Blogs from Bahia Drake, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean

Having read that the Osa peninsular is one of the last great jungle destinations in Costa Rica (and maybe the whole of Central America) we thought we ought to visit. However we need to compromise, so can just go to Drake Bay for a couple of days. To really experience the area we would need to travel into the national park here, but we don’t have the time to do this (and it is not cheap once you add in the cost of park fees, park lodges and guides). We have a good room in the main village, but it’s unfortunately close to the local karaoke bar so we are kept entertained by singing until about 1:30am. There is an excellent walk we do from the village and though it does not go into the park ... read more

After a few days in San Jose, Brad and I headed to the Osa Peninsula, where we were promised birds, plants and wildlife. We took a light aircraft flight with the company Sansa to get there – a little twelve seater Cessna something. Though much more pricey than the bus, the flight was 45 minutes compared to the 8 hours on the bus! Besides the time saving, it was a great birds eye view of Costa Rica... the plane rose sharply (and bumpily) over the central valley and mountains, then headed out over river deltas and Parque Nacional Manual Antionio, hugging the coastline until we reached the small Drake Bay airstrip. Though I may have been ashen faced the whole time, it was definitely worth it! We were met at the door of the plane with ... read more

(Things are getting a little out of hand on the journaling front, I've been spending far too much time relaxing & enjoying every moment rather than detailing it, so I am very behind in my duties. I've decided to do some days with just basic bullet points to help jog our memories in the future more than anything else. So, that's where we are with that....) Breakfast: Juice fresh blended (papaya today so incredible), eggs scrambled, toast, coffee. Translated for another couple about setting up a snorkeling trip today. To the dive shop. With Belgians again & another couple from Argentina. Our boat was pretty full with snorkelers that we ended up stopping at two spots before they finally got off the boat (why? I don't know. The first spot was so crystal clear, who knows!). ... read more

Up at 5:10 a.m. Excited to dive! Breakfast downstairs in the outside seating area, but under cover (I'm getting very accustomed to eating outside, it's really pleasant, especially in the mornings). They have the sweetest table settings & made very good gallo pinto, cheese, & eggs with onion. Oh, & really strong coffee. Yeah! It's so cozy & homey here. We walked down the hill to the dive shop that is on the beach. The dive shop office is the living room of Lin's house. He has his room, a bathroom, a tiny kitchen, & a back storage room. That's it. People live so simply with so little. I often wonder why we feel like we need to have sooo much stuff. After we got all our dive gear together we headed to shore to get ... read more

We are officially certified open water divers! Today was another great day of diving where we saw more sharks, an eel, a sea turtle and many more beautiful fish. This afternoon we walked through the town of Drake Bay which is basically a road winding through homes, hotels and shops. We are now about to walk home from the internet cafe in the POURING rain. Our first real taste of Costa Rican rainy season. ... read more