Back in San Jose

Well I know I said the last post would be the last one but I lied - this is the lst one and hopefully I can upload some more pics.

The last 2 days in Manuel Antono have been soooo relaxing. Yesterday we spend part of the day at the beach - clothng optional of course - then at the beautiful infinity pool - also clothing optional. Very few tan lines to be seen!

Lunch was at El Avion - a resaurant down the road. the restraurant is built around an actual plane - the one brought down durnig the Iran Contra affair. Pretty cool place - especially with the geat Pacific Breeze!

Dinner last night at Aqua Azule - a great restaurant down the road owned by a lady from South Carolina and her husband - the food was gourmet and amazing! Bacon wapped banana!! WOW!

After that we went to a party at a local hotel with a guy we met from Picton!! We didn't stay long however. You know - the heat an all makes one very drowsy!

We also met a coupe from Amsterdam - they were really nice so we exchanged info as Michael and I are thinking of a trip there next year.

Now we are back in San Jose for one last night before cathing our flight tomorrow at 235. It has been a great trip - I would recommend this to anyone!

See you all at home


PS - take a look at the new pics! and be sure to scroll to the bottom for the best pic!!

Manuel Antonio - beautiful

Yesterday we arrived in manuel Antonio - just ourside the National Park. Our spot here - Villa Roca - is BEAUTIFUL!!! The infinity pool looks over the Pacific Ocean and you should have seen the sunset last night - Amazing!!

We{ve met many people here - none from Canada though - just USA.

Last night - being Valentines Day, we went to the restaurant next door for surf and turf - very good. It was nice to have something other than beans and rice!!

We wandered down to the park yesterday to check things out. Right out side the main parking area is a lady with a BBQ - we heard about her from a couple we met in Sam Ramone. For 6000 C you get a full chicken dinner/lunch - very good deal. We ate there yesterday and again today.

Today we got up early and had a nice big breakfast before heading out into the heat for a hike through the park. Heat being the key word here - man is it HOT!!!

The park is nice - surrounded by several beautiful white sand beaches - and the Pacif waters are soooooo warm!!

Through the park we were luck eneough to see 2-2 toed sloths and 1 3-toed sloth as well as many small white faced capuchin monkeys - they come right to your fett looking for food - I have to admit it was a little unnerving! Cute little critters though.

Many iguanas, birds and other smaller lizards to be seen.

Tonight is a party at a local bar - should be fun. Tomorrow is a relaxing day at the beach and pool before heading home to the cold white north!

This will likely be our last entry as they have dial up - so you can imagine how frustrating it is waiting for it to come live!

It has been an amazing trip - just the beginning of many more we hope!

See you all next week

Signing off - Steven and Michael

PS - Thanks for reading!

Jaco - and it's HOT!!!

We'll we left Monteverde this morning for another adventurous ride down the rough mountainous roads - how exciting!! Then all of a sudden - pavement! YIPPEE!!!

We are now in Jaco - a small beach an tourist community about 70 KM from Quepos. Not bad here - but is it HOT - much hotter than the mountainous interior that we've spend the first part of our vacation in - now I know what you mean by CR as being HOT Monica!!!!

I sent Lisa an e-mail letting her know that she and I run a little restaurant down here - Steve and Lisa's - they got it right though - I got top billing!!!!

Michael and I just had a great little lunch at a Small restaurant off the main drag - 3 beer and 3 dishes of food for $8.00 - how cheap can we go!!!

Not much happening here - yesterday while sitting at the Internet cafe having a beer, we met 2 ladies for the US who were here doing volunteer work for 2 weeks - they are both retired and busy building painting, etc - maybe when I retire but not right now - I want FUN!

Tomorrow we are off to Quepos - our last stop before heading back to San Jose - it's been a great time and a slow pace - would truly recommend this to anyone!

Chat again soon - and hopefully we can upload some pics - the computers here are old so we have not been able to since San Jose!

Mikey says HI to everyone!

Chat soon

Monteverde Excitement

OK Lisa spill the news!!! and no you do NOT remember the road, if the pot holes were every 16 inches that would be GREAT, try every millimetre!!!

Yesterday, on the 11th, we went to Selvatura Park for a guided hike through the cloud forest , although we only saw a red tailed squirrel as far as mammals, we did see some amazing birds and beautiful plants, everywhere you looked. Our tour was a couple of hours long with a great guide, Brian · not a very Costa Rican name, but he was very knowledgeable and patient. He wanted us to see as much as we could.

After the guided hike, we wandered through the hummingbird garden · amazing birds and so many different varieties. I think (hope) we got some amazing shots!!

After this we hiked uphill about 500 meters (trust me it seemed like alot further) to the Santa Elana Cloud Forest Reserve and went on a 4.5 km hike ourselves. Rough terrain, mud, foliage and many birds, but again, no mammals that we could see. Beautiful spot though · would highly recommend it if anyone gets a chance to go there.

