard to make reservations ahead as you never know how far your going to get.
We hadn't gone more than 45 minutes out of Puntarenas when the bus stopped. After about 15 minutes people started getting off. Turns out it had broken down but the driver hadn't said anything. We all piled off and stood under a tree for shade and waited for another bus. Fortunately our tickets gave us a seat number so we were ok although we kept our backpacks between our legs and the seat in front of us for the three hour ride. People were standing and the lady in front of us had two seats. One for her handbag and another small bag. She did this for the whole 3 hours even when there was a lady standing beside her holding her little girl in her arms! Another girl had asked if she could use the seat and was told no! These were local people and we've witnessed this before. I can't understand how such great people can be so inconsiderate of each other! I'd have given the lady my seat but she couldn't get in for the backpack.
The 2nd bus came by about 45 minutes later and off we went. I was concerned that we wouldn't get our seats back but it worked out. We don't like to stow the backpacks under the bus as nothing here is secure. I never let go of my laptop or camera. The stuff in the backpacks is all expendable as far as I'm concerned. Well we got to Jaco and the bus keeps going South! Well hey that works for us so we go all the way to Quepos where we intended to go anyway. On the way through town we noticed a bank and we were running low on calones so that was our first stop. It was open! Yahoo and right close by. I went to get $500 on my m/c and had to show my id. I pulled out the copy I'd made and it had deteriorated to the point of no face. Not that that's a bad thing but it's the only one I've got. It got soaked yesterday from persperation while we were hiking. I kept it in my fanny pack with the camera and the orig. passports which now no longer have the C.R. stamps in them. I finally got the money. $500.00 is 215,000 calones! now that's a lot of dinero. Jo's got half of it in a pocket she made in her bras. She's now a 38ddd on one side.
We checked out then to find a hotel. The first one was booked solid and this is scarey. I don't want to spend the night in an open ditch cause I know what's in the ditch! Better to go to jail maybe. Well we got one of the last two rooms in a place across the street. It's got tv and air so that's ok but no electrical outlets that I can plug this thing into. There's an internet place right across the street but my laptop doesn't work there. (I think it's a dial up thing) Now this really pissed me off cause I dont know how to access my hotmail account on a different computer. Jo managed to send a couple of emails but guess I'll have to wait. I was hoping to download all my pics and it was so handy. Just too good to be true I guess.
The manager of the hotel didn't recommend paying for a tour guide in the park tomorrow. The bus there is only .23 so he said take that and follow a tour so we'll know where to look and save $45 ea! Nice guy. Hope they've got another room here for us tomorrow. We have to check with the lady on the desk at 7 a.m. tomorrow. If not we can't go to the park as we'll have our backpacks. We'll see what happens.
LINK OF THE DAY http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28366&l=84ec1&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 23 Jan. 31

2008-02-02T16:00:00.001-08:00

Sorry about the lack of up to date pics on facebook but the internet cafe was just too slow downloading. Hopefully we can find a hotel with internet so I can get the facebook caught up.
We caught a bus this morning at 8 a.m. to take us into the Cabo Blanco game reserve about a 1/2 hour ride from Montezuma. It was a bumpy logging type road going in but very picturesque and fairly cool considering what was yet to come. Upon arriving at the park headquarters we paid $10 each and were given a map with two choices. One was a circle 2 hour hike through the lower dryland forest and the other being a 5 hour hike to the Playa Blanco beach (2 1/2 hours each way.) We elected to take the long, more arduous route. It was easy going for the first 45 minutes which was part of the shorter hike but after that it became steeper both up and down and quite a bit hotter even though we were shaded by the canopy. Most of the trail consisted of walking down washed out creek beds. My knee started to give out after about an hour of going downhill. This hasn't happened since hunting years ago and even though I could hear the breakers once again there was still another half a mile to go downhill to get there. I thought rather than chance it I'd start back up at a slow pace and Jo continued on down to the beach with the camera. I made it to a small creek we'd crossed earlier and stopped to wash out my shirt and cool myself down. I perspire a lot normally but this hike had me watering down the trail! The camera, just prior to handing it off to Jo, was acting out of character and it was because it had become drenched with sweat and I'd been carrying it in my hand. I couldn't put it in the fanny pack as it too was wet inside. Fortunately we'd taken a lot of water with us. I need more than Jo who perspires very little so I drank most of it.
I got back to the trailhead just as Jo caught up to me. There was a shower there which felt like heaven! We sat on a bench to cool down and drank two bottles of gator aide which they sold at the reception. We hadn't seen one animal which was the reason for being there. The hike/bus ride starts too late in the morning to be of any practical value as far as seeing any wildlife however the fauna is very interesting going from lower dryland forest to tropical rainforest.
Just prior to leaving on the bus which came back at 3:30 to pick us up a family of white faced monkeys showed up. One was packing a very small baby. Just as I began taking pictures we heard the horn to leave. Too bad. We saw more action right at the trail head than we'd seen in 5 hours of walking.
Well it was an experience and a helluva workout!
Next stop a 7:45 bus to Paquera to catch the ferry to Jaco and then another bus to head South on the mainland to Manuel Antonio which is the largest and best game reserve in C.R. We hope to make it there by tonight so we have Sat. and Sunday to explore as the park is closed on Mondays. Looking forward to a day to let my knee rest up and a ferry ride which will be our first time on the water down here.
LINK OF THE DAY http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28365&l=8f1ab&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 21 Jan. 29

2008-01-30T14:05:00.000-08:00

We survived last night in one piece and after an early breakfast we bought a phone card for local calls (all of Costa Rica) We need this so we can make reservations ahead to prevent what happened last night. (Hotel hell). We also have thought about getting an international card as we'd like to talk to the kids but don't want to call collect and we can't charge it back to the house w/o knowing enough Espanol to be able to converse w/ the operator. Something we'll have to explore. Most of the Ticos don't have phones so there are calling card phones everywhere that do not accept money. All the hotels have international phones but they too are by calling card. I can't recall seeing any phones that accept cash.
After packing up and getting our $5.00 back from Mr. DeVito we struck out with our back packs to get to La Cascada where we booked in around 9 a.m. It's a nice place although w/ no air conditioning we have a ceiling fan and a small rotating one. No pool but it's right next to the river where there are three waterfalls just upstream and where it empties into the ocean just across the street there are some beautiful pools that we have to try out. They are continually flushed by the wave action.
After checking in and while hopefully it was cool enough we asked the lady at reception how to find the waterfalls. Her reply was "just across the bridge and turn right" and then 20 minutes walk. Sure easy for her to say. She forgot she was talking to a couple of dumb gringos. Hell, I'm not exactly Henry the navigator so away we go. Across the bridge there's an encampment of people I figured for gypsies or nomads or something with lots of people, cars, trucks, tents etc. so we passed them and then the road branched off to the right. What would you have done? So away we go. The first hill goes up at about 45 degrees and it's about a 1/4 of a mile to the top. Well that took care of the 20 minutes. (We did manage to see a family of white faced monkeys and got a few good shots of them) Rounding a corner there's another hill. This went on 5 times. My tongue was getting raw from the gravel. The steepest parts were paved which I figure is to eliminate the ever present washboard and in between were dust and gravel. We walked for 45 minutes aiming from spots of shade to the next shady spot. Jo was really becoming spent so I went ahead to scout while she rested. Nada. That was it. We headed back down disappointed but even if we'd found the fabled falls we'd have had to hike down into the canyon and then back up again. Upon arriving at the bottom of the hills near the ocean and just past the gypsies we saw the path right beside the river. They had parked one of their big trucks there and hidden the path. We started up but then thought better of it as we were long out of water by then so we came back to the room, grabbed some water and sat out on the covered patio just down from our room and overlooking the road and surf a few hundred feet away. This patio is quite large and is home to many hammocks. We settled in with my book and Jo with her journal and that took care of the afternoon. Our company was a group of young people from Lethbridge and a California guy who appeared on the run. He indicated he couldn't get into Canada due to a cultivation problem on U.S. govt. soil. He also informed us they were filming a movie at the falls and hence the tent etc. for feeding the crew. Well what do I know? They looked like gypsies to me.
He also told us of a better place to stay near the Arenal volcano. It appears the lava flow has changed over the last few years and there's a small undeveloped town with a better view so we'll have to check that out. He also said this place is a lot cheaper as people are still going to the one recommended in the books.
While sitting on the deck I finished downloading pictures and completed yesterdays blog as well as the book I've been packing around. There's another 1/2 # I don't need to carry. I'm saving all these blogs as drafts as I need to walk into town to obtain internet connection which we plan to do tomorrow morning while having breakfast. It's kind of a drag as to put the pics on facebook I don't have hours to spend adding descriptions which I could do at night if they had wireless. I have figured out that by hilighting the pics I want to ad while off line it speeds up sorting them out.
Tonight there was some kind of furry rodent in the grass next door that I got a good picture of as well as a possum crossing the bridge. Everyone's seen them so I didn't bother to get off my butt and snap him although it would have been neat to watch it play dead. While eating lunch though in the restaurant downstairs a couple of the bluejay magpies came down One landed on the chair back next to me and eventually ate a chip out of Jo's hand. I had ordered a cheeseburg w/ fries and when it came I couldn't find any meat. I figured what the hell and started eating it anyway. They'd toasted ( cremated) the bun and it was like trying to swallow the insole of a shoe. He came out a few minutes later with a plate and the meat patty and apologised for forgetting the meat. Haha Part of the experience. I was just beginning to think it was a veggie burger with lots of lettuce, tomato, and cheese.
We may end up staying here one extra night as the game reserve is closed on Mon. and Tues. and we'd planned to leave Wed. No sense coming this far and missing it. After that it will be possibly by boat to Jaco across the bay by about an hour or on to Port Antonio in two hours. This is our next target as that's where the sloths etc. are. After that we're very close to Panama so we'll see how that goes. That's it for tonight. Jo's already asleep and I'm not far behind.
LINK OF THE DAY http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28297&l=605a4&id=680056043

