click on the link below - the photobucket link - and in the folder Costa Rica 1.....
will sort through more when I can
love and light
Annie
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
g - Cano Negro and Nicaragua
It poured all the way to Cano Negro this morning, which was about an hour and a half drive.... we took a bit longer to get there because at about the half way mark the driver got a message to say that there was a late booking and they are screaming up behind us trying to catch up in a taxi! So everything slowed down quite a bit. And then, on a tiny little road, around an almost blind corner, next to a pineapple field and right there in the middle of the road, we stopped. And so did a taxi in front and behind us. 6 happy people bounced out of the fire hydrant red taxis with huge smiles on thier faces and came aboard the now almost full bus. It was a happy crowd and those that could not understand the others, at least made the effort and sign language seemed to be the most used language of the day, right next to English.
We drove past papaya orchids, rice paddies, pineapple plantations, just to mention a few. Most of the places here do not have those aweful bars all around their houses like in the cities, but its sooo poor! I know that in reality one really does not need to survive, but geez - some of these places are almost beyond bare. Even the houses that are painted bright colors have seen better days, anything concrete has a definite mildew look to it and after the rain everything is muddy as there is not such thing as a sidewalk of paved parking area, its all just mud and puddles made from slightly red ground. Many people ride bicycles here which creates quite a headache on the narrow roads and there are many places marked where people have been killed on these narrow roads.
The first sighting of the day was when I spotted two huge iguana high up in a tree along the side of the road...One particularly keen lady, forever now known as Iguana Lady, bounced up and down as if she had seen a full blooded lion! Oh she was sooooo excited! It was very catchy, but the guide just laughed and said that its ok, we were about to see about 200 iguanas in the trees in a few minutes. And we did. They lay over each other, higgeldy piggeldy in the tree tops, of which we had a magnificient view from yet another single lane, old, no safety barrier bridge. We just scooted up a bit closer to the edge whent the traffic wanted to cross over. The iguanas were huuuuge and they look so prehistoric and so...... well, they WATCH one in a very eery way, hardly moving at all. They are insect eaters, but I think that if one of those animals came at me with that gleam in its eye - well, I would move faster. I know it. They are known locally as "tree chickens" and are often eaten by the locals.....and when it was announced that we would be having chicken for lunch - well, there was this very strange gulping silence, until Leonardo the guide, cleared it up - ordinary chicken. Phew!
And on we went to another place where we had time to use the bathrooms and where we were going to have lunch after the river trip. There were some really lovely little teak ornaments and goodies and I meant to buy something, but time got away and I did not get around to it. Ah well... another time. A little while later we boarded the boat - it was a pontoon boat that seats about 60 people. We were only14 on this trip. Lovely. This town is the last town before finding Nicaragua - see, I can spell it now, and there are a good few boats and canoes there with the Nicaragua flag flying. When I say boats, I mean mostly long motorized canoes and some pontoon boats, all filled with people wearing very colorful clothing waiting to head into the country next door. There is a small resturant there and someone was cooking the most delicious smelling something or other and we all wished we would be eating there instead. When we boarded the boat, we first had to walk down a few steps... and these were huge, both wide and deep. Again, no handholds, no 'be careful signs and then came that huge gap between the last step and the boat. Interesting, but we all made it safely enough. And then off we went.
Pretty soon we started seeing wildlife really close up..... we saw both types of sloth within 10 minutes and one gave us quite a show, moving around and eating the bark of the tree it was hanging in. Then it climbed high into a tree that had not leaves at all and gave a really good photo op. Wonderful. We saw a good variety of birds, many cayman, jumping garfish, basilisk and more of those Jesus lizards. And then we heard the howler monkies.. those things can put the fear of whatever you are fearful of, deep in your soul! They sound like a huge troop of enormous lumbering creatures, seriously ticked off and after you! Its a very impressive sound. We found some howler monkies that were willing to come really close to the boat and I got some intersting photos. Tiny kingfishers were everywhere, some blue, some with red breasts and some just black and white. The rain had stopped and I sat on the front of the boat, absolutely enjoying the open fresh air and listening to the silence around us all. It was just wonderful. There was one particularly huge Kapok tree that just dared me to take more photos of it. I obliged.
And then we came to the turnaround time... always the saddest part of the day. And back we went to the boat dock... and on past it for about 10 minutes to the Nicaraguan border. There is just a signboard and about 5 sticks stuck in the ground, to show the border. Apparently there is no problem for them to come across into Costa Rica to this little town, but the Nicaraguans need to have a work permit to work here and we did pass through a checkpoint where there was one serious looking, unsmiling, uniformed offical looking man with a gun - but its easy to see that any person wanting in could literally just walk a quarter of a mile away and get in through the trees.
It was a fascinating day - I always love being out on the river. I was using my long lens again today and finally thought o put the one I normally use onto Franks camera - what a lovely difference! I almost had to fight to get it back from him! :) He is starting to have fun with the camera and its lovely to see him getting excited about a photo well taken. We got back to the hotel around 3.30pm and I headed off to talk to the local tourist assistant man, Victor, in the lobby. I booked a hotel for us at Monteverde, up in the Cloud Forest, as well as our jeep-boat-jeep ride to get across the Arenal lake to the Monteverde area. One can take a bus, public transport, get a guide or private transport around on the road - but this way sounds like much more fun to us both. We will also be taking a wander across some more hanging bridges and are told that the cloud forest is much different from the forests here in the Arenal area.
We enjoyed a delicious dinner again in the hotel. The dining room, bar or upstairs computer area or hang out place, has no windows. There is a roof and huge open spaces where windows would be...... but its open. A very pregnant cat wanders through the lounge, stopping at some tables and telling stories with her gentle meeows to the people she picks - we were very honored to be one of the lucky ones she told a story to on two nights. She really enjoyed the head scratch. The bullfrogs sit just outside doing what bullfrogs do best - bellow and sit there like huge slobs. Birds duck and dive up near the roof, but we never saw any inside. It's lovely to have the breeze blowing through the building - quite different and very nice.
And then off to the hot springs we went for our last swim here. We hung out in a different little pool for a good while. It seems that some of them are warmer than others and we went a good few pools up the path where we could sit under the little waterfall that came from the pool above. Very nice, very relaxing and just awesome to lay there under the stars and just be quiet and feel our muscles relax and sleep approaching at high rev's. Walking back down that path, one has to watch for the bullfrogs - I shudder to think what it must feel like to step on one of them..... eeeeww!
Now we are all packed up and ready to head out of here at around 8.30am to new things to see. Today we have been in Costa Rica for a week already and in some ways it feels like ages. We are settling in to the sounds, smells and the general 'beat' of the country. The unprocessed foods and the fruit are just wonderful and whenever we have the chance, I load up on the papaya.... thats my best by far.
