Hola hola
Finally, after concluding our first two weeks of adventuring, I have time to update. So, far it has been very fun--a lot of great sightseeing, adventure activities, and getting hurt too. Let´s see, when I last left off, we had just left Tortuguero. I did mention the turtle tour, but did not let you know at the time that during the turtle tour (which involved walking two hours in the pitch dark on the beach with the exception of a few red light flashlight flashes to alarm us of large debris to dodge on the beach), I tripped with very little grace over a pile of logs and twisted my ankle. I cried with every step, and thought it might be best to turn back so not to cause further damage to a possibly fractured ankle. Yet, the tour guide let me in on the fact that the other people on the beach were signaling that they had found a turtle...so I made the decision to keep going, and we did.
The next day, a beautiful purply black bruise revealed itself on my ankle, and it was very painful to walk...probably I should see a doctor, but since I have no interest in visiting any here, I will wait...and anyways, after two weeks of walking with a bandage, it is feeling much better, though not perfect. Other injuries sustained in the group included mom rubbing the backs of her legs raw with the rubber rain boots during our hike in Tortuguero National Park, Garret further injuring his knee by tripping on the same turtle tour as me, and Jonah going overboard while rafting the Rio Pacuare. All in all, while these injuries have been somewhat discomforting, they are nothing compared to say my sister crashing her scooter in Honduras and obtaining road rash from head to toe. Still, here are a few helpful hints for when traveling in Costa Rica...
1) To avoid tripping, when walking in the dark and you see another tour group holding hands in a kindergarden choo-choo- train fashion, you would do well not to make fun of them and instead to follow suit. Holding hands is actually a good idea.
2) To avoid lacerations of the skin, blisters, etc. bring long socks--it seems absurd in such hot weather, but will likely come in handy.
3) When rafting, avoid trying to get that award winning photo of you waving the ore above your head right as you are approaching a class IV rapid.
4) Listen to the guides--actually the alarmed wide-eyed face response you will make when you experience the unexpected, will in fact be the face you make and/or you will witness that face on another near you and need to be prepared to act quickly and rationally to save that individual.
Needless to say, we got consciously scammed into buyying a forty dollar CD of pictures after rafting in order to savour the moments of Jonah´s experience as a "swimmer" as they called him. Still, with the exception or maybe including Jonah´s adventure, rafting the Rio Pacuare has so far been a top highlight of my trip.
Other travels we have made have been to Volcan Poas, Volcan Arenal and La Fortuna, Santa Elena and Monteverde, and Montezuma. I have to say that although La Fortuna is largely considered a tourist trap, it we welcomed such an experience after a week of very few luxuries. We went to Baldi Hot Springs for a day for example, which was largely a hot spring amusement park with possibly the most extreme waterslide you will ever encounter (YouTube Baldi Hot Springs waterslide and you will see what I mean--specifically the video of the guy finding paint from the slide in his hair afterwards) and 24 pools of varying temperatures from your typical swimming pool temperature to impossible to enter. In addition, we got a free show of extreme lightning and downpours during our delicious and much-needed five dollar buffet dinner in the open-air restaraunt.
Thus far the most beautiful place we have visited has thus far been the area surrounding Santa Elena and Monteverde. If you are ever planning to visit both La Fortuna and Santa Elena, I highly recommend splurging a little on the jeep-boat-jeep transfer option. You will see the most dreamlike countryside complete with the greenest rolling pastures and clearest creeks you have ever seen. It is completely indescribable. The temperature in Santa Elena is much like Asheville, and all around if I were to expat in Costa Rica, Santa Elena is where you will find me...the perfect mix of mountains, rivers, a small "city" center with both traditional and modern restaurants and a local creamery making its own cheeses and ice cream...sold!
Next, we headed to Montezuma, which to me was a little disappointing. Everyone everywhere seems to be "hyping" up the Montezuma area. Yea its nice, but honestly it seemed a little bit like a lesser version of Utila, Honduras. Utila, you still have my heart darling...clearer water, better markets, less tourist trap snorkel tours to terrible snorkeling (Tortuga Island Tour from Montezuma I just really cannot recommend), and better overall accessibility. Still, if you are a "gypster" as Jimi called them, you will probably be happy there.
