San Jose & La Fortuna, Costa Rica

I boarded the bus to San jose bright and early at 7.30am from Puerto Viejo.  It should have taken 5 hours, however there was a bad road traffic accident and 5 hours soon became 9 hours…maybe I should have bought snacks after all!  I was so hungry by the time I arrived, I went straight to a restaurant at the bus terminal and ordered lunch/dinner.  I then found a taxi to take me to the hostel for the rip off price of $10!!  5 minutes later we arrived!   Done again!!!

I checked into Aldea hostel and didn't even bother to unpack as I was leaving in the morning for La Fortuna.  I was so tired and feeling under the weather and just hoped I would feel better by the morning as I had another 4.5 hours on the bus.  I grabbed a bit of shopping and went straight to bed.  The hostel was next to a main road and was so noisy with the traffic passing, the room actually shook when trucks and large vehicles passed!  Arghhh!!  I slept in as late as I could and left for the terminal to take me to La Fortuna with a taxi on the meter…$3, that was more like it!

I was feeling a bit better and enjoyed the ride to La Fortuna, Costa rica is so exceptionally beautiful.  The climate cooled as we passed through some highlands, and then was humid and hot again by the time we reached our destination.  It was a lovely sunny day and the town was so pretty, with a park filled with colourful flowers in full bloom, and the huge volcano Arenal as a backdrop.  I found hostel Posada just a short walk away and settled into my own room, luxury, before heading out to explore the town, book some tours and find dinner.

Sunset over Arenal Volcano!

The main thing i was interested in was hiking the volcano, followed by the hot springs and horse riding.  I found both and booked up for the next 2 days.  I then settled into a nice steak dinner with jalopeno sauce which was delicious, whilst watching the sun go down and lightning flashes light up the volcano.

Sloth bear sleeping!

Volcano Arenal!

My hike was not until 3pm, so I had a lazy day relaxing and walked to the park to take some pictures before lunch.  It was time to leave and I boarded the minibus with the rest of the group, there was about 10 of us altogether, a few scots and mostly americans.  We looked for animals on the way and our guide spotted a sloth, we stopped for pictures but they are always so high up it is hard to see them.  Then we stopped again to see a toucan and take pictures of the view of the Volcano Arenal.  Eventually we arrived for the lava rocks hike where we would be walking on the lava flow from when the volcano erupted in 1968 destroying this whole area and killing many people.  We all climbed out and started spraying ourselves down with bug spray ready for the jungle.  An american couple had not bought any with them and asked to borrow mine.  I was not really wanting to let them use it as it just cost me $14, but what can you say.  I handed it over and they doused themselves in it as I watched them both, stunned by their lack of consideration.  I had not used half of that amount and it was totally unnecessary.  I am always willing to share usually but I am on a strict budget now nearing the end of my trip, and I was most pissed off to say the least as they passed the now nearly empty can back to me!!!  I think they realised as I shook the can, what they had done, and were offering to take pictures for me throughout the hike.  The least they could do!

Our hike!

In the jungle!

More jungle!

We had a quick toilet break at the start, and the sound of screaming soon reverberated through the trees.  We rushed to see what was up and people were running out of the toilets due to the presence of some huge spiders lurking in there.  Mostly they were just those spindly things, but huge!  However one girl was sitting on the toilet and when she looked up there were 4 big black tarantula looking spiders on the door in front of her!!!  She came flying out that toilet like a shot, screaming and trying to brush things off her that were not there…..we did not believe her and thought she just saw the spindly ones, so I went in to have a look, and got as far as to push the door back a bit, as you had to get right in the cubicle, before seeing some big black thing move, I screamed and was out of there….even the guys would not go in…we were like a right bunch of school girls!!

At the viewpoint!

Walking on the lava flow!  Just before the rain hit!!!