Hasta Luego
Al & Jo

Costa Rica day 20 Jan. 28

2008-01-30T14:03:00.000-08:00

THE HOTEL FROM HELL

We survived last night in one piece and after an early breakfast we bought a phone card for local calls (all of Costa Rica) We need this so we can make reservations ahead to prevent what happened last night. (Hotel hell). We also have thought about getting an international card as we'd like to talk to the kids but don't want to call collect and we can't charge it back to the house w/o knowing enough Espanol to be able to converse w/ the operator. Something we'll have to explore. Most of the Ticos don't have phones so there are calling card phones everywhere that do not accept money. All the hotels have international phones but they too are by calling card. I can't recall seeing any phones that accept cash.
After packing up and getting our $5.00 back from Mr. DeVito we struck out with our back packs to get to La Cascada where we booked in around 9 a.m. It's a nice place although w/ no air conditioning we have a ceiling fan and a small rotating one. No pool but it's right next to the river where there are three waterfalls just upstream and where it empties into the ocean just across the street there are some beautiful pools that we have to try out. They are continually flushed by the wave action.
After checking in and while hopefully it was cool enough we asked the lady at reception how to find the waterfalls. Her reply was "just across the bridge and turn right" and then 20 minutes walk. Sure easy for her to say. She forgot she was talking to a couple of dumb gringos. Hell, I'm not exactly Henry the navigator so away we go. Across the bridge there's an encampment of people I figured for gypsies or nomads or something with lots of people, cars, trucks, tents etc. so we passed them and then the road branched off to the right. What would you have done? So away we go. The first hill goes up at about 45 degrees and it's about a 1/4 of a mile to the top. Well that took care of the 20 minutes. (We did manage to see a family of white faced monkeys and got a few good shots of them) Rounding a corner there's another hill. This went on 5 times. My tongue was getting raw from the gravel. The steepest parts were paved which I figure is to eliminate the ever present washboard and in between were dust and gravel. We walked for 45 minutes aiming from spots of shade to the next shady spot. Jo was really becoming spent so I went ahead to scout while she rested. Nada. That was it. We headed back down disappointed but even if we'd found the fabled falls we'd have had to hike down into the canyon and then back up again. Upon arriving at the bottom of the hills near the ocean and just past the gypsies we saw the path right beside the river. They had parked one of their big trucks there and hidden the path. We started up but then thought better of it as we were long out of water by then so we came back to the room, grabbed some water and sat out on the covered patio just down from our room and overlooking the road and surf a few hundred feet away. This patio is quite large and is home to many hammocks. We settled in with my book and Jo with her journal and that took care of the afternoon. Our company was a group of young people from Lethbridge and a California guy who appeared on the run. He indicated he couldn't get into Canada due to a cultivation problem on U.S. govt. soil. He also informed us they were filming a movie at the falls and hence the tent etc. for feeding the crew. Well what do I know? They looked like gypsies to me.
He also told us of a better place to stay near the Arenal volcano. It appears the lava flow has changed over the last few years and there's a small undeveloped town with a better view so we'll have to check that out. He also said this place is a lot cheaper as people are still going to the one recommended in the books.
While sitting on the deck I finished downloading pictures and completed yesterdays blog as well as the book I've been packing around. There's another 1/2 # I don't need to carry. I'm saving all these blogs as drafts as I need to walk into town to obtain internet connection which we plan to do tomorrow morning while having breakfast. It's kind of a drag as to put the pics on facebook I don't have hours to spend adding descriptions which I could do at night if they had wireless. I have figured out that by hilighting the pics I want to ad while off line it speeds up sorting them out.
Tonight there was some kind of furry rodent in the grass next door that I got a good picture of as well as a possum crossing the bridge. Everyone's seen them so I didn't bother to get off my butt and snap him although it would have been neat to watch it play dead. While eating lunch though in the restaurant downstairs a couple of the bluejay magpies came down One landed on the chair back next to me and eventually ate a chip out of Jo's hand. I had ordered a cheeseburg w/ fries and when it came I couldn't find any meat. I figured what the hell and started eating it anyway. They'd toasted ( cremated) the bun and it was like trying to swallow the insole of a shoe. He came out a few minutes later with a plate and the meat patty and apologised for forgetting the meat. Haha Part of the experience. I was just beginning to think it was a veggie burger with lots of lettuce, tomato, and cheese.
We may end up staying here one extra night as the game reserve is closed on Mon. and Tues. and we'd planned to leave Wed. No sense coming this far and missing it. After that it will be possibly by boat to Jaco across the bay by about an hour or on to Port Antonio in two hours. This is our next target as that's where the sloths etc. are. After that we're very close to Panama so we'll see how that goes. That's it for tonight. Jo's already asleep and I'm not far behind.
LINK OF THE DAY

Hasta Luego
Al & Jo

Costa Rica day 19 Jan. 27

2008-01-27T17:27:00.001-08:00

We got up this morning around 4:45 a.m. as Jim was leaving for Hawaii at 5. We said our goodbyes, had a bite and then headed for the beach around 8 a.m. with the hopes of being back before it got too hot.
As we got to the beach right beside the path is the turtle hatchery. I took a look at all the round wire enclosures and sure enough, there were 6 or 7 little guys scrambling all over each other. By the time we came back from our walk the biologists had been there either put them on the beach to make their way to the water or put them somewhere else to be released after dark when they have a better chance of making it.
We walked West on the beach this time to the end wherre the river we'd crossed by taxi empties into the ocean. Beautiful area and I was surprised how big the river is. There were a few Tico's bldg or repairing blinds to keep them out of the sun while they went fishing. Looked like some of them had camped out there.
We got back around 8:30 and it was still too hot so Jo sliced up some of that incredible watermelon and we chilled out on the deck and in the pool for a while. That's about it for the day. It's an early night and we've just finished repacking our backpacks for another leg. Seems like we're leaving a lot behind but most is stuff we haven't used and we'll be heading inland in another week so the thought is "if we haven't got it we don't need it."
We're leaving here at 10:30 tomorrow morning and hoping to reach the peninsula tip by tomorrow night. We'll catch the first bus about a half an hour from here but it won't leave until 12:30 pm and then we'll have to change again before reaching our destination. It will be a long day and we're winging where we'll stay so I may be off line for a few days. We're figuring around 3 nights at Montezuma. It's next to a very large and very remote nature preserve so we'll be doing lots of hiking. My goal is to see a sloth and hopefully a banana boa.
I found a set of scales today and it appears I'm down at least 10# maybe more as I forgot to weigh myself before leaving home. The legs are in pretty good shape now to so all I have to contend with is the heat. Bet you guys at home really needed to hear that eh?
The nights here are perfect. We leave the screen doors which are double wide open and sleep on top of the sheets without the fan going and it's just right. Very dark and a bit of a breeze and the sound of the surf. Bonus! There's no bloody chickens to wake me up and after me remembering to bring ear plugs.
Until the next internet connection Hasta Luego
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26720&l=1733a&id=680056043

Al & Jo

Costa Rica day 20 Jan. 27

2008-01-27T14:05:00.000-08:00

It had to happen and today was the day. We closed up the house as Jim won't be back for 10 days and Adrian picked us up at 10:30 right on time. We headed South through Punta Islita to a very small village of Secca. Just past Islita we came to Adrians village of Corozalito population around 150. Here he stopped and we grabbed a coke each and then he showed us the church which is located near his home and is 60 years old.
When we arrived at Secca I couldn't believe the bus would even stop there. The population couldn't have been more than 50 tops. It was a two hour wait but not bad as we were kept company by a rooster and the old man of the village who sat with us for a while. The bus was right on time and it took us to Jicaral (12:30 - 2:30) which was a real treat for 1/4 of a mile as there was some pavement. By this time we're used to the rattles and dust so no biggy. Arriving at Jicaral our 2nd bus was waiting for us and took us to Playa Naranjo arriving there around 3 pm. This last busride was a bone rattling experience and because it's very hilly country it's flat out or low gear. This bus had absolutely no rear brake linings and all the way we could hear the agonizing screech of the drums meeting the silver linings for the millionth time. Give the driver credit though he used those remaining slivers of shoe backings to the best of his ability and didn't spare them. I guess there's no core charge down here.
We had been told that we would have to catch the ferry across the bay to Puntarenas and then another ferry in the morning to cross back over the bay to Paquera as there was no overland carrier. We were waiting at the ferry terminal when a fellow Canuck from the Kootenays told us to take a cab overland and avoid the two ferry crossings and a night in Puntarenas (the Tijuana of C.R.) Well a guy approached us and offered to take us for less than the hotel in Puntarenas so away we went for another hour over the washboard to Paquera. Our driver was Carlos and he had a tendancy to drive on the wrong side of the road to avoid the washboard on the hills. so here we are going up the hills on the wrong side with no idea who's coming over the top towards us. (Reminds me I need to get my will updated) We got there around 3:30 and he dropped us off at the bustop. First mistake of the day. We should have gone to the ferry terminal where the bus route begins which is 4 km farther down the road. This way we would have boarded the bus while it was empty as it turned out we sat on the hard wooden bench at the bustop for 4 hours as the bus was late leaving and then had to stand when we got on. By this time it was around 8:30 pm and we hadn't eaten since around 7 a.m. We weren't sure when the bus would come by and didn't want to leave the bustop in case we missed it. We had others (Ticos) waiting with us for the duration so we figured they must know when the bus comes by. Needless to say I was getting a little antsy by this time but calm Jo kept me under control and we rolled into Montezuma around 9 pm with no reservations. This place is like Haight Ashbury and the place we wanted to stay seemed a way out from where we were dropped off and it was blacker than Toby's ass past the bustop so we began to find a quick place for the night and then grab a bite after we dropped the packs off. The following is the 2nd chapter which I wrote this morning while waiting to find a place to eat. I wanted to keep it fresh in my mind for your reading pleasure.
Montezeuma ....The revenge
It was very dark when we arrived by bus at 9:00 p.m. Not seeing a cab to get to where we'd planned to stay we headed up a small hill past restaurants and internet cafes, bars, and travel agents. The streets were alive with 20 year olds drinking and partying. Dreadlocks to skinheads along with a few Tibetan monks or harry Krishnas thrown in to round it out, many of them practising their street entertainment. It was a natural home for wannabe street minstrels who would never make it. Sort of a graveyard for Granville Island dropouts.
Most of the hotels looked quite expensive on the main street so we'd made our way down to the Hades of Hippies. After such a long day on the road (11 hours with only breakfast 14 hours ago) We found what appeared to be our nights rest. El Capitan cabinas. At last. We approached the manager who was a Danny DeVito type (actually a dead ringer) and he showed us to a room with private shower. It was very small and we were beat so we thought what the hell? I asked him how much and he said $15. I'm thinking great, but after a very pregnant pause he added "each". I'm sure he was trying us on but we let it pass. We moved in and went to sign in and pay him where another $5 deposit was req'd for a key. I kept my laptop and camera (which is always with me) and left the bags in the "room". Danny said to me as we were signing in "you look like someone". I responded "Tom Cruise"?. Nope guess it wasn't him. He then said "Andre Previn " or some long dead singer. I wondered if Andre was ever told he looked like me.
We then started cruising the restaurants to fill our empty bodies. I had told Jo earlier I'd love to have a burger and potatoes. Potatoes aren't big down here and we finally found a place advertising burgers. Yahoo I'm thinking. Well they were out of burgers along with most everything else on the menu so we settled for beef filet. They grill it outside. I mentioned to Jo why a burger was worth more than a filet. The answer came shortly after that. A beautiful lettuce and tomato salad, lots of potatoes, and the "filet". This filet was carved from the hide of the winning bull in the running of the bulls in Spain 10 years ago. It was cheaper than hamburg because it saved the machine they would have had to use to grind it! Imagine grilled jerky. The bottom line is I sat down hungry and got up tired.
We then headed back to the "room" past all the nefarious looking minstrels. We had no sooner turned a corner and two of them fell in behind us. We made it to our place and there was Danny parked in a chair watching us about to be mugged. We made it to the room and was considering having a refreshing shower in our private bathroom until Jo noticed there were no towels and there was soap although it had been used. We passed on that idea. There was a fan in the room that is wired w/ tape into another wire that goes into the only outlet. I can't use the puter as it's a three pronger and this one appears to be a 1 and a half. Our one cell window contains no glass, just a screen and steel mesh with 3' squares.. Behind the door is a sign "checkout is 12 noon be ready!"
It was now about 10:30 and time for bed. I'd already spent 6 hours sitting on a board awaiting busses and this made me feel right at home. The mattress was made up of a piece of foam that had come from the underlay of a wornout hall rug. Under that was some soft wood. Several hours later we were awakened by the screeching of a cat. It sounded like a one sided battle to the death. This was followed up by the motion lite outside going on and at 3 or 4 in the morning it gave me pause to consider which one of the local pirates was coming for us. I kept one eye on the silhouette on the curtain for a long time but nada. We'd escaped another possible rape and pillage. I must have finally dozed off when I was again awakened by the sound of water falling onto a rock or something. Unable to see what it was in the dark (it was like trying to sleep under a waterfall) I again dozed off. This time to be awakened by large nuts falling on the roof from a tree overhead. That pretty much capped my night and we both gave up around 6 with the hopes of getting out of here as soon as the restaurants open and Danny's awake to give us our $5.00 back. I've got some pictures to show my story however it's hard to get a picture inside here as it's too small. I'll do my best.

