Zip-lining is on today’s menu. The last of our extreme (to us) adventures. We were supposed to leave at 9am but it was delayed a couple of hours. At first it looked like we would again be the only customers but at our arrival at base camp, around the other side of the volcano, we were joined by 3 young Russians. The mountainside is more green here and the ravines formed by the lava flow less visible. The man was huge, at least 6’5 and with a belly to rival my own. We both got fitted with a double harness. There was a short practice run to make sure we understood the four basic commands and then into the back of the truck for a bumpy ride up the base of the volcano. This part of ... read more

More water sports today. White water rafting with Wave Experiences is on the menu. I chose the class 2&3 rapids tour. Claudette decided to take the day off. She has had enough of getting her face wet after the rappelling adventure. Our destination was about an hour out of town. The guide, Fabio, gave an entertaining introduction and monologue to keep us amused along the way. After a brief pit stop, we turned off the main road to reach our starting point. There were 70 people signed up for today’s river descent. Each raft held six people. It was a mad scramble and lots of wasted time as people tried to decide who they wanted to go with. There were some over-sized groups. Easy for me. I just latched myself onto a group of five. ... read more

Early start today for a river nature cruise. The kind people at Eruptions prepared an early breakfast and we were on the bus at 7am. We were the first to embark so we got to see some of the other tourist lodgings, including high end spas and a five star backpackers resort (not quite as nice as our place). The river we were to explore is about 15 km. from Nicaragua, an hour drive from Fortuna. It is slow moving and the banks are held together by large drooping trees. We saw different kinds of monkeys, caimans and about 10 different kinds of birds. Couldn’t get pics of them all as the zoom on my camera is not powerful enough. After about 2 hours, we headed back to our starting point for a buffet lunch. A ... read more

Like many airports around the world, as soon as you clear customs, a swarm of hawkers offering lodging and transport surrounded us. Claudette got disorientated but was sound enough to choose the right coloured taxi. Thirty seven dollars Can. to downtown. Our hotel, the Fleur de Lys, www.hotelfleurdelys.com/ is a converted old colonial mansion about a 10 minute walk from the centre of town. The renovations are tastefully done with respect for the original fabric. Lots of fine wood wainscoting. Many grand open public spaces on each floor. Colourful artwork on the walls. Our room was large with high ceilings. We went for a walk to stretch our legs after our long flight. The city is quite clean. Very little litter. Not even many cigarette butts. We saw very few people smoking. No smoking in restaurants ... read more

We made it home just before a major blizzard hit. Thank you, Belinda, for giving us a heads-up and meeting us half way with Tuck. It was so refreshing to feel the wind-blown snow on my face. I don't know how many times over the last month I had been dreaming of the sensation, given the dry 90+ heat of SE Asia. Last night was the Snow Moon. There was enough snow on the ground that the light reflecting from the sun on the full moon bouncing off the snow made interesting shadows of the bare branches. Almost enough light to read by. ... read more