The guide rounded us up and we were off.  It was so unbelievably hot as we trekked through the jungle and our climb started to ascend.  We could hear the rumble of thunder as we climbed higher and higher for the next 40 minutes.  A storm was brewing, you could feel it in the air.  The thunder got louder and the heat got unbearable, there was no air, we could barely breathe and were soaked with the humidity and sweat.  We finally made it to the viewpoint just in time to grab a few pictures as it was starting to get dusk.  The weather here can change like that, and soon the lightning started and the rain came down and our guide was concerned about someone being hit by lightning, and we were practically running down the volcano to get back.  People get hit here a lot.  Mainly farmers in the fields growing pineapple.  Apparently it will go for the highest point.  We scurried down as fast as we could, the rain was so heavy we could hardly see, and it was dark now and we had no flashlight.  The pathway became a river, my clothes, bag and boots were soaked already.  I was just praying for my camera to be ok!  I was also thinking about what else was in this water as poisonous snakes are in abundance here!  I just ran on and tried not to think about it.  The flashes of lightning lit up the jungle and it was a crazy storm to be out in, a real jungle adventure!  We all arrived back safe and sound to the relief of our guide, who really was worried for our safety, or his.  I think there was a lot he did not tell us about so as not to scare us, like the snakes, and so later I asked him, as he saw a boy walking down the road in the rain with no flashlight, and was exclaiming at how stupid this was as there are so many poisonous snakes here and you should have a light to see in front of you.  I said to him, but we just ran through the rain filled jungle in the dark with no light….he replied yes I did not want to frighten you!!!  Guess that is ok then ha ha!  No wonder he could not get out of there fast enough!!!

Next stop was the Baldi Hot Springs.  I was getting cold now and could not wait to soak in the hot waters and grab some dinner.  I spent the next couple of hours relaxing to the sounds of "What the fuck!" and other dance classics…a weird choice I thought for a relaxing evening at the hot springs!!  Never mind was all to my taste :)

The next morning my guide managed to get me on the ride at 1pm.  I just chilled out in my room and had a walk about town while I waited for my ride.  I have not ridden for a while now and was looking forward to it so much, just hoped I was not too rusty!

Bebispa, my beautiful horse!

Toucan!

Another toucan!

At 1pm we made our way to the ranch.  I was riding with a guide and american called Rob.  We mounted our steeds, mine was called Bebispa, and set out on our ride.  This was going to be a lot of fun!  We could both ride so there was no stopping us.  Our guide was awesome and whenever the track was safe to gallop or canter, we were off!  I really like the western style saddles, and even tried with my stirrups really long so I could ride the way they do which was daring for me as usually ride far too short, but it was great!  We flew through the jungle shouting out " ye ha's" along the way as we made our horses go faster and raced up the track!  I loved every minute of it!  The thunder was rolling in from a distance and I just hope the weather would hold out for us today!

Waterfalls!

Our guide, looking for fish!

Bebispa cooling down before the ride back!

We stopped at beautiful viewpoints, waterfalls and rivers along the way.  Our guide showed us many things, and we even found two toucans on our ride, sitting up in the trees with their big beaks jutting out.  People were zip lining in the canopies above us and we watched them flying through the jungle passing us, then we galloped past them as they reached their tower waving down to us!  All too soon we were back at the yard, my legs were relieved but I did not want to stop…I have missed this so much, I am always happy when I am around horses and vow not to leave it so long next time!

Rob and I :)

Squinting in the sun!

Volcano Arenal behind us!

When I returned back to the hostel the storm broke the stifling heat of the day and the heavens opened!  Thunder cracked, lightning flashed and the rain fell in sheets soaking everything and everyone.   I sat on the veranda and watched the world go by, happy that this time I was staying dry!

The following morning I boarded my bus for the return journey to San Jose to meet my friends Ashley and her sister Kerry for our trip to Santa Teresa!  I stayed at Bekuo Hostel, which was awesome, where Brian, the owner, who was from Orlando, invited me out for drinks at the local reggae bar and a game of table football, which surprisingly I lost at!  :)

The next day excitedly I packed up my stuff and departed for the Coca Cola bus terminal to meet the girls, only to find the terminal had been changed!  Luckily the girls arrived early and we made our way to the correct one and boarded the 2pm bus to Santa Teresa!  I can not believe they are really here!!!  The fun begins! :)

 

Cahuita, Puerto Viejo de Talamanca and Manzanillo, The caribbean coast, Costa Rica

As we crossed the border into Costa Rica, the rain was relentless!  I was already drenched from the boat ride from Bocos del Toro and was gradually getting wetter as the day progressed!  The journey was about 4 hours, so not too bad considering.  When we reached the border they wanted proof of onward travel from Costa Rica and were very strict about it!  Luckily I had booked my flight to Mexico now and had that on email, but he did not want me to fire up the laptop thankfully to show him, he just asked how long I needed and we agreed on 30 days…it is usually 90!  The lady in front of me had no ticket and was only granted 4 days.  She was crying on the bus, I felt so bad for her, but she was going to San Jose so she could just get an extension there and buy a $12 bus ticket to Nicaragua, no big deal!

