Blogs from Alajuela, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 7

Geo: 10.0704, -84.5041There is a man with a machete at our door.It's okay, he is Juan, the gardener. After intoducing himself, he asks if it is okay with us if he sharpens his machete on the carport. He uses an electric sharpener and it will be noisy. Mind you..this whole conversation takes place is poor Spanish and worse English! Whew.We spent pretty much the whole day with Ana and Norman and it was very fun. First we piled into their Sidekick - women in the front, men in the back (I love this country! haha) Ana first drove us down the road to the river - this is the road into and out of San Ramon on this side; yes, one road. The river is running very high and muddy from the runoff. It is the ... read more

Geo: 10.0704, -84.5041We've awakened to a clear and beautifully blue sky. So pretty! We need to get on the move because in Costa Rica's rainy season (June-December) the rains are usually in the early morning, breaking in the early afternoon, start again in the late afternoon and end in early evening. No, we aren't normally so concerned with the weather, but this trip will be the first time we've rented a car in Costa Rica. The roads here are mostly okay, in the urban areas anyway, but the people drive like maniacs - seriously. Seriously. We need to have breakfast, take the shuttle back to the airport to pick up the rental car and drive back to the hotel to get our stuff and check-out. Today we drive to San Ramon.Fortified with coffee and a very ... read more

Now, today has been all about getting in to Costa Rica - to the volcanic town of La Fortuna in the highlands, set 6km from Volcan Arenal which violently erupted in 1968. This was to involve not one, but 2 flights on a 'small' plane. Jesus - I have jumped out of planes bigger than what I flew in!! Two of the hairiest plane rides I have ever taken, that's for sure! I uncontrollably let out a small squeak when the first plane dropped whilst coming in to land - something which amused those around me considerably as I cling white knuckled to my seat!! But I did manage to make a few friends on these flights, which made them somewhat less stressful. The second flight ended up being just myself and another single female traveller ... read more

After the excursion at the Poas Volcano Park we arrived at the Waterfall Gardens the last stop of our Combo Tour. This nature park is situated in the middle of a rain forest, and it actually rained while we were walking along the many trails and paths. Earlier our guide had told us in the car that this was going to be a 100% 'nature tour.' It proved to be the highlight of the day's trip. Although this vast 70 acre park boasts a wildlife refuge, to me it was just a small zoo with an aviary, a butterfly observatory, Monkey Pass, hummingbird garden and a serpentarium. We went through all of them except the last one as I have an aversion to snakes! The most interesting, at least for me, was the butterfly observatory which ... read more