After a very tiring day, we headed back to our Cabina which is a great spot. It has a separate bedroom and a full kitchen so we cooked last night · spaghetti and wine!! MMMMMM

This morning (the 12th), we got up a little later about 7AM and took our time getting ready. After a nice breakfast of eggs and bacon with some fresh mango (again prepared at ¨home¨) we headed back to Selventura for an exciting hours of zip lining · I should add a private tour of zip lining as we were the only ones there at the time. After being harnessed up in places I´ve never been harnessed before I might add, we headed into the forest for the first of 11 zip lines, not including one Tarzan Swing!! It was GREAT!!! What a thrill. The longest line was 800 meters and 100 meters high! WHAT A VIEW!!! The Tarzan swing was about 60 feet high · while strapped to a rope, you walk off the platform, free fall for about 45 feet then swing out!!! Crazy thrill that was! But despite all this, I still don´t think I could bungee or skydive!! We got some good pics of each other zipping across.

After this a quick trip to the bakery for some sandwiches then off to the Monteverde Cloud Forest Biological Reserve. We hiked for about 3 hours and even stood on top of the Continental Divide · what a view! Amazing!! The the clouds rolled in · WOW! Beautiful!!

Again we say tons of foliage, flowers and birds and were even luck enough to get some pics of the birds. In viewing my pictures, I THINK I got a pic of a monkey face looking at us from the distance. It´s a little hard to tell but we both think it was. Hopefully!

Now we are sitting in a little cafe typing. Dinner at home again tonight · left overs from last night and dinner out at Moon Shiva the other night · nice restaurant, then tomorrow we are off to the Pacific Coast. We are not sure where we will stay tomorrow night but hope to find something small near Jaco. Then it´s off to Quepos for 3 nights before heading back to San Jose.

Chat later folks!

Volcano, hot springs, waterfall and a brief illness

Well, we're now in Monteverde after a VERY VERY bumpy ride. The last 2 days in La Fortuna were amazing.

On the 8th, we booked a river raft trip down a slow moving river with a guide. it was sooooo nice - Howler monkeys galore, 2 toed sloth and even a crocodile. The howler monkeys are amazing - they sound just like a gorilla. The sloth - very lazy - sleeping upside down above our heads. They sleep about 16hrs/day and only come to earth once per week to poop!! Imagine!! During our river trip we stopped at an old traditional Costa Rican farm house still inhabited by the original owner - Pedro who is now 94. He lives there with his daughters and their sons. Tey recently got a well with a gasoline pump, but still remain with no electricity and still have a dirt floor. They gave us home cooked bread and fresh cheese to sample.

The remainder of the day was spend on my back sleeping in our cabin as I got sick - fever but nothing else thank god - so unfortunately we missed 1/2 a day. The next day though was fine so off we went to the La Fortuna Waterfalls.

These falls were beautiful - but the water was cold - so we only waded in. After that we went to the Baldi Hot Springfs resort for a rest - WOW - nice place. It's a small and I imagine less elaborate lace than Tabacon, howeveer when were were there - there might have been 12 people there total. The hot poos ranged from 98 to 156 degrees - too hot for us but the others were great - so relaxing!!!

After a few hrs at the hot springs we had a tour of the Volcano Booked - Arenal. Our guide took us into the national park and we hiked to an old lava flow that we could hike across - It was amazing. While were were there, we say more Howler monkeys and some Toucans! Beautiful!! The volcano is one amazing living thing that Mother Nature has created - absolutely beautiful - and definately commands your respect!!

Following this tour we headed back to the hot springs for another 3 hrs and dinner - a great way to relax after a great hike!

The couple that stayed next door to us at Arenal Green - great place by the way - were from Portland Oregan. On their was from the Nicoya Penisnsula, they found an injured dog - chichuaha (spelling???) They took him to the vets and got some shots, etc. To make a long story short, they told us this morning that they are keeping him!!! They have all his shots - back dated - and already checked with the airlines - I gave them our e-mail address to let us know how things go! That's one souvenir they won't forget!!!

This morning we left for a trip around Lake Arenal on way to Monteverde - and as I said - what a road we travelled. Once we left the paved road - we only had 39 kms to go - but that took us 2 hrs as we could not drive any fatsre than 25 km/hr and never got out of second gear!!! Honestly - the roughest road I have ever been on!!!

Our place here in Monteverde is beautiful - a fully equipped cabin with separte living bedroom areas - we booked a tour of the cloud forest for tomorrow with aguide that includes a history walk and canopy bridges - should be exciting.

Well fill you in on our further adventures ina couple of days!!!

Lisa - trust me - I have not forgotten about you and in fact have had several beers in your name - and likely a few more to go!!!

Adios amigos!

Fortuna at last

Well, today we are in a little internet cafe in La Fortuna at the base of Arenal Volcano - what a site!!!! But let's pick up where we left off last time.

We drove from San Jose to San Ramon - or actually through San Ramon to our bed and breakfast up in the muntains. Nice spot - very quite and cool due to beinfg on the edge of a cloud forest. The owner was very nice - origainlly from Washington DC - but has now made CR his home.