So - till Monteverde on Wednesday.........
love, light and laughter.
an extra dose to U3 ( I have been asked what this "U3" is.. they are our three amazing kids who are holidng the fort back home and seeing what they can be doing one day when they are old like us :)
Annie
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
f - Triple dip day :)
What a day this was... we started off with an early morning wake up call and we did not slow down till we collapsed into bed not too long after dark. The rain has still not stopped so with bags covering the cameras we walked down to the pick up point at the entrance of the hotel and off we headed in the direction of the hanging bridges...which is slighly north of the town of La Fortuna which is the main little town near the Arenal volcano.
The first thing we saw at the entrance gate was a viper, a snake, right above the gate guard's head in his hut. Apparently it hangs out there and they let it be because its not aggressive and, well, everyone seems to like it there. The first bridge we headed over was definately a weird feeling - its very odd to look through the grating to waaaaay below, but the view was glorious and if Frank had stopped making it swing even worse, I might have got some halfway decent photos immediately. :) The bridges are really high up, pretty much in the tops of the trees and have absolutely magnificient views. There were two parakeets sitting on the top of that bridge, but I think they are a permanent feature there too - just like the snake.
And for the next two hours we wandered around the hillsides on a tiny, uneven, little path, deep in the forest. We saw many birds, amazing flowers and bright red poison dart frogs with legs that looked s if they were wearing blue jeans. The sounds of the rain dripping through the trees was lovely and at one point we heard a serious cracking sound, followed by a few more even louder...... we were all poised to run like heck and then saw a huuge tree fall right on the hill above us! Fortunately there were a good few other trees inbetween and it did not come rolling down the hill on top of us.
The leaves and dead trees lie thick all over the forest, with all colors of algae growing out of them, Spider webs are so abundant that they almost seem to be holding some parts of the hillside next to the path, together. We tried to entice a tarantula out of its burrow - but no luck. The insect life was not awake yet but the few that found us, bit hard and our legs soon turned into knobbly, red pegs that were quite releived to get out of there.
After finding some more bright red poison dart froglets, beautiful flowers of all shapes and colors, and walking over 5 long hanging bridges and many many other smaller ones, we found our way back at the starting point where the gardeners had the endless task of raking leaves. They told the guide of a pit viper laying beneath one of the trees - and yes, I was one of the three other weirdos that went to see and take photos. She had a slightly pink shade and a lovely pattern with the destinctive viper head. It was a good find.
We had bought pink rainjackets - yes, Frank got one too - thats all they had. He looks kinda cute in pink! Anyway - walking with them on was like walking in a sweatbath and I swear we both lost a good few pounds..... I could feel the sweat dripping down my back and legs, connecting the dots of insect bites on my legs as they ran down into my shoes. We gratefully climbed into the van to head to the next destination - the waterfall..... Cool waters and gentle sitting around. Or so we thought.....
After excitedly piling out of the van, we headed to the path - and the almost 500 steps down!! I swear someone added another 600 steps before we headed up again.... Hoo boy. We can do this... The steps are not even, they are not evenly spaced nor are they in a straight line downwards.. They were made of rocks and sand, winding around tree roots and some very deep and others short happy steps. We were very grateful for the chain they had strung alongside the path - most of the way. Its beautiful in the forest and the birds and butterflies flit by at odd times making us want to look around rather than at the steps. not a good idea. Many people coming up were seriously huffing and puffing, which sort of made us a tad nervous. But down we went. Down, down, down and then some more steps down.
The waterfall was beautiful - thundering into the pool of water with enough force to kill one if you managed to fight the force and get right under the falling water. There were a good few people swimming or hanging around the rocks, but the water was cold. I took some nice photos, found a tiny, tiny frog........ it was about 4mm long, caught some birds with my camera and then it was time to head up again. We listened to the people on the sip line as they screamed along the mile long line, many with their mouths wide open and lungs functioning very well indeed. We stayed down at the bottom for about half an hour, but we were all getting hungry and we knew that we needed to get a head start on the others back up - it was going to take us some time! And it did. Not that we got tired, ya hear - we just found sooo many things to stop and look at, photograph, or ooh and aaah about. Lots of things. We almost cheered when we reached the top again! But we did not feel all that bad - there were many much younger people who were having a rough time of those steps. This comforted us greatly.
We were dropped off at the hotel to rest up and get some lunch, which we did. The starters was something to do with black bean soup... not sure of the name at all, but it arrived in a little bowl, looking like sloppy mud and hovering around in it was an egg! I think they cooked the egg in the soup but it did not taste bad - it just does not look very appetising at all. I ate enough and then a little more, to give it a good taste, but then let it find a new home. We were almost too tired to eat much apart from the lovely array of fruit they offered - but we did enjoy the apple pie and icecream :)
Soon afterwards we were picked up again for the hike on the Arenal volcano. We were told that the walk was a tad more strenuous than the hanging bridges, but not as bad as the steps to the bridge. That might be, but our legs were already screaming and the volcano was steep! There really were many reasons to stop and take a breather - the views of open green landscape stretching for many miles, liberally dotted with big trees - all the way to the Arenal Lake and Dam. This dam provides electricity for about 70% of Costa Rica. Its a huge man mad lake that drowned out two villages when they built it. There were a huge variety of different flowers and the most beautiful blue berries everywhere, little birds teased us as they divebombed us all along the path and leaf cutter ants marched up and down the hillside carrying their treasures back home.
Huge boulders lay everywhere along the sides of the volcano, the trees, moss, flowers and birdlife is so incredibly lush and interesting. There are the most glorious white flowers, about the size of my hand, that only bloom for a day and then they die. Each on of them had one single bug inside it happily gathering pollen while it had the chance. We finally reached the top and sat on some really rough lava rocks. Costa Rica is not like the USA at all in the tourist places...... there were not smooth benches, no handrails, no signs saying 'dont jump' nothing that gives you anything other than pure nature. The air is clean, the constant rain helped a lot with that! It has not stopped raining for days now. Well, it rains heavily at night and seems to lighten up during the day - mostly. Its no big deal though... Roads flood, people wait and life moves on. Time is not a serious thing here.. if we are told to be somewhere at 7.30am - we might get picked up around 8 or 8.15am. They might also be on time, like they were this morning, but then everyone sits and wastes a few minutes or more, so as not to be early or on time at the next pickup point.
So after the volcano walk we went to a lookout point to see if we could see the lava... but the clouds came in thick and heavy and we only managed to see a few boulders bouncing down the hillside from way above, firmly beneath the cloudy sky. We sat on a river bank watching the sun set and all blowing towards the volcano in the vain hope of chasing away the clouds. That did not work. So after it was obvious that we had not even a snowballs chance of seeing the lava, we headed out of there. The people standing on the bridge had to flatten themselves against the railings so that they did not get squished when the trucks came thundering by. The bridge was a very narrow bridge that seemed as if it had defnitely seen better days.. And then the van broke down along a tiny, winding, very dark and narrow road. Fortunately the guides all have radios here and the driver called in to get us new transport. Not long afterwards a van stopped alongside us and we were quickly bundled into that van with some words muttered in Spanish. Hmmmmm. And off we screamed along this road for another 30 minutes or so, not able to see anything, not knowing where we were or who was taking us there. It was quite fun :) But we got back to the hotel with many laughs along the way.
