Costa Rica

This final entry comes to you from Alajuela - the town the "San Jose" airport is actually in. Tara and I have found in much more hospitable and the familiarity was welcome for this final day. We left Puerto Viejo early this morning with another cloudy day looming. It was overcast all but one of the days there and every morning opened with rain showers. Luckily, we placed that part of trip perfectly on our itinerary. If it had come at any other time, we would have been complaining about not being able to be on the beach or enjoying the parks, but having had the previous two weeks to enjoy those things, we found curling up on a hammock with a book a perfect substitute. Our hotel was great - open air with tile, plants, hammocks, and just the right amount of ambiance (soft music, candles, and incense).

Resting was also great for me for other reasons - Tara forgot to mention in her report of all the fun on the rafting trip that I went for an unplanned "swim" where I managed to navigate a couple of rapids with the assistance of my life preserver and my practice of the whitewater position. I'm not sure if the guide had me pegged from the start, but earlier in the trip he had me jump in the water to demonstrate what to do is someone fell in and how to get them back in the water. They taught me to go feet first to absorb the blows of the rocks and try to get to another boat to grab a paddle. Needless to say, this is much easier in calm waters without 20 people screaming different directions in an attempt to be helpful. After being bucked out of the boat and having my first attempts to grab someones paddle from our boat foiled, I managed to remain calm and prepare myself to take the rapids on my back. Once through the worst of them, I swam to a boat that had been floating behind ours (we were the best and fastest team when we all stayed in the boat) and they hauled me in. I had a pretty good cut on my knee and I managed to get a cringe out of our guide when we were putting our gear away and I showed him the bruise/cut on my hip where I had hit a rock, but the worst was yet to come. To stay in the boat, you really have to jam your legs against the sides of the raft and I could tell this was rubbing my skin raw. By the end of the trip, though, most of the hair on my shins had been rubbed off and by the next day it was replaced by painful bruises with blisters. It was pretty uncomfortable for a couple of days, but seems to be getting better now. Wouldn't change any of it for the world, but it was part of my experience none the less.

Besides being a laid back place to relax and recuperate, Puerto Viejo also provided us with one of our coolest experiences of the trip. The hotel we were staying at told us about an animal sanctuary that some friends of theirs were running out of their home and arranged a visit for us. We had heard great things about it from a couple of girls from England that we ran into on our travels and it did not disappoint. The couple had worked in zoos in Spain and grew tired of the lifestyle they were living there and the perpetuation of the animals living in captivity. They began by nursing a few animals back to health and once word spread around the community, the next thing they knew, people were bringing them other animals that had lost a mother or been injured. They had howler monkeys, sloths, cats that looked like miniature leopards, and snakes. The baby monkeys were so cute and they were very friendly. I took quite a few pictures of them crawling on Tara's head! It was so cool to get to interact with them so closely and learn about the couples work. They nurse and raise the animals and their experiences are challenging previously held beliefs about reintroducing animals to the wild who have been raised by humans. They live on a property surrounded by 50 hectares of jungle (I believe there are about 3 hectares in an acre if that helps figure the size) and when the animals are ready to return to the wild, they just leave. No taking them into the woods and dropping them off without turning back. Just the day before we got there, some wild howler monkeys were hanging around the house and one of the babies went charging out to greet them. After feeling each other out, they decided everything was okay and the wild monkeys took the baby with them when they left. Pretty amazing story.

We;ll be getting up early tomorrow for a long day of travel back to the cold winter we were fortunate to leave behind for nearly 3 weeks. I knew we had been gone long enough when we put out long pants to go to dinner this evening because it was a little chilly outside... chilly being low 60s

Looking forward to seeing you all soon!

