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 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 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 »

Dy 35:  San Jose, Costa Rica

Another noisy morning. But this morning, we were geared up and ready to get to the embassy as soon as they opened at 8:30am so we could hurry our visa apps along. After a yummy breakfast of rice and honey with sliced mango on the back patio at the hostel, we were off for another go with the angry embassy woman. Read the rest of this entry »

After yesterday´s unpleasant beach experience, we are aching for some relaxing, more beautiful beach time today. Thinking of getting in some exercise before our day of laying around, we rented bicycles from another hostel a few blocks from Casa Oro for $6 each for the day (a bit expensive really, but we are in a rather touristy town). Read the rest of this entry »

Day 27: Ometepe, Nicaragua

 Ahhhh…sigh of relief to still be alive this morning since last night’s perilous journey. And all we have to show for it are some funny looking bruises on Lindsey´s thumbs and butt. Another tasty breakfast of hot dog bun french toast before we checkout and head off to hike to a waterfall. During breakfast, one of our bunkmates asked if we had been able to take care of our ATM situation, to which we laughed and recounted our tale of ridiculously awesome proportions. After we told her what we had done, she had this really funny look on her face and said, “You know, that’s the most dangerous stretch of road on the whole island? The locals don´t even ride that road at night!” Read the rest of this entry »

Day 26: Ometepe, Nicaragua

Perfect temperature this morning. Ate a ridiculously cheap breakfast here at Finca (French toast for $1.50 which is actually made with hot dog buns and, even more surprising, it’s pretty good!) before trekking down the hill to check out Balgue at the bottom of the hill. Read the rest of this entry »

Day 25: Granada to Isla d’Ometepe, Nicaragua

Oh, what a glorious breakfast at The Garden Cafe—literally the best place to eat in all of Granada, maybe the whole world! Saben had the world’s most delicious French Toast and Lin had some delectable chocolate & banana pancakes (so I love pancakes, alright?!) with the best orange juice and coffee ever (even better than Antigua, and that was some amazing coffee & OJ at Hostel 5). We just took our time over breakfast and wandering down to the ferry dock since our ferry to Ometepe didn’t leave til 2:00. Read the rest of this entry »