Day 49: La Fortuna, Costa Rica

Only appropriate in the rainiest region in Costa Rica, today was rainy most of the day. We started with a hearty breakfast of gallo pinto and eggs back at the Soda Viquez. Under the impression that we must be on a tour to visit the volcano, waterfalls, and bascially everything else to do in this town, we set out to find a cheap operator. No success. After a pick-me-up of some delicious coffee and Wifi in a great little coffee shop (if you´re facing the church, it`s to the right side. Doors are always open and it`s next to a massage sign/place) to figure out our POA. We chatted with the guy running the place who told us of a great (free!) waterfall that the locals like to go to and told us we could just go to the Arenal Volcano National Park ourselves (for more info on Arenal Click the Wiki Link here) Read the rest of this entry »

Day 48: La Fortuna, Costa Rica

We began the morning with a decent (free–woohoo!) pancake breakfast at the Tranquilo Backpackers Hostel where we spent the night before setting out on foot to find the bus station. After our token ritual of getting lost, refusing to ask for directions, get lost some more, and eventually, by some twist of events (walking in circles?), we found our station and hopped the next bus to La Fortuna. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 47: San Jose, Costa

So we´re back in SJ to catch another bus in the morning to La Fortuna. We´re ready to get away from the city for a bit and into something more green and outdoorsy. The afternoon is pretty much shot since our bus arrived in town mid-afternoonish. Nothing exciting to post up today.

Day 46: San Isidro, Costa Rica

A lazy day today. Just doing a few errands this morning and eating some ice cream to escape the heat. We sat in the city center and pondered the painted figure on the church (it´s not Jesus…actually it kinda looks like a conquistador). We wanted to ask someone but we don´t know enough Spanish and no one here seems to know any English either. When we were tired of that, we spent the afternoon doing nothing, absolutely nothing, and it was great!

Day 45: San Isidro, Costa Rica

After a night of fearful awakenings to see if that huge, extraterrestrial cockroach (seriously it was like 4 inches long) was back, we caught a 6:45am bus to San Isidro, a small city about an hour and a half inland from Dominical. Not having any idea what kind of place it would be, we wandered around for almost an hour before discovering that San Isidro has no hostels. We ended up checking a few hotels and found a really clean private room and bath for $10/person! It even had TV and a balcony and towels! Whoa! Oh, and it also had a rare find–a hot shower! Read the rest of this entry »

Day 44: Dominical, Costa Rica

Today wouldn´t have been a Saben-birthday without some grumbling from the old man. He always hates his birthday even when he says he doesn´t. Lin thinks is just him getting more senile as the years go by. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 43: Dominical, Costa Rica

Ready for a slight change of scenery, we got up bright and early this morning ready to catch the first bus to Dominical, about 18 km away from Uvita. We discovered that the next bus wouldn´t leave for another hour and, not wanting to waste any time sitting about at the bus stop, we started walking. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 42: Uvita, Costa Rica

An hour and a half or so from the hostel to the very end of the beach and we arrived at the Whale´s Tail. Although it´s difficult to make out while you´re standing on the Tail, from the sky you can see how this part of the beach got it´s name.

Aerial view of the Whale´s Tail (photo courtesy of http://www.flickr.com/photos/eleven_stitches)

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Day 41: Uvita, Costa Rica

After a yummy “homemade“ breakfast we cooked at the hostel, we gathered our miscellanous beach wares and set out for a whole day on the beach. The walk from the hostel takes about 40 minutes but is pleasant despite the heat of the early morning sun. To make it easier, we stopped for some admittedly early in the morning ice cream cones. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 40: Uvita, Costa Rica

Still groggy from yesterday´s travel (bus travel makes one very lethargic), we sauntered down the street back to the bus terminal and hopped a bus to Uvita. It was headed down the “slow“ road along the coast and crawled the whole way, probably never going over 30 mph. Luckily, we got to sit in the handicap seats with a lot of leg room since no one actually needed them on this trip. Read the rest of this entry »