Blogs from Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 511

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica June 1st 2005

I would later dub this as the Day of the Iguanas, but for now, it was a strange morning, to say the least. Woke up, as always, ate breakfast and then when 8am rolled around, Jose took me outside and there was a worker, Hermelo, and a rickshaw(henceforth, mariposa). Well, here I thought Jose would come too. And, yeah, I was wrong. Hermelo knew perhaps no more than 10 English words, so conversation was truly an art. Charades never came in so handy before. The ride was an adventure of bumps and pains that lasted two days, even though the ride was only about 40 minutes or so. Turns out, to see the "iguanas" we actually had to go to this dude's house. And they were everywhere!! I couldn't see them at first. But this guy ... read more

Waiting for the bus...........

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Limón » Puerto Viejo de Talamanca » Rockin J's May 31st 2005

Cahuita National Park

Flora

After a few very chilled out days in Bocas del Toro - which we absolutely loved, we decided to have a few more days on the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, here in Puerto Viejo. The trip from Bocas wasn't long; a 50 minute watertaxi ride to Finca60, a short busride to Sixaola (the bordercrossing to Costa Rica). We got there during lunchhour, so the border was closed for half an hour or so. Only in Costa Rica do they actually CLOSE the border for lunch! Which meant a short wait (even though we knew this might happen, it still wasn't worth getting up an hour earlier :) ) Then we had to cross a slightly dodgy looking bridge to get to the Costa-Rican side. It looked like a railtrack, wooden planks crossed over each other, ... read more

You Got Jungle Fever, Boy!

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica May 30th 2005

The Moth

wheresmattnow

Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away... The Beatles song 'Yesterday' is in my head again, thanks to John haha. I think fingernails grow faster down here, must be the humidity (which is thicker than a christmas sweater right now). Found out my dog Bailey died while I was away, wish I could have been there for her. One of the sacrifices with a research lifestyle, you travel. Although, I see that still as a wholly positive thing. The study is getting into gear, just started my schedule and already it feels routine. The same thing happens after a week on the job or week at school. Convenient, yeah. I've been getting mixed ideas on when this rainy season begins. My advisor had said that it should have started, and yea, it has been ... read more

Costa Rica - Day 9

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » Arenal May 29th 2005

EricaRidley

It's all fun and games until someone gets bit by a scorpion. But more on this later. First, we woke to yet another gorgeous day. We were on our own for breakfast, so I ate yogurt with granola and nibbled on some fruit, and Bri ate macadamia nuts and fresh pineapple. After the delicious breakfast feasts that the cook prepares, this didn't seem like much, so we headed down to the Lajas Restaurante for more food. Our server had a bird perched on his finger, and we were able to pet it before it eventually flew off. We ran into the guys who'd toured us around Lake Arenal at Lajas and were able to say goodbye, which was nice. Everybody asked us about the fiesta and were impressed by the amount of tamales and picadillos consumed ... read more

A Few Weeks In

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica May 29th 2005

The First One I Saw

wheresmattnow

Truthfully, I did not start the journal I kept until May 29, 2005. So for the first 20 days (May 9 - 29), I wrote no log of what happened. So this is to the best of my recollection, a re-cap, if you will, of that time: The first day or two were crazy, trying to remember peoples names, learning the dangers of the jungle, and all around rules of the place. It was quite the experience. We learned we'd only have power for about 6 hours a night, that was a new thing for me. I'm sort of an internet addict (we didn't have that either, btw). Frankly, with the other people there, it was not that hard to get used to it all. My lack of grasp of Spanish was quite crippling, at first. ... read more

Why's Every Monkey Always Pickin' On Me?

One week to go!!!!

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica May 28th 2005

My former house in DC

AndrewNCostaRica

One week to go!!! Okay, a week from today, Saturday, I'm heading to Costa Rica! By this time next Saturday I'll be sitting on a hammock in front of the B&B I'll own a few days later. Check it out and email me if you want to stay, it's great! http://andresz.com/REAL%20ESTATE/VARIAS/ANGELVALLEY/angel_valley_farm_and_guesthouse.htm Where did the time go?!? I'm very excited though. Not really apprehensive though. Why would I be? I'm moving to a new city for the first time in 15 years. I'm moving to a foreign country that could be considered third-world (though at the very high end) and I don't speak the language--yet. I've bought a business I've never run before so I have no idea what my income stream will be like in future months and years. So, what's there to be apprehensive about!? ... read more

Costa Rica - Day 8

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » Arenal May 28th 2005

EricaRidley

This morning we woke up to sunshine and chirping birds, yet again. (I could really get used to this.) The cook dropped by for breakfast and fixed us fruit and eggs and toast, which was of course fabulous. Later, we went down into Nuevo Arenal and visited new friends for a little while. Brian and I were supposed to be at the fiesta at 2:00 and were running a bit late. We walked down from the house and when we got our first glimpse of the field, a soccer game was in full swing. To the untrained eye, it looked like the reds versus the blues. Come to find out, it was Arenal (red) vs Mata de Canas (blue), with Arenal up 3-2, and we were the (blue) home team. Being as Mata de Canas is ... read more

Costa Rica - Day 7

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » Arenal May 27th 2005

EricaRidley

Hurrah! This morning began with another fabulous breakfast. This time, french toast and fresh fruit. Yum. While we were eating, the housekeeper said she heard about our hot tub issues, and thought she figured out the problem. Apparently, some numbskull had shut off all the breakers. (What?? The breakers were off?? Who could have done such a thing?) She said she flipped the breakers back on and now the tub was refilling. Cool, we'd finally get to use it tonight. Bri and I finished breakfast and went horseback riding with Alex. We rode around for a couple hours (this time *I* rode Bonita and let Bri take the butt-bouncing Casper) and took a completely different trail than before. Once again, we heard monkeys in the trees but couldn't actually see any. We did see lots of ... read more

Costa Rica - Day 6

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » Arenal May 26th 2005

EricaRidley

Today began with (you guessed it!) sunshine and twittering birds. Breakfast was a stale leftover cinnamon roll, on which I gave up about halfway through. So, we drove into town to mail a postcard and stopped by the panaderia. Bri got some kind of jelly-filled cookie (breakfast of champions) and I got a slice of what looked like marble pound cake. Both of us were surprised by what we considered to be a dearth of sugar, so we made it through about half of those before giving up and deciding to wait for lunchtime to roll around. We piled back into the car and set out for the lake Coter hanging bridges. On the way, we stopped at the Panoramic View for a look around. One thing I ought to mention about many roads (whether dirt, ... read more

Costa Rica - Day 5

Central America Caribbean » Costa Rica » Alajuela » Arenal May 25th 2005

EricaRidley

Our fifth day began with another delicious breakfast brought to us by the cook. We ate outside, as we have almost every morning and some afternoons. Once again, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and it was impossible not to grin at each other. How were we to know that today was the day we'd pick up a hitchhiker? We headed out fairly early and got some gas. Brian's first credit card didn't go through and it took 15 minutes for them to bring back his second credit card. Once we juiced up, we drove past an ominous sign ("Peligro! Carretera en mal estado!") and started down the road. Suddenly, Bri shouts "Stop here!" and I swing into a building known as Toad Hall. He wanders around, looking at souvenirs. We pick up a ... read more

Brief history of Costa Rica

Costa Rica is a Central American success story: since the late 19th century, only two brief periods of violence have marred its democratic development. Although still a largely agricultural country, it has expanded its economy to include strong techn...more history

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