It was a tremendous amount to squeeze into one day and we are so glad that we had the opportunity to see it all....The countryside is beautiful, lush and the most amazing green.. The howler monkies scream at us from trees everywhere sounding like very a family full of very angry Bigfoot's, and birds with unbelievable sounds screech and twitter from every bush. The hotels and tours are largely empty which works very well for us on a number of levels. There are no huge crowds anywhere or lines to wait in or difficulty in going where we want to go. Good for us and other tourists, definitely not good for anyone working here. 70% of the people here work in the tourism industry in some way or another, and its been slow these past couple of years, but our guide today said that its not as bad as he thought it was going to be - and not as bad as he hears it is on the news... That is good news for them. The country could definitely do with an injection of money.
By the time we got to the hotel we were almost beyond tired, but we decided to have supper, although most of it was wasted on us, and we even passed up the hot springs for an early night. I have not been that tired before and Frank was asleep before I had even finished brushing my teeth!
Tomorrow, Tuesday, we have a river trip on the Cano Negro River which is right up on the Nicuaragua Border - Maybe I will learn to spell that... Maybe. We need a day of sitting and as few slopes and steps as possible, besides, I just love being in the forest and on the water - it has a special kind of peace and quiet.
Until then
love light and laughter
Especially U3
Annie
Monday, May 10, 2010
e - To the Volcano
Oh boy - I missed one day's typing and bam, now I feel like I need to page back weeks ago to remember all we have done.........Our days are so full and busy even though we were going to take it easy on this trip.. Suuuuure - that is not working :)
Ok - I left off when we were still in Tortuguero National Park and heading for a beer on the river banks after packing up and getting ready to head out for new adventures. And we did. Early the next morning we dragged out bags to the boat that would take us out of the canals and up to Arenal Volcano and the town of La Fortuna. The ride on the boat was glorious, we screamed up a different canal than the one used to get us in there and hit trees and branches under the water many times. That is a horrible sound - the motor bounces upwards, dies and then we all look around to see where we were going to land up. A few times it was really close or we would have found ourselves tangled up in dead tree branches. There was quite a flow to the river, even if it was really shallow in many places. We saw a good few birds, Basilisk but mostly the scenery is what got to me on this trip. The trees stretch skywards and then spread out like huge umbrellas in the sky, the toucans fly as if their bodies are too heavy for them and its as if they bob across the sky in a wavy pattern. We created a good sized wake that rushed up on us at times when we had to slow down suddenly and also flushed out some interesting looking birds.
And then we came around a corner and there was Interbus.... the shuttle bus service of Costa Rica - ready to take us on our next leg. The countryside is really green and lush and green bright with those living fences holding in small herds of what looks like Brahma bulls and cows. There are pawpaw trees everywhere, heavily laden with ripening fruit that made my mouth water. We drove through pineapple plantations, fern growing farms where the gauze is stretched for miles over a gazillion ferns - it big business here by the looks of it. Holland is the biggest importer of decorative plants from Costa Rica. And then back through little towns. The poverty both draws and repels me. I find my camera jumping up at almost every shack, in almost morbid fascination at how people actually live like this. There are many shanties - houses made out of sheets of corregated iron. Many of these are painted and some even have huge fences around them!
Many of the roads through the smaller towns here are not good at all and the concept of sidewalks has not reached this country yet. There is a lot of trash around, but somehow the real life of it all is more noticeable than the trash........ Kids playing outside, people walking, talking and sitting outside in huge gatherings just enjoying their Sunday afternoon. Even with all the fences, there is no 'fear factor' at all and everything feels quite peaceful and calm and totally safe. There are a gazillion bicycles everywhere and at one place of business, there was an area where the bikes were hung up while their owners put in a days work. Water barrells are everywhere, catching the rain water in most places, washing hangs outside almost every house and sometimes even on the fences alongside the road.
I have learned not to look out of the front windown when riding in this country too. The drivers seem to race around one car, only to set out at high speed to find another car that he can tailgate for a mile or so, around tight corners, on narrow bumpy roads where there is not chance of overtaking....And then when he flings us around that car, I could almost feel the hunt beginning again.. A row of cars ahead made us all break out in a sweat at one time.
There are many dead trees around the place, but they have become the hosts for many plants to attache themselves too, creep up or twine themselves around - making that dead tree stump all alive and green looking again.... It seems that all the greenery is either rotting and thereby feeding other plants or animals, or hooking themselves on something that is dead of rotting to start the circle all over again.
All along the way in the towns along the way, are speed bumps which have become an opportunity for casual sellers of fruit and vegetables to set up and try to make a dollar or two. Unfortunately our driver did not want to stop and let us buy some - he was on a schedule. In San Jose on the way from the airport, there was a wreck along the road and the police had just arrived - waaaaay after the vendors who were already out and about selling fruit, veggies, candies and water to the cars that were backed up for a good long way along the road.
We dont have a really good map, and trying to find out where we are gets interesting at times. Looking at the names on the signs along the way, we are never quite sure whether they are advertising something or whether its the name of the town! So we gave up and just enjoyed the ride. I knew the road we were on, and that was enough.
At aroudn 4pm we were deposited at the Arenal Paraiso hotel and shown to our room that has a beautiful view of the volcano - that if the clouds will ever clear! It has rained heavily ever since we arrived - so hard that we were both aware of it all night last night. After dropping of our luggage, we headed off to find out about the different things to see and do around here - and we now have two full days booked. We start off with the hanging bridges through the treetops, then off to the Arenal Waterfall, which is quite a walk down many steps.. Then we will come back here for lunch and head out again in the afternoon for a hike on the volcano. And then on Tuesday we are off on a boat trip up the river.... Cano Negro - into Nicarauga (sp?)
And then we ended the evening with a good old soaking in the volcano heated mineral hot springs in the grounds of the hotel. It was just glorious! There we lay in this warm water, totally silent all around, stars bright in the sky and a frog or two chirruping somewhere in the plants around us. We have a little porch outside just for ourselves too, which leads into a garden with some beautiful flowers and again, a promise of a volcano view. Maybe tomorrow.
It's been another long, lovely day..
Till tomorrow
love light and laughter
Annie
Saturday, May 8, 2010
d - A peaceful day..
What a lovely sound....... the rain pounding down outside for hours this morning before daylight - well, it felt like hours. And then it stopped and the birds, bees, chickens, frogs, monkeys and everything else that lives screamed at us to get up! It was 6.15am. Sheesh... no wonder there is no need for wake up calls around here! Today was a day when we had absolutely nothing planned, well other than a beach walk, a walk through the forest, a drink or three and lounging in the pool....