I am sure I have left out many awesome details of the trip, but when I finially get photos uploaded (likely upon return to the U.S.) the trip will be more describable. Hasta luego...
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
In memory of Cela Cie
It has been too long since I updated, I know...but you wouldn´t believe how difficult it is to find time to sit down and compose thoughts in between all the bus rides, activities, and sleeping that have to happen. Also, there is the problem that it is nearly impossible to find a computer to upload photos with (I still haven´t found one). So, what I will do is simply write, and then later when I find an adequate computer, I will add photos to all the previous posts.
I have to say our first few days were simply amazing. We headed to the Carribean coast to a town called Tortuguero, which is located within a national park dedicated to sea turtle conservation. It was interesting for me, because I have only visited Costa Rica once before (in 2007) when alongside my cousin-in-law, Cela, and my brother, Joshua, I volunteered on the same coast (but different town) for three weeks at a sea turtle conservation project. It is no surprise then, that as we journeyed along the coast and through the jungle canals that Cela became a constant thought in my mind.
I couldn´t help but reminisce on our boat rides spotting monkeys and crocs, walking for four hours a night along the beach from 2am to 6am to patrol the area, watch for poachers, and safely bring leatherback and green turtle eggs back to the hatchery after being laid by their big mommas, and just living the simple life of no electricity, cold showers, limited meals, sleeping in hammocks, and making gigantic sandcastles. It was a good time indeed (minus the grumpy Dutch people).
This time around, we were certainly not roughing it. We stayed in a lovely Bed & Breakfast called Casa Marbella, ate some decent grub (including delicious fresh fruit), and took on the tourist role much more. We did go on a turtle tour to try to have a chance viewing the turtles nest inconveniently in between seasons (the leatehrbacks are just leaving and the green turtles coming in)...and we saw a leatherback, but it was certainly not as great a spectacle as when Cela, Josh, and I spotted them. There is simply a certain magestic quality of the turtles that all of a sudden is compromised when a hundred other people are crowding around it and oohing and ahhing...not to mention an almost serious injurty (to be discussed in a later blog).
Activities that became more of the highlights of the trip were our walk through the national park and taking the boat along the canals. The walk was very cool, and I highly recommend it to anyone headed out that way. You can get there by walking through the town and then simply paying the entrance fee at the park. We saw an armadillo, which was very unexpected, a dead sea turtle, very very sad and smelly, a morpho butterfly, cutter ants, and lots of lizards. Plus we heard howler monkeys and Jimi ate termites. I also spotted a spider monkey, some toucans, and some other interesting animals while boating.
Our final morning was spent commemorating the wonderful life of Cela Cie. We built a sandcastle village (to remember my day in the sand with Cela during the turtle project). It was an interesting structure in the end, but very beautiful as well, and no doubt she knows we were thinking of her.
Until next time...
I have to say our first few days were simply amazing. We headed to the Carribean coast to a town called Tortuguero, which is located within a national park dedicated to sea turtle conservation. It was interesting for me, because I have only visited Costa Rica once before (in 2007) when alongside my cousin-in-law, Cela, and my brother, Joshua, I volunteered on the same coast (but different town) for three weeks at a sea turtle conservation project. It is no surprise then, that as we journeyed along the coast and through the jungle canals that Cela became a constant thought in my mind.
I couldn´t help but reminisce on our boat rides spotting monkeys and crocs, walking for four hours a night along the beach from 2am to 6am to patrol the area, watch for poachers, and safely bring leatherback and green turtle eggs back to the hatchery after being laid by their big mommas, and just living the simple life of no electricity, cold showers, limited meals, sleeping in hammocks, and making gigantic sandcastles. It was a good time indeed (minus the grumpy Dutch people).
This time around, we were certainly not roughing it. We stayed in a lovely Bed & Breakfast called Casa Marbella, ate some decent grub (including delicious fresh fruit), and took on the tourist role much more. We did go on a turtle tour to try to have a chance viewing the turtles nest inconveniently in between seasons (the leatehrbacks are just leaving and the green turtles coming in)...and we saw a leatherback, but it was certainly not as great a spectacle as when Cela, Josh, and I spotted them. There is simply a certain magestic quality of the turtles that all of a sudden is compromised when a hundred other people are crowding around it and oohing and ahhing...not to mention an almost serious injurty (to be discussed in a later blog).
