Blogs from Nicoya Peninsula, Guanacaste, Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean

Today does not start well. After waiting for an hour for a sandwich at the hotel restaurant yesterday, we opt to have breakfast elsewhere. The old man has spotted a place in the village which does a buffet breakfast. He’s very disappointed when he discovers it’s not self service. And there’s no return visits. I’m happy with my plate of pancakes, pineapple and plantain. When I planned our trip I had hoped to stay somewhat further south, close to Las Baulas National Park, where you can take a guided tour to watch leatherback turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. However, the park is 42 miles away and the tours don’t start until after dark. We don’t fancy driving such a long distance back in the dark, late at night. We decide to visit the National ... read more

We decided to take a little tour of North Nicoya's peninsula. More than 10 years ago, I did something similar between Samara and Montezuma, and really enjoyed it. You pass through ranches, isolated forests, ford rivers,etc.. real adventure. This time, we would go from Playa Hermosa to Ostional and come back by a shortcut through the mountains. WE stopped at different little villages, looked for animals, and finally reached Ostional. Sadly, it wasn't the turtle 'arribada' season, but it's a beautiful place anyway. The big fun was to come back through the mountains. The first part of the shortcut is paved and okay. But then, it gets very narrow and seems more like a moto cross trail. At one point, you reach the watershed line and see lots of telecommunications antenna. Then you go down, first ... read more

An article in Travel and Leisure wrote about the places to see the bluest water in the world. I have my own choice, but here are theirs: Crater Lake The deep blue waters that fill the caldera of the sunken volcano Mount Mazama help make Crater Lake one of America’s most beautiful lakes. The deep blue waters are almost crystal clear thanks to the fact that there are no incoming streams or rivers to make the water turbid. All of this makes it ideal for scuba divers willing to brave the chilly water. Crater Lake, located in Southern Oregon, is also the deepest lake in the United States, plunging to depths of 1,943 feet, with sunlight extending 400 feet down. This is a lake that I have best seen from above, on a flight to or ... read more

¡Hola! (I really wish I would've started studying my Pimsleur Spanish months ago like I planned!) Well, we have been in Costa Rica for 6 days, and to call it "absolutely amazing" does not do it justice. We started our trip last Thursday by flying from Minneapolis to Liberia, CR, followed by a short car ride out to Peninsula Papagayo. We were lucky enough to join wonderful friends who helped us kick off our adventure in grand fashion! We've enjoyed great beach time, fun pool time, wonderful food and cocktails, great laughs, and amazing sightseeing. Truly a once in a lifetime experience! Our hosts were kind enough to offer their condo to us after they departed on Monday. So we've been doing more of the same, peppering studying Spanish, planning where we're headed next, and chasing ... read more

After having posted my first impressions of Costa Rica, a month has passed by now. Two weeks of these four I’ve been travelling to Honduras and Nicaragua for my first field research phase (on success factors for collective marketing)- all by bus, which takes two days one way (Costa Rica – Honduras). It’s been an incredible amount of new impressions and information for such a short period, and I can’t give it justice in a blog like this. Just shortly, and rather on the organisational part: I’m glad that I’m a person who doesn’t need a lot of security (with regard to planning ahead), and that I’m a natural optimist. Every single time I started a new part of my trip (changed the bus) I didn’t know for sure where I would get off, and for ... read more