Said goodbye to Carolyn this morning and boarded a bus for Quepos. Arrived about 2 hours later, checked into the hostel, a very nice one I may add! Walked around town a bit, went to the super market where I scored a proper sized jar of peanut butter (weird things that appease you while backpacking). Spent the rest of the day lounging and reading in my room. The following morning I went to Manuel Antonio National Park, within minutes I spotted my first sloth! I walked down to a secluded white sand beach where I was going to take a rest until I saw the huge iguanas already resting on the beach, so I decided to take off. The rain forest was nice, I eventually made it down to the popular beach and took up residence ... read more

We woke up and headed towards the beach to find a bite to eat (not to swim because the word is the waters here are polluted). We find a decent place and both order fruit salads, I also order some sort of drink in which I suspect I’ll get a fancy coffee…wrong, wrong, wrong. My ‘fancy coffee’ is layers of crushed ice, powered coffee(?), ice cream, and some condensed milk to finish it off. Our fruit salads are (in this order) red jello, fruit, ice cream, chocolate ice cream, corn flakes, and a cherry. Nothing like an all-star breakfast to begin our day. With some trouble we find the bus station that sells tickets to Quepos, gather our bags from our “hotel,” and wait for the bus. The bus is nice, we’re happy to be leaving ... read more

Made it to Monteverde! Carolyn and I were picked up this morning, ecstatic to say good bye to Jimmy’s Cabañas. We drive about 20 minutes around the Volcano to Lake Arenal. We hop on a smallish boat and speed across the lake. Nice views, ride lasted maybe 15-20 minutes maybe and then we wait for the van to pick us up on the other side. This is where the adventure begins. This is the roughest, bumpiest road in Costa Rica. Views are amazing; you just keep driving higher and higher into the clouds. Lots of coffee fields, cows, and horses to keep me entertained. Arrive in Monteverde, drop off the other travelers at a nice hilltop resort, whereas Carolyn and I go to the Pension Santa Elena, not a resort. An alright place to hang your ... read more

Alright, made a big decision today...tired of walking 17 blocks looking for a language institute only to have them tell me that they only hire teachers with permits (something they could have told me two days before when I stopped by). So, I became a backpacker today, if something comes up along the way-down the road, maybe I'll hunker down and teach for a bit, but as for now, I need to get out of the city. So, my first order as a backpacker, do something ridiculous...like bungee jumping. It all started lastnight, a Canadian, Carolyn, checked into my room last night, we started talking, she said something about bungee jumping, I quickly dismissed the idea, thinking back toa conversation Phil and I had about it right before I left, Phil not a fan of the ... read more

Apparently day one in costa is going to be very anti-climatic. I slept in way too much but I'm trying to fight off a fierce cold, so I feel partly justifed. Plan was to explore the city a little today, but the clouds look menacing and I don't want to be trapped in a downpour. But i'll get moving earlier tomorrow and make it happen...wish there was more exciting Costa Rican adventures to report on, but I'm trying to pace myself...stay tuned.... read more