Blogs from Turrialba, Cartago, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean
El Andino, mi casa nueva
Published: November 28th 2010Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Cartago » Turrialba
November 26th 2010
It's been two weeks now since I arrived here at Turrialba where the CATIE campus with my new home, the "Andino", is located. And what should I say? It's a lot less different than I expected :). Of course, it's quite a lot warmer, but at night it has cooled down to 13 degrees sometimes, brrr. And it is not dry, but there's such a lot of rain! This is definetely different to Germany, I don't know where all the water comes from. And as humidity is generally very high, the library smells of millions of pages of damp paper. Students' life The campus here is really huge (I feel), very green, with palm trees and a beautiful view on the hills around when they're not just covered in clouds. It is a bit outside of ... read more
In search of the Pura Vida (Pacific and Central Costa Rica)
Published: September 14th 2010Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Cartago » Turrialba
September 10th 2010
(Day 889 on the road) We had been a little apprehensive about Costa Rica, the Rich Coast as he name translates (named so for the gold found here during the Spanish occupation in the 16th century). All we knew was that the country was, in comparison to the other countries in Central America, overrun by tourists, most of them vacationers from the USA and Europe, who are attracted to the country by its (perceived) better security situation. And lured here by Costa Rica's relentless eco-tourism and nature ("Pura Vida" - pure life) advertisement I should add - the country is banking heavy on the responsible, sustainable nature card. At times it seems as if every idiot operating in the tourism sector has jumped onto the bandwagon and renamed his business Eco-Lodge-this or Eco-business-that. If even tour-bus ... read more
Canyoning & Changing Cities - Cool!
Published: May 22nd 2010Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Cartago » Turrialba
May 21st 2010
Today was another early morning. We decided to go canyoning this morning with Kylie and Kristie so we needed to head out by 8:45. We were awakened at 7 am by the birds & the farmers market that had magically sprung up overnight. It was quite a sight, tons and tons of fresh fruit, jewelry, cloth, etc. I was tempted, but where would I put it? My bag is beyond stuffed already! We got up & cleaned up the room as we planned to check out of the hotel in the a.m. but they let us put our backpacks in storage while we canyoned. We’d come back and get them, head to the bus station (estacion del autobus) and grab the next bus to Paraiso to end up in Oriso. I had another of Luis’ fantasticos ... read more
May 20th 2010
Today was amazing! It's funny how a 7am wake-up call is no problem if there's amazing adventures on the horizon & palm trees out the window! :) I ordered breakfast (eggs, toast & gorgeous fruit platter) and ate while playing on the computer. We met two awesome girls named Kylie & Kristie Chupp from Montana. They're totally fun and we went white water rafting together. None of them had breakfast before we we went and then it was raining so we didn't stop until after the trip, so I felt very superior. ;) I also drank like a liter of water and felt very healthy. Can still get "coca-cola" (yummy bit of home) but am drinking less of it and eating super fresh...vacations make me so healthy! It took us an hour to get to the ... read more
Rachael & Rachel - the Adventure Begins
Published: May 20th 2010Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Cartago » Turrialba
May 19th 2010
Please to be aware that this is a rough, rough draft. :) Having a blast! More info later... We left Rachel’s apartment around 6:45am & took the subway out to find the Dulles bus. After complications, we jumped in a cab to the airport. Check in was surprisingly fast and easy, as was the security gate…Dulles has come a loooong way since I lived in Virginia. We flew Mexicana and were extremely surprised & pleased by the service. Complimentary headsets, actual hot meals (I had the omelet & Rach had the crepe) and super-attentive attendants. Mostly on that flight I slept! We laid over in Cancun, where we discovered that we had to go through immigration before coming back to our gate…I’m pretty sure this is my first int’l lay-over in a country not my destination, ... read more
Day 4: White Water Rafting
Published: March 2nd 2010Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Cartago » Turrialba
February 19th 2010
What can I say. I can't swim and I was genuinely not comfortable in having my first white water rafting experience on one of the world's top 4 rivers. However, I'll let the photos speak for themselves as now, at the end of the day, when I have caught a little of the sun and had the most amazing time, I want to do it all again!... read more
A Day In Turrialba
Published: February 7th 2010Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Cartago » Turrialba
February 6th 2010
We left Orosi in the morning and headed to Turrialba. We used the schools shuttle driver, and were able to practice our spanish a bit. After the serene, and queit town of Orosi, Turrialba was a bit intense - as its a bigger city and transportation hub. White water rafting is the most popular thing to do in the area, but we decided to spend the day at the Guayabo Archelogical Monument. The National Park is about 20 km outside of town, and is the most important archeological site in the country. We took at taxi to the park, and had our cab driver wait for us, which was convenient and we were mostly able to do in Spanish! Excavations have uncovered advanced infrastructure and petroglyphs, pottery and gold artifacts. There is also an aquaduct system ... read more
Maggie a peur des singes, Gui a peur des crabes
Published: June 17th 2009Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Cartago » Turrialba
June 17th 2009
Salut a tous Nous avons quitte puerto viejo pour revenir dans la belle province de Cartago. Ce nest pas que puerto viejo nous a deplu mais disons que cetait le temps de quitter Flaky et les multiples crabes de lhotel, squattant un peu trop notre chambre, si on peut appeler ca une chambre... Guillaume dit les crabes se promenent sur le cote dans le genre flippant je ne vois pas ce que vous pouvez trouver de pire. A puerto viejo, nous avons profite des plages paradisiaques de la cote caraibe et nous sommes alles dans le parc national Cahuita... tres beau en passant !!! Cest dans cette foret dangereuse ou une meute de singes denteles sest attaquee a Maggie et a une certaine dame quebecoise qui le meritait bien. Pour faire changement de plusieurs touristes stupides, ... read more
On the Road Again
Published: June 4th 2009Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Cartago » Turrialba
June 4th 2009
Now it is Monday and we all are up early to get showers and pack up to leave. Kristen and Allison need to leave early to get back to Orosi for classes at noon and Tim and I need to get to Siquirres for a 12:30 pm bus to Cano Blanco, then a boat from there to Parismina. We all had breakfast downstairs at the Interamericano Hotel which was really great. This was the same breakfast that Tim had yesterday. The girls got packed up and Tim and I walked them to the bus station. We said our good-byes and they purchased their tickets to Paraismina and they will change buses there and hopefully make it back to Orosi in time for school. We have exchanged email addresses and I hope they are able to read ... read more
Op zoektocht naar Vader Tapir.
Published: May 28th 2009Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Cartago » Turrialba
May 28th 2009
Excuses voor mijn afwezigheid, ik hoop dat ik het met deze blog goed kan maken. Nadat ik mijn blog in Leon had geschreven was zo ongeveer het eerste wat we besloten te gaan, omdat we lichtelijk verveeld waren, sandboarden. Dat houdt in met een massief houten bord een (actieve) vulkaan afgaan zónder beschermende kleding (hebben ze hier nog nooit van gehoord). Wij namen natuurlijk geen genoegen met gewoontjes dus besloten we er full-moon sandboarding van te maken. Eén probleempje werd echter duidelijk toen we daar aankwamen: er was geen maan zichtbaar. In ruil daarvoor hadden we onweer en harde wind gekregen, dat dan weer wel. Echter, het mocht de pret natuurlijk niet drukken en met en overdosis optimisme gingen we alsnog de berg te lijf. Eenmaal boven, na een uur klimmen, was het optimisme van sommigen ... read more