But first we had to make the travel arrangements to get out of here, transfer to a different bus half way back to San Jose so that we could head up to the Arenal Volcano for a few days. The guide we had gave us a number to call for the shuttlebus and we made the reservations, and as I confirmed our 'delivery address', I realised that we had better check to see if there was space available at that hotel. But yes, no problemo - that would have been fun. All is set and we leave here at 9am on Sunday morning and will probably be at Arenal Paraiso Hotel at around 4pm. A long long day.
And this is also why we decided to take a bit of a break today and just soak in the scenery at a slower and quieter pace. There was almost no one around the Lodge again today, and those that were booked in here were all out on day tours... so it was almost deserted and just fantasic. After making our bookings, we headed for the beach, but once there realised that it was way too hot for a walk on the sand. You see, its black sand, from the volcano and the heat soaks it up and holds it tight, just ready for tender feet to wander out on it. It was also really humid and we looked at the waves rushing in, the coconuts and palm fronds laying around and decided to do the forest walk..... gotta be cooler, right? Not by much.
But it was at least in the shade. We wandered along tiny little paths, ducking under huge leaves and branches, finding funky spiders, mostly small, and catipillars, other creepy crawlies, frog eggs, but no frogs. Ten million mosquitos found us though. The guide had shown us some natural insect repellant and I decided not to use any chemical stuff, but pick the natural ones leaf, wipe it on as he showed and then if we did find a frog, I could pick it up without worrying about any chemicals on my hands. The natural stuff did not work. Frank had sprayed his legs, but I could almost hear the mozzies on their loudspeakers calling all the others that I had two unprotected legs to feast on! And boy, did they! By the time we decided to leave there, about an hour after heading into the forest, my legs were knobbly from huge bites and itching like hell and back again.
But it was great - we also saw a few more of those Jesus lizards and I even remembered their correct name - Basalisk, or is it Basilisk? Anyway..... they really are weird creatures and remind me of Star Wars for some reason.
And so we came home, grabbed our swim suits and headed to the pool to cool off and ease the itches. What bliss. There we wallowed in the water with the sound of the breakers on one side and the river on the other, toucans flying overhead, the blue morpho butterflies and a good many others too, flitting around all over the place, competing for airspace with a huge variety of other birds. We stayed quite still in the water and after a few minutes it was as if the birds all forgot we were there. It was so quiet too, no humans in sight at all. Right before we got all seriously wrinkled up, we headed to the river bank for a margarita. Oh boy... I swear that bartended tripled up on whatever he put in there, but it was not long before Frank's silly face reflected in mine and we realised that we were blotto! And that was us for the afternoon. We had lunch and went to sleep. It was very hot and humid but we managed to sleep for about three hours!
Back to the river to try to find a breeze, dinner, and then to the other pool, where we lay like beached whales soaking in the lights across the river, the sounds and smells of the waves and the stars - oh they are glorious out here! All bright and twinkly and millions of them can be seen! There was a huge bird walking gracefully along the grass, back and forth, as if he was keeping watch over us. We did go and hunt some more Red Eyed Green Tree Frogs and found a few - they are really cute!
Now we are all packed up and ready to head out in the morning. This is a really beautiful place but its time to go and find some other things. We have been really fortunate in how much wildlife we have been able to see in such a short space of time. I promise to put up some pictures in the near future - the internet here is just not going to handle uploading them - hopefully the hotel at Arenal will.
One of the things that always strikes me in these third world countries and feels so good, is that it is assumed that one will use common sense. There are no signs that say 'be careful of this or that', nothing that protects one if you do something stupid. Not even a 'do not dive' sign in the pool.. Its really good to see that common sense and watching out for others around one, is really big out here. Just dont jump in the water with the alligators - I am sure not many would jump in to save you!
Its beautiful, its rich in so many things here, tourism is the main income for this country and its very obvious here when you go to the village....... but out in the forest and along the shoreline - its just magic, quiet, peaceful and beautiful.
A happy mothers day to all you Mothers/Mama's/Mom's....... and U3 - I know you miss me on Mothers Day - I miss you and I love you too - LOTSA!
Now to catch some sleep.
love light and laughter
Annie
xxxx
Friday, May 7, 2010
Kissed by a frog!
It just goes on and on...... the plants, flowers and animals are just absolutely incredible. This morning we were up at 5.15am - partly because we had a 6am boat ride into the forest, but also because the sun was up and the frogs and birds were having none of this sleeping in nonsense! We all hopped on the boat for the first ride of the day, into the Torguguero National Park, mostly for birds and things....... what things we did not know. We saw plenty of bird life, big small and inbetween. It was lovely to see just how unafraid they are of humans and the boats with engines. A few people were on canoe tours, which was, no doubt, so that they could sneak up on the wildlife without scaring them away.. Seriously - that was not necessary, besides, for the first mile or so, there were about 5 other boats with engines. They are all pretty quite and there is no mad revving going on - its all a no-wake zone, but I am glad we did not get the canoe trip - we got to see so much more with a motor that took us way up into the forest. When we saw a bird, or iguana or Jesus Lizard, they just sat there and looked at us as if we were the ones on display. The reflections in the water are just stunning and I was constantly changing my lenses to be able to capture both the tiny critters and the wide panoramas that the forest laid out for us.
We went up a fairly wide river and saw a sloth, monkies, heard the howler monkies doing their thing. They really do sound very fierce! We saw the Aninga, I think thats how you spell it - otherwise known as the snake bird. It lies under the water with only its head sticking straight up, looking like a snake. One bird was a lovely shade of blue and had a very wide beak, much like a platypus. Oh I wish I could remember all the names! We saw three different species of Kingfisher and a good many other wading birds too. We saw a good many iguanas high in the trees and that funny upright running lizard as well..little ones this time. It was a really lovely two hours.
After breakfast we headed out again - the National Park is only about 5 minutes by speed boat. This time I told our guide that I wanted to see poison dart frogs and an anaconda. Well, he swopped the anaconda for a toucan... a lovely toucan high in the tree, but there he was out in the wild and it is amazing to see the huge beaks on these birds. For this excursion we had the boat driver who was also an absolutely excellent spotter as well as the guide, and then Frank and I. That was it. Perfect :) and oh did it rain!! We were on our way to the National Park and the rain came down so hard that our guide, John, and us were crouched over in our rain ponchos just rattling with laughter with out cameras safely tucked underneath. It really was a very hard rain and each drop made its point.. The driver just kept on going and got us out from under that cloud - fast. It rained a bit on and off during the whole tour, but I had a plastic bag that I have adjusted to fit over my big camera and still be able to take photos in the rain, and Frank hid his one when it rained.
