Blogs from Central America Caribbean - page 1920

After a long day of ponponara practice, Sarah and I headed for home and promptly passed out for a few hours. We almost didn't get up Saturday night and once we did, we really had no ambition to go out. Being the troopers that we are however, we prettied ourselves up for a night of dancing and went out to explore a new bar we had heard about from some friends. What we discovered that night: (11pm-2am) 1. It is easy to make an ass out of yourself by wandering around the first floor of a building when the bar is on the second floor. 2. The security people will notice your confused expressions and lead you upstairs. 3. When you ask the bartender to surprise you with a mixed drink, it will be cheap and ... read more

Hi all, I'm back in Santa Teresa (again!, what can I say? we love this place!) which means I can blog to my hearts content. So here goes.. A photo update of Profelis, the centre Ali and I have just left after working and doing research there for the last month. We had very rewarding experiences at Profelis, enjoying the company of wonderful, like-minded, people who were willing to share all manner of information. It is a real shame they are closing down this particular centre, a result of difficulties with the owner private land on which the centre is based. They have a directive based in San Carlos however, and the cats will be relocated there at the end of September. Welfare standards are very high in both places. I wish I could go into ... read more

We're back in the US for a little while and are getting ready to bring our dog back down and make our move more permenant. I think we finally found our web designer, and things should be moving quickly now on getting our page up and running. I will keep the blog up to date as we have adventures back here... Matt Orchid Lodge's Website - http://www.theorchidlodge.com Click here to read our blog - http://blog.theorchidlodge.com... read more

We navigated our way through Guatemala City with the help of some strangers. Hopped on-board a “Chicken Bus” aka old US school bus (the ones you see on Snoopy cartoons) and spent the next few hours squished in a tight space while being assaulted by offensive odours. We arrived late to Antigua, Guatemala’s old cobblestone capital. A helpful man showed us to our desired budget hotel. We tried to negotiate a better price to fit into our budget. No luck. They directed us across the street to a much darker and dirtier location owned by the same person. ¨Oh yes please, we´d much prefer to sleep with cockroaches, thank you¨ As if! We were very tired and didn’t want to haggle any longer so we said yes to what they offered us. As we settled in, ... read more

It is weird! In the past two weeks, I have had two dogs try to bite me! This occurred while looking at properties in the Central Valley. The first time, I was leaving a house in Escazu, high above San Jose, and I was petting a seemingly friendly dog, and then all of a sudden, he just tried to take away a piece of my flesh on my arm. Luckily, he missed my arm. The second time, I was at my friend George’s house in Puriscal. His dog was on a leash but he just came up behind me and tired to take a bite out of my arse! I’m no rump roast but what is it with me and dogs??? I suspect both dogs may have smelled my own dogs on me. So, in the ... read more