Hey all!
I know that it has been awhile. Just wanted to let everyone know that I am great. I will update with all of my adventures in the next couple of days. I am back in Mal Pais for now and getting ready for Halloween tonight. I am actually dressing up, which probably surprises alot of you that know me well :) I am going to be a witch - I'll take pictures and post them.
Anyways - I'll write soon with details.
C.
October 31, 2009
October 19, 2009
Puerto Limon
I arrived in Puerto Limon on the Caribbean coast yesterday and was just in time for the last day of Carnavale. And, holy cow did I walk into a party. I knew that Carnavale was last week but I actually thought that it was over so I was surprised to see the mayhem in full force.There are only a couple of hotels/hostels that are worth staying at in Limon and they are all right in the middle of the Mercado (market). I am at Hotel Miami, which is pretty good – very secure, all the necessities but right in the middle of everything. Generally that is a good thing but when you are a single, white female it’s best not to go out at night alone. So, that meant that last night I could hear the people partying all around me and couldn’t participate :( I did venture around in the afternoon though. I went to Parque Vargas and watched a reggae show, which was very cool seeing as I love reggae. I felt so content to be sitting on the caribbean coast with the beach as the background, temperatures around 85 degrees and watching a live reggae show. Life is good! I also walked around the Mercado and checked out all the cool stuff for sale. There were a couple of things that I would have liked to buy but they were giving me ridiculously high prices so I left empty handed.
I haven’t done much today. Walked around the town some more and that’s about it. I wanted to go for a run this morning so I got up around 6:30am and went out to the balcony that overlooks the street and there were still people everywhere so I didn’t go. I already stand out so I thought that putting on spandex and going for a run in the middle of it all was probably not the best idea! The closest beach, Playa Bonita, with adequate swimming is 4km away so I think that I will go there tomorrow.
As for meeting others – I haven’t really seen any other obvious travelers in Limon. Usually, you can spot other foreigners or hear their accents when they talk so you know that they are not local, but I haven’t seen anyone yet. It would be cool to meet some people so then I could at least have a meal and a drink with someone.
I will be here until Thursday morning. I will then either go north to Nicaragua or back over to the Pacific and continue exploring over there. I am not sure yet. I have new ideas every day! I am leaving the rest and the best of the Caribbean for when Nikki and Scott get here next month.
October 17, 2009
I have left the comfort of the Nicoya Peninsula and am now in the capital of Costa Rica - San Jose. From the moment that I stepped off the bus at the Coca-Cola bus terminal I could feel the pressure of the big city!
There were several taxi drivers waiting as the bus pulled up. There was one in particular that spoke english so I started talking with him and got in his taxi. Only once he starting driving did I notice that the "meter wasn't working". It is not exactly the safest neighbourhood so I asked the price and he said $7 and I said OK even though I knew that that was way too much. He then advised me to lock the back doors of the car and not to roll down the windows as his city is dangerous! And, this was at 1 o'clock in the afternoon! At that point I just wanted to get to the hostel and feel secure.
I arrived at Casa Ridgway, which is in a safer part of town, and was welcomed by very friendly staff. It is like a different world in here. The people are so nice. They cook us breakfast, let me use the washer and drier that the housekeeping use and when I left to go to the store this afternoon the owner asked if I could buy her a coca-cola and told me to keep the change! There are only a couple of other people staying here, one of the them is a Canadian yoga instructor. I have met so many Canadians it's nuts. I even saw a car with a Quebec license plate in Mal Pais, which led me on a mission to find its driver. His name is Gilles and the car's name is Beast! (side note - the car was a Hyundai Accent)
Anyways, I am headed to the Caribbean tomorrow and will hang out there for a bit. I am excited to see family this week and am really looking forward to Nikki and Scott coming next month. Travelling alone allows for a very unique adventure as I can just fly by the seat of my pants, but I do miss having a buddy around.
There were several taxi drivers waiting as the bus pulled up. There was one in particular that spoke english so I started talking with him and got in his taxi. Only once he starting driving did I notice that the "meter wasn't working". It is not exactly the safest neighbourhood so I asked the price and he said $7 and I said OK even though I knew that that was way too much. He then advised me to lock the back doors of the car and not to roll down the windows as his city is dangerous! And, this was at 1 o'clock in the afternoon! At that point I just wanted to get to the hostel and feel secure.
