All set for Costa Rica

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Three days till we are in the air to Costa Rica!

Passports? Check. Malaria pills? Check. Extra memory cards? Check. We're almost packed and definitely ready to go. Reservation for the first night? Well there was a bit of a snag: the biggest earthquake that Costa Rica has had in 150 years happened January 8th and was centered on the village of Vara Blanca where we had planned to spend our first night at the Poas Volcano Lodge. Sadly, the road to Vara Blanca is impassable and the lodge was severely damaged (though the earthquake took some forty lives, no one at the lodge was injured). We have mapped out an alternative route to our first destination and will stay in the regional town of San Ramon - a town famous for poets and presidents our guidebook (Lonely Planet) tells us. San Ramon is about an hour from the airport on the way to our first destination in Costa Rica (CR), the area around Arenal Volcano.

A bit of background on our plans....

since we are spending only two weeks in CR, we have narrowed down our explorations to three distinct areas of the country: Arenal, Manuel Antonio and the Osa Peninsula. Each area has unique features and opportunities for photography (my passion). I'll describe them in detail - with pictures, of course - as we explore them. But for now it's enough to say that Arenal is one of the 10 most active volcanoes in the world; Manuel Antonio is a village on the Pacific at the entrance to a National Park; and the Osa Peninsula is a rainforest wilderness that National Geographic has called the most bio-diverse place on the planet.

A little about us....

Gail & I live in Guelph Ontario - "the most caring community in Canada" according to a recent survey - where we publish a community newspaper called SNAP Guelph. I've traveled extensively over the past 58 years and have been a photographer for 52 of them! I have an ongoing fascination with stereography, the art & science of 3D image-making. So you might see some 3D photos appearing on this blog. You can see more of my work at www.simonbellphotography.com. This, btw, is my first attempt at blogging! Gail, my partner in life, has not been as keen on exploring Costa Rica as I am ("a thatched hut in the jungle with no electricity!?") but is joining me out of love and with a well-calibrated sense of caution. She too enjoys photography, discovering new things and has a wonderful enthusiasm for life - as long as she feels safe and secure! Gail may also be writing of her CR experiences in this blog but with a slightly different perspective.

So, friends and strangers, stay tuned. Our next post will be from somewhere in the hot humid heart of Central America. Pura Vida!

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Comments

[Tammy]

have a great trip
it's snowing like crazy here - enjoy your vacation and send lots of photos