Blogs from Jaco, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean

Be sure to look at the pictures below the ads—the ads in the middle of the blog/pictures seems to be new this year—so if you don’t know better you’d only see 3 or 4 pictures instead of 15 or 20 (or more today) that I usually include. On Sunday we drove into Jaco again. This was Michele and Gerry’s first time there. After another fish taco at our favorite place, we found a place to book a waterfall tour that we all thought would be fun. Joe (from Denver) told us that Monday tours were booked but when we said we were in Bejuco, he said that Mike (who is from Chicago), who also works there, lives there too and he could not only do the tour but he could pick us up at our house ... read more

It was not a hard decision to leave Fairbanks, Alaska - while it was experiencing yet another cold snap (-45F on Tuesday morning) and to head south - really south! So the wisdom of EIC's and my decision that going somewhere warm in January after the holiday seemed just short of devine intervention! We left Fairbanks at 10am, and flew to Anchorage (going from -45F to -5F). From Anchorage we flew into Seattle, only to learn that a major snow storm was right on our tails! We were VERY anxious to "get out of there" before flights started getting cancelled. Our flight left Seattle at 10:40pm, and the snow hit sometime around midnight! Whew! When we arrived in Miami the temperature was 68F. Miami airport felt like a foreign country - English is definately not the ... read more

Hello, one and all... Here it is almost Christmas and I am reminded that I have not written a blog in almost 8 months. I suppose some of you are wondering, what has happened to those Erdrich's? Where have they been and what are they up to? Time to bring you up to speed. Summer started early for us this year. We left Costa Rica and flew to St. Louis, Missouri to catch up with youngest daughter, Tione. After ten long, arduous years of study, work and military, Tione graduated from Columbia College with a BS degree in Human Services. She has since left the Chicago area and her job with McGraw Hill to live in the Phoenix, AZ sun. She is anxiously waiting for the WNBA (Women's National Basketball Association) to decide if they want ... read more

Jacó is a coastal town in Costa Rica´s Puntaneras province. Located in the Central Pacific Region, it belongs to the most popular beaches in Costa Rica. Jacó is approximately one hour by car from San José and Costa Rica's primary International Airport (SJO). Jacó's natural beauty and close proximity to San José and the International airport(SJO) attracts many international and local tourists. Jacó also hosts the largest selection of hotels, vacation rental condos and homes, tours and excursions, as well as over 75 restaurants, several beach bars, nightclubs and discos, and 3 casinos. Jacó Beach has become the most developed and visited vacation destinations in all of Costa Rica. Beautiful National Park Manuel Antonio National Park is only one hour South of Jacó. When you think of this beautiful beach town, you probably imagine amazing beaches, ... read more

Jaco et sa bande Mon voyage a enfin commencé. Je me retrouve seule, face au monde, face à moi-même, à mes rêves et mes angoisses. La saison des pluies est certainement la pour quelque chose, moi qui me plaignait de ne rien avoir écrit depuis deux semaines. J’ai enfin le temps, je peux enfin capturer ce temps et décider quoi en faire. Profiter de chaque instant de la vie, ressentir des emotions nouvelles, savoir s’ennuyer et trouver des moyens de combler les vides sont des choses qui te rendent plus fort, qui te permettent de te connaitre et de prendre les choses avec plus de recul, plus de maturité, mais surtout cela aide a moins souffrir. Lorsqu’on décide de toute quitter, de partir en laissant derrière soit les personnes qu’on aime, le quotidien auquel on ... read more

I got to the Costa Rican border early and got through fairly easily after I located the same guy that helped me through this border the last time. I was feeling a sense of urgency to make progress northward so I opted to return via the coastal route which is a lot faster. This would get me back to Jaco where I could spend a night in the tent for the first time in several days. I set up my tent in spite of there being nobody around in the reception and took a long walk along the beachfront. It was after that when I tried to go to the internet that I had another encounter with my friend Yo the Ho. I'm not sure if she remembered me or not but she was still up ... read more

I got up early in the morning so that I would have time to check out the Catarata Fortuna on my way to the Pacific coast. It was a pretty waterfall but I thought that the $10 entry fee was a little steep. It seems like everything in Costa Rica costs $10. That's pretty much how it is in any place that polluted with rich tourists. The drive to the coast was a spectacular one on a twisty-turny road that seemed to go on forever. I can't say that I saw much because I had to concentrate on driving but I really enjoyed the ride. I got lost in a city at the base of the mountain and missed a turn at a major intersection where there was no sign but I still managed to find ... read more