Al Cotton

Costa Rica day 18 Jan. 26

2008-01-26T17:40:00.000-08:00

This was taken at 5:42 a.m. as the sun came up.
Today was another great day. We watched the sun come up from the open doors of our bedroom along with the sounds of the birds stirring getting ready for another day. We also heard some unidentified sounds (not birdlike) coming from the nearby jungle. I videod it just to get the sounds. After breakfast our taxi showed up at 9:30 to take us to Punta Islita. (there are no busses in this neck of the woods or in a lot of the other places off the beaten path) Taxis are very inexpensive and this one was a beaut. Diesel with a snorkel for crossing the rivers. We only had to cross one. Twenty minutes later we arrived in the heart of town. Jim says the population is about 200 if that. There's one resort with a golf course and the rest is museum, general store, and a church,school, and souvenir/craft shop.
This small village is very pretty as it's like an art colony. Marta the lady running the museum showed us all around. It was more of an art and craft show than a museum. When we were ready to leave a walk about she came with us and left one of the artist working there to mind the store! She showed us the beautiful church that had sat semi completed for a very long time because the town didn't have the money for materials to finish it. The money was donated anonymously and the villagers finished the job. She told us the original plan was for one steeple but that was changed to two because all small churches have two. Across from there was a clinic but the doctor left because he said it wasn't handicapped accessible. Now the villagers have to take a taxi (which they can't afford) to a nearby village. The school next door has 22 students ranging in age from 7 to 12. There is a morning class and an afternoon class. They get their meals in a separate lunchroom which without govt. support would only be rice and black beans every day. They now get something else thrown in to round it out. The first round of classes eat when they're finished for the day and then the afternoon class eats right after them prior to classes.
The village is amazingly clean and very picturesque. The houses are painted bright colors with pieces of tile and mirrors decorating them. Next to the church is the sacred forest. The trees were planted years ago by the existing indians and they're now decorated to commemorate them. A tree in the soccer field is painted white and adorned with many symbols. A star denotes good health (salute), the moon is love, and the spiral is you will return. I hope it's true. Really I can't express how friendly these people are and how they are content with what little they have. Most everything in this village is courtesy of a donation from somewhere and they have made the most of it. The govt. gave the museum some computers for the villagers but they're not operable as they can't hook up to the internet. The streets in the center of town are covered with paving stones (like interlocking bricks) which were also donated. This keeps the dust down the everything clean. the general store even has 4 recycling bins for various things.
It makes you wish you could give these beautiful people something to better their lives although they're very content and grateful for what they have.
Arriving back here at noon we jumped into the pool and cooled off. I was leaning on the infinity edge for quite a while just enjoying watching the surf off in the distance when I saw a black object running across a field towards the jungle near the water. It was closely followed by another one. They were a pair of jaguars! Jim had seen a mother a 2 cubs a year ago in the same spot. What an incredible piece of luck. You could tell by the way they ran and their coal black color that they were cats. He said they live down in the direction they were running which is in the nature reserve. The reserve is between Jim's house and on the right hand side of his property so no one will ever build there.
Jim spent the afternoon planting a lot of papaya trees with is Cat digger. He had some business friends over this afternoon and has gone out for supper so Jo and I had leftover yellowfin tuna for supper. Better than steak! Jim had made a dip out of guacamole, tomatoes, garlic, and some tobasco. I've got to get that recipe.
The sun went down exactly 12 hours after we saw it come up. Right away an owl came down and skimmed the pool. It's been here every night and landed for a time the other night on the deck.
It's now 8:20 p.m. and we're going in the pool to see the Southern Cross and the inverted Big Dipper up above us. The stars are amazing as there are no lights here.
Truly an amazing place that is leaving us in awe.
We'll be leaving here early Monday morning and heading further south to a remote nature reserve where it's highly likely I can get some pictures of sloths. What next I wonder?
Hasta Luego and thanks for all of you who are following us.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26605&l=6efce&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 17 Jan. 25

2008-01-26T05:06:00.000-08:00

We awoke with the sun coming up over the left end of the beach as the house faces due South. After a quick breakfast (I was feeling a little better) Jim took off with some watermelon and his board to hit the surf. We followed along around 8 a.m and took the 15 minute walk to the beach where the turtle hatchery is. We walked to the East end of the 6 km. beach (about 3 km from where we entered) and by the time we got to the end the tide had gone a way out. We're only 10 degrees above the equator but the beaches are so flat that it goes out a long way. Jim was out in the waves along with about 10 other guys (all of whom were 40 years younger) but he was able to hold his own and most of them later came back to the house for some watermelon and coffee.
There was a large cage near the hatchery on the beach marked off on the sand by string were 2' square grids where eggs were buried. We also saw many black and white sticks in the sand along the beach which denoted where other nests were. This beach is the nesting grounds for Ridley, Green, and Leatherback turtles. When we arrived back at the hatchery I was pretty much out of water so we filled up from their hose and the hosts there were very friendly and informative.
Jim arrived back here before we did. We should have come back sooner and it was really starting to heat up. When we arrived Louis the caretaker came over with some fresh backed corn tortillas and some meat and salsa. The corn tortillas here are only made from corn flour and water. There's enough calcium in the water to bind it all together so no oil is req'd. We loaded up and Jim informed us we were eating BOA CONSTRICTOR tortillas!!!! Now that's really neat. It was quite tasty and somewhat chewey. He said they catch them in the nearby river up to 14' long and then filet them.

Jim worked via his computer and phone all afternoon while Jo and I sat on the deck or lay in the hammocks reading. Jim recommended a book by a famous Spanish author called Alchemy. I read it in two hours and it's an excellent story! The basic theme is to chase your dream and follow your heart. Very inspiring and I'll see if I can get a copy of it when we get home.
Jim got out surfing again in the afternoon and had some great waves for an hour when the wind changed. I managed to get a picture of him walking back up the dirt road a quarter of a mile away carrying his big board. Now thats an exercise program. He brought a local surfer boy back from the beach with him for supper. Eduardo was a great additon to our super supper of leftover chicken from last night and the best fish I've ever tasted. Jim cooked it on the bbq and it was yellowfin cooked Hawaii style that Jim caught off his 26' fishing boat that he keeps in Corrilla (our last place of residence). We watched it grow darker until Jim had to get back to the telephone but a huge beatle landed on me which I managed to get a picture of. We haven't identified it yet but it was a monster. Wish I'd kept it to bring home.
We later asked Jim where he recommended we go while down here. Several people including him have nixed Nicaragua due to the crooked cops but have had Panama as a place to see. So change in plans. We'll continue south from here, cross over by ferry to Puntarenas and then head south to Panama and see the canal. Hopefully catch a boat that passes through just for the experience. Then it will be back to our original plan to go to Limon on the Caribbean side for a few days and then to Arenal the volcano, cloud forest, jungle reserve. We'll probably spend some time there to enjoy the sights and the hot springs. Feb. has been recommended as the best time to view the volcano as the clouds lift and lately it's been active so you can see the lava at night flowing down the sides. We saw a postcard of the site and wow it's something I'd sure like to see
Jim has a friend in Golfito that he thinks he can hook us up with for a free night or two so hopefully that will shake out.
Jim is leaving here at 5 a.m. tomorrow so we'll lock up before leaving for Nicoya to catch a bus further south.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26560&l=d31ab&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 15 Jan. 24

2008-01-25T05:29:00.000-08:00

Not much to tell you about today. I woke up around 5 a.m. with diarreah and vomiting and then slept for the next 24 hours pretty much full time. We did leave the Congo Real where we were staying (open sewers and all)and our cab driver Adolpho picked us up at 11 and brought us to Jim's house about a half an hour away. I fell asleep again right away, slept all day, went to bed at 8 and slept all night. Feel great today and am probably down about 15-20 lbs since arriving here.
Jim our host lives in Hawaii but gets out here about 10 days every month to go surfing. He says the surf here has one of the best "breaks" in the world. It's also home to one of the largest turtle hatcheries in the world The beach is the nesting grounds for Wrigley, Leatherback and Green turtles. Jim says you really have to be careful when surfing that you don't hit one! He also mentioned that the population of these endangered turtles had quadrupled in the 10 years he's been here. Every 10 years there's a weather phenomenon here and all the turtles panic and hit the beach at the same time. Jim said you could walk from one end of the beach to the other without ever stepping on the sand!
He owns quite a bit of acreage here and it's right next to game reserve so no one will be building in this area. Also we've noticed that this is the only house we've seen that doesn't have barred windows or the smell of smoke (The Ticos burn all there refuse like leaves, etc.) Jim has seen a jaguar and two cubs in the area just below the house and the toucans are all over place and eat the flowers. He's spent a lot of time planting trees, flowers, saving seeds and growing his own peppers etc. The watermelon here is out of this world! This house has everything!! Be sure and check out the facebook for pics of this place. Our guest bathroom is the size of my living room/diningroom. I was just telling Jo it's nice to see someone as successful as Jim stop and smell the roses. Most people like him only strive to work harder. He's a gracious host and very nature oriented. He also told us about the locals who have been in this area since day 1. The young boy in the caretakers house next door is able to catch snook in the river with his bare hands! These people have lived off the land all their lives and fish is a main part of their diet. They also used to eat the turtle eggs which is now prohibited Jim said if you'd ever eaten a cake using turtle eggs as opposed to chicken eggs there is an unbelievable difference.
The ceilings in the house are covered in what appears to be bamboo but it's actually cane (not sure if I've spelled it right) It's hollow and has an insulation factor. Outside Jim's bedroom window he has a flagpole that he can see from bed to tell him if it's worth getting up at 5 a.m to hit the surf. I'm typing this on Friday morning as yesterday was a writeoff for me. Fortunately it was a 24 hour bug and I'm feeling great having just had the first meal in about 40 hours. Now it's time to get out and head down the road (about 15 minutes) to see the beach, hatchery, and Jim surfing.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26541&l=d7ca4&id=680056043

