Blogs from Puntarenas, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean

It's paradise, "I wake up. I have a great cup of coffee. There are parrots outside my window. There are monkeys in the trees. It's such an exceptional way to live." Nadine Hays Pisani author Happier Than a Billionaire: Quitting My Job, Moving to Costa Rica & Living the Zero Hour Work Week" We traveled to the Pacific coast by van. Home to the famed park Manuel Antonio, it is the smallest but most popular national park here in Costa Rica. And popular it was the day we visited. We had to line up outside till less than 800 people were in the park. Most of the locals made a beeline for the beach but we had a guide with a telescope ready to spot wildlife. So many other groups were there that we blended into ... read more

Back in Costa Rica, on our way to Nicaragua. The return journey ended with us getting off the bus after 9 hours at the first place they would stop after crossing the Cost Rican border, in a little highway town called Uvita. We really wanted to explore the Osa Pennisula, this was the closest we could get. We stayed at the Toucan Hostel, which was quite funky. Lots if retro, hippy type art, and very "tranquilly" peeps. The rooms were small but comfy until our air/ con broke and no one seemed to really care...except us. They did however supply us with a fan which pushed the +35 air around a lot faster but it does make you feel cooler. That was home base and from there we rented a car and drove for an overnight ... read more

Jaco/Puntaranas/Monteverde: Jaco, as a native described to me, is like a miniature Miami. The beaches are nice, waves are good for surfing, and there's plenty of nightlife to keep party-goers busy all week. Not to mention thieving prostitutes. Not that we encountered any, just met a guy who was robbed without a happy ending. We laid low in Jaco and caught the next bus out of there in the afternoon. That bus I was telling you about, was over a half hour late! Other than the irritation of being at a bus stop for 45 minutes with uncertainty and no bench, it made us miss our connecting bus in Puntaranas. After arriving in Puntaranas I couldn't understand why this was a major connection between towns. It's a strip of land with water on both sides and ... read more

MANUEL ANTONIO: It's no wonder thousands of vacationers flock to Manuel Antonio during the dry season. It's not only home to a famous national park, but also has pristine white-sand beaches framed by jungle. Is has a little something for everyone: good swimming areas and surfing spots, delicious restaurants and 2x1 drink specials, parasailing and beach bumming. Its Costa Rica's own Orange County. The only thing this tiny town doesn't have is much nightlife. We checked into the national park backpackers hostel about a hundred feet from the entrance of the park and a five minute walk to the beach. This is the first hostel we've stayed at that had a pool. Even though it felt like bath water, it was still a nice relief from the intense heat. Every night they show a movie on ... read more

Yesterday Francisco and his family and I went to see some property aways south of here. This American has a large block of land that he is developing. It looks like quite an ambitious effort and I hope he has the money to see it through to the end because by the looks of it, it is going to take a lot. Beautiful lots though with ocean views in the distance and nice valleys to look at. I'm posting a picture of a beautiful meal I had at OBJ, Outback Jack's, a couple of nights ago, for you to salivate over. I spent a very quiet day by the pool trying to finish all the fruit I had left and catching as many rays as possible. There are about four boats out on the ocean, the ... read more

Big decisions had to be made...should we go to the Caribbean side of CR - likely Limon or go on a day cruise to Tortuga Island which is an island in the Gulf of Nicoya. We eventually decided on the cruise which included b'fast, non-alcoholic drinks on the catamaran, an amazing lunch on the beach, snorkeling and banana boat rides. They also had a traditional band that played for us prior to boarding for the island and when we were on the island itself. The service was impeccable, the fish beautiful, the sand the nicest we have seen and the company quite good. We even met some people from Saskatoon if you can imagine. Unfortunately I will not post any pictures of this trip as I took limited pictures and none of them are particularly post ... read more

Today, is the day after returning from San Jose; and as the title intimates, I don't care to know the way to San Jose. I just really wanted to get the hell out of there safely. Clive went home yesterday morning very early so we thought it best to go into the city the day before and stay over, which was a great idea as there really is only one good highway into the city. (You can take the old highway but it is very windy with steep curves and only used if necessary, at least by the people I know here.) As there is only the one highway, and with all the large semi trucks sharing the road, traffic can easily get backed up and it can take a considerable amount of time to go ... read more