Blogs from Costa Rica, Central America Caribbean - page 512

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This morning, we were greeted with (you guessed it!) absolutely gorgeous weather. We fixed ourselves some toast (the cook comes every other day) and headed out to the car. We decided that today would be a great day to check out the famous (or infamous) canopy tour! (Boy am I going parentheses-crazy.) For the uninitiated, a canopy tour is actually a series of zip lines through the rain forest. If this is still Greek to you, imagine this. After a half hour hike straight up, we were strapped into a belt-like harness and attached by rope to a cable stretching hundreds of feet across and hundreds of feet high, from tree top to treetop. Once attached, the guide gives a little push, and I go flying across the rainforest canopy (hence the name), zipping on down ... read more


Our third day greeted us with bright sunshine, chirping birds, and the friendly cook/housekeeper. She was a bit disappointed to find out I was vegetarian (since she brought ham and chicken) but quickly whipped up a delicious breakfast of omelettes, toast, juice, fresh sliced fruit, and a pot of Costa Rican coffee. For Bri and I, the first order of business was to find a bank and get some colones (CR currency). Oh, and some Gatorade (what can I say?). She gave us directions to the bank in town, where her daughter works. We headed on over, planning to ask for the daughter once we got there. An armed police officer on the inside of the bank unlocked the entrance with a key, let us in, and immediately relocked the door. The queue was made up ... read more


Hello fellow fans of Costa Rica! Yes, I am still here in Washington, DC just aching to get the heck out of here! Only 12 days until I leave for Costa Rica and start running my Bed & Breakfast! I've packing, made my lists of things to finish (and checkin' it twice!). Now all I have to do is sell my truck, close on my house here--Wednesday--yea!!!--and I'm done! Oh, I have to pack my bags too! So, what will happen when I arrive in Costa Rica on June 4 you ask? Not much at all! I close on the B&B on June 6 so I will spend the weekend just relaxing and sitting in one of the hammocks. Oh, my partner in crime Beth and I will need to decide who will get which room ... read more


Our second day arrived with sunshine, chirping birds, and a light breeze. There was no foreshadowing to let me know I would soon be attacked by a barbed wire fence. Our adventure began quite innocuously. We got up, ate a light breakfast, and decided to hike down the trail to the butterfly garden. It was recommended that we wear boots, but we couldn't find any, so we set out in our hiking shoes, t-shirts, and shorts. Two dogs were sitting at our front door when we left the house - a big white puppy and a small black dog. The dogs kept us company until we reached a blue and white gate. It was necessary to jump over, and it would have been entertaining if we could have seen ourselves attempting to do so - me ... read more


The flight from Orlando to Miami was uneventful. Well, while waiting to board, I met these two Costa Rican guys who said they were from San Ramon. I, in my infinite wisdom, said I had no idea where that was, but was going to Arenal. (Turns out it's right next to each other.) I also said to Bri, "Don't worry about Costa Rican money - we'll get some from the ATM once we land, like I did when I went to Europe." (More on my naivete later.) The flight from Miami to Liberia was interesting. I had a window seat (half view, half wing) and it was pretty cool to fly from North America to Central America. The pilot would let us know what country we were flying by ("On your right is Nicaragua") and it ... read more


Buenos Dias from a wet and cloudy Monteverde! Our drive/boat ride to Santa Elena/Monteverde went very smoothly and although the road was very bumpy, I managed to get a few much needed minutes of sleep! Our hostel (Pension Santa Elena) is very cosy, comfortable and cheap ($6/night) and a sort of tour operator as well, so we immediately organised our activities for our two days here. Friday afternoon we went to the cheese factory which was started by a group of Quakers from South Alabama in the 1950s. The history behind the factory is very interesting, but obviously I was more excited about trying the cheese, as it's one of the things I've missed most while I've been here. A lot of the milk they get from the farms in the area (some still run by ... read more
SkyTrek
Zipline arrival
Unnamed Flower in Cloud Forest


Hello friends from a somewhat more chilly La Fortuna... My final days in Delicias-Montezuma, a quick recap.... I wasn´t sure when exactly I would be leaving as I didn´t yet know where I would be heading, earliest leaving date possible was Friday (the 13th...) so my ¨goodbye dinner¨was on Thursday night. There were a couple of people there I had never met before (a regular night at our house then!) and the neighbours had prepared a great lasagna and two big bowls of salad. A great change from the rice and beans regular meals (don´t get me wrong I´m still enjoying those too). My final day at school on Friday seemed to be over in minutes. It was ¨Agriculture Day¨at the escuela and two people had come to the school to talk about the importance of ... read more
View of Arenal Volcano from the Lake


Hola from Montezuma, probably the last entry from here.... Last weekend I managed to go back to Samara for a few days. I splashed out and took a private van to Samara, on the way back I had no choice and take the public bus, which was a great 8-hour experience (as opposed to the 4 hour trip) It involved taking the bus towards San Jose (the opposite direction that I needed to go) get off halfway at a little place called Barranca. From there I took a local bus (no doors) to Puntarenas, a popular beach town for the locals. From there I took a ferry back to the Nicoya peninsula (the one that Samara and Montezuma are both on) On the other side, I took the bus from Paquera to Cobano and luckily bumped ... read more
Downtown Montezuma
My tutor students


Good day family and friends wherever you are, I am sun burnt and stoaked which I possibly my favourite feeling. As that means beach and waves have been had. Ill keep the writing short cause the pics are way cooler. Sat evening Pablo, Tuti, Kat, Ana, Ge and I made the drive north towards Nigaragua to spend the night at Ges pad on the beach. I cant remember the name of the beach but if you can picture Witchs Rock by boat you would head north around the point to the next big bay. There is no surf here but its so beautiful and chilled, there are only about 10 houses here (not your two story carpet and TV type homes), a river and magic sunsets every night. Up early the next morn for the mission ... read more
Una Boca
The pad
These lil dudes are everywhere.


I found someone on my buddy list that had this thing and I thought it would be cool to try to log my travels, both past and future, so friends and family can follow along, even if they can't afford the trip with me. So, without further ado, here are summarized transcripts of a journal I kept the 85 days I spent in Costa Rica. Enjoy! The flight took off without a hitch, and we were all in coach: Tom, my advisor, myself, and two other kids, John and Ted. Halfway through the flight and that Topher Grace movie, we got summoned (by the Headmaster Flight Attendant herself) to the First Class cabin. All we were told was that some seats opened up and we could take them. Good, right? So we went, and humbly accepted ... read more




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