2008-01-24T16:03:00.000-08:00

Posting a little later today as I've been really floored with something! Been sleeping steady for the whole day. Tomorrows will be late as it will take me a day to make it up
Wow 15 days later and a pile of pictures and experiences under our belt. The best thing about this extended trip is that we're in no hurry to get anywhere! This morning after breakfast across the street at Onda Latina (where they had no eggs so we had a fruit dish) we caught the bus to a nearby town called Samara. It's only about a 15 minute ride but goes right past the beach. Looking out at the creek and mangroves as we crossed over the bridge I spotted a large crocodile.
We arrived in Samara and went straight to the bank. It's a cute little village and the bank was a dream after the one in Coco Beach. Same security guards, one in and one out. I was asked to open my fanny pack which I carry my camera in to show them I wasn't about to clean the place out. With what they're money's worth I'd need a semi to haul the bills away. I showed my passport and gave the girl my master card and told her what I needed and voila I got the money w/ no problem. I had to sign for it in three places and tell her the name of the place we're staying at but that was it. We were able to buy a bottle of tequila for $14 which probably tastes like dieseline but the good stuff was $70 U.S. That's a helluva difference between the good and the bad!
We caught the next bus back along with a lady from Nicaragua who had been of some help in the bank and had been on the bus coming into town. After stashing the C.R. money which was around $500,000 colones we went over for lunch. Have you ever walked around with that much money? I felt like a millionaire! Figured it was better to keep it in a hidden pocket in my fanny pack than to leave it in the room as this place doesn't appear to be high on security and even I could pick the lock. I feel a lot safer here though than in San Jose or Playa Coco.
When we arrived at the beach we walked down to where the bridge was and I'd seen the croc. Sure enough there it was. I was about to say "what a beauty she is" like the Aussi guy when I noticed it didn't have a head! I guess someone had decapitated it figuring to stuff the head or sell the skull. You have to remember this is third world and the people make their money any way they can. One thing I have noticed down here is that there are no beggars, or guys beating on you to buy something! This is great when you can lay on the beach unmolested.
We spent about 3 hours playing in the surf and then started back down the beach when we came across a couple from Edmonton with a chocolate lab. This dog was 14 months old and huge! They were throwing a large stick out into the surf and "Hank" was retrieving it. Seeing him barging through the large breakers was something to behold! When he got to shore due to the undertow he paddled as hard as he could until the next breaker gave him a boost to shore. He did this continuously. It's a wonder he didn't have a heart attack. The owners said that Air Canada wanted $2400 to bring him down one way! They said the hell with that and drove their motor home to L.A. and flew from there. The cost for the dog? $100! It's beyond me how A/C stays in business.
Supper was again at the Onda Latino where we had a half a chicken each, cervasas, salad, avocado, fried plantain, and the everpresent beans and rice. Jo had a vanilla cream pie but she'll walk that off in a heartbeat carrying two backpacks while I take pictures.
Our taxi driver is picking us up at 11 a.m. tomorrow morning to take us to Jim and Patty's house where we'll stay for a couple of days. They have wireless internet so I can stay on line. After that it's farther south to ????
I was on Castanet tonight and saw the temp in Kelowna. Sorry folks. If anyone reads this tomorrow would you please let me know if Katherine and Dave have had the baby yet? Thanks
Hasta Luego
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26474&l=cc943&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 14 Jan. 22

2008-01-23T06:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a friendly kinkajou licking Jo's hand. He later tried to either lick my head or eat my brain. What a cute gentle creature!
Well we got up for breakfast at 7 a.m. and sorted out our bags in order to lighten the loads in the backpacks. We ate our "free breakfast" which was very good but it was Continental which was coffee and fruit. We then asked for eggs and found out when we checked out that that was extra. No biggy but didn't know. We then packed our three bags down the road for a few hundred feet and checked into the Waldorf of Carillo for $15 a night. A queen size bed and a single, ceiling fan, and private bathroom. Not bad for a place to hang our hats and keep our bags. It's right across the street from the Onda Latino where we've been eating and having cervasa's in the afternoon. They also have free internet so I spent the afternoon updating things. After we checked into this place we headed for the beach and spent several hours basking and walking. Left there about noon and went to the soda for beer and Jo had a great fruit salad. Don't know how they carved the apple like they did but it was a work of art.
After about a 1/2 hour siesta we went to the zoo where a lady took us on a tour of her backyard, rehab, zoo and bromeliads. It was great and we were able to get into the cage with the kinkajou.. What a great little creature. It was very tame and liked to lick the salt off of us. She also let the anteater out and he proceeded to find termites and ants. It also is quite tame. A very informative lady and her English was also pretty good.
After the zoo we headed back to Onda Latino for supper. Both of us had bifstak which I'd had last night. We're eating a way too healthy for me. Salad, guacamole, beef steak, fried plantain, beans and rice. I'll have the body of a Greek God by the time I get home instead of the body of a god damn greek!
Small world..... as we were walking down the road to the beach this morning a lady in a 4x4 pulled up and rolled down the passenger window. She looked at Jo and said "you look like Marion" (Jo's sister from Hawaii). She'd met Marion while she was visiting Jim and Patty down here and Patty had told her via email that we were in the neighborhood.
We chatted for a while and hopefully we'll meet her again.
Well that's about it for today. Full moon tonight. If all goes well we'll see two more.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26370&l=7f649&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 13 Jan. 21

2008-01-22T07:48:00.000-08:00

Another beautiful day. We went for breakfast at 7 a.m. and then returned to the cabina to collect the packs. By the time we got back to Oscars he was all ready to roll. He brought his daughter Yisebeth along and off we went to Nasara, Samara and finally to Carillo. We hadn't gone more than a couple of miles when we came to a river. I asked Oscar
"are you going across that?" Reminded Jo and I of the Kia commercial. It's a good thing it was a diesel. Unfortunately the windows were so dirty I couldn't get a good shot of our wake! Altogether we crossed about 4 rivers. On one of them we started into the water and then stopped as another 4x4 crossed right behind us only went in a different path. It looked like we were heading to a bottomless pit so Oscar wheeled it over to follow the wake of the last guy.
People were out watering the road to keep the dust down and when another oncoming vehicle passed us it was up w/ the windows. There was no back window in our 4x4 so the packs got pretty dirty. When we came to Nasara, Oscar took us on the scenic route around town and past the airport. It was a pretty little place although all the roads were still dirt. We also passed a couple of log mills. We also to know what the trees were that we'd been seeing that were planted in rows. We had thought they were some kind of fruit tree but they grow straight with few branches and are use for constructing houses as the wood is very hard and very straight. They use these like we'd use 4x4 or joists.
It was beautiful country and Oscar was very obliging when it came to taking pictures. When we finally arrived at Carillo Jo had an address for a nice place to stay but they were booked solid w/ fishermen. This is the best time of year for sport fishing. Fortunately for us Oscar was there as he took us back to our current place the Guanamar where the president Oscar Arius stays when he's in town. This is like the Ritz so we'll only be here for the one night. We've gone from $16/night to $135 (but we get breakfast) A very beautiful place. We've since lined up a place down the street for $25 a night so after breakfast we'll go and check it out. I think we'll stay in town here until Thursday and then on to Camaranol for a few days. Took another few hundred pics today and a bunch as the sun went down. We sat on one of the decks and had a couple of cervaza's while that happened. Hope you like the pictures. The place down the street where we had lunch and supper has internet so we're good to go for a while. Our supper consisted of a large plate of pasta for Jo and I had bistak which is beefsteak to gringos. It was rice, beans, avocado, salad, tomatoes, and a good steak Total cost $13. Beer there is $1.75 a bottle.
After lunch and updating the blog & facebook we went to the beach. It's extremely beautiful and I had a ball in the surf. Water temp has to be at least 95. Met a couple from Calif. who bought a 3 bedroom place here. They offered us a ride up North but been there, done that. That's it for tonight. Tomorrow is a blog,facebook beach day
LINKS OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26305&l=b1666&id=680056043
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26307&l=5567b&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 13 Jan. 21

2008-01-21T09:20:00.000-08:00

Finally found access to the internet. The previous blogs need to be touched up but I did them at night as a draft and have just copied and pasted to the blogs. The dates are in order but may appear as wrong dates. Have to run & download the pics to facebook. Internet is for custormers only so before I drink too many beer I'll try and get this done plus check my emails

