A last blog from rainy Samara......... After a fabulous trip around the country (and Panama) we ended the tour with a great day rafting on the river Pacuare. Unfortunately no pictures of that day because we obviously got soaked several times. It was one of the most fun experiences here in Costa Rica, maybe even better than SkyTrek (it's a close call). We left from Puerto Viejo early in the morning with our backpacks and slept most of the way to the adventure centre near Siquirres. We drove to the river and got our safety talk etc etc from our very [View Full Entry]

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After a few very chilled out days in Bocas del Toro - which we absolutely loved, we decided to have a few more days on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, here in Puerto Viejo. The trip from Bocas wasn't long; a 50 minute watertaxi ride to Finca60, a short busride to Sixaola (the bordercrossing to Costa Rica). We got there during lunchhour, so the border was closed for half an hour or so. Only in Costa Rica do they actually CLOSE the border for lunch! Which meant a short wait (even though we knew this might happen, it still wasn't [View Full Entry]

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Already our third day in Bocas del Toro, a group of islands in Panama on the Caribbean side. We had a LONG journey, which we didn´t think we´d be able to do in one day, but every time we arrived, our next form of transport would be there so we just kept going. It was tough getting up at 4am getting the bus from Drake Bay to Rincon...and it wasn´t a smooth ride. But our tiredness took over and we still slept a lot of the 2 hour ride. There we met a local, William (what is it with everyone having [View Full Entry]

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Finally on the Osa Peninsula! Quite a trip to get here from Heredia, where we left on Monday morning at 10 am, only just making the bus to Palmar Norte. The absolutely amazing road (hardly any potholes would you believe it!) went straight through the mountains, into the clouds, and 6 hours later, we were in Palmar Norte. From here we decided to wait just over an hour for the bus that would take us to Sierpe, a little village, surrounded by millions and millions of palm trees, and has a slightly ¨swampy¨feel to it. I don´t mean that in a [View Full Entry]

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Buenos Dias from a wet and cloudy Monteverde! Our drive/boat ride to Santa Elena/Monteverde went very smoothly and although the road was very bumpy, I managed to get a few much needed minutes of sleep! Our hostel (Pension Santa Elena) is very cosy, comfortable and cheap ($6/night) and a sort of tour operator as well, so we immediately organised our activities for our two days here. Friday afternoon we went to the cheese factory which was started by a group of Quakers from South Alabama in the 1950s. The history behind the factory is very interesting, but obviously I was more [View Full Entry]

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Hello friends from a somewhat more chilly La Fortuna... My final days in Delicias-Montezuma, a quick recap.... I wasn´t sure when exactly I would be leaving as I didn´t yet know where I would be heading, earliest leaving date possible was Friday (the 13th...) so my ¨goodbye dinner¨was on Thursday night. There were a couple of people there I had never met before (a regular night at our house then!) and the neighbours had prepared a great lasagna and two big bowls of salad. A great change from the rice and beans regular meals (don´t get me wrong I´m still enjoying [View Full Entry]

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Hola from Montezuma, probably the last entry from here.... Last weekend I managed to go back to Samara for a few days. I splashed out and took a private van to Samara, on the way back I had no choice and take the public bus, which was a great 8-hour experience (as opposed to the 4 hour trip) It involved taking the bus towards San Jose (the opposite direction that I needed to go) get off halfway at a little place called Barranca. From there I took a local bus (no doors) to Puntarenas, a popular beach town for the locals. [View Full Entry]

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Hola Amigos! Apologies for the lack of diaries lately- I will blame it all on the terrible Internet access.....(which is a fact). So I've already been in my new town for almost two weeks.....liking it so far, although it's probably been the toughest moment of my trip, because I'm in a very remote town, very simple living quarters and in a job where I sometimes feel very helpless. But at the same time, I'm loving the experience, I think it's helping me grow as a person. Listen to me, I'm almost as floaty and new age as about 90% of the [View Full Entry]

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Hola! Mailing to you during my 22 hour stopover in Heredia. I left Samara at 8.30 this morning, arrived in San Jose (my first visit to this place which can absolutely be missed...my walk from Coca-Cola bus terminal to the Central Park was enough) at 2.30 and have a few hours here with my first host family before I return to Samara tomorrow at 12.30 for my last week of language classes. The past few days have been quite dramatic and absolutely crazy, and probably my worst experience so far. My fellow chicas Rachel and Alex are both leaving this tuesday, [View Full Entry]

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Today is the start of my third week in Samara, a little beach village in the Nicoya Peninsula on the Pacific Coast. We got here during Semana Santa, the week that everyone from the city goes to the coast. Our daily routine consisted of going to the beach during the day and going to the bar in the evening. There is one clothes shop here, two mini markets, two bars and one nightclub, so there's not a whole lot more to do. After 2 days we knew most of the people in the town, so by now we're pretty much locals [View Full Entry]

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