Do you know the way to San Jose?

I skipped school.  Yes, that happened.  However, this week is 'Samana Santa' (Easter week),  AND a super duper big holiday week for a Catholic majority country.  So, Thursday and Friday were official holidays, but our travel crew started the holiday weekend on Wednesday by heading to San Jose.

After the 4 hour turismo ride to San Jose, we headed straight to Tropical Bungee (o-ow!).   Fear not, they are fully insured and have an 'impeccable safety record' (per their brochure).   Anywho, lucky patrons who visit this company get to jump 265 ft down from the Colorado River bridge, into a lovely canyon below.  (eek!).

I barely remember the initial free fall feeling; it happened really quickly and I was pretty nervous, but once I got to the end of the tether, I got a really cool upside down swinging ride over the aforementioned canyon.  After some solid swinging, the bungee team then sends down a cable that you hook to your waist, and up you go, to the top of the bridge.  Done and done! I would most definitely do it again.  I would probably jump with a little more gusto next time too, because I very nervously lept from this particular rickety 'ol bridge.  We got a FIRST TIMER!

This is happening!

The Colorado River bridge.

The view from the bridge.

Getting all geared-up.

Learning how to attached the 'up' cable. 

About to jump.  AHHHH!

That's me!

Back up in one piece, and alive! What WHAT?

My girls!

After we jumped, we hit the town.... we were afraid to eat all day (in case of a 'reversal of fortune'  at the bungee place), so by 6 pm, we were starvin' marvins.  We went down to Central Ave, the happening spot in the city for a variety of things, but particularly shoe stores and American fast food restaurants (?).  It was nice to be in a big city; lots of people, hustle, bustle, the whole shebang.

Thursday, we woke up early and headed to the Pacuare River near the Talamanca mountain range for a full day of whitewater rafting (classes 1-4). It was about 2 hours from San Jose, but worth the ride.  Rios Tropicales fed us breakfast, got us all geared up, taught us some basic rafting commands, and off we went.

After 3.5 hours of rafting, we stopped for lunch.  The guides that were in charge of the 6 or so rafts, prepared a really great lunch- sandwiches, chips and dips, fruit and cookies.  Sounds simple, right?  Yes, but everything was freshly handled-  all the fruit and sandwich veggies were cut up on the spot, and guacamole and bean dip were prepared there too (p.s. 'the spot' is a random stop along the river, where two boats are turned upside down and used as tables).  It was a pretty remarkable meal for a setup that was brought in plastic barrels, and tied to the inside of white rafts 4 hours prior.

After lunch, and another 1.5 hours of rafting, we went back to the rafting headquarters, had a quick change of clothes, and then had a very sleepy ride back to San Jose.

Meanwhile, our rafting team - 'Team Playas' ('playas' means 'beaches' in Spanish) killed it..  We rocked that river.  Plus, Ray, our extra awesome tour guide, enjoyed calling us 'beaches' along the way too while shouting commands at us.  We also mastered rowing commands in Spanish.  :)   Fairly successful day, if I say so myself.  Plus, rafting was ridiculously fun.  I hope to do lots more of that in the future!

Team Playas: pre-rafting adventure. 

A lovely 'quiet' section of the river. 

Man, the lighting is just right in this picture.  I look ripped!

(check out those biceps - back row, on the right) 

Rafting. 

More rafting. 

Team Playas: post-rafting adventure, with Ray (our awesome guide).

Friday, San Jose was very very quiet.  All the city folk headed to the beach for the long weekend, so we thought we would do the reverse, by heading into the city.  Friday morning, San Jose was a ghost town.....until we stumbled upon a 'Good Friday' procession.  Holy moly (pun, intended).  The procession reminded me  of a mix of 2 different 'Godfather II' scenes: Vito's father's funeral (small band playing, little old ladies wearing black holding Rosary, kids crying, etc)  and the San Gennaro procession (large crowds following statues being paraded down the streets, people in costumes, etc).  It was really really interesting.  Along with the go-gillion other people, we followed the procession through part of he city, until it ended in front of the large cathedral, where clergy told the story of Good Friday, actors did some small re-enactments, and then there was some praying and singing  (I am assuming this was what happened, it was all in Spanish, and I couldn't catch everything...my Spanish still needs lots o' work).  In any case, fascinating stuff.  Plus, of the people that DID stick around San Jose (instead of heading to the beach), ALL of them were there for the procession.  Even though the entire city was shut down (so we missed some opportunities there), finding the procession was a major cultural score.  Our 'procession' find, was something I will never forget!

Don Carlos Hotel 

View of San Jose.

Just a regular day in San Jose. . . .

City Park

Good Friday procession.