2008-01-21T09:17:00.000-08:00

We woke up this morning when the chicken bus left for the only run of the day at 5 a.m. Going back to sleep we woke up to the 7 a.m. chicken outside. We walked down to Oscars soda where we had a breakfast of scrambled eggs, rice, black beans and a round fried thing that resembled a pancake but could be opened up and filled with the other ingredients.
Coming back to the unit we prepared for our day on the beach. Camera, bathing suits and a liter of water. This turned out to be not nearly enough and I got so dehydrated I was spitting dust. We got to the beach and I got a shot of all the turtle egg shells that litter the beach. We headed North away from the sun so I could get better pictures and came across two sets of turtle tracks where they had come up during the night. Lots of vultures today and several flocks of pelicans. We made it as far as we could go on the beach and got some great shots of the waves crashing onto the rocks. Not many shells on this beach but Jo found a few sand dollars. The beach is black sand and pretty easy to walk on. The surf is a killer and not designed for swimming. I went in a little way just to cool off but you really had to watch the undertow.
Jo figures we waked about 7 miles today. She's a walker and I'm not so I'll take her word for it.
On our way back at 5 to 11 I heard Jo say "there's one"! Wow and it was a green turtle heading inland. Boy that got the blood pumping! It was about 150' from the water which was at low tide. I ran up to a large piece of driftwood as it continued for another 25-50' and then when it began starting to dig I got up behind it. I didn't want to disrupt it and I don't think it was aware of me. It began digging mainly with it's front flippers but the actual hole was done by the big rear flippers which also contain a toenail. It stopped using the front ones after just a few minutes. The sand kicked up by the rear ones flew right over it's head with some landing on it's head. She also dug up some what appeared to be fertile eggs along with the sand. We've been told that they allow some of the people to recover eggs for eating at the peak of the egg laying in Nov. as there are so many eggs being laid that the first ones from the previous turtles are destroyed by the turtles following them. Having seen the picture Oscar showed us last night it's easy to believe
When it reached the maximum depth it could achieve the hole was completely covered by the shell. It kind of backed into it towards where I was standing. This made it impossible to get a shot of the eggs but you could tell she was depositing them as she'd raise her head and almost as if she was inhaling and then exhale. This was repeated for about 10 minutes. The hole also took about 10 minutes. When she was done she began filling and tamping down the sand into the hole. As the hole filled up she rocked back and forth applying her weight to the sand to further compact it. When it was pretty much completely filled she began moving in a clockwise motion still spreading sand and completely camaflouging the nest. Once she'd finished that she was in a position to continue on to the water.
She was pretty exhausted at this point. For the first 20' she really moved but then began stopping for a breather ever 10' or so. Even when the waves were almost three feet away she paused once again to have a final rest. Watching her disappear into the surf was a sight neither of us will ever forget. It made us wonder how many years it's been since her mother did the same thing and 45 days later out of all the other eggs, she had survived to repeat the process.
It's hard to believe our good fortune over the last 12 days to have seen some of the things we have.
I couldn't wait to get back here to download the pics and videos to see what we'd captured. I was completely dehydrated by that time as the single bottle of water didn't come close to providing what I needed let alone the both of us.
Everything here is closed today as it's Sunday. We're hoping Oscar opens up his soda again so we can eat supper but if not no problem. Eating down here isn't a priority for some reason and even after not eating all day we're still good to go. We're now sitting outside the unit. Jo is working on her journal and I'm editing pictures and typing. I've found a thing on my camera that I thought was a burst which saves the last picture but this one saves all the pictures as long as you hold the button down. It's really great as it's almost like a video but I can correct the horizontal on the seascape pictures (and I've got the ocean running off the map on every picture) It also enabled me to catch more of the action in photos as the turtle dug the nest rather than using all video.
While sitting out here Jo again spotted a 3' bluish iguana in the shrubs. This was followed up by a beautiful green one . I got some great shots as the big one feasted on the leaves of the shrubs and they will be downloaded later tonight. Right now it's time to head back to Oscars to see if he's open. Just as we left the beach from taking sunset pictures Oscar and his family drove up and asked us if we'd like supper. He said come back in 10 minutes which we did with enthusiasm as we thought we'd go to bed w/o any. Everything here is closed on Sunday and if we'd arrived today instead of yesterday we'd have slept standing up.
Oscar made us a cheeseburg and a taco with a huge salad of cole slaw. We washed that down with tamarindo juice. We asked him about the large fruit hanging off the leafless tree out back. It's called a hickora tree and the fruit is inedible except in Nicaragua. He showed us a strainer/collindor that was made from the nut. It looked like a regular wooden bowl only thinner and had countless holes punched into it.
We brought up the subject of hitching a ride to Nasara so we wouldn't have to go all the way back to Santa Cruz. He said "I'm also a taxi driver" He then gave us his prices to Nasara and onward to Sanara. It's cheaper than a regular cab and will save us a whole day so it's a go. We'll go there for breakfast and then strike out to Nasara and possibly Sanara. We think both places have internet so I'm hoping I can copy these drafts and paste them right into the blog.
Yesterday (I'm typing this on the morning of the 21st) I took well over 500 pics which brought the total count up around 1500 so before turning in I burned a dvd of 1044 pics incl. vids.
One more thing to note the roads are very dusty so people living along them keep their windows closed during the day. In the evening we've seen people out watering down the road so they can leave their windows open during the night.
Another great day. This trip is full of surprises and all of them are great!
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26226&l=6935c&id=680056043
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26227&l=0fe6d&id=680056043
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26228&l=b982a&id=680056043
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26230&l=860e5&id=680056043

Al Cotton

2008-01-21T09:13:00.001-08:00

We had a quick breakfast and Stu called us a cab which was going to take a half an hour (9a.m.) Jo went next door to see if we could get someone faster only to find that this cab was the only one servicing Playa Grande. He got there pretty quick and Jo, Soleiha and I headed out the road to Huaca where he dropped us off at the bus stop. The first bus along said Santa Cruz and we thought we were supposed to catch a different one to Berlin but taking a chance we got on and had a great ride to Santa Cruz which took about an hour and a half. Santa Cruz was just beginning a celebration of some kind and the bus terminal is right next to the fresh air market. We took turns wandering through the market taking pictures and seeing all the people in town doing their weekly shopping.
After waiting for a couple of hours the bus showed up at 12:30. I took the big bags to where the side of the bus would take the bags into the lower compartment while Jo kept our place in line. She was around 10th in line and there was a pile of people waiting. When the bus pulled in both of the doors opened front and back and the security guy told me to take the bags on board. Well you talk about a mad scramble! We didn't even get a seat. There were 100# bags of rice, plastic cases of bottled pop, big white bags of groceries the same size as the 100# of rice. Stuff piled everywhere! Jo was given a seat and I stayed over the wheel well on one side where they'd taken out two rows of seats to make room for baggage. The upper windows slid open so I was able to get a breeze. The bus was an old 4 or 5 speed and no one paid. Turns out you pay when you get off. If you can't get to the front of the bus you leave by the back and walk to the front door to pay him. He's a patient driver and waits until you've got all your bags off when your supposed to give him a wave in the rear view mirror so he can close the door.
Some sat on the floor most were standing elbow to elbow. The roads began pretty good for the first hour and then they started to deteriorate. For those of you from Kelowna I would compare it to driving an old bus up Bear Creek Rd. The last 45 minutes would be like getting off Bear Lake Rd onto something rougher and with rocks. The dust was about the same as one of our logging roads but the breeze was more important than getting dirty.
We drove through 3 creeks which are sometimes impassable in the rainy season. I don't know what they do in that case. Jo got a seat near a young boy, Jonathon. He was explaining to Jo what the words were for what she was seeing. Nice little guy. With people getting off I got a seat for the last half hour. Strangely enough both Jo and I loved it! It's all part of the adventure. A guy about mid 20's from Maryland was sitting near us on the bus and he walked us from the bus stop to a bar with "cabina's" but they were booked. We'd tried to book yesterday but couldn't get through. Within minutes though they'd found us this place next door owned by "Melvin". Brian, the guy on the bus then told us how to find the beach, where to eat, and where to find him if we needed any help. I was wondering what he was doing hiding out down here. He said he had two more years to go.
We then walked a few hundred feet down the road for supper and a beer but this soda (the term for bar/grill, restaurant etc.) didn't sell beer. Oscar the owner fixed us up with a great supper of fried plantain (bananas) rice and black beans, a veggie salad and pork. We'd asked for beef but he couldn't find any. Jo also had a large glass of cold papaya juice and I had two pints of tamarinda juice. These are the seeds that fall off the huge tamarind trees and it was excellent. Oscar showed us some pictures taken of the green turtles in Nov. and there had to be 4 or 5 hundred just in the picture and it was taken at 9 a.m. He said they take about 45 days to hatch.
After supper we walked to the beach and right where the path enters the beach are several empty tortuga nests with shells all over the place. Tomorrow I'll get some pictures of them. We're going to try and hit the beach early with the hopes to see some of the turtles or the young getting back to the water.
It looks like we'll be here for at least two nights as on Sundays (tomorrow) the only bus is at 5 a.m. Our trip here took from 12:30 to 4 pm. On Monday there's one at 5, 7,9 and a couple more after those. If we can catch a ride with someone to Nasara which is only 7 km away we can catch a bus to Punta Islita our next stop. If not we'll have to spend another 4 hours going back to Santa Cruz to catch a bus. Our packs are far to heavy to carry 7 km. We are carrying two back packs and a large 3rd bag. The 3rd bag is empty so we've got one of the backpacks in it. Thanks to a remote acquaintance of Jo's we're going to leave the large 3rd bag with everything we won't need for a while at their house. They're in Hawaii but we've been give the name of a driver who will drive us across a creek to their house. We'll leave most of our clothes their as well as our snorkeling gear.
All we need down here is thongs (for the feet I mean) two shirts, and a couple of pairs of shorts or swim trunks so our loads hopefully will be about 1/3 as heavy as they currently are. 20-25 # for each bagis what we're shooting for including our books, computer, camera's etc.
Don't know when we'll be able to update the blog as there's no internet in Ostianol. I'm writing this and saving it as a draft so I don't forget anything.
A couple of notes... Allow a day to travel no matter the distance. Our banyo has a sign saying to put all toilet paper in the garbage can not in the toilet. Todays expenses for the two of us are $20-25 each incl. the lodging and meals. We're eating two meals a day. Breakfast around 7 am and supper around 6 and this is all we seem to require. The banyo at the Santa Cruz bus stop is a couple of outhouses behind the station. Jo went to check them out. One was 150c and the deluxe was 200c. She thinks the cheaper one didn't have a door that closed. The 2nd one that everyone was using had the "overflow" coming out under the walls. ( Jo waited)