Activities that became more of the highlights of the trip were our walk through the national park and taking the boat along the canals. The walk was very cool, and I highly recommend it to anyone headed out that way. You can get there by walking through the town and then simply paying the entrance fee at the park. We saw an armadillo, which was very unexpected, a dead sea turtle, very very sad and smelly, a morpho butterfly, cutter ants, and lots of lizards. Plus we heard howler monkeys and Jimi ate termites. I also spotted a spider monkey, some toucans, and some other interesting animals while boating.
Our final morning was spent commemorating the wonderful life of Cela Cie. We built a sandcastle village (to remember my day in the sand with Cela during the turtle project). It was an interesting structure in the end, but very beautiful as well, and no doubt she knows we were thinking of her.
Until next time...
Saturday, June 25, 2011
The Real Travel Bug
Well, it has been much longer than I had anticipated before I would be able to update, and it has been quite an adventure! It is now day three, and I have succesfully experienced much more than I expected...in both a negative and bad way.
In the past few days I have reminisced greatly on previous travel....especially in terms of the aweful challenges of plane travel and the much more wonderful experiences I shared with Cela...I will start with the bad, and then in the next blog share the exceptionally beautiful memories. Also, I wish I could share some photos, but alas the hostel has locked the computers up...maybe later!
Anywho, so getting here to Costa Rica was an adventure in itself. All I could pray for the entire time was to make it both safely and without complications. Any of you who have ever heard the stories of my traveling would know that I, alongside fellow travelers, have a slew of terrible stories to tell about our travels going wrong. An outline of such events reveals the following:
-2006: Tiffany rejected by airline for (too much) expired passport on the way to Jamaica (to be clear, this was before every country required a passport, and the TSA website said expired passport, not a passport that had expired no greater than a year ago...mine was one year and four months expired)
-2007: Joshua (brother) literally receives his passport five minutes before takeoff to Costa Rica via Delta Dash in the airport...me and Cela constantly wondering will we depart alone...until alas he runs through the terminal with seconds to spare.
-2009: Jillian (sister) looses luggage on flight to Honduras, and despite many phone calls and visits to aiport, is told that the luggage is missing, until finally on the day she is leaving two weeks later, the bag is hanging out in the security office---was it there the whole time?
-2009: Jimi and Tiffany, despite planning to leave the island (Utila, Honduras) two days early, find that the ferry is not working, resulting in our arriving at the airport the day of departure 5 minutes before take-off and missing our flight...thus resulting in a necessary five hour bus ride to San Pedro Sula (kind of sketchy), and spending 24 hours in the airport...no food and certainly no adequate sleeping area...I will try to post a photo later of me on the flight when we finally negotiated with the airline company...looking like death to say the least.
-2010: on the way to Jamaica, Jimi and Tiffany are faced with a difficult deicion when Spirit Air announces that they have overbooked the flight and will give a free roundtrip ticket to anyone who will wait for the next flight tomorrow...Did we accept? No, because we decided we would need at least two roundtirp tickets to loose our reservations for hotel and transportation that day....but then wait, they offer two free roundtrip tickets to anywhere they fly...a steal? No, no, now we have to wait until they offer 3 roundtrip tickets...Jimi is adamant that we do not loose our reservations...but then Tiffany is starting to get ancy...three roundtrip tickets? Okay, if they offer anymore, we are definitely stayin a night in Ft. Lauderdale and taking the tickets...but all of a sudden, a woman goes up and says "Hey, I will get off with my three kids if each of us gets five free roundtrip tickets," and thus the deal is made....I still can not believe we passed that up, but hey Jimi had a plan that could not be compromised....proposal for marriage
and then there was 2010 part B: when on the way back from Jamaica, we are sitting on the plane and it is announced that there would be a delay due to maintenance issues...thirty minutes later, waiting on paperwork...another thirty minutes..."Okay, we are sorry fo the inconvenience, but one of our computers is down...you know how Windows is..." uhhh Windows? What? No...why are you saying things like this...I do not want to take this flight even if you do get it fixed!"...but they offer no comfort. They only tell us it will be another fifteen minutes so they can finish the paperwork on the new computer installation...am I freaking out? Yes, very much so...alas forty five minutes later, they announce that we have been sitting on the plane for too long, and we must get off the plane until they are ready to fly...we get off and another hour passes before they happily invite us back on. Still, another announcement thirty minutes after having reboarded reveals that not only has one computer crashed, but two of the Windows computers have crashed, and we will need to disembark the plane one more time while they try to clear inspection. Okay, that is it I decide...there is NO WAY I am getting back on that plane...but how will I afford to stay in Ft. Lauderdale for another 24 hours, when I have just blown all my cash in Jamaica? Fortunatley, at 4am they announce they have canceled the flight, and will put us up at the Holiday Inn Ft. Lauderdale no charge...whew!
