Blogs from San José, San José, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 14

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I had decided that Costa Rica was out of my price range and that I was probably out of their target market. Therefore, I had opted to go straight from Nicaragua to Panama. Still, that didn't seem feasible in one day, so it looked like I would have to stop in the Capital of San Jose (I looked at other places but the accommodation was less expensive in San Jose). On Isla Ometepe, I woke up at 4.30am and quickly got ready. I was at the dock by 5am, waiting for the 5.30 ferry. I paid my 30C for the one hour crossing and joined all the workers on the boat. It seemed I was the only tourist who had bothered to get up at such an early hour. The boat ride was nothing special and ... read more
San José
San José
San José


KF: After a week of Pacific Coast kayaking in Drake Bay, we drove Old Blue Volvo Northeast through the mountains of Costa Rica. We spent three days in the Savegre valley which is in Central Costa Rica, among the Talamanca Mountains. It is, apparently, a bird-watcher's paradise. Birders from all over the world come to see tanagers, hummingbirds, warblers, woodpeckers, woodrunners, flycatchers, kites, trogons, and above all, THE RESPLENDENT QUETZAL (people always say it with hushed awe, in capital letters -- and yes, that is its full name). We enjoyed long walks along the Savegre river to waterfalls, and up in the old-growth oak forest along the ridges. It was cool compared to the coast --we had to use lots of blankets at night, and it was fresh and invigorating for hiking during the day. Some ... read more
Novice birder
REAL birders
Resplendant Quetzales


Journey with the school to a children's museum and another to the local firestation.... read more
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There was so much preparation for this trip. Needed water proof bags, synthetic clothing, hiking shoes, rain jacket, memory cards, etc. We hopped on the plane and took off at 1230 in the morning the following day. My day was approximately 20 kg and I knew it would lighten up when I snack on all the cliff bars I brought! The flight was about 9 hours, which included our flight from Guatemala to Costa Rica. Guatemala looks so lush and I cannot wait to visit there some day! The mountains are breathtaking and it is so green. When we got to Qerc, which is south east of San Jose, we ventured to the trout farm. This what should be for an average person 20 minute hike took us 2-3 hours of appreciating such beauty and complex ... read more


We visited the tremendous garden of the feinschmecker Hotel Bougainvillea.... read more
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So we arrived safely on March 1st 2011. Bruno flew like a veteran flyer and after a couple of bacardi and cokes he slept the whole way :). Both flights went really smooth. The hotel was great! We spent the first few days exploring downtown San Jose. The city is fairly small and fairly difficult to get around. The drivers are a little speed crazy but guess that makes it more fun. We managed to find the biggest tourist trap in town for lunch and got ripped off a few times (thanks cabbies). We also witnessed our very first pick-pocketer (sorry Peter). All in all San Jose was fairly smooth sailing. Next stop: Samara...... read more
San Jose Park
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Ja, naa er jeg paa plass ved et merkelig tastatur. Irriterende, egentlig. Hver gang jeg skriver her inne, er tastaturene merkelige. For ikke aa glemme vaare tre, kjaere, siste bokstaver i alfabetet. Klage, klage, klaaage. Eg har ikkje noko aa klage paa. Men eg klakar, her eg sit. Er naa kommet til hovedstaden i Costa Rica, San Jose med skraastrek over e-en. Men klarer ikke aa finne de rette knottene. Her er det kjoelig, og jeg angrer paa at jeg kastet de varme klaerne tidligere i dag. Kom nettopp hit fra den varme beachen, Playa del Coco i Costa Rica. Eller mini-USA, som jeg skal plapre og klage om senere. Hvor skal jeg begynne? Nicaragua. Det hele begynte i Leon. Jeg ser naa i etterkant at byen var noe fattig. Kumlokkene var stort sett stjaalet av ... read more


KF: We entered Nicaragua on February 18th, and we're starting to feel like old hands at border crossings. We had two little buddies helping us, one who was about 12 years old, and we made it through all the red tape -- exporting old blue Volvo from Honduras, emigration of TT & KF from Honduras, then immigration of TT & KF to Nicaragua, importation of old blue Volvo to Nicaragua, and purchase of Nicaraguan car insurance ($12.00 for 30 days), all done in an hour or so! Quite smooth and no longer anxiety-provoking. We drove on beautiful paved roads through the spectacular volcanic highlands where it was hot and sunny, on the road to Granada on Lake Nicaragua. The police check stops went without a hitch. Until... Two guys on a 125 cc Suzuki motorcycle in ... read more
Honduran Road
Nicaraguan Highlands
Kate Driving


The next day we didnt do much but eat, watch tv and catch up on all the documentation we needed for the insurance claim. We needed to get copies of everything done and printout some pieces so that took most of the afternoon as we were a little slow in getting around the place. We also had to change all our flight details so Dario called the airlines and arranged all of that as well as calling my doctor at the hospital to get a bit more info about what we should and shouldn’t do for the next little while. Thankfully she said it was ok for us to go to Cuba, and just don’t get bitten by mozzies. The hotel Miami was very helpful with directions to all the places we needed to go and ... read more
Aviarios!!!
the canoe tour through the sanctuary
we saw monkeys


Ahh loow! Thats what mi mama always says when she answers the phone. Well its been a few days so alot has happened! Where to start? I had orientation the first two days which was a lot of learning about the university and campus and how things were run and blah blah but then again, i missed probably 60% of the information because it was in Spanish.. :) But I'm going to stop mentioning spanish now until i have something more positive to say! However, I have learned that in alot of situations that you can say "Si si!" or "esta bien" or "mas o menos" and people will generally except that with whatever they were trying to say even if you didn't get it at all. But i do like sitting down for dinner with ... read more
Museo Nacional
San JOse
The group!




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