Costa Rica day 10 Jan. 18

2008-01-21T09:09:00.001-08:00

No internet since after breakfast so I'll fill you in. We walked back to the PGI (Playa Grande Inn) from Kikes where the internet was, which was about a 15-20 minute walk. Jo sat in the pool and I got right in. It was fresh water and a perfect cooler temp. While in the pool Soleiha pulled up round 12:30 p.m She had come to join us for the nightly turtle tour. Unfortunately we couldn't contact her at Del Sol to tell her the tours were filled for the whole w/end. We figured she'd love the place anyway. Then the 3 of us headed to the beach which was about a 3-4 minute walk. We headed back towards the big rock and found some "treasures" in the tidal pools. We also saw 2 trails through the sand where a couple of females had come in during the night to deposit their eggs. I think they patrol the beach in the early mornings to count the trails and thus know how many deposited during the night. After about 1 1/2 -2 hours we began heading back. We found bits of white coral on the beach and Jo and Soleiha found two brittle stars in the tidal pools. I found a small octopus and just as I went to get a picture a wave came in and that's the last we saw of it.
When we got up near the turtle hatchery we came across one of the biologists and some volunteers digging a hole in the beach. They were burying egg fragments from the hatchery and filling it with the sand the eggs had hatched out in. This sand was considered contaminated. I asked (Sara was her name from Indiana) when they would have more babies and she said right away!!!! Wow we were pumped!!! The three of us followed her and the helpers back to the hatchery. We weren't allowed in but could stand at the fence as observers . One of the things we noticed was a pup tent in the compound. From 4 pm on there is someone standing guard all night to keep predators such as coons out Sara showed us which nest they would excavate and said this one was special as she'd personally buried these eggs last Nov. The gestation period taking approx. 63-65 days
The eggs they recover to take to the hatchery are one's that have been deposited below the high water line. This particular nest contained 57 eggs. Most 45 of them had emerged from 3' down 2 days prior. Sara began digging out the next while the helpers screened the sand and got water to pour into the nest to try and stop it from caving in as she dug. She'd gone down about a foot when she came across two babies making their way to the surface. That was an unbelievable experience for us. She put them into a bucket with sand in it and covered it with a towel. The hole caved in several times which then had to be dug out again. All the shell casings were set aside to be counted. Several were undersized and not hatched. One of the large ones that was still intact came up and it began chipping it's way out of the shell as we watched. Sara said tis one was a "special needs" baby as it probably wouldn't have made it had it not been for the extra help. Altogether she got 8 turtles before it caved in again ans Sara gave up. By this time the hole was 3' deep and she felt that nothing more was to be gained by continuing. The total that survived the incubation and made it out alive was 53 out of 57 eggs. She was so proud as these where her little godchildren. She told us that the average survival is 50% and to get over 90% was unheard of. Congratulations Sara!!!!!
These nests all contain a thermometer so they can determine how many females there are as the sex is determined by the temp. They are only concerned with females as they are the future for the leatherbacks 20 years down the road.
Unfortunately we couldn't witness them returning to the water as it's done at dusk for the safety of the young and cameras are prohibited due to some people using flash cameras. ( I could have done it w/o a flash w/ this Sony). A special permit is req'd to have a camera on the beach.
Soleiha was really beat from our walk and extremely excited over what we had witnessed so missing the tour late that night wasn't a hardship. We returned, changed and went to Rip Jacks down the street for supper. We had planned to watch the sunset as there had been a few clouds during the day but on the way to the beach we could see the fiery fall about half way down. I ran ahead but got there too late. (Remember I've been on my butt since bringing the boat home so I'm still learning to walk again let alone running!) We met a couple from Lake Country near Kelowna who highly recommended Rip Jacks. It really was a fantastic meal. From upstairs on the deck we were overlooking the ocean (we should have gone there first and seen the sunset at the same time). The ladies had chicken and it was the most tender chicken I've ever eaten. It seemed to melt in your mouth. I had white marlin baked in banana leaves over rice with shrimp. We also tried a drink made from the sugar cane and mixed with Fresca. Not a bad drink but I think I'd like to try it straight to see what it really tastes like.
After supper we went back to our place, had a beer and called it a night. We were in bed (make that two beds) by 9:30 Our room had a double and a single so Soleiha used the single as there was no extra charge for the 3 person.v
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26222&l=83c22&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 8 Playa Grande

2008-01-21T09:02:00.000-08:00

We got an early start after breakfast at del Sol. The cab picked us up at 7:30 and dropped us off 5 minutes later at the bus station in Coco Beach. We found out our bus wouldn't get here until around 9:45. It was a pretty decent bus and took us to Filadephia an hour away. We then waited for 2 hours to catch the bus to Playa Grande. We had a very small room there for $65 a night. After checking in with Carlos we headed to the beach to sign up for the turtle tour for the following night (Fri.) when our friend Soleiha was going to join us. The informed us they were booked solid for the whole w/end and try as we might we couldn't reach her to tell her. We did sign up for that nights tour as there was only 4 spots left. They cap the number at 60 and charge $20 each. We were told to show up at 6 pm. They took our passport numbers and names when we first signed up and then when we came back at 6 they gave us small wooden fobs with our numbers 57 and 58 on them. This turned out to be significant as they then took us into an auditorium where we were given a slide show and video on the leatherbacks. The numbers are pretty depressing for their future. We then went outside to wait while the biologists were watching the beach in the dark looking for turtles. At 5 to 8 via walkie talkie we were informed they'd found one. Great! They then take the numbers 1-30 and take their money as they're now assured of seeing a turtle. Off they go while we wait on the concrete I'm asking why we didn't get to go in our group and I'm told they're looking for another turtle. The first group got back at 9 pm having seen the turtle digging, laying her eggs and covering them up. We would have stayed till the cows came home but fortunately our call came at 10:30. A lot of people had left so others who had come later got to fill their spots.
The latest turtle was quite a ways off so we went by van & then walked through a breach in the trees leading to the beach. There are several rules from here on in. No cameras. If your caught taking a picture they take away your camera to be claimed in the morning. Remain quiet, no cell phones, videos, anything that might disrupt the turtle. The guides use red flashlights and you must stay behind them. Any cars in town are supposed to use parking lights only as the light will cause the turtle to abort the trip ashore. It's the lights of the houses on shore that have destroyed much of the nesting sites.
Approaching the leatherback several hundred feet down the beach we are divided into two groups of 15. We're in group 1 and watch her digging while group two stand off. The biologist aids in packing the hole and scooping the sand away from it because if it caves in on itself the turtle will abort the dig. They pack all around the edge of the hole while she digs with her rear flippers which are about a foot across. First she buried her right rear foot and twisted it around to loosen up the sand. She then flips the loose sand out with first her right flipper and then her left until her flipper won't reach any further down which is about 3' deep. Next she begins letting the eggs out. A few at a time. During this time the biologist is laying on her stomach with a red light headband on and a counter. She's also put into the bottom of the nest a temp guage so they can monitor the temp of the nest over the next 65 days. The temp is critical in determining the sex of the turtle. The eggs are slightly smaller than a tennis ball, soft shelled and completely round. When she was nearly depleted the eggs became much smaller until they were about the size of a ping pong ball. This turtle layed 91 eggs. The norm is around 55. These covered the rest of the good eggs. When she was finished she began refilling the nest with sand and tamping it down using all her weight. This turtle was over 5 feet long at the shell which isn't really a shell but leather. She weighed between 700 and 800 lbs! It was an awe inspiring site and well worth the 4 hour wait, the sore butt, and the $20.
While we waited to go, there was a tent set up at the park headquarters and several elderly lady volunteers built a fire and had rice, & food available to eat along with coffee and cold drinks. The price was quite reasonable and we shared a dish prior to leaving.
This was another great day and so far everything is better than we could have asked for. The food is good. The water is great, the people are the friendliest you could ever meet and go out of their way to help you. Language hasn't been a problem as there's always someone who can assist you. Our nights have cost about $60/night and have been pretty good. The price per night will continue to fall after we leave here as we'll be off the beaten path and are expecting to be paying about $15-$20 a night for the two of us.The beds are comfortable, there's toilet paper (although we've brought our own), and our stomaches have remained on an even keel. We are truly happy campers and looking forward to the next 10 weeks. If the money holds out I'm sure we'll make it.

Costa Rica day 9

2008-01-18T09:13:00.001-08:00

We left Villa del Sol at 7:30 by cab and went to the bus stop where we caught a chickenbus to Filadefia (that's the correct spelling down here). From therre we went to Huacas where we caught a cab to Playa Grande. This beach is unbelievable and I would guess probably 10 miles long and 300' wide. We found an assortment of shells (one of which there's a picture of on facebook & is currently in the sink waiting to meet his maker). This certainly isn't a swimming beach but the place is full of hippy surfer types from all over. Gotta run as we've got a long walk from here to our place
This is our beach at Playa Grande about 500' from where we're staying. A famous beach for the nesting Loggerhead turtles which we viewed last night. Time right now doesn't permit to make this lengthy so stay tuned.
The two chicken bus trip yesterday was great and we were here by noon for under $4 for the two of us.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=26001&l=9399c&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 8 (early)

2008-01-16T04:46:00.000-08:00

Jo stayed up late last night and began planning the next leg as we leave tomorrow. Unfortunately Jo's sister Marion and her husband Don can't make it down here this month due to committments so we're going to head South to a place called Playa Conchal which is on this coast. It's not far but that's ok as we've got lots of time. I think because we're not going to Arenal volcano as soon as planned we're going to follow the coast for a while and maybe work our way over to Limon just to see it. It's on the Caribbean side and pretty remote with few amenities. It's also a lot wetter over there but we have our rain gear and it's only water right?
Not sure how often I can keep the blog going for the next few days as it will be up to the "free wireless" but I'll catch up as soon as I can.
Closing log at 7 a.m. stardate Jan. 16
NO PICS TODAY I'M TOO TIRED. Leaving in the morning on the chickenbus for Playas Grande south of here. (Turtle country) Hopefully we'll have internet access down there
Update for yesterday at 5:37 a.m. Yesterday we along with Soleiha (I'd been spelling it wrong) walked down to the beach and into town. Stopped at the souvenir place & then went to the banco. Man that was a real experience. Lots of people out front and a guard w/ a shotgun. Another guard opened the iron door to let someone in so we thought maybe they only allow 1 in at a time but that wasn't the case. Going inside we took a number like in a grocery store. My number was 93 and they were working on 50! Fortunately they had air (although the thing was dripping water all over the floor). They had 3 tellers, two of whom were doing commercial deposits etc. 45 minutes later it was our turn. Converted $200 into colones and we were out of there in 30 seconds. To complete the transaction we had to show our copies of our passport and sign for the money. No idea why all the other transactions took so long in front of us. Also when we entered the guard at the door told both Jo and I to remove our hats and she had to open her purse & show him the contents. turns out I could have put my hat back on but only if the brim was facing backwards so the security cameras could see our faces. Like who's going to tangle with a shotgun in a small room?
We then walked back to the souvenir store and Jo bought some real nice thongs to replace the flipflops and a pair of reversible shorts for under $10. It was then time to hit the little bar across the Golden Gate bridge which crosses over the famous Rio Septic.
Out in the bay was a gorgeous Windjammer Sailboat that carries 200 people up and down the coast for 7 days. They were picking passengers up in a zodiak who'd gone into town. The zodiaks were offloading into the stern of the ship.
When we got back we found that sister Lynn and Godmother Anne had been waiting for us for 4 hours. Manuel had let them into our unit after he got here so they had a/c and something to eat. We spent the afternoon with them as we won't see them again down here. They leave today for Ont. and that's why we chose this spot so we could hook up w/ them. They're staying at the brand new, all inclusive Hilton and were delivered here in a brand new BMW. Now that's class!
Last night I put a dvd together for Serge the owner of Villa del Sol and then got packed up. Now it's time to finish the packing and get ready to catch the cab at 7:30 to take us to the chicken bus. I'll post yesterdays pics on face book later.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25933&l=94057&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 7