The camera's really got their fill for this trip.... we heard a jaguar but could not find it, saw a few cayman and their babies. They lay dead still with unblinking yellow slit eyes, just daring one to jump in and join them! We passed up that offer gladly. We saw a tiny little red poison dart frog, but it is only poisonous if you eat it or put it on an open wound, so we all had it on our fingers at some point. Pretty little critter. A good many birds were still out there ...... and the howler monkies filled the forest with their screeching. We saw two otter and they both came out of the river, only about three feet away from us, and climbed onto a log for a perfect photo op! They are apparently quite rare to see, but we got two. And those stunning blue morpho butterflies flitted in amongst the greenery - there is no way one can get a decent photo of them while they are flying, so we just watch them and enjoy the smile they always bring. And then, there high in a tree was about the last thing I thought we would see....... a squirrel and a nut. Really - whats that about! Those lizards that can run on the water are very prehistoric looking, very weird indeed. I got some really good pics of a good few of them. I love the roots of all the trees in the forest, they are sometimes like huge folds, sort of like when you pour cake mix into a pan and it makes those big loose floppy folds.... like that, just upright. And then there are those long thin pointy roots that seem to make a jail for many of the things on the forest floor. And the flowers! Oh they are soooo beautiful - hugs pink ones, bright red, perfect pure white, blue, purple and almost every color inbetween. The greens are a thousand shades of green and then a thousand more, and then the different lichen - some huge and white, or tiny button looking growths..... others brown, black or a beautiful orange.
There was so much to see that i had to go and flick though the photos to remind me - oh boy am I going to have a rough time picking some to put up online! Cant do that quite yet, the internet here is not of 'uploading quality', so you will all have to just wait a few more days.
As if all this today was not enough, we had a 'walk around the property' tour this afternoon. I was not madly impressed with our guide, John. He walked way ahead of us, muttered through his binoculars, nodded thoughtfully to himself and at other times hauled out his camera and was taking photos before ever telling us what he had found. I spotted more animals and things than he did - maybe he was preoccupied, he did seem more personable later on in the evening. Anyway, we had already walked around most of the gardens - there is so much color and its just beautiful that any time we have a few minutes we stroll down a pathway and see what there is to see. We saw toucans right outside our room door, hummingbirds, more of those 'on the water running lizards', and other little cute puffy round birds. There is a place about two minutes from our room that is a pathway inside the forest - just a dirt path and its like a steambath in there, but its filled with all sorts of critters, lichen, flowers and - yup, we found our first Red Eyed Green Tree Frog!
We had seen newly laid eggs - like a tube of see through gel with the eggs all spaced beautifully inside it... and searched the leaves all around for the frog - and there it was.....looking like a pale green blob on a leaf. It looked plain boring, until John got it to open its eyes and stretch! Oh what joy it was! That is the cutest little thing out there..... huge red eyes, blue on its legs, patterns on the side and bright orange feet with big suckers on each toe. That poor froglet must have thought the papparazzi had found him the way our camera's clicked..... But he was not interested - they simply dont 'do daytime' very well at all, and within seconds his eyes had slammed shut again and we were left tickling its butt to try and wake it up. No luck, so we parked him back on his leaf and headed out again. We want to go back into that forest tomorrow as we have a full free day to walk the ocean, go into the little town and just relax with no deadlines apart from breakfast, lunch and supper.. glorious!
But wait - there's more!! After supper I decided that I just had to see some more of these little froglets, so I tootled off to find a flashlight (torch) so that we could find the little suckers in the dark when they were actually willingly awake. Right next to the big swimming pool is a frog place (dont ask me to spell it now, but it starts with a T), where they have some frog eggs and tadpoles in some smallish fish aquariums...... Not only are there these, but there is a walk way, filled with the plants that these little froglets are most often found on. So, armed with two cameras and the flashlight, off we headed. We found seven! They are really such cute looking critters and they definitely like the night life a whole lot better than daytime. They are about 2 - 3 inches in crouching position and about 5 - 6 inches when all stretched out - sometimes bigger or smaller too. We found them peering around the stalks of plants at us, watching us from the top of a huge leaf or just sitting quietly hoping that we would just go away. No such luck. Frank held the flashlight while I happily clicked away, and then some more.
But, I was not happy with that - I needed to hold one for more than just a few seconds and I really wanted one on a leaf where their reflection shone through the leaf..... so off I went to find another one, picked it up really gently and tried to get it on a leaf that Frank had picked....(Kate, I can hear you laughing already! Alaskan Bear, Wendy?) .....and thats when it happened! That little frog jumped straight onto my mouth!! Thank Goodness my mouth was closed right when it landed! I let out a huge, from-the-belly yell that was thoroughly muffled as there was no way on earth that I was going to open my mouth right then.... ! This all took just a second, but Frank was already in hysterics....and thankfully froglet quickly made another leap onto the leaf right behind me. Funny how tightly my eyes slammed shut when this happened!
So now I have been kissed by a frog - does that make me a princess yet??. Oh, just in case you want to know - it feels a bit like a slightly tacky gummy bear.
And so we called it a night. Just in case anyone has any doubt - these past three days have been totally friggin amazing. It already feels like weeks ago that we were on that beautiful island, and well, there is so much more to come.
I know there is a lot to read, and there are certain people that I can almost hear groaning from here as I send that 'send' button..... (yeah Kev, you are one!) but I am trying to get all the memories and thoughts down so that I can re-read it one day when we are too old to enjoy this type of travel anymore..... may those "books of memories" be many years old before I have that need to read them!
love light and laughter - and thanks for all your emails!
Annie
ps. Joleen, I hope you are not too overworked, Lisa, I hope you guys are all feeling better, Steven and Laura - congrats on your 1st wedding anniversary this weekend :) We love you all lotsa
xxxx
c - San Jose to the Caribbean coast
What an amazing day - all the way from 5.15am till now - nearly 10pm. We started with a lovely pot of Costa Rican coffee, brewed in the hotel room while we tried to prise our eyes open. The coffee here is really delicious. After being picked up at the hotel in a van that seats about 30, we headed out to pick up all the others - all 4 of them! It was fantastic - an almost empty bus. And I had grabbed the seat as close to the front as I could get and Frank took the next one back so we could move around and see out of all sides of the bus. It really makes such a difference being able to see all around one. As we were climbing into the van, one of the hotel guys came running out with Franks camera! He is never ever going to live that one down.... poor man. We drove through some more utter poverty in San Jose, around impossible corners and then finally headed out of town into the mountains. Oh boy. We could not take the road through the Barillo National Park as there had been a good few mud slides and the road was closed, so we were diverted to this incredible zig zag of a 'road' which is the southern route to Tortuguero National Park. It wound itself around corners, through what seemed to be pure jungle, up hills and down valleys and at times we felt as if we could well be being kidnapped - the area looked so remote. But the sad part of it all was that because the other road was closed, all traffic was using this one...... the big tractor trailors, trucks, lorries, had a very difficult time manoevering around some of those corners and at times all traffic was firmly jammed while trucks and cars slowly untangled themselves. It got very interesting at times and we had a good many really close calls when even our driver yelled in horror! Actually, this driver is one of the reasons why we will never ever drive in this country either...