Since Lewis last wrote we have been doing some serious moving around the country! So, we started the trip in the central valley of Costa Rica, moved on to Northwestern Costa Rica to see the cloud forests, traveled west to the Nicoya Peninsula, and then farther south on the coast to Manuel Antonio. In Manuel Antonio we stayed at a great backpackers hostel in the town of Quepos. For my birthday we visited the Manuel Antonio National Park where we saw tons of wildlife including sloths (which are unbelievably cute) tucans, a variety of other birds, and of course--the white-faced monkey. The park includes the jungle as well as the coast so after hiking for several hours we were able to go down to white pristine beaches where I swam in the ocean to cool off. I can say it was a great way to spend my 31st (gasp) birthday!

We said good bye to the gorgeous Pacific coast on Wednesday. On Thursday we had what I can easily say was the funnest day of the trip for me as we went whitewater rafting down the Pacuare River. This was to be our big splurge of the trip and I can say it was worth every single penny. Although the river had come down significantly from its wet season highs--we still paddled through plenty of awesome rapids that provided great adrenaline rushes. We had an amazing guide who took our team (there were six of us on one raft) down river. Despite having one dysfunctional team member who couldn't listen to instructions (no it wasn't Lewis) we got down the river without flipping our raft. I even took the front of the boat after lunch and set the tone for the other paddlers in the boat. Just a total and complete blast!

After we got out of the water we headed to our final destination of this trip which is the very southern end of the Caribbean Coast. We are both really happy that we decided to get over to this coast because it is a completely different Costa Rica here. The weather is very different (a bit rainy and overcast), there is significantly more poverty as investors have yet to develop (i.e. sell land along the ocean to white people from affluent countries) much here, also, there is a heavy Afro-Caribbean influence in the food, culture, and music. We are really loving the change.

Hope all is well back in the states with our devoted readers. We are going to try and post a few pics so look around the site as we're not sure exactly how it works yet.

It officially happened. We had read about people getting "stuck" somewhere in Costa Rica and not wanting to move on to the next stop. Luckily for us, that just meant extending our plans from 3 days to what quickly became 5 days. Montezuma is a very small 'town' - read 1/2 a block of souvenir shops and restaurants - with great beaches and many hidden treasures that we could not get enough of. One of the days we hiked up to an amazing waterfall where I surprised Tara by jumping from its top into a pool of water over 30 feet below! Not bad for someone afraid of heights. Tara could not be convinced it was fun and stands by that she still does not regret not jumping. The next day we took a sea kayaking trip where we went to a hidden waterfall where our guide showed us how to scrape off the rocks and create mud for facials. He claimed it was the locals secret for 'eternal youth.' Not sure if it will keep my younger looking, but it was fun and made my skin soft We probably could have done without our last day there, but when you have an amazing place to stay on the beach front for $22, its hard to pass up a good thing. We finally have the pink look of all the gringos here after being in the sun hiking along the beach all day to a cascade - waterfall into the sea. Several monkeys showed up at the end to cheer us up and help us forget how miserable we felt after hiking in the heat all day.

We splurged and took a speed boat to Jaco today turning 12 hrs of travel into an hour long boat ride and 2 hours on a crowded bus. Tomorrow we will be heading into Manuel Antonio, one of the most beautiful parks in all of central america - so we're told. Hoping to see lots of cool wildlife, and seeing as its Tara's birthday, we will be treating ourselves to guides to help us point out all the things we can see.

We've been meeting tons of great people from all over the world and have been helping each other to shape our itineraries. One couple told us of a way to cut a day of travel off our trip just by doing our white-water rafting trip with a company that will pick us up in the capital - san jose - in the middle of the country, and then drop us off in our last stop - Puerto Viejo - on the Caribbean coast. Should make for an exciting last week!

Be sure to wish Tara a happy birthday if you happen to see this by the 13th!

Lewis and I have had a fabulous couple of days! On Tuesday we rounded out our Costa Rica mountain experience by spending a good part of the day hiking in the Monte Verde Cloud Forest. Although we didn´t see any monkeys, I can´t even begin to explain how beautiful our hiking was and we were pleasantly suprised to see very few people out on the trails at the same time. Our only wildlife encounter--other than seeing tons of birds--was quite exciting. We were walking down the trail and an animal with a long tail walked over the trail with about ten of its kind. I documented the event by taking tons of pictures only to be told by the park ranger when we got back to the entrance that what we had seen was the equivalent of our pesty raccoon. Or, as he put it with a smile--a George Bush.