More procession.

More procession.

More procession.

Cathedral in the center of town.

The 'show' at the end of the procession, across the street from the Cathedral.

Crowds at the end of the procession. Hellllo, San Jose!

That afternoon, we headed back to Tamarindo....

Nicaragua Or Bust

I will take 'Bust' for 1000, Alex.

Headed out for Nicaragua at 4am yesterday.  After a couple stops to pick up other tourists at hotels along the way, and a couple hour drive, we arrived at the border of Costa Rica and Nicaragua.  This week is 'Semana Santa' (Easter week- and a very big holiday week around these parts),  and the border was PACKED with people.  Our tour guide tried to use some of his 'friendships' at the border to get us through faster, but yesterday, no dice.

Waiting in line.

More people, more lines.

We waited in line for almost 2.5 hours just to exit Costa Rica.  We then hopped back in the bus and drove over to the Nicaragua side, but had to go through customs there too.  Our guide and driver tried to 'work their connections' again, but to no avail. . . .  after another 2 hours, the guide got all of our individual passports stamped, but the driver had some issues* going through the line for vehicles at customs, and wasn't able to get through.

*Issues:  the driver tried to cut the line, got busted, and kicked to the back of the line.  The line was so long, that we wouldn't have gotten into Nicaragua until mid-afternoon if he waited.  For a day trip, it wouldn't be do-able, so we got the sad news that we needed to turn around.

Enjoy your stay....however long OR SHORT that might be.

Customs/duty free area in Nicaragua 

So, we had to then get our individual passports stamped OUT of Nicaragua, THEN head back to the Costa Rica side and go through customs to re-enter Costa Rica.  Add another hour and a half there, and we finally headed back on the bus for the several hour drive back to Tamarindo.

What next?  Yup, you guessed it: a flat tire on the ride home.  That was another hour+......

Flat.

The other tourists on the trip weren't too thrilled with the day's events.  Our group wasn't either, but we still managed to have a GREAT time.  Our group of six spent hours shootin' the you-know-what, joking around, and making the best of the situation.  Even though the day was a comedy of errors, spent mostly waiting in lines, and we didn't quite accomplish our Nicaraguan goals, we had a stinkin' fun time.

Team ''Go Nicaragua'

Since our group was the first group picked up in the morning, we were the last to be dropped off, so once all the other tourists got off the van, we went and had a nice, relaxing meal with the tour guide and driver, and made plans to re-try the trip in 2 weeks.  The guide said, next time, he would take just us.  Between a more private tour, and less holiday traffic, we should have another great time, and more successful, Nicaraguan re-do.

Got back to Tamarindo at about 7:45.  It WAS a full day trip TO Nicaragua, but..... not exactly as planned, but, as they say in Costa Rica, Pura Vida....

Rincon de la Viaja Volcano National Park

Yesterday, I had a full day of adventures at Rincon de la Viaja Volcano National Park with some friends from school.  We left at 6 am and made the 1.5 hour ride to the park, in another Turismo van (12 passenger van, complete with daily driver).

I didn't have my camera with me the entire time, but here are some photos and a list of our full-day of activities:

Rincon de la Viaja Volcano National Park.

45 minute horseback ride through part of the park.  We had 2 guides, one in front, leading the way, and another in the back, carrying a mini boom box playing Spanish music for the ride.  The ride-time was perfect though; just about the time my butt started to hurt from the saddle, we were done-zo.  Being from TX, you would think I might have had a little more experience on a horse, but alas, I think this may have only been my 2nd time on a horse......ever!

Leaving the stables.

Me (my shadow, at least) and my mohawked horse!

1.5 hours of white water tubing.  This was super fun, and unlike any tubing I have done in TX.  They loaded us up with life vest, helmets, and super sturdy tubes, then gave us safety instructions, and plopped us in the river.  There were some slightly scary rapids, drop offs, and lots of spinning around in the tubes, but also some nice calm areas too, where we could relax a bit before being slammed around again.  It was great!

Tubing down the rapids of the Colorado River.

1.5 hours of zip lining, which included a little bit of rock climbing and repelling.  I will be honest, after zip lining in Monteverde, I thought this course would be lame.  Boy, was I wrong.  This course was awesome- very different from Monteverde, and just as exciting.  We zip lined through big ravines created by the river, passed by water falls, got to zip line upside down, and got to swing like Tarzan across the river to some of the platforms too.  Anytime they offered a 'crazier' option / way of doing something, I took the opportunity- it makes for a much more memorable experience, and the guides love to mess with you too, when you're willing to try the wackier stuff.

Loaded up with zip lining gear.

Zipping through ravines.