That driver had the most serious case of verbal diarreah I have ever come across! The words just spilled out of him non stop and we dont quite know where he fitted in the time to breathe. We all just laughed even though we could not understand a word of it, and he kept on keeping on. We had a driver and a tour guide today and when the guide needed to say something he would have to shush the driver up... They got on very well, and mostly it was funny :)
The countryside is beautiful - lush green, tall grasses, overgrown almost everywhere. The road was tiny as I said, with the grass and trees etc trying to reclaim it all over the place - no such thing as sidewalks here - if you go out of your lane, you are off the road and in a pile of poo too, in most places!. We drove through coffee plantations - the beans had been picked already, but its a lovely rich green shiny plant. And then through the sugar cane plantations we drove and on into the banana plantations where we stopped for a while... Oh, wait, before we got there we had an absolutely lovely view of one of the 6 active volcanoes in Costa Rica, spewing its stuff a good way into the air. Apparently for the past two years it has been building and the local farmers are getting upset because the 'toxic rain' from the volcano is ruining their crops. Apparently there are around 112 to 120 volcanoes in Costa Rica, and three of them are picking up the pace. This one, another one and the one we will be staying at after leaving here..... early next week. That would be Arenal Volcano - this one shows its fiery lava almost every night, spewing into the air giving everyone a great lights show. Cant wait!
We stopped for breakfast about an hour out of San Jose - it was good and the resturant had beautiful views. Not sure I really like the idea of black beans and rice for breakfast though.... Coffee was great! The cattle farmers had built their fences from sticks cut from local trees - and now, all along the road, there are living fences. Its quite lovely, creating a view easier on the eyes and also a windbreaker. Ok, back to the banana plantations......... I had a million questions..... . Why are the bananas covered with a light blue plastic bag? Because insects apparently cannot see light blue so they dont bug the fruit , it also stops the chemicals they spray from getting on the fruit as well as it creates a little hothouse for each bunch of bananas to grow in. We watched as the bananas came in out of the plantation - they are clipped onto an overhead rail and a worker pushes them into the processing plant on this rail setup. He sits in a little car and does his thing from way out in the plantation. I have a video of it - they scoot along quite fast. The bananas are sorted by quality and packed and shipped from right there.
Outside the plant was an oooold man, no doubt with a million stories and a face that told that he smiled more than frowned.... He was sitting under an umbrella selling coconut milk - still in the coconut, for a $1 - so we bought one. I dont like coconut as a general rule, but boy was this goood! He chopped open that husk right in front of us, dug out a bit of the flesh, handed us two straws and waited for our smiles. He got them - big ones :) And he had a beetle. No ordinary beetle at all, but a huge one, almost as long as my hand, with hornes and 'dont come near me' eyes. He looked harmless and slow moving, although I was not about to bet on that..... and he posed for photos very well indeed.
And on we went at a fair speed until we hit one of the worst roads we have ever travelled on. I am sure it was once upon a time a road, but well, it was definitely past its sell-by date. Just stones thrown together in a sort of ribbon, winding around small, hand tended farms and more rain forest. The countryside was beautiful but that was the longest 32 kilometers we have driven in a while.. We all felt very tender by the time we hit the river where the boat was to pick us up for the rest of the ride. And up the river we went... running parallel to the Caribbean coast line and every now and again seeing the breakers of the ocean. I just absolutely love the forest and jungle, its quiet, even with the sound of the engine revving high.... its a sort of peacefulness that seems to seep deep into my bones and kinda washes everything clean. The air here is clear and clean and fresh and at times when we stopped to look at some birds - we saw gorgeous pink spoonbills - the quiet was so intense and we could see that feeling happening to the others on board too.
About two hours upriver we arrived at the Laguna Lodge. From our cabin we can hear the ocean out of the back 'window' and see the river in the front. There are no windows as such - just netting stretched over the space and shutters if we want them closed, which we dont because there is no airconditioning here and the fan functions better with the shutters open. The bathroom has the same sort of deal, but way up high against the ceiling so no one can see in. There is no telephone, tv, air conditioning, coffee maker, iron( phew!), or anything like that in here. Its lovely! The building is made of proper wood, not laminate and the floor too. No carpets and the blankets are folded up and packed on a shelf - fat chance of needing them here. There are a good many power plugs to charge the camera stuff into and internet can be reached at the bar and resturant........ eat or drink while connecting - sounds good :)
The frogs screech outside and there are so many different birds all over, blue, yellow, woodpeckers woodpeckering away all over the place and the plants and flowers are just incredible. The Lodge can take 300 guests, I hear, but right now we are the only 4 here, two guys that came in on the boat with us have left already. There is a party of 10 coming in later today, but......its beautifully peaceful.
After arriving here, we were given a delicious lunch and off we went to visit the little town that houses all the staff that work at the lodges and hotels along the river. There are 2000 people that live there and one main road - straight through the town and parallel to the river. The kids play in the road, riding their bicycles at breakneck speed as close to one as possible, little toddlers stand with there fingers in their mouth looking at us with huge bright eyes and a few small kids had great fun drawing pictures in the sand while happily talking to themselves, no doubt playing imaginary games. Most of the main road there is geared totally to tourists, with the houses set to the back, away from the rivers edge. The prices of anything and everything is astronomical, but I just had to buy a small little tortuga made of mother of pearl shell. Its lightweight so wont be a concern to carry around till we head h-word (home) again.
After that visit we wandered around the grounds of the Lodge, finding the Caribbean coast with its dangerous rip tides and serious instructions not to swim in it! Its beautiful in a different way - rugged and totally empty of people. We just love it! We spent a few hours just rocking gently in the chairs provided on the porch of our rooms, watching the birds and critters wandering by. There is one little lizard type thing that is commonly known as the Jesus Lizard..... apparently it can run on water, but does so upright. We have seen a good many of these around here, but not managed to get it on video yet.
We ended the day with a delicious dinner and a very well made margarita right out on the dock with the river flowing beneath us, the sun setting and the tiny, brightly colored houses across the river, turning on their lights and creating multicolor streaks across the water. Perfect.
Tomorrow we have two different boat rides into the forest to see what we can see.... cant wait for that :)
Till then
love light and laughter
Annie
Love U3!
Thursday, May 6, 2010
b - Tortuga Island
This morning our wake up call happened without any consideration for how we felt at all! We were picked up at the front door of the hotel by a huge tour bus. The roads here are very narrow and I wondered just how this bus was going to get around some of the corners.... Well, it did, although at times it looked very close. It is very sad to see how trashy this part of San Jose is. We obviously have not seen much of it at all, but this part, oh boy its bad! Huge piles of stinking trash/rubbish everywhere. Some places the heaps are burning but mostly it just lays there or blows all over the place when the wind blows. All houses have very high - like 8 - 12 foot fenses around them with razor wire on the top of that... even the yards are fenced in and the cars are all parked behind the fenses. And then we saw this evening, that many people drag out a chair onto the sidewalk - outside the fence, and sit and watch the world go by.........