I said my goodbyes to Beth and Adam and got off the bus at Cahuita, I had met some girls on the bus going there too, so joined them to see if they had a bed at the hostel where they were booked.  Another downpour had started so we quickly walked into the town from the main road where we were dropped off, with all of our stuff, and tried to keep it all dry as best we could!  Luckily it was just a 10 minute walk and we were there.  The town was small and had a very relaxed vibe.  I settled into a dorm at the hostel called Secret Garden, and met another girl from Australia called Anjana.  We decided to do the 8km trek tomorrow of Cahuita National Park if the rain stops.  I went for a wander into town for some lunch, and found a caribbean restaurant, where I enjoyed a plate of casado and met a local man called Robert, who was there with his family.  He offered me some plantain and we chatted for a bit and he assured me the weather would improve in a couple of days!  I spent the rest of the day chilling out and watching movies, waiting for the rain to clear.

The following morning the sun was shining, but not for long, I had forgotten to put my watch back an hour so got up way to early at 6.45am and was ready for our trek before I realised the time!!  Arghh!  Probably a good thing anyhow.  We started our walk in the park, which was just 2 minutes from our hostel, and followed the sea around the bay.  It only took us about 3-4 hours as we chatted most of the way and tried to spot some wildlife, probably scaring most of it into hiding with our incessant talking…..mainly in the form of spiders, bugs and loads of mosquitos!!!  Unfortunately the mosquitos were not scared into hiding!!!  I did spot a toucan though!  Before we knew it we had completed the trail and were on the main road waiting for the bus which we were sure we had just missed.  There was only one per hour so we decided to start walking the 5km back into town as it looked like the rain was just about to start.  As we started walking a bus passed us from behind….damn!!  Then the rain started…damn, damn!!!  Before we knew it we were soaked to the skin!  But our spirits were high and we made light of the situation and dicided to come up with ways in which it could be worse…..like being hit by lightning!!

Cahuita, Playa Blanca beach!

We eventually made it back about an hour later.  It was still raining and we stripped off, wrung out our clothes, and jumped in the cold shower which made no difference as we were a bit cold and very wet already.  By now we were all hungry, another guy from our room had joined us during our hike, so we invited him along, and we went in search of lunch.  Again this consisted of rice, beans and meat.  I could see a pattern developing here.  After that we just got snacks and chilled out in our room again, and I watched another movie before dinner.

We hit the local bar that night which was very quiet, and I had my pina colada I had been promising myself all day!  The next morning I was leaving for the 30 minute bus to Puerto Viejo.

Manzanilla beach!

Manzanilla beach!

Dead wasps!!

The next morning Winston, the other guy in my dorm and I left for puerto Viejo.  The rain had cleared and we made our way to the bus station.  Before we knew it we had arrived in the sunny town of Puerto Viejo!  I found a hostel and Winston and I hired some bikes and headed for Manzanillo.  The ride was going to take an hour and a half following the jungle coast of the caribbean.  It was a beautiful ride, passing flora and fauna, going over bridges across rivers, where we spotted turtles sunning themselves and a whole host of spiders and bugs all the way there.  Nature was all around us!

Scary Spider!!!

Turtles in the river!

We arrived at the small town of Manzanillo at lunchtime and grabbed a bite to eat, before taking a stroll along the beach.  There were a large amount of dead wasp like creatures washed up in the surf, everywhere, which was bizarre.  I took some pictures and then we made our way back, stopping to admire lots more nature on the way.  I don't think my legs knew what was going on.  After no exercise in a while suddenly they were being put back to the test!!  Back in town we returned our bikes and headed to a bar on the beachfront to enjoy a beer.  Winston was leaving for panama the following day, so we said our goodbyes and exhausted I went back to my room to have an early night and catch up on some sleep!

The next day I took a walk to Rockin' J's, this hostel where I was staying was not really happening, so I walked out of town and booked in there for 2 nights.  All they had available was a tent.  Different.  There were about 40 tents all set up in rows upstairs so I took a tent which had a mattress and bedding and made it my home for the following 2 days!

Playa Cockles!

After organising my accommodation, I then headed along a bit further to playa cockles beach.  I met Matt and Nicola from the states here and they recommended the hostel opposite Rockin J's as they were staying there.  I agreed to check it out and met up with them later for a night on the town.  We partied the night away with some more of their friends, Rhianna and Natalie, and met more americans, there is a lot of americans here,  I met some guys who I hung out with for the remainder of the night, Scott and Gregory, and who helped me to move the following day to Rockin J's……I was hanging!!  I moved my things and tried to get my head round it as best I could and then headed straight to the beach to chill out and get over my hangover!!!

Sunset at lazy Mon's!

Rhianna, Natalie, Charlie and me!