Anyhow, you can see how travel anxiety develops after these sorts of experiences. Am I a nervous flier...I would say more of a nervous airport travler...and certainly this time was no exception. We were making it through the whole airport process with fairly good luck, minus an in-depth security check of my brother, Garret (who seems to attract security as he has been checked three for three each of his times traveling via plane). Of course something had to go wrong though...we made it to Ft. Lauderdale and even boarded the plane to fly to San Jose, when after thirty minutes we were told that the weather was too bad to fly...we would have to wait. Long story short, this message was relayed to us about twice an hour, until finally at 3 am (once we had all settled for sleeping on the airport floor) we were finally cleared for take off. In the meantime, I wondered if we would lose our hotel room or if we would be left at the airport with no transportation waiting on us.
Not as adventerous as the rest of the stories, but certainly reconfirmation that I HATE FLYING! I wish that just once I could just board a plane, take off, and land with absolutely no problem whatsoever...I am waiting....but hey we are here, and it has quicly become a realization that we are not "Amazing Race" material...stay tuned
In the past few days I have reminisced greatly on previous travel....especially in terms of the aweful challenges of plane travel and the much more wonderful experiences I shared with Cela...I will start with the bad, and then in the next blog share the exceptionally beautiful memories. Also, I wish I could share some photos, but alas the hostel has locked the computers up...maybe later!
Anywho, so getting here to Costa Rica was an adventure in itself. All I could pray for the entire time was to make it both safely and without complications. Any of you who have ever heard the stories of my traveling would know that I, alongside fellow travelers, have a slew of terrible stories to tell about our travels going wrong. An outline of such events reveals the following:
-2006: Tiffany rejected by airline for (too much) expired passport on the way to Jamaica (to be clear, this was before every country required a passport, and the TSA website said expired passport, not a passport that had expired no greater than a year ago...mine was one year and four months expired)
-2007: Joshua (brother) literally receives his passport five minutes before takeoff to Costa Rica via Delta Dash in the airport...me and Cela constantly wondering will we depart alone...until alas he runs through the terminal with seconds to spare.
-2009: Jillian (sister) looses luggage on flight to Honduras, and despite many phone calls and visits to aiport, is told that the luggage is missing, until finally on the day she is leaving two weeks later, the bag is hanging out in the security office---was it there the whole time?
-2009: Jimi and Tiffany, despite planning to leave the island (Utila, Honduras) two days early, find that the ferry is not working, resulting in our arriving at the airport the day of departure 5 minutes before take-off and missing our flight...thus resulting in a necessary five hour bus ride to San Pedro Sula (kind of sketchy), and spending 24 hours in the airport...no food and certainly no adequate sleeping area...I will try to post a photo later of me on the flight when we finally negotiated with the airline company...looking like death to say the least.