Wednesday we made our way to Montezuma on the Nicoya Peninsula. It is a little town right on the beach and we are pleased to be in a little pension right on the ocean. Since we have been going going going, we were both ready for some down time today. So, I started my day today by going to a yoga class held at an outdoor stuido facing the ocean followed by a picnic and long walk with Lewis on the beach. I was pretty tired after that so while Lewis went for a run (in 90 degree heat and humidity'--even i thought he was crazy) I hung out in the hammock and read my book. Rough day, huh?

Two things about Costa Rica that I love: first, their traditional meal that we have eaten numerous times because they are cheap is called the casado. The casado is simply beans, rice, mashed potatoes, a salad, and your choice of veggies or meat. We can usually get this meal at a little soda (an outdoor stand) for about $3. The other thing that has been fantastic is their public transportation system. We have primarily been using the bus to get from point A to point B. And, it is cheap, comfortable, and easy. The buses are always full of tourists and Ticos (aka Costa Ricans) going to a new destination or to work. On our way from Monte Verde to the coast we went through dozens of little mountain towns and each time we entered into the town the bus driver would honk the horn like crazy and if a local needed the bus, they would run out to the road and the bus would stop. Slows things down a little, but I still love how it works.

We are planning on staying here in Montezuma through the weekend and then we´ll head on down to Manuel Antonio'--another beach town on the pacific coast. It´s supposed to be pretty loaded with tourists, but stunning. Plus, given that we´re quite likely to see a monkey (Lewis´s new obsession) we think being surrounded by Gringos will be well worth it.

Until next time!

At least it's not snow... that's the mantra I have to remind myself as we dodge the rain today. It has rained to various degrees for the majority of the day, but luckily for us, today included a lot of travel. After a nice breakfast at Mi Casa in La Fortuna, we joined our group for a bus ride to a lake where we took a boat across to meet up with our other bus to take us to our hostel. Thus the jeep-boat-jeep description of the tour. It cuts several hours off the travel which would have to go all the way around the lake on VERY rough roads. There was a lot of bouncing around on the bus rides, but I still somehow managed to fall asleep - it was not until my head bounced off the window that I made that realization though.

Once in Santa Elena, the hosts at the hostel we are staying in were very helpful in booking a canopy tour. For those not sure what that is, think ziplines thousands of feet in the air over the rainforest - and even through a cloud at one point! There was also a Tarzan swing were you free fall nearly a hundred feet before the rope catches you and swings you over a revine. VERY scary! Monte verde is better know for the cloud forests, but because of the rain, we decided to satisfy our adreneline rush today.

Yesterday, Tara and I ventured off on a 6 hr long hike to a lake in the crater of a volcana. In La Fortuna, there is an active volcano called Arenal that we were able to see some lava from the previous night, but cerro cerato is a lake that has formed in the crater of the volano that is next to Arenal. It was a 3+ hour hike UP - emphasis on UP - that took us back to our Boulder hiking days and then some. The lake itself was a little disappointing due to cloud cover and the amount of effort it took to get there, but the hike was well worth it. We didn't realize we were still recovering today until we set out for the canopy tour and had to hike a little ways to reach them.

Congratulations to "Lloyd B" for providing our first comments in our travel blog. We have had access to internet nearly every day, so feel free to stay in touch with us over email. To answer his question about accommodations, we have been very fortunate to stay in really great places. We've been meeting tons of great people and have been swapping travel stories to help learn about our next destinations from first hand accounts and using their advice to find places to stay and figure out what fun things to do.

Sorry for the long blog - I even left out a lot of fun stories so as to not get too wordy! Guess that just means more for us to share with you when we return.