2008-01-15T18:49:00.001-08:00

Well this was a real busy day. We got up this morning at 6 a.m. as our driver was supposed to be here at 7:30. He got here early so we had a real short breakfast (toast and a fruit bowl). KEE-AH!...we're off in the Kia van with Javier and headed over to pick up Lynn. She was waiting for us in the reception area at the Hilton and the four of us (Soleilla from our place was with us) left for Liberia. We stopped there at a mall and I managed to pick up some Cohiba Cuban small cigars. The girls hit the banyo and away we went. Drove to Canas and then on to Bevedero where we were to leave on the boat cruise. Bevedero is a cute little out of the way place with a small population on the Las Tenorito River. This river smokes along pretty well. It's a muddy color and definitely not for swimming!
First thing we were asked what we wanted for lunch (which was part of the $85 package) The girls opted for the chicken and I went for the beef. We were then introduced to Amadelo our captain. This guy was very likeable and about 40. Javier joined us and was obviously a good friend of his. While we were at the departure point a group of youalls came in in an arrogant fashion and we thought, "Oh here we go". Turns out to our good fortune they were at the wrong place. We got on our boat which would have held about 40 and it was "our boat." No one else. Well the youalls passed us going like a bat out of hell and we waved like we'd miss them. We hadn't gone more than 5 minutes and the skipper stopped the big Yamaha and pointed out a croc on the bank. It was a small one about 8' long; shortly after that an iguana laden w/ eggs sitting on the bank. He was so attentive to us! He'd spot something and back up, jockey around so we could see, get our pictures and if we couldn't see what he was pointing at he'd use a mirror to point them out with a sunbeam! Our van driver also was a great spotter. We saw all we could ask for. Some of the crocs were around 15' long.
Birds galore and the cruise was at a very slow pace. Javier told us later we got an extra 55 minutes of cruise time. We tipped him pretty well when we got back and I gave him my business card explaining that I was also a "capitan". Well you'd think we were brothers after that. He also works out of Arenal on a large lake there so hopefully we'll see him again.
By this time it was around 1 pm and we were getting hungry. We loaded into the Kia van (nice with individual a/c) and headed for Canas. Got to the restaurant in the hotel, and it was 1st class! The "lunch" began with homemade tortillas and a bowl of some kind of additive like warm salsa. Very good. We also were given a large pitcher of water and another pitcher of some kind of juice that tasted slightly like pineapple juice to me but it wasn't.
Then came the food! Girls loved the chicken and the salsa that came with it. Javier joined us and we had beef. What a steak! Coleslaw, carrots and some other veggie, rice, and black beans. Man it makes my mouth water to think of it. Right behind our table were the desserts. The girls had coffee and then Jo bought a slab of some kind of million calorie chocolate cake which we all tasted. Worth every bit of weight gain!
Then it was time to move on and we headed off to Liberia. Lynn and Soleilla went into the mall again and got a bottle of the salsa we'd tried along with a big bottle of vanilla. Jo and I stayed behind and saved our money.
We dropped Lynn off at the Hilton and got back here about 3:30. Then it was time to hit the beach and go monkey hunting with Soleilla. When we got to the right place the girls went swimming and I hung out looking up into the trees we'd seen them in yesterday. There was a guy cleaning up the yard where we'd stopped yesterday and he invited me in to show me the monkeys. He signalled me to walk around so I did and found the monkeys were in different trees today but still the same troop. He invited the ladies in when they came looking for me. I think his family lived in a house on the grounds and he was a caretaker for the unoccupied houses next door. We watched for a while and I got all my pictures and then we headed back to the beach access path that we'd found the other day. Half way to the road Jo spotted some more monkeys and we watched them for a while. That's about it for the day. We were beat when we got back and it's taken me hours to download 120 pictures and write this blog.
I've still got about 50 videos that I haven't downloaded and some of them are pretty good. When I downloaded the last 60 pics to the facebook I lost them along with all the descriptive info so I'll add that later. Enjoy and leave your comments.
Now we have a quandry. If we drop off our 3rd bag in San Jose at a secure location we'll have to backtrack about 8 hours on the chicken bus. We're thinking of heading South to Puntarenas as far as we can go and then heading up the East coast of the peninsula, catching the ferry to the mainland and heading South along the West coast some more to around the Panamanian border. We'll see what happens. The reason we're changing our immediate plans to see Arenal is that Javier said the best time to see the volcano both at night and during the day is in March or April when it's clearer with no clouds blocking the view. At night you can see the red hot lava flowing down the sides.
So guess we'll devote tomorrow to making plans for the upcoming week. Lynn and Anne are thinking of joining us in town tomorrow night for an early supper (the last night here for all of us).
It's 10 pm and the temp is 29 and the humidity (which is higher than it has been) is 58. The only sound is the surf and the lawn sprinklers. Time for bed.
LINKS FOR THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25832&l=d77fc&id=680056043
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25830&l=19594&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 6

2008-01-14T18:32:00.001-08:00

Wow another great day! Jo set the alarm clock for 5:30. I think we both woke up before that but by 5:45 we were through the gate and down the road heading to monkey country. We were there by daybreak and Jo saw several at the end of the road but too far to catch up to. We then heard one howling behind us in the trees but couldn't see him. I spotted something moving but it turned out to be a big gray squirrel. Much bigger than the ones up North and with a tail any redneck would be proud to have hanging off his aerial just below the confederate flag.
Giving up we returned to the digs and then headed in for breakfast. Met a lady from Calgary, Soleila. I think I know enough parlez vous to know her real name is Sonny. We got yacking and it seems everyone here speaks French but us. No matter, due to the archaic schoolboard of Canada I still know when I'm being talked about by a frenchman. Just kidding these are pretty nice people and right from France not Quebecois
After breakfast Jo and I headed down the beach to the village. We had copies made of our passports showing the entry stamp which we will keep with us while we lock up our passports for safekeeping. We then visited a couple of flophouses to see what it would cost to stay there the night prior to boarding the chicken bus at 8 a.m. the price ranged from $40 to $30, the $30 one being the better of the two.
We came back home without making a reservation to see what it would cost to get a cab to the bus station and still be there by 8 a.m. That's the way to go for sure. We'll be picked up at 7:30 for the 8 a.m bus. Sounds good to me. That way we can reach Escazu San Rafael and drop the bag off on Thurs., get a room and head to Arenal the next morning.
We spent the afternoon sitting in the shade by the pool. Jo sewing an inside pocket into my bathing suit for the hidden stash and me reading and having a cold one.
We headed out for the beach around 4 pm figuring we'd catch the 5 legged furry buggers before they went to bed. We got down there around 4:15, hung around wondering whether to go in for a swim or keep the binocs trained on the trees. Jo was the first to see movement and sure enough there was a monkey! Upon closer examination there was a whole damn family. At least two mothers with little babies hanging onto their chests, a couple of studs and a few jnrs. Altogether about 8-9. I gotta say that blew me away. I got a couple of good shots that need to be blown up and cropped to see the little guy but what a rush! First time I've ever seen a real monkey in the wild. Jo had a hard time getting me to leave. The french connection showed up while all this was going on and while I was videoing and recording their howls the *&%$#@@ thought they'd practise their @##$$%%^^&& monkey calls. Paul I hope you know how to separate frog calls from ape calls.
When we got back I was still on cloud 9. We walked to the grocery store and got a bottle of that Nicaraguan rum, some coke, Pilsen beer, bananas (what the hell are we buying bananas for)? and a can of beans. That's been our night so far. Jo's working on her log and I've been downloading pics and typing. I've got some great vids but they'll have to wait for a while.
Tomorrow we're going to see some wildlife (bloody well better for the cost of the tour) so stay tuned. Hope you enjoy the pics and we enjoy the comments.
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25757&l=aab8c&id=680056043
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25763&l=489a5&id=680056043

INFO FOR THE WEARY TRAVELER

2008-01-14T05:32:00.000-08:00

Some of the things we've found since our arrival:
We flew Amerian Airlines from Miami and Jo said she used the head en route and it was filthy! It's only a 2 1/2 hour flight so use the Miami airport.
Don't change your US/Can. money at the C.R. airport! They encouraged us to change more than we'd planned to get a better rate. For $500 we got a rate of 459 colones per 1.00 which made us look like millionaires. Our B&B was offering just over 500 colones for any amount so we got ripped off. If you need some colones just get $20 worth at the San Jose airport.
Use the chicken busses! They're as good as our greyhounds. No banyo on them so go first. The next level of busses I suspect has all the options. Our price for a 4 hour ride was under $10 for both of us. Our 1/2 hour cab ride to here was $25. Car's are very pricey to rent. Anywhere from $450 to $900 a week incl. insurance (and you sure as hell need that.) Even w/ insurance they want your credit card deposit for $1,000.
The water. It's perfectly ok here but we'll watch it when we go inland. We started using it in ice cubes for rum & coke but have had no regularity problems. If you have any doubts wait until you've got lodging for a period of time so you can stay close to a bathroom.
Laundry go light and don't bring a pile of socks or underwear. You can wash them out at night and they'll be dry by morning. Hint tie them to the overhead fan and watch your head. So far I think one pair of socks on the way down would have been sufficient. After that it's sandals.
A few things I thought of today while my mind was at work.
The hardest thing I've done down here so far is to have a shower and hold a drink of rum and coke at the same time without getting any water in it.
The 2nd most brilliant thing I've thought of is "the less hair you have the faster it dries." Now take those gems to the bank.
Bring zip lock bags. We've lightened our load and discarded socks, underwear, long sleeves, and so far no toilet paper problem after two weeks. 2 of everything is plenty.
Bugs (so far) have not been a factor (except for Jo who has sweet blood).
A good camera like I have will replace the need for a video camera and bring at least one extra camera battery and a 4 gig memory card. I'm loving this camera and it's attached at the hip (as is Jo)

Costa Rica day 5

2008-01-13T17:43:00.000-08:00

Well we had breakfast about 7:30 and sat with our friends Ellen (I'd been calling her Helen) and Casey. They left today to head South. When I first went outside this morning I was looking around and spotted what appeared to be something in a nearby tree. The binoculars proved it to be a garrobo lizard about 2' long. If you check out the pics on facebook you'll see where I was when I first saw it and the other picture is a zoomed version. That's the beauty of having a 15x optical.
We then struck out for the beach and went South and walked for quite a long way. We reached a beautiful inlet but couldn't safely make it down to the sandy beach. The last 1/4 mile was over rocks that were quite sharp (ankle breakers if your wearing bifocals). It was difficult to get into the water due to the surge and rocks but Jo found a nice little tidal pool that was replenished about every other wave. It was full of small fish. Some resembled fresh water pencil fish (yellow w/ black stripes) and the others I've seen in salt water aquariums and I think they were blue damselfish. After every surge the water calmed down and they came out for a bite.
We finally headed back to a sandy beach for a snorkel but it was poor visiblity. I missed a great shot of a bunch of black vultures that seemed to be following us. I think they were making bets that I wouldn't make it to a bar. I also got a shot of several frigate birds. We saw flocks of brown pelicans that were in a Canada goose formation. We haven't seen many pelicans so far.
As we approached Coco beach the first thing we came to was La Vida Loca. It didn't take a mental giant to realize this was a watering hole. Dos Imperials por favor!!!! Ok make it quatro at $2.00 each what the hell.
Leaving there we came to the Golden Gate Bridge which is a loose board, shakey thing that crosses over the famous Costa Rica Septic River which you've probably all heard about. This was a single lane, take your chances bridge that led us to the main hub of Coco Beach. We found the bus depot, the cop shop and a great souvenir place that had some beautiful paintings and woodwork. It also had some great stuff for the kids but with a long way to go yet we skipped the souvenir part. We also found that the chicken bus leaves at 8 a.m. every day. We'd be hard pressed to get from here to there by 8 a.m so I think the plan will be when we leave here is to find a flophouse close to the bus station and spend a night there and then head out the next day to San Jose or rather Escazu where an acquaintance of Jo's has an office where we'll drop off our 3rd bag which is now empty and fill it with whatever we won't need to carry inland. We can pick it up on our way back to the coast.
Trucking back along the beach a lady asked us to take a family photo for them before they left tomorrow. Turns out they're from Kelowna. The Kamloops drunks from last night are gone today. Probably checked into rehab after drinking beer out of bongs all night.
We got home, had a beer and a wrap and then headed down the beach again to see the howler monkeys which get vocal in the morning and evening. Well they must have had a helluva day cause they were all in the sack by the time we got there.
It was a beautiful night. About 80 degrees with a little breeze. We sat outside the room and had a rum & coke (Jo made me finish it as there was only a "little" left. Now it's time to start downloading and typing. Jo's doing her journal. It's 8:30 and we're pretty beat so it will be an early night and hopefully we can wake up the apes tomorrow morning. I've never seen a real live wild monkey so it's pretty high on my list. The camera batteries are charging so we should be good to go.
I'll add the link to todays pics momentarily. I hope someone out there is reading this. Stay tuned if you are
LINK OF THE DAY
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25615&l=0aac6&id=680056043

