Pura Vida Costa Rica

Costa Rica is the 'must go to' country in Central America. While the country gets around 1.5 million tourists every year, that's loads of people for a very small country, I was unsure of what I would make of the place.

The first stop was Monteverde. This Quaker settlement is in the cloud forset, around 1200 to 1600metres ..... what the hell. Now while it may be said to be the best place to view the famous quetzal bird, I wasn't sure how much trekking I wanted to do. But then again, it would be very cool to see a sloth. But it had to be cold, right?

And my mum was right when she messaged me to see if I was ok, being in the jungle and all. It is a long way from the beach!

But I was in the jungle so decided in my wisdom to try zip lining. The canopy tours, as they are known, are said to be some of the longest and fastest going around. I know, what was I thinking.

I joined a bunch of the group and we got harnessed and hooked and kinda tied up around ourselves. Stops you losing body parts I guess.

 

 

All this carry on was a bit of a waste of time for me .... I retired from the zip line after only a few goes. Not an adrenalin junkie .... who knew!

But I did walk up and down the paths and played team photographer for the guys  .... who all completed the 16 zip lines and jumped off the crazy Tarzan swing. Impressive.

It was cold in the jungle at night. I holed up in my room from sun down and put on as many layers of clothes as I could manage. What was I doing this far from the coast?

But the trip through the countryside from Monteverde to Laguna de Arenal was very picturesque.

We boarded a small ferry and headed across the lake to La Fortuna. The views of Volcān Arenal from the lake were quite cool.

Now this volcano, just outside of our base in La Fortuna, is said to be Costa Rica's most active volcano. You're not allowed to climb it as some poor hikers were killed by explosions, but that must have been a while back. Locals told me that there has been no activity from the volcano in over two years .... not a puff! I was a bit disappointed in this, I was looking forward to a bit of a natural fire works display. Oh well.

I did check out the thermal springs while was I was in town. Baldi Hot Springs is not exactly in the wild. A resort with dozens of pools has been built to capture the hot bubbling water. A visit comes complete with a buffet lunch, swim up hot spring bars and sun lounges.

Oh, and I did see a sloth. I didn't have to trek through the wilds to discover it, this sloth was hanging out on the side of the road. Quite handy really.

It's true, sloths don't move much at all. I watched this dude for ages and he didn't move a muscle .... bit like a few people I know really.


More pics ...

Costa Rica - Monteverde

Costa Rica - La Fortuna & Arenal Volcano

 

Crossing into Costa Rica

We were squeezed into a chicken bus as we made our way to the Nicaragua / Costa Rica border. I was lucky enough to snag a seat so had an enjoyable trip watching the goings on and listening to the preacher who had jumped aboard at a road side stop. But I was looking forward to getting out and getting some fresh air

As we arrived at the border crossing it began to rain. It seems there has been a lot of rain recently ... the bus was parked in a big pile of mud. I grabbed my bag as it was thrown from the top of the bus and squelched through the mud in my flip flops.

I stopped to change my money, not too worried about the rate as the rain kept coming down.

We ran past shop stalls along the muddy street and found some shelter near passport control. Mud was flying everywhere!

The queues at immigration were long, very long. We managed to reduce the 1.5 to 2 hour waiting time by chipping in some cash and paying a local dude to get us to the front of the line.

Money well spent I say!

With our passports stamped we were out of Nicaragua and made the mile long walk in the mud through no man's land. The rain had stopped and once again it was steamy as trucks roared by splashing us from the large puddles everywhere.

Costa Rica immigration is very fancy. There is quite a new building and ropes to sort the queue of people. Not the normal central american experience.

I got through passport control really quickly and easily and was relaxing with a cold drink waiting for the rest of the group. It seems that some of the dudes get a bit self important sitting in their glass partitions .... they were demanding to see tickets out of the country and all sorts of mallarky before they would let some people through.  It caused a little bit of angst to say the least!

I assume I was too soaked and covered in mud to worry about. Or maybe my innocence got me through ..... mmmm, maybe not.

But finally, it was welcome to Costa Rica.

We piled in to mini vans and began the four hour drive to Monteverde .... or the jungle as I prefer to call it.

Mmmmm away from the beach ... was I going to be ok with this?

