Hola everyone. We are still having fun on our Costa Rican Quest tour! We packed up on a chilly and windy morning from Monteverde to start our trek to the Pacific Coast. It was amazing how the weather changed and became hotter and hotter as we got closer to the ocean. On the way we stopped for some fresh fruit and had a look at a bunch of crocodiolios sunning themselves in the river. A scary sight!!! We arrived in Manuel Antonio mid morning. We were pleasantly surprised when we checked into our room at The Blue Monkey Hotel to find we had a huge luxurious suite with two king sized beds and white leather furniture fit for a king! And to top it off, our room was only steps from one of the pools and ... read more

Hello everyone!! We arrived safe and sound in San Jose (population one million)on New Years Eve day. We checked into our hotel and headed out to check out the city. As well as the usual markets, squares, churches etc. we found a fairly modern mall close by where we used the ATM and familiarized outselves with the currency (500 colons = $1) so we are dealing in large amounts. The US dollar is also readily accepted. We met up with a young couple from Toronto on our tour and enjoyed an local Imperial Beer and some delicious guacamole and nachos. Our first evening consisted of meeting the other members of our tour group and enjoying a local Costa Rican supper along with New Years champagne, local rum, sambuka and red wine all included in the meal. ... read more

Merida, population 1 million located in the Yucatan, Mexico is a delightful and vibrant city and well worth the visit. We are so glad we took the time to travel here for a few days at the end of our month in Isla. We took the ferry over from Isla to Cancun and then hopped the Ado bus for the 4 hours journey west to Merida. Any of you who have travelled by bus in Mexico will know it is first class, very efficient and economical. Upon arriving we hailed a cab and headed to our bed and breakfast near the centro called "Cascadas de Merida". Wow what a fantastic place! Friends from Indiana recommended it and we were totally impressed. It was probably one of the nicest places we have stayed at. The original home ... read more

Hola Los Amigos!! Not much to report this week other than our usual relaxed island life routine. Walking, biking, beaching, swimming, shopping, reading, snorkelling, enjoying margaritas, playing dominoes and cards and practising our spanish with the locals pretty well sums up a typical day on Isla for us! Consequently, this blog will be mostly pictures. On Monday we rented a golf cart and bombed around the island checking out new places and old favourite places. We were very surprised at all the new beautiful casas that have been built on the east and west coasts since we were here two years ago. There must be a lot of Americans and Canadians who live here semi permanently by the looks of these new stunning homes. We made a stop at Garrafon Castilla which is a quaint little ... read more

Already we are in our final week in Jamaica. We really have enjoyed ourselves and it is a reminder that Negril is one of our favourite destinations! We are certainly entertained everyday on the beach by the travelling entrepeneurs. I did a little experiement the other day. In a span of 30 minutes these are the products that came by for sale: ( fresh fruit, patties, cooked lobster, scarves, tours, beach balls, massages, aloha vera, popcorn, peanats, cotton candy, jewellery, fresh fruit juices, cigarettes, parasailing, baskets, baked goods, jerk pork, jet ski rides, art work) What more could you ask for!!?? These vendors are not all pushy or annoying, just amusing, friendly and hard working. As well the fresh fruit and veggie truck comes by the condo most days they also sell various kinds of bread ... read more