Costa Rica day 4

2008-01-12T20:27:00.001-08:00

Well the day began at 7:30. We had a great breakfast again at the main bldg. of french toast, and a bowl of fruit with juice and coffee. We met up with Casey and Helen who had offered to drive us to Lynn and Annes place at the Papagay bay Hilton which is an all inclusive place about 16 km. from here ($40 taxi ride). We'd had a hard time hookinng up with them but Lynn called this morning and talked to Jo so we got their room number. Lynn was waiting for us at the office when we arrived and got us squared away with the front desk. (for $65 ea and get out by 5 pm) Casey had agreed to come back for us at 5. We walked down the path to the pool area where Anne was waiting for us and then we went into the lounge I guess you'd call it for drinks (everything was free from here on in). YOu name it they had it for booze. We just started w/ beer and then went by the color. Good stuff and a cute little waitress that could have kept me drinking forever. Around noon we went to the unit they had which was a short walk away. They have small golf cart type things that will take you anywhere but we walked and Anne drove. They had a great place that was removed from the boisterous pool area where the gringos were in the pool w/ some Tico trying to kick their way into fitness. Like they had to be half cut just to even think about it.
I've slackened off on my training so remained drinking. By the time I was about half full and had two cheeseburgs into me to keep my cholestoral up where it should be Jo went for a dip. I acted as lifeguard and continued drinking to rehydrate which is very important down here.
Around 4:30 we called one of the little carts to haul us back up to the top of the hill. First we went to the very top so we could see the view and take a couplw of pictures. Then it was back to the reception area where Casey and Helen were waiting for us.
We came back and had a quick drink by the pool and then went into the spaghetti place where we'd tried to go last night. We had a great meal there (some kind of European pig for Casey and I and the girls had pasta.) Mary Ramona the owner who we'd met last night sat with us for a while and entertained us with a lot of laughs. Mary if you read this correct me if I'm wrong but my limited Italian tells me that Ramona means "romance, anywhere, anytime." Great place and she's got rooms for rent to. You can find her in Fodors book for alcoholics in Costa Rica under Pato Loco which translates into "What the Duck?" or something like that.
That pretty much sums up our day other than while waiting for Helen to go for supper we were entertained by a bunch of crazy buggers from Kamloops who had made a beer bong and were trying to set a world record for drinking two beers. I think they had it down to two seconds. I suggested they get a longer hose and hold it over the upstairs railing so they'd get more gravity working for them (and probably blow a hole through their internal organs). Well that's it folks. Stay tuned
The link for todays pics is http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25512&l=2a5ff&id=680056043

Day 3 to the beach

2008-01-12T05:17:00.000-08:00

Got up early (6:30) and headed to the main bldg for breakfast. Very good! Ham & scrambled eggs, watermelon, pineapple, toast & coffee. Drank our coffee poolside. Headed down to the beach & went to the far end (North?) Tried snorkelling but the water was pretty turbulent. Jo went in and I told her to hold onto everything when going through the big breaker. She did that but coming back in she had her back to the wave from hell and everything went for a ride. Fins, mask, snorkle etc. Well she recovered everything but upon examination the mouthpiece for the snorkle had either been ripped away or swallowed.
Coming back to the unit we got some drinks and went to the pool where we read and toasted. The pool is very nice and cooler than the ocean.
We've been waiting for a message from my sister and godmother who are at the Hilton all inclusive about 16 km from here but nada. I got the phone number and tried to call their hotel but couldn't get through so I'm going to get someone from here to try this morning for me.
Last night we joined up with the couple from Toronto Helen and Casey who have a car and went looking for a spaggeti place they'd heard about. We finally found it but they were closed due to a function so guess we'll go back tonight. Instead we went to a seafood place the lady recommended. Great food but check out the pictures on my facebook!
Well it's time for breaky and another beautiful day. Yesterday I met a couple of lizards and around dusk the budgies and parrots were really getting boisterous and flying all over the place. They're really hard to spot to take pictures and very fast never staying in one spot for long. We also suspect there's a howler monkey in the vicinity as we've heard it in the morning and evening. Check out the facebook

2008-01-11T11:16:00.000-08:00

THIS IS THE LINK I THINK YOU NEED
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=554260&id=680056043&ref=mf
PLSE LET ME KNOW IF THIS WORKS

Day 2 The adventure begins

2008-01-11T11:04:00.000-08:00

Thursday, January 10, 2008
Day 2 The adventure begins

Wow we got to sleep last night about 6:30 or 7 (6:30 for Jo) what a day we were really beat! Jo set the alarm for 6:30 figuring 12 hours would suffice as we were supposed to catch the bus at 8. We awoke to the alarm and got packed, wolfed down a great breakfast of scrambled eggs, the best coffee I've ever had, ice cold pineapple juice, a chunk of pineapple and a slice of excellent watermelon. Turns out the damn busses were already booked solid so we took a cab into San Jose, got our tickets for $2,350 colones total which came to under $10 for the both of us for a 5 hour bus trip which thanks to Mario Andretti at the wheel took 4 hours. Now that's a cheap thrill ride. Actually he did a great job but then he had size on his side. The roads were excellent but plugged with tractor trailors. We stopped after two hours for a 15 minute break and before we knew it we were in Liberia. As soon as we got off (the bus) a cabbie approached us and rather than wait for another hour and a half we got a ride to the door arriving here about 2:30. We were welcomed by Manuel (you had to guess it would either be Manuel or Jose). He apologized for our room as it's not what we had booked but instead we were given a huge room with double bed, a single hideaway and all the appliances! A fridge!!! Yeehaw cold booze. Jo decided we should go for a walk first thing cause we'd been sitting on our asses for two full days. Geez I thought she was going to walk all the way back to Liberia! Well we got to the main drag and found a grocery store & got some local beer. Imperial and Pilsen. Both are excellent. We also got a bottle of Nicaraguan Rum for $10. that meant coke, and then water for my parched throat in the morning. F. Y. I. liquids weigh in at 10# per gallon and I'm getting too bloody old for that kind of hiking. We managed to get home but only because we passed a bar and it was happy hour so Jo felt I deserved some fortifier which was quite true. Nice bar called CocoNutz (We're in Coco beach).
We checked out the beach. It's quite nice with black sand. Didn't sample the water yet though. In fact we didn't even sample the sunset. We sat on the front patio and whacked back some of that rum and I kinda like it. I'd promised the first drink would be for Gerry and he got it. From there on out I enjoyed it more.
We then went down to the pool and met an elderly couple (older than me) from Toronto, Markham and Oakville. They've been here before so I'm looking forward to picking their brains on what to see and where to go.
The temp has been great. Probably in the 80's, low humidity, and no bugs.. Well now your pretty much up to date. It's 10:30, my buzz has gone and it's time for bed.
Jo's been the navigator and bookkeeper and is doing a fine job. My job is to follow, take pictures and haul booze. I'm going to try and download some of the pictures but if it doesn't work you can see them on facebook at the following address
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25359&l=d6c4a&id=680056043
Apparently you can't make comments on this blog (thanks Sally) so save your strength)
Jo's sitting here cackling to herself and said I should add that after all her practising Spanish it worked. The downside was the guy answered her in Spanish. Bad idea. Who the hell understands it?

Posted by AL COTTON at 8:12 PM 0 comments

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We Made it!

2008-01-09T15:10:00.000-08:00

After over 24 hours in transit thanks to Horizon's plane having problems and missing our flight from Seattle we finally got out of Kelowna at 7 pm. Left Seattle at 10 pm and then instead of going to L.A. we went to Miami and watched the sun break over the horizon just as we were touching down. We then boarded a flight to San Jose and got in around 11:30 am C.R. time. It's now 5:14 pm and I'm sitting on the patio having a Pilsen. This first one is for Gerry. Good stuff to! Not like U.S. beer this stuff is 5.1%.
Tomorrow we hope to catch the 8 am bus to Playa del Coco. It's a 5 hour ride so we want to do it in the daylight. We're booked in there for 7 nights so stay tuned.
The link to my facebook for todays pictures is http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=25268&l=92f47&id=680056043
hasta la vista baby

Hitting the Road in Costa Rica

2008-01-03T06:26:00.000-08:00

On January 8th Jo and I will begin our adventure! We fly from Kelowna to Seattle, to L.A. and then a redeye to San Jose the capital of Costa Rica. Arriving on the 9th at 7 a.m. we will spend the first night at a B&B in Alajuela which is situated close to the airport. The following day we will catch the bus to Playa del Sol on the West coast where we are booked in for 7 nights. After that we're off & running.
The biggest question prior to leaving is what do we take? We need to travel light but still don't want to forget anything. The first priority for me is my laptop, all the connections, and my camera with all it's connections. This blog intended to be a photo journal of the 2 1/2 month trip. There are 5 provinces in Costa Rica and we hope to spend about a week in each one. That will leave us with 5 weeks to return to our favorite places. It's our hope to include a short stint in Nicaragua and possibly Panama.
To begin to prepare, we've borrowed backpacks from Paul and Dana, got books from Amazon.ca, got a housesitter, got the taxes ready for processing, rec'd our shots and prescriptions, and made a halfhearted attempt to pick up some Espanol. Guess we'll have to wing that part and rely on our book "How to Get By and Be Easily Understood".
Yeah right. The Tico's better be more patient than I am. We purchased some great books on C.R. (where to stay, what to see, how to travel, etc.) but how can we take them all plus the necessities? We're hoping to have a backpack each plus one large one that we can keep in San Jose containing everything we can't carry.
I've found that Facebook is the easiest to download pictures to so I'm hoping to be able to use that and provide a link on here to access it. We'll see how that goes.
For now it's http://www.facebook.com/p.php?i=680056043&k=S4B34WVSP5TF6G1DWDVUU&r&v=2