-2010: on the way to Jamaica, Jimi and Tiffany are faced with a difficult deicion when Spirit Air announces that they have overbooked the flight and will give a free roundtrip ticket to anyone who will wait for the next flight tomorrow...Did we accept? No, because we decided we would need at least two roundtirp tickets to loose our reservations for hotel and transportation that day....but then wait, they offer two free roundtrip tickets to anywhere they fly...a steal? No, no, now we have to wait until they offer 3 roundtrip tickets...Jimi is adamant that we do not loose our reservations...but then Tiffany is starting to get ancy...three roundtrip tickets? Okay, if they offer anymore, we are definitely stayin a night in Ft. Lauderdale and taking the tickets...but all of a sudden, a woman goes up and says "Hey, I will get off with my three kids if each of us gets five free roundtrip tickets," and thus the deal is made....I still can not believe we passed that up, but hey Jimi had a plan that could not be compromised....proposal for marriage
and then there was 2010 part B: when on the way back from Jamaica, we are sitting on the plane and it is announced that there would be a delay due to maintenance issues...thirty minutes later, waiting on paperwork...another thirty minutes..."Okay, we are sorry fo the inconvenience, but one of our computers is down...you know how Windows is..." uhhh Windows? What? No...why are you saying things like this...I do not want to take this flight even if you do get it fixed!"...but they offer no comfort. They only tell us it will be another fifteen minutes so they can finish the paperwork on the new computer installation...am I freaking out? Yes, very much so...alas forty five minutes later, they announce that we have been sitting on the plane for too long, and we must get off the plane until they are ready to fly...we get off and another hour passes before they happily invite us back on. Still, another announcement thirty minutes after having reboarded reveals that not only has one computer crashed, but two of the Windows computers have crashed, and we will need to disembark the plane one more time while they try to clear inspection. Okay, that is it I decide...there is NO WAY I am getting back on that plane...but how will I afford to stay in Ft. Lauderdale for another 24 hours, when I have just blown all my cash in Jamaica? Fortunatley, at 4am they announce they have canceled the flight, and will put us up at the Holiday Inn Ft. Lauderdale no charge...whew!
Anyhow, you can see how travel anxiety develops after these sorts of experiences. Am I a nervous flier...I would say more of a nervous airport travler...and certainly this time was no exception. We were making it through the whole airport process with fairly good luck, minus an in-depth security check of my brother, Garret (who seems to attract security as he has been checked three for three each of his times traveling via plane). Of course something had to go wrong though...we made it to Ft. Lauderdale and even boarded the plane to fly to San Jose, when after thirty minutes we were told that the weather was too bad to fly...we would have to wait. Long story short, this message was relayed to us about twice an hour, until finally at 3 am (once we had all settled for sleeping on the airport floor) we were finally cleared for take off. In the meantime, I wondered if we would lose our hotel room or if we would be left at the airport with no transportation waiting on us.
Not as adventerous as the rest of the stories, but certainly reconfirmation that I HATE FLYING! I wish that just once I could just board a plane, take off, and land with absolutely no problem whatsoever...I am waiting....but hey we are here, and it has quicly become a realization that we are not "Amazing Race" material...stay tuned
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Making our Rounds
Okay so, here it is...the proposed "funtenerary." It is interactive, so feel free to play around! There will likely be some changes along the way, but for the most part, you can know what you can expect to hear about. Also of noteworthy interest is that my mother (Desiree) and my two youngest brothers (Garret and Jonah) will be accompanying Jimi and I during the first two weeks of our trip (through Montezuma). After that we're on our own--or likely alongside fellow travelers. This will make for some interesting stories I'm sure. Hasta luego...
Friday, June 17, 2011
Aventura Uno: Costa Rica
As many of you know, we have long been planning a backpacking trip to Central America to celebrate our new marriage. Over the course of the past year (today is our anniversary), we have planned, replanned, and replanned, and finally we are gearing up to flee to Costa Rica this upcoming Wednesday. It will be a month of paradise...jungles, beaches, rivers, volcanos, cerveza y rum...though there will no doubt be many challenges along the way.
There is no telling what this blog will bring, but hopefully it will be an inspiring story of adventure, while also providing some helpful content regarding budget travel, especially in Costa Rica. Keep posted for a rough "funtenerary" of the places to be visited...and always feel free to send us helpful hints along the way! See y'all soon!
There is no telling what this blog will bring, but hopefully it will be an inspiring story of adventure, while also providing some helpful content regarding budget travel, especially in Costa Rica. Keep posted for a rough "funtenerary" of the places to be visited...and always feel free to send us helpful hints along the way! See y'all soon!
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