Even the tin shanties are painted different colors, the wiring would give any inspector a full on heart attack and the kids playing in the street would have serious problems elsewhere...... But here - it all works together to make a vibrant, interesting and very colorful culture. Its great to see so much outside the tourist places that one normally gets to see on vacations. Little scooters buzz all over the place and red taxis are evidently kept very busy. Some benches at the edges of a spot of grass were made from a tile pipe chipped away until just the rounded bottom part was used and stuck on block.... that also worked. Fruit trees are everywhere and they are laden with ripe and ripening fruits of all sorts - some I know and others I wish I did. Papaya, pawpaw, oranges, naartjies, banana - just to name a few. Cant wait to find a market we can wander around in.
And so we sat up high in this airconditioned bus for the two hour drive to Puntarenas, which is on the west coast of Costa Rica - on the northern end. The countryside is lovely, lush green with rolling hills and a fair bit of farming going on.. mostly just smallish farms, it seems. We drove over a good many rivers on a new toll road that cuts a good hour and a half off the trip. We stopped off for breakfast along the way and took a shot at the local meal - well, the choice was a ham and cheese sandwich or the local type food - no brainer. and it was good too! We wandered around the grounds of the resturant and tourist store for a while - they made amazing wooden art - and then headed back to the bus.
The roads at Puntarenas are even narrower than in San Jose! But we made it and boarded the catamaran after buying ourselves some much needed hats with fairly wide brims. And the fun really began... I love being out on the water and the day was just perfect and we found the whole front of the boat unoccupied, so we plonked ourselves down and had a lovely two and a half hour boat ride past other ships, boats - both small and little, with and without sails and between a good many very green and lovely looking islands. All of them had the black sand - its from the volcanos forming most things around here. After going through yet another narrow channel between some islands, there lay Tortuga Island - looking just like a lazy turtle...
The palm trees reached high into the sky while the blue water and white sands almost made me drool! We quickly got off the boat and looked for a good place to swim.. Oh was that water beyond perfect! We floated and played around for a good hour or so, just bobbing around and sometimes being dragged back onto the shore by the incoming tide and current. It was glorious. And then the band started playing again, which meant that lunch was ready. The marinaded raw fish they had given us on the boat just was not enough..... We did taste it, but quickly decided to leave it to the locals! It was literally raw fish floating in something like watered down vinigar, with a bit of parsely. Raw wobbly fish. eeeew. Now we know.
After lunch we lay around or sat under the shade area drinking a beer and listening to the 4 man band play some more. A few of the other tourists got a tad 'plastered' and had a very happy time dancing and cavorting to the music - it was great fun to watch. It was really hot out there and we both got quite red, not too badly though. The island is really beautiful - well, the part we could see.. pure white beach, green elegant palm trees and some other ones that only grew to a certain height and then went out sideways, pretending to be tables, or something. The water really was that beautiful see through blue, but just a bit less so right close to the shoreline. They had recently had a big storm and it pretty much muddied up everything.
After another long boat ride back to the mainland, more music, a long bus ride with a good many snoring people, we are now back at the hotel, had supper, all packed up and ready to head out to the Caribbean coast tomorrow. We wont be on the beach there, but in the jungle. The drive is around 5 hours with a two hour boat ride after that.... Its going to be very interesting. I am not sure about internet contact from there..... we will see.
Love light and Laughter
from two very tired but happy people.
Annie and Frank
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
a - We're here!
The sights and smells and bustling and colors of everything is a brain-hog! It's just amazing...... but let me start at the beginning.. Neither of us slept very well at all, afraid that the alarm would not go off or wake us or something, but eventually we found ourselves on the back seat of the bus to Atlanta - it was only barely 4am.... .shudder. We both dozed a bit but neither will admit it - that is until we arrived in Atlanta. The fog has settled in for real and the buildings rose out of the top of the mist like dislocated ghosts with their lights bouncing around the mist and giving a very eerie touch to it all. And then we we delivered to the Delta doorway, got processed and settled in for the wait. It was a looooooooong wait. We walked that airport from soup to nuts. The art they have all over the place is fascinating and lovely and they have tons of stuff on display that people have brought in to the USA undeclared.... they did not get to take it home and it all sits in mute rebuke to anyone else trying the same thing. There was anything from a knife made from pirana teeth to a real elephants foot and even a crowbar. yup.
I was really interested to see that I had absolutely no fear of flying this time at all. No sweaty palms, no fists even..... nada. I really do think that voluntarily jumping into three different lakes in the Amazon Jungle that had pirana, boas, cayman and much more, kinda cured me of any fear of flying... Its sort of silly after swimming in those lakes. Feels better this way too. Or maybe I was just too tired to care?
And then, just as I really felt as if I was on vacation, we get handed these papers to fill out/in (which is it?) The writing is tiny and Frank very kindly put them all in a neat pile in front of me with a huge smile. Yup - I did them. That out of the way, I grabbed the bag of biltong (jerky) and we dug into that as they dont serve any meals in coach on Delta anymore. Is that a loss?
It was good to be on a direct flight and soon we were headed south right along the west coast of Florida,where I recognised a good few of the places we had been in the motor home. And then out over the open water we went, only to come across a stunning view of the Florida Keys - and they all fitted into my lens just beautifully! The color of the water was just amazing, about 7 different shades of blue, all melting into each other, getting darker as the water got deeper and each island ringed with a pure white skirt. Before I could recover from that - there popped up Cuba as clear as can be with picture perfect water colors too and we could even see the breakers thundering on shore on those long, wide open white beaches. I think we also saw the Grand Caymens, but will have to check the photos against Google Earth when we get back. Now that was just super stunning!
A few hours later we found the coast again somewhere below Belize and started heading inward to San Jose where we landed at around 11.30am their time. Someone please remind me to put socks on for the return trip - my feet froze! Costa Rica is that tiny little country squished between Nicaragua and Panama - that part of the world that joins North and South America . There is a two hour difference from Soddy Daisy, TN, so we adjusted the one watch we have and felt four hours tired-er. We got through the airport in almost no time at all, until the last gate before out where the customes lady got a bee in her bonnet about something and slowed everything down to a crawl until we all started crying foul and then we got out there, only to find that the shuttle bus from our hotel was nowhere in sight. We waited almost 45 minutes and then called a taxi. Boy those guys cruise around one like great white sharks just waiting to make a buck or two. 'Calling a taxi" is not really the right word, we stood up, stretched, looked at our one watch and the taxi door opened like magic behind us. Of course we had to tip the one guy who "called the taxi" and the other who 'took care of us while we waited' and then the taxi too. No biggie at all - those guys were all really sweet and helpful to us.