The drive to the B&B was quite an adventure - as costa ricans are not known for the road signage!! You pretty well guess where you are - unless you're lucky enough to know if you are facing North or South. Although everyone says there is lots of english spoken here - WRONG! especially in the mountains - but if you point on a map they will point in the right direction, speak very quickly in Spanish and then away you go. Although we did get "lost" a couple of times, we did find our way to and from the B&B without any major disasters - which could easy happen on the narrow, windy mountainous roads.

Yesterday - the 6th we got up early, has a great breakfast with farm fresh eggs - gathered before we got up, and then headed off to Poas Volcano - it was very windy and cool there - we had to wear our jackets and long pants - don't you feel sorry for us?? Some amazing views and photos later, then we wandered arouns the national park for a coupe of hours - and got a little wet once all the clouds rolled through us - and i mean through us - there were spots where we had trouble seeing the path!!

From there we drove to the La Paz Waterfall gardens - beautufl butterfly farm, frog exhibit and 5 amazing waterfalls. This too is in the cloud forest and they get on average 14.5 feet - yes feet - of rain a year there. And as you might expect, we needed our rain gear as it poured for a short while. But that was fine - it was warm.

From there we drove to the Doka Coffee Plantation - that was an adventure getting there as the signs were so smallwe missed a few. Interestng tour - I did not know it took 5 months from harvest before coffee is shipped - very manually labour intensive.

The trek back was different - as we entered through the back, but exited through the front - and had NO idea where we were. Down and up the windy mountain roads we went - and guess what - no english spoken here either - yes mOnica, I wish I knew Spanish!! Through mutual pointing, we finally found our way back to Gracia - and then we knew where we were - another hour and we were back at the B&B.

Dinner both nights was at a little restaurant outside the gate to the B&B - great food - and cheap - especially if you ordered off the Bocas menu - same size plates and serviings but 1/2 the price.

This morning - 7th - we left for La Fortuna - where we are now. We are planning a tour of the Volcano and National park, a canoe trip down a river and then a good part of a day at the Baldi Spa - instead of Tabacon Springs - cheaper and apparently just as nice according to other guests at the B&B. Our place here is really nice - all individual cabins with views of the volcano and about a 15-20 minute walk to the Fortuna Waterfalls - also on the agenda.

Will catch up later.

Michael said to say that Steven got very antsy when we did not know where we were as there were no road signs - not true!!! Just wanted off the mountain before dark!!!! Go back to sleep Michael!

Cioa!

Day 2 was spend wandering around the city of San Jose. It truly is a city with streets with no names - you're lucky if you can find one single street sign.

We took the city bus from our resort to downtown - at a total cost of 300 colones which is less than $1.00!!! Cheapest mode of transit next to walking. Our bus ride was certainly not the smoothest - if you can think back to when you use to ride to school on a school bus - that's exactly what this bus was - only on extremely rough city streets.

Our firt stop was the Gold Museum - beautiful artifacts dating to before 500 BC. This museum is deep beneath the National Bank - 3 stories under ground.

After this we had lunch at a small local bar called Soda Bar Chelles - minly locals there. We each had a cerveza and chicken rice for a total cost of 5434 - or around $12.00 - the food was very good especially the picked veggies - that had quite a bite to them!!

From there we wandered the streets and took in the local sights - shopping stalls, empty run down public space and then 2 nice parks - National Park and Park Espania.

Once we finally found the bus to take bak to our resort - very few people actually speak english so it's good to grab even one word while they are quickly talking to you - we headed back - for a laze around the pool then dinner at the same restaurant as last night.

Tomorrow morning is off to pick up our car rental and then to San Ramon - stopping at all the small towns along the way. We're not sure if there will be internet access available as it is here - but we'll update as often as possible.

I'm going to attempt to attach a couple of pics from today - but not sure if it will work as all the nternet instructions are in spanish!

CIAO!!

5 45am is really early - especially on a Saturday. But given the time, we got to the airport in 25 minutes, checke our bag in about 15 mnutes and had out last Tim hortons for 2 weeks!!

Well, we arrived safely in San Jose after a breif stop in San Salvador, El Salvador. Upon entering the airport, we joined the line with people from several other flights and stood there - for longer than an hour, before we finally got hrough to immigration. The rest of our airpost experience was fine - piked up our luggage, booked our taxi and away we went to our firs resort - Colors Oasis Resort in San Jose.

Our resort is very nice - small with a great court yard with a pool. We settled in and then jined the others own by the pool for a cerveca (beer for you english folk!!) Dinner was at a local bar ( Jardin Cervecero Yetty) arund the corner with another couple we met from Minneapolis. More cerveca and ribs with rice ( a staple here) and we were good to go!!

An early night tonight as we are tired - but tomorrow, we head into town to check out the Gold Museum and what ever else is open. Our adventure has begun.

One thing that did surprise us is how cool it is right now outside at 8PM - very breezy and on the verge of being chilly - nice for sleepng though!

Costa Rica is a country that both Michael and I have been wanting to visit for quite some time. Many of our friends have been there and suggested this would be an ideal country to travel around "sans tour" to get our feet wet before we travel to Thailand in a couple of years.

Research on the Net was great - in no time at all we had our flight booked, as well as accommodations at 5 different locations. Thanks to TripAdvisor, we were able to read reviews on all of the accommodations prior to booking.