Getting to Ometepe .... when a ferry becomes a freight carrier

Ever boarded a ferry that you thought was packed. Then sat there as dozens and dozens of people kept coming aboard?

Jumping on the little ferry to Ometepe Island In Nicaragua was exciting. We had to jump over mud and puddles, carry our bags up a gang plank then grab the last remaining seats squashed up with the locals or park on the deck.

I thought we were ready to leave, but boy was I mistaken.

More people kept appearing and squeezing on as the ferry sank lower into the water.

Finally the gang plank was removed and I thought we were ready to go. But once again I was mistaken. The gang plank thingy was replaced by a bit of timber .... so a dude could get his motorbike on board. This required quite a bit of jostling from the many passengers but finally everyone settled and was ready to go.

Then a truck pulled up .... stacked to the brim with bags of rice.

Next thing the dudes are loading the bags into the below deck seating area. I was up on deck but knew what they were doing cause they were just standing on the bank turfing the large bags through the glassless windows.

By this stage the ferry so very low in the water.

It was so entertaining.

I was a bit sad when we finally left the dock, I was sure we could have fitted more stuff on board if we'd tried.

I was a bit over playing tourist, so my time on the island was very chilled. It's not a bad place to relax.

And as for the ferry trip back to the mainland .... the boat was really small but as it was 6am there was loads of room for us and for the motorbikes.

Pics of Granada and Ometepe

Nicaragua - Granada & Ometepe Island

Welcome to Nicaragua ... hello Granada

It's a long way from Roatan Island in Honduras to Granada in Nicaragua....


Wanting to make the most of the idyllic island we decided to take the afternoon ferry. We then jumped in a mini van and drove for 3 or 4 hours to the non-descript town of Comayagua. It was after 11pm when we arrived and as we had to be up at 4am the next day it was straight to bed for me.

The next day was a long one .... 12 bloody hours of travel on not much sleep makes for a grumpy Lynne. Throw in the fact that we were supposed to survive this 12 hours on service station food and there was nearly a riot. Thank god for the Nicaraguan version of KFC is all I can say.

The boarder crossing from Honduras into Nicaragua was slow but smooth. There seemed to be at least three people assigned to every task, meaning nothing much got done.

The boarder security was tight, a rope tied to a couple of drums across the road.

It was a relief to get the stamp in my passport and get back on the road.

Arriving in Granada I was surprised, very pleasantly surprised. The town has some amazing churches and loads of cute houses. Our hotel was on a cobble stoned pedestrian street. As it was early evening when we arrived the cafes and restaurants had their tables spilling onto the road and people were everywhere.

Granada is Nicaragua's oldest city and was founded in 1685. It sits at the foot of Volcano Mombacho and is on the shore of Lago de Nicaragua. Now the lake may sound lovely but it's not. Swarming with mosquitoes and swamped with rubbish it's lucky you can't see the shore from the charming town.

Granada was torched in the mid 1800's during the civil war but many of the buildings have been rebuilt and restored so the colonial charm remains.

I set out the next day on a tour to explore the surrounding area. First stop was up a volcano. It wasn't a tough climb - we were in a bus. The volcano is still active so youre not allowed to climb to the top or wander around aimlessly. I think it was Volcano Mombacho but I was a bit too consumed by sulphur smells to remember.

We drove to a look out are and while it was really nice, I was more amazed to see gum trees. Mmmmm gotta love a touch of home.

Next we stopped for a spot of shopping in a local market. Crazy what you can find in these places.

I really wanted to buy some of these toilet pictures, just because they were the most random art I've ever seen!

We travelled up to the village of Catarina for lunch. What a view...

Before heading back to Granada we stopped in to a local potter's workshop. These guys create amazing pieces using the most basic of equipment... turning the wheel by foot and carving every design by hand.

As I am a traveller not a shopper (oops I forgot about that when I was in the market!) I stayed away from the pottery that was for sale at ridiculously low prices and amused myself by playing with the local kids.

But Sarah managed to find a few things that she liked ...

Back in town I wandered the streets and hung out in parquet central, watching the locals do their their thing.

I like this town, it has enough to keep me busy but still relaxed and chilled out in that typical Central American style.