Monteverde: Take 2

Susan and I ventured out to Monteverde for a quick overnight visit.  The roads, as per usual Costa Rican standards, suckola, so we thought it might be best to split the drive up into 2 days (it's about a 2.5 hour drive each way).  We headed out Tuesday afternoon, so we could get an early start on Wednesday.

Although I had been to Monteverde before, our major activity on this trip was much different than before. On this trip, we hit up the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. We got a private guide, Osbaldo, who took us around parts of the reserve for some animal, plant and bird watching.  HOLLA!  Bird watching- my new fave activity (at least for the last 72 hours).  Osbaldo LOVES his job, and his excitement had us all geeked out.  We asked a million questions, chased him through the reserve hunting for glimpses of certain birds, and we learned a ton of cool factoids about Costa Rican plant and wildlife.  The 3 of us were jiving so well, that our 2.5 hour tour lasted about 4 hours.

Throughout this entire trip (since I arrived n CR), I have learned all kinds of really really interesting things about nature, and I keep saying, 'nature is cool,' and the more I explore, the more true that statement is.  Nature is totally fascinating! I totally dig it!

Anyway, after we did some hiking and animal/plant/bird watching, we headed back to Nuevo Arenal. On the way back, we stopped at 'Viento Fresco Catarata'-  a private park where you can take a tough hour+ hike, but visit 4 different waterfalls, and even pop in one for a swim! We arrived late in the day, so we were the only ones there.  It was really nice to enjoy the trails and waterfalls without other people around-  our own private falls and swimming holes.  The roads might stink, but the scenery in Costa Rica is always worth the drive!

Nuevo Arenal

I left Tamarindo and headed to Nuevo Arenal.  Susan, my good friend's mom, is house sitting in Costa Rica for a couple of weeks, so I am visiting her for several days.  The planets certainly aligned, because our timing could not have worked out better.

The last few days have been fantastic, and this week is a great transition for me.  I am essentially going from 8 weeks of  routine and being in 1 spot, to several months of being on the move MUCH more often, so stopping in between to visit an old friend has been perfect. PLUS, Susan likes to explore, so we have been enjoying lots of stuff in  the area.

Casa de Susan has also been very relaxing - great views, a cool breeze, a nice pool, and a bird feeder-  yes, a bird feeder!  Sounds cheesy, but I am totally into the birding thing at the moment.  Just sitting on the patio, we have seen all kinds of intereting and colorful birds....birds are neato, in a cool nerdy way......well, at least the birds in Costa Rica.

On an unrelated note, the house has super hot water in the shower, there are fluffy bath towels, I can flush the toilet paper (a rare occurrence in CR), ceiling fans, AND  (drum role, please) a washer and dryer!!  I am in heaven!

We spent the first 2 days hanging out in La Fortuna, near the Arenal Volcano.  We visited natural hot springs, hiked to a giant waterfall where we got to go swimming, and also visited another area where we got to do some waterfall repelling (yet another activity where I somehow end up dropping off a platform, bridge or cliff).......Fun, as always.  I suppose I like dropping off of things (when it's not an accident, of course).

Glad I didn't leave CR without a visit to Arenal!

On The Move

After 8 weeks, lots of sweating, Nougi's banana pie, 2 dance lessons, 1 week of surf lessons, a number of Team Playas weekend trips, an occasional drink at Sharky's, Addy's Cuban sandwiches, morning jogs to Langosta, afternoons at the beach, 160+ hours of Spanish lessons, howler-monkey wake-up calls, beast-sounding iguanas on the roof, several afternoon naps on weekdays (woo hoo!), dusty streets, 1 trip to the doctor, 2 nights at the Tico rodeo, sunsets at the beach, AND most importantly, amazingly wonderful new friends......I am officially on the move. I am hanging in the Nuevo Arenal for a week until heading to Panama.

So long,Tamarindo!

Nicaragua Take Two

Holy moly!  Nicaragua re-do was fan-flipping-tastic!
Again, we had another ah-MAZING group of wicked awesome peeps on our trip.  Nine of us from school went this time; some new friends that just started at the school, and 4 of us that made the Nicaragua trip attempt 2 weeks ago.

We got to sleep in this time and leave a little later......4:30am.  Woo hoo!  We drove a couple hours to the border, hopped out and breezed through customs.  This time, the border crossing process was ridiculously smooth and fast (thank goodness).

Once in to Nicaragua, we drove another 1.5 hours to Apoyo Lagoon.  It's a crater lake that was created by volcanic activity a go-gillion years ago, and since then, it has filled with subterranean water and rain water.  Long story short, it's a lovely lake, that we got to view from a breezy hilltop, once we finally got out of the van in Nicaragua.

Afterwards, we headed to see the Masaya Volcano. After a quick stop at the main gate for our tour guide to sign some safety waivers for the group, we got some hard hats, and we headed up to the top of the volcano.  P.S. just in case boulders start to spew from the volcano, head underneath the bus. (Eeek! Yup, that's what we were told). Anywho, looking down into the volcano was pretty cool, although we couldn't see too far dow; there was a constant cloud of gas lingering over the hole.  AND said sulfur-y gas was stinky.

Then, off to do some shopping!  It's cooler than it sounds.  We went to a really cool outdoor market filled with rows and rows of cheap stuffs.  Cool stuff too (leather goods, paintings, hammocks, jewelry, tchotchkes, stuffed frogs , carved wood bowls, etc. etc.).  Vendor after vendor had the same stuff, but it was neat to cruise the merchandise.  We ate at the market too- GIANT kabobs.  Super yums! De-licious food.

Then, off to Granada, a city founded by the Spanish in the early 1500s.  We visited a church originally built in 1539!  We went up to the bell tower for some sweet views of the city.   After carefully making our way back down the super narrow/steep staircase, we went to a city park right next to the big (very yellow) cathedral in town.   After  cruising the park and opting out of the romantical horse and carriage ride (haha), we headed to the lake, Lake Granada.

The lake has over 350 small islands.  They are all somewhat clustered together, and we got to take a nice boat ride in and around some of the islands.  Some are small, with a couple of trees and shrubs, but others, have snazzy houses on them.  One island even had a couple monkeys on it.  Apparently, a man who had some annoying monkeys on his property, moved them out to a small island he owned in the lake.  A little weird, but the island has enough food for them, plenty of trees, and there is a lot of activity around to keep them occupied.  After our relaxing boat ride, we headed back to Costa Rica.

Another super swell, super fun day: great peeps, interesting activities, yummy food, new adventures.  Muy excelente!  :)

Bungee Video

Proof:  https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10103119045519654&set=vb.8346973&type=2&theater

Hopefully the link works!  HOLLA!

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....