Simon Says... Simon Bolivar, for the record, is the man in Latin America. If you don't already know, I'm not going to tell you.Our initial introduction to San Jose was quite interesting, though I suspect rather average. We rolled into the infamous Coca-Cola bus terminal and were immediately beset upon by chants of, "Taxi! Taxi!" At first I tried to look around and get some bearings but the lack of street sinage makes this very difficult... near impossible. So we jumped into one and expected to take off any minute. Not so. After we told him where we were off to, Costa Rica Backpackers, he flips out his cell phone and tells us if we are without reservations it is unlikely that we would get a room. Then he flips through the numbers and dials one ... read more

Casa del Sol Jenny´s castle in the sand and sun... a crab moved in shortly to claim it as his own. We allowed it.Hola amigas and amigos! The first week in the country, we were positively spoiled, so it makes sense that there must be a (slight) fall from grace somewhere. We got our first taste on a tour to Volcan Arenal. We decided we´d chance the weather (against the recommendation of our guide, Giovani) and take the volcano tour the next day as opposed to right after getting back from Rio Celeste. We were tired, after all, and wanted to enjoy our stay at the hotsprings. Oops, because the next night it rained for exactly the hour we did a jungle tour, and was clouded over when we went to watch the volcano. But that ... read more

In Pursuit of the Elusive Quetzal Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Santa Elena By TicoTime May 6th 2007 Bell Bird One of the top two most sought after birds in all of Costa Rica (out of many hundreds), second only to the resplendent Quetzal. Its call reverberates through the jungle for a 1 mile radius and sounds... Wow, a lot sure has happened since May 4... Hope your seat belts are buckled. First thing in the morning on Jenny´s birthday, she went to check out of our hotel (Casa Real in Liberia) before we went for Desayunos across the street, an Iguana jumped down off of a roof right in front of her. I heard her scream and jump back and saw the beast, about as long as your arm. Very cool, and Jenny ... read more

Is that a crater? Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Liberia By TicoTime May 2nd 2007 Are those craters??? No, but we still have no idea why the US farmers would have circular crops in square plots.Hola amigos y familia, Jenny and I are in Liberia (lee-bear-ee-ah to you gringos) enjoying the mellow vibe, humidity and warm weather. No rain yet, which is nice as the forecast we looked up online from home said thundershowers until at least Friday. Last night we hopped in a cab after breezing through customs at the airport and were briskly transported to the charming Hotel Liberia. The cab was 7,000 colones, though I got the impression that the driver would have taken less than what I had arranged with the English speaking dispatcher. Oh well. The room was 11,000 ... read more