Fun at the hostel, La Ruka!  With Nicola and Natalie!

The girls from La Ruka hostel!

Rockin J's was the noisiest hostel I have ever stayed in, and after my big night out, I was not in the mood for partying any more for a while.  I just wanted to sleep!!  I was starting to feel exhausted now and wanted to chill out!  I had booked another night but spoke with Rhianna, one of the other girls staying over the road that I met, and she offered to let me share her room as her daughter had left, so I moved in there the following day!

Rhianna @ Punta Mona!

Punta Mona!

Our seabass dinner and sangria :)

Rhianna was a dancer from Texas.  We spent the next few days together, hanging out, and touring the coast.  We visited some waterfalls, hired bikes and rode back to Manzanilla and then trekked to Punta Mona, which was beautiful, as well as introducing me to my favourite beach, Punta Uva.  The weather had been glorious now for the past few days and on my last day here we relaxed at Punta Uva.  I was reluctant to leave now but had already bought my ticket and needed to get to San Jose and La Fortuna before my friends arrived on the 24th…which was only 5 days away!!

Waterfalls!

Punta Uva :)

Punta Uva!

Rhianna doing a tree pose :)

Not quite as graceful!!!

Chillin' Out caribbean style!!  :)  Punta Uva beach!  Puerto Viejo!

I packed once again and said my goodbyes to all the wonderful friends I had made in the last 6 days, and boarded the bus for San Jose, sad to leave this caribbean paradise and the laid back, chilled out vibe behind!!

San Blas Islands, Panama City & Bocas Del Toro, Panama

It is the end of another beautiful day in paradise.  The water is still, and as clear as crystal, and as the sun sets, we are back on board our catamaran after another day of swimming, snorkelling and island hopping, in search of a coconut cocktail.  Instead we settle for sundowners on board our own boat as no one is willing to take cops and we have no dollars with us!

Cleos Angel!

Our voyage started a few days ago when the eight of us boarded Cleo's Angel, our catamaran, with our german captain Frank, his wife Claudia and his deck hand Horizon.  There were 2 canadians, Matt and Rob, 2 Australians, Steve and Morgan and 2 other english Adam and Bethany and Nicola and I.  So after we had all been to immigration to collect our passports, we finally set sail, bidding our last farewells to South America as we gradually saw the horizon, and Columbia, disappear from view.  After dinner we were all feeling really drowsy, probably from the effects of the sea sick tablets we were taking.  So as I was on first watch at 10pm I went to our little cabin Nicola and I were sharing and had a sleep.  At 10pm Horizon woke me up and I started my first shift on watch.  This consisted of spending an hour looking out to sea about every 5 minutes and then keeping an eye on the GPS to make sure we were on track, if we started to move off track then we just needed to press a button left or right to get us back on course.

Leaving Cartagena, Columbia!

Getting aboard on little Cleo!

Last glimpse of Columbia!

It was quite light as we were nearing the full moon, and lightning was flashing every now and again just to add to the effect of the caribbean night sky!  As we rolled over the waves, making our way towards Panama and the San Blas Islands, on the look out for pirates and anything else that might cause us grief, a great peace settled upon me as I bonded as one with the great ocean, entrusting her with our safety, and eventually when I lay back down, she gently rocked me into a deep slumber.

Catch of the day!!

On the second day of our trip we spent the whole time at sea, making the most of the time just relaxing, reading sunbathing and sleeping until it was our time to keep watch again.  While we were all chilling out, Captain Frank had a line in the water and horizon was ready if we had a bite!!!  We did not have to wait long!!  A whizzing noise broke the silence and we all jumped up to have a look at the catch of the  day!!  Wow!!!  We caught a Wahoo apparently!!  Horizon had it cut up and filleted before we knew it!

Wahoo for dinner!!

Dinnertime!

That evening after a delicious feast of fish for dinner, we played some cards and then I rested again until it was my turn to keep watch at 1am!!  The hour passed so fast and before I knew it I was back in bed sleeping like a baby, that was until I was awakened to the sound of a storm starting up!!  I grabbed the skylight window above our bed and pulled it shut, just in time as the rain came pelting down.  All I remember thinking as I watched the storm rage outside was that I was so happy it was not my watch!!!  Apparently it was Steve's and the poor guy was soaked through!!!

San Blas!

Shark-eaten fish!!!

lobster!!

