Mike's Cusco Theme Song (sung to the beat of Afroman's "Because I got high") I had all these things to do,But Cusco is high. I was gonna see Machu Picchu,But Cusco is high. Now I'm throwin' up and I know why, Cuz Cusco is high, Cusco is high, Cusco is high Ba Da Da Dup DupI was gonna walk the anchient alleys, But Cusco is high. I was gonna visit the Sacred Valley, But Cusco is high. Now I'm passing out and I know why,Cuz Cusco is high, Cusco is high, Cusco is high Ba Da Da Dup Dup. I suppose it's wise to inform those who don't know that the Peruvian city of Cusco sits at a paltry 11,000 feet, suck it Denver. Mile high my Toocus. This altitude has a strange effect on the ... read more

Those of you who´ve been following the blog, both of you, may be signing in to hear about our promised adventures in Monteverde Cloud Forest. Well things took a turn in a different direction on Tuesday morning. We set out for Monteverde early in the morning, a trip that starts out with a short ferry ride that takes you across the gulf from the Nicoya peninsula into Puntarenas. On this ride we met a lovely couple on their honeymoon and we started talking about our travel plans. Upon hearing about our intentions for Monteverde, their travel guide got on the phone to his tour buddies and determined that the roads there had washed away and would not be accessible anytime soon. It´s actually fortunate that we found out from him for two reasons 1. We saved ... read more

Note: This entry was not written by Mike Bebernes And so the adventure continues! First and foremost, sorry there are no pictures on this blog. Not that we are in a dangerous place (don´t worry moms) but we just thought it best to not be prancing around Paquera with our digital camera. But that just means double the pictures next time. So we decided to leave Manuel Antonio to head for the Nicoya Pennisula. Once again we had quite a day travelling to get to the lazy beach town of Montezuma. First lesson we learned in Costa Rica. 1) When you take public transportation and the bus schedules says it will be 3 hours to your next destination, that really means 6 hours. Life here is so different that the U.S. Rules are more like guidelines, ... read more

So much for a romantic getaway where you forget all your problems and just relax. Yesterday was one of the most harrowing days of both our lives. After having to kill three hours in an LAX terminal that had all services closed, a very long 5 hour red-eye, a completely and unnecessary cab ride and another three hour wait in the Coca Cola bus station, which looks like parts of LA (if LA was in hell), we finally boarded our bus for Manuel Antonio thinking all of our tribulations were behind us. However, Costa Rica's highway 1 had other ideas. Our supposed three-hour bus ride stretched out to nearly five because of rain swept road and cars in front of us breaking down multiple times. When we got to the town of Quepos, just a few ... read more

Well, well, well, the day is finally come. The Tickets are bought. The bags are packed. The mothers are inconsolable. It feels like a lifetime ago that Jenny and sat down for lunch one day and planned this trip in the most flippant of ways. I remember the conversation as if it were yesterday: Jenny: "We should go around the world" Me: "Yeah cool, pass the barbacue sauce" That's all it took to start the pebble rolling down that hill and that pebble has grown and grown with ever increasing speed until now it has finally come to rest in the form of a fifty pound backpack. Neither of us realized the magnitude of what we had gotten ourselves into and won't until we hit the streets of Costa Rica lugging our entire lives behind us ... read more