The drive to the hotel was about 20 minutes and confirmed our lack of desire to drive in this country as well. The taxi that we got had a bungee cord to close the trunk - which bounced up and down all the way like a crazy thing keeping us wondering if our luggage would be spread across the road somewhere, a door that did not close properly, half the dash removed and a bumper that was gone. It rattled and shook, but Taxi Man was very proud of it and said that it was much better than the shuttle bus - and it was in so many ways.......it got us there and the driver was so helpful in telling us all sorts of things about the town and the places we were driving past. He tells us that 12 000 trees have been planted in the city in the past three years - the schoolkids get to go into the hills and jungle, dig out trees and plant them in town. It looks lovely! And then there is the site of the old airport..... its a eucalyptus tree park now, filled the the most beautiful straight and tall trees, manicured lawns, tasteful statues and things splattered around that seemed to attract people attention judging by the small crowds around them.
And so we headed closer to the hotel. First let me say that sometime during our trip we are wanting to stay at a very expensive hotel that has no walls, right inside the jungle and so I, yes me, booked this cheapo hotel to try to compensate in a little way for the later one. I know, I know, silly... Anyway, as I was saying......we drove down smaller and smaller, dingier and dingier little roads... In some places there was a long open market all the way down the roads that made me want to get out and walk and see what fruit and veggies and other stuff they had - and it made Frank wish for 'some protection'.. It was not the right time to stop, so on we went and it got worse - horrible actually. There are huge, huge piles of trash in the road - the cars literally have to veer around them.... the stink of rotting fruit and vegetables was beyond nice and we both went very silent. This gave Taxi Driver Man the time to tell us that the "City is Red" and not to walk around at night. Did I understand? nope. So he repeated himself two more times. Eventually I nodded frantically just so he would stop talking with his hands and put them back on the wheel! And I solumnly swore not to walk around at night and if we went out, to call for a taxi before leaving the hotel -cross-my-heart-and-hope-to-die, and all. And then it clicked with a huge thud..... The City is Red means that prostitution is legal and rife and........ well, dont walk around at night. Poor Taxi Man was almost sweating blood until he saw that penny drop!
If I look out of the hotel window, there are tin shacks everywhere, many brightly painted in a stunning array of colors, a huge closed down market and a bar/pub that is very much open and very much visited and well...... the City is Definitely Red. There are some nice places around too, but well, umm, its dark right now so I cant describe them yet. Dont get me wrong - we are not scared, or worried or anything at all. Careful, vigilant - yes.... its so good to have everything so un processed!
Supper here was delicious..... steak and fries for two came to $17 and we ate every bit of it, along with a Screwdriver that went down very well indeed. We changed some money here which made us feel very rich.... $1 = 505 colons. So now I have 505 x 200 = 101 000 colons worth of pink and blue funny looking money in my purse. Sigh. A beer costs $3 or ...well, you do the math - we had two beers too and its late and you should all be more rested than I am. It would be way less shocking if they would give the price in dollars and not someting like 3000 colons please!! Talk about a double take.
And we booked two places we wanted to see...... tomorrow we get woken up at 6am.. this is going to kill me!.. and we will be taken to the Pacific Coast, Puntarenas, stopping along the way for breakfast and a bit of sightseeing too.... Then we hop aboard a catamaran and head out to Tortuga Island for the day -its about a two and a half hour ride out there... The pictures truly scream 'screensaver island' - loudly! There we will swim, lay on the beach, eat, drink as much or as little as we want to and soak up the sun. We will be delivered back to the hotel at around 9pm. It sounds just wonderful. And then on Thursday morning we have to leave here at 5.45am for a 5 hour drive, followed by a two hour boat ride to the Tortuguero national Park on the Caribbean coast side of Costa Rica. There we will head into the jungle and stay for the next 4 days.....Maybe we can ignore anything before 8am there for a day or two. Also not sure of any email contact from there....
Its so good to be out and about again...we could literally hear the hassles, any thoughts of fixing computers, and all the other little things, worries and sadnesses all either falling away or getting better.... it was around the start of the second beer that that happened.
We cant wait to see what is beyond this hotel - day walking is fine apparently - but first, I am going follow Frank's example and close down, snuggle up and go to sleep. Tomorrow is already awsome.
Ok -lights out for me - I have also just heard the cops arriving at the pub - action!
love light and laughter
especially U3
Annie and Frank
Saturday, May 1, 2010
2 days to go!
Oh wow - only two days to go and two and a half sleeps left.. yup, we leave at some insane time in the wee hours of the morning on Tuesday.... Up at 3.30am, off at 4am, flight out from Atlanta at just before 10am from Atlanta. The flight time is only 4 hours so we will be in Costa Rica for lunch on Tuesday :)
Are we really doing this? Its going to be so very different from the last trip where everything was organized before we left home.. On this trip we have only got the air tickets booked and the first two nights in San Jose. Once we are there, we will see what we want to see. Many, many hours of researching places, looking for unusual and strange things and places to see have been spent, so we have a good idea where to find poison dart frogs, puffing volcanoes and long empty beaches... and much more.
To say the least, its going to be interesting.
You will probably find many spelling errors in my emails - we are taking that tiny little Acer netbook with a tiny, small, minute keyboard. My fingers were just not made for such a keyboard, and I dont have the time or energy to proof read what I type as its normally after a long and wonderful day. So. if you dont understand something - feel free to email me and ask, no problem.
And please, please do not send me any forwards, funnies or other stuff like that - to any of my email addresses. The internet connections we get while travelling are very rarely capable of dealing with large files, and they block up my email, preventing me from sending or receiving. Thanks!
Now I just need to start packing! Frank has been packed for a week already...:)
See you on the 'plane
love, light and laughter
Annie
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Email updates....
If you want email updates instead of having to come to this blog to get the updates, please email me and I will add you - thanks.
travelbaggs@gmail.com
Thanks
Annie
travelbaggs@gmail.com
Thanks
Annie
Friday, April 2, 2010
A bit about Costa Rica
Costa Rica have about 3. 6 million in habitants whose native language is Spanish. There are seven provinces which in the country: San José; Alajuela, Heredia, Puntarenas, Cartago, Guanacaste and Limón. The capital is San José.
Land Area: 50, 895 square kilometers
Population: Estimaded 4. 5 million
Capital: San Jose (pop. 300, 000)
Language: Spanish
Property Rights & Safety : Costa Rica law protects private ownership via a Public Registry.
Taxation: Tax rate is ONLY 0. 25% on the declared value of the property!
Getting There: Costa Rica has International ports on both coasts; Air, Ocean and Freight Transportation Services.
Location: Central AmeRican between Nicaragua and Panama
Government: One of the oldest democracies in the AmeRicas, since 1889, and in 1948, the government abolished the army. Furthermore, perpetual neutrality was proclaimed in 1983
Medical: Exist a new clinic openened in 2006. Offers modern facilities comparable to the United States.
Religion: More than 90 percent of Costa Ricans are Roman Catholic.
A few........
These are just a few things we want to see and do during our 22 day stay in Costa Rica :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