As morning came the sun was trying to break through, to our first sight of Panama and the San Blas Islands.  Horizon was back out there with the line again, hoping for another catch.  The whirring of the line soon brought us all running, excited to see todays catch!  It was big!!  No, not so big…as it was reeled in, it soon became clear why there was the confusion on the size of the fish…as Horizon pulled a half eaten fish out!!!  It looks like a shark beat us to it!!!  Horizon prepared what was left so there was no waste.  By about 11am we had dropped anchor and were sitting on deck in the middle of an island paradise!!!  We jumped off and snorkelled on a reef filled with so many fish, full of colour and life!!!  I felt like I had emerged to another world, like an alien I explored, fascinated by all the sights I was seeing around me, trying to identify all the different types of fish and coral!  One of the most amazing things we saw was the giant manta rays, buried in the sand, until we disturbed them enough to get them to move.  Then we followed them as they sought a new place to rest!  The first one I saw was bigger than me from head to tail!!!  Such graceful, beautiful creatures.  We also saw turtles swimming around the boat as we chilled out in the afternoon sun!  Boats would come up to us throughout the day selling fresh fish and lobsters.  Captain frank bought 2 lobsters and prepared them then and there.  I could not watch as he cut them open alive and pulled off the tails ready to eat.

Diving down to the manta ray!

Manta Ray!

First port of call, San Blas!

As the day came to a close we all had our 90 second shower and freshened up ready for dinner and a few games of cards.  We were all so glad there was no watch now we had anchored up and could get a full nights sleep.  We stayed up playing and chatting into the early hours before hitting the sack, exhausted from a day in the sun and sea!

The following morning after we finished breakfast and some of the guys enjoyed a last swim here, we headed out to the next set of islands to explore and snorkel.  After lunch Horizon took us out on the dinghy boat to some of the islands.  The first one we got to had some local indigenous people on there, dressed in traditional wear. We tried to get some coconut cocktails but they would not take our cop and we had no dollars with us, so we took some pictures and re boarded our dinghy to visit the island we had seen from the boat with just a single palm tree on it.

It was such a cute little desert island.  We got some gorgeous pictures and then went off for a snorkel.  The reef surrounding the island dropped down into the deep and the snorkelling was so beautiful swimming along the reef exploring all the crevices!!!  After a few more group pictures we headed back to the catamaran for dinner once again and to watch the sun go down.  Enjoying sundowners of bushwalkers which Captain Frank made us and which tasted very good….too good!!!  Tonight was a full moon and it was so low and big with the reflection shining up the water like gold. The perfect evening for our last night on board finished up with a last few games of cards!

The next morning we made our way to Panama city.  A small boat picked us up at 8am and then we arrived on land a while later to be transported by 4x4 jeep to the city, which was a rough ride on a windy, hilly road for about 2 hours.  We arrived around midday and the total journey was about $50!!  We were already over budget and seemed expensive but nothing else for it but to pay.  The lady who drove us was very helpful and gave us a lot of tips on the city and places to go and how to get there etc which was nice of her, and her english was superb!!

Chicken bus!

Lock gates closed!

Lock gates opening!  Water levels dropped!

Caribbean side!

Pacific side!

I had decided to do the Panama Canal which was the main thing I wanted to see, so the next day we made our way there on the chicken bus with all the locals.  It really was amazing to see and when you realise the history behind the building of it.  Around 22,000 people died of yellow fever and malaria building this 77km long canal, which was finally completed in 1914.  Without this Panama might never have got its independence.

Final gates opening to the pacific coast!

As we were there a rainbow appeared across the pacific side making it very picturesque.  We spent our time there watching the miraflores locks opening and closing to let the ships pass through. This is the biggest lock on the canal and despite that it still only takes 2 minutes to open its gates, as the electric locomotives, known as mules guide the ships through.  One cargo ship passing through was billed $100,000!!

After an hour or so we headed back to the city.  We said our goodbyes to Bethany and Adam until we would meet with them in Bocas and then we had dinner and watched Dodgeball on the movie channel.

The following day I just stayed at the hostel and caught up with emails and my blog which I am writing now as I have got so behind with it.  Tonight we are getting the overnight bus to Bocas Del Toro for some beach time.

Bocas Del Toro was cloudy and rainy when we arrived and stayed like that for most of the time we were there.  Apart from a night out on the town on Saturday, I stayed at the hostel for the rest of the time as am feeling sick and exhausted and feel I really need some space right now.  I booked for 2 nights and then left with Adam and Bethany on the early morning shuttle and headed for Costa Rica.  Nicola and I said our last farewells for a while and have decided to part ways for the rest of this trip, as I think we both want different things and need some time out.  We will meet in Mexico City for our flight to LA in August.  Until then I am looking forward to starting my new adventure, first stop with Costa Rica!