View from one of the platforms.

Zipping past waterfalls, then launching from a slide to the next platform.

Upside down zip lining.

Upside down ride!

Buffet lunch at on-site resort, full of local dishes and treats! Our little group got to lunch a bit late, but it was perfect, bc we bumped into a couple Brahma bulls along the way (yup, Brahma bulls), and the guy walking them up the road let us hop on!  I am pretty sure they were there for photo ops anyway, but it was still a cool find.

Brahma bulls.

Quick hop on said bulls.

1 hour visit to the mud bath/hot springs.  This was cool.  We trekked a bit through the woods, and walked across a super rickety bridge, to a small area with hot springs, next to the river.  Once we  made it, we  were handed a hot bowl of mud and a paint brush.  After painting ourselves,  we let the mud dry in the sun, then rinsed off and hit the hot springs.  Volcanic mud is supposed to be good for your skin....who knows, but It was a nice relaxing way to end the day.

After that, we headed back to Tamarindo- most of us sleeping the entire way.  It was a great day, just enough time to enjoy each activity, and a swell way to pack in some more Costa Rican adventures.

This Ain't My First Rodeo.

Ok.  Maybe this isn't my FIRST rodeo, but it was my first Tico (Costa Rican) rodeo.  And this was unlike any rodeo I have seen before.

The big festivities were held in Villa Real, the town next to Tamarindo;  no tourists, everyone and everything is even more relaxed here, and it has a nice 'small town/everyone knows each other here' feeling (and they really do! They ALL know each other).

First things first.  The rodeo arena is actually at the soccer field in the middle of town.  It kind of looks like some locals grabbed some old wooden planks, some 2x4s, and banged out a fenced-in ring and a grandstand, a few days before the event (which, they totally did, just that).

The arena.

The grandstands.

Grandstand seating.

The day of the rodeo, a small (and slightly unsafe) carnival sets up, some food stands pop up, and the bulls arrive.

Food stands.

Festival area.

Bullpen, and not the baseball kind.

Salsa and meringue.

About 25% of the attendees pay $2 bucks to sit in the stands, and everyone else just sits on top of the arena fence, or stands at the fence to watch.

They only have 1 rodeo event, bull riding, which lasts several hours.   In Costa Rica, ANYONE can volunteer to RIDE the bulls and ANYONE can get INTO the ring during the bull riding, to be 'rodeo clowns' ......ANYONE.  A-N-Y-O-N-E!

All the people who voluntarily stand inside the fence during bull riding.  Interested in being a rodeo clown?  Hop on through the fence, and you're good to go.

On a related note, the Red Cross is on-site to assist with any medical concerns.  Their medical booth actually backs right up against the ring, and the wall of the medical booth has a little gated window that looks into the ring, so they know when people are headed their way.  AND, yes, several people headed their way last night.   A couple random 'volunteer clowns' got tossed around by the bulls, shirts shredded, covered in dirt, and a little bloody too.

The Red Cross booth (pictured at 12 o'clock in this photo).  The window is 'closed,' but they popped it back open when the bull got a bit farther from their medical service area.

After each volunteer rides a bull, the local (what seems like) high school band plays, and they just leave the bulls in the ring for a few additional minutes for what seems like entertainment purposes. This is all thanks to the plethora of fools just standing around in the ring, for the bulls to pummel.

Bull and rodeo arena main gate.

Random dude getting tossed around by the bull. PS I was up in the grandstand at is point, and I wasn't even using the zoom on my camera.  Everything at this rodeo is just THAT close.

Again, no zoom.  Just an angry bull.....right there! 

The band that plays before/after rides. 

When the bulls are angrily running around in the ring, they are mere inches from a couple thousand bystanders.  At several points, I could have stretched my arm through the fence and touched a couple not-so-happy bulls. INSANE.  Even more nuts, is that, if those bulls really wanted too, they could easily bust through the toothpick and twine fence holding everything up.  Scary stuff.  Scary, but fun.  An experience unlike anything I have seen before.

Along with the bull riding, 'volunteer rodeo clown' watching, food, carnival activities, and live music, there were also fireworks. At one point, some guy just walked into the middle of the arena and shot off fireworks, from inside a piece of PVC pipe that he just set down and lit on fire with his cigarette.

Several times last night, I thought to myself, 'where am I?'

However, with all of that said, it was an incredible experience, and such a slice of Tico life.  I had a great time with my friends, met some really nice locals, heard some fun live salsa/meringue music, ate some really tasty new foods (El Salvadorian), and realized once again, that there are still many more adventures to be had. Pura Vida!

Enjoying some rodeo eats!

Stay tuned, my friends.....more adventures to come.