I arrived at Casa Ridgway, which is in a safer part of town, and was welcomed by very friendly staff. It is like a different world in here. The people are so nice. They cook us breakfast, let me use the washer and drier that the housekeeping use and when I left to go to the store this afternoon the owner asked if I could buy her a coca-cola and told me to keep the change! There are only a couple of other people staying here, one of the them is a Canadian yoga instructor. I have met so many Canadians it's nuts. I even saw a car with a Quebec license plate in Mal Pais, which led me on a mission to find its driver. His name is Gilles and the car's name is Beast! (side note - the car was a Hyundai Accent)
Anyways, I am headed to the Caribbean tomorrow and will hang out there for a bit. I am excited to see family this week and am really looking forward to Nikki and Scott coming next month. Travelling alone allows for a very unique adventure as I can just fly by the seat of my pants, but I do miss having a buddy around.
October 12, 2009
Yoga here I come...or Not!
I left Mal Pais this morning destined for Jaco on the central pacific coast. I was pretty excited because I thought that it meant that I was going to be able to get 5 days of yoga in. But, as it turns out the studio closed and has moved to a different city. I am a bit bummed about this because I was really stoked to practice in a new place. Oh well.
As for this past week, there were a couple of days that it literally downpoured all day, which meant not leaving the bungalow. It was enjoyable though as the balcony was covered and had a hammock so I could just hang out all day. There are also some people that are actually living in the other bungalows and I had gotten to know them a bit. I made dinner on a few nights with this German girl/Tico guy couple that lived in the bungalow beside mine. It is so interesting to listen to everyone’s story and how “they” ended up here. The German girl is my age, has a university degree in tourism and has lived in Mal Pais for the past two years. She is moving to Mexico in December to open her own hostel.
Two days ago I went back to Montezuma to go to the waterfall that ate my camera the last time that I was here. So, I get there and realize that I forgot the battery for the camera - I left it in the charger!!! I couldn’t believe it. The best way that I could console myself was to accept the fact that I was not meant to take pictures of the waterfall. I even have a waterproof camera now….oh well….I guess that it wasn’t meant to be! Just like the yoga today! What the heck???
Yesterday was a beautiful day – very, very hot and humid. I rented a bike with some other travelers and rode all over the south of the peninsula. We went to the Cabo Blanco reserve and checked out some caves. They were a little freaky so I didn’t really go inside. I had my headlamp though so I could see pretty far. In the evening I watched a local soccer game between Mal Pais and Santa Teresa. It is crazy how excited people get here over ‘futbol’. It was cool though.
I am not sure what I will do for the next week until I go to Limon to see Mom and Denis because Jaco is not really up my alley without the yoga. I may head to the Caribbean early. I splurged on an actual hotel room tonight so I just did my laundry in the tub. It has wireless in the room as well as air conditioning. I also went to the market and picked up dinner (no Thanksgiving turkey though) and that will be it for me tonight. It is now thundering pretty loud outside so that probably means that the rain is coming.
Until next time!
As for this past week, there were a couple of days that it literally downpoured all day, which meant not leaving the bungalow. It was enjoyable though as the balcony was covered and had a hammock so I could just hang out all day. There are also some people that are actually living in the other bungalows and I had gotten to know them a bit. I made dinner on a few nights with this German girl/Tico guy couple that lived in the bungalow beside mine. It is so interesting to listen to everyone’s story and how “they” ended up here. The German girl is my age, has a university degree in tourism and has lived in Mal Pais for the past two years. She is moving to Mexico in December to open her own hostel.
Two days ago I went back to Montezuma to go to the waterfall that ate my camera the last time that I was here. So, I get there and realize that I forgot the battery for the camera - I left it in the charger!!! I couldn’t believe it. The best way that I could console myself was to accept the fact that I was not meant to take pictures of the waterfall. I even have a waterproof camera now….oh well….I guess that it wasn’t meant to be! Just like the yoga today! What the heck???
Yesterday was a beautiful day – very, very hot and humid. I rented a bike with some other travelers and rode all over the south of the peninsula. We went to the Cabo Blanco reserve and checked out some caves. They were a little freaky so I didn’t really go inside. I had my headlamp though so I could see pretty far. In the evening I watched a local soccer game between Mal Pais and Santa Teresa. It is crazy how excited people get here over ‘futbol’. It was cool though.
I am not sure what I will do for the next week until I go to Limon to see Mom and Denis because Jaco is not really up my alley without the yoga. I may head to the Caribbean early. I splurged on an actual hotel room tonight so I just did my laundry in the tub. It has wireless in the room as well as air conditioning. I also went to the market and picked up dinner (no Thanksgiving turkey though) and that will be it for me tonight. It is now thundering pretty loud outside so that probably means that the rain is coming.
Until next time!
October 9, 2009
Mal Pais
I am only a few days into the trip and I have already lost track of which day of the week it is!
I am staying in a small town called Mal Pais right now. It is on the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. It is known among surfers and therefore caters to tourist that come to ride the waves. But, it is not tourist season so more than half of the restaurants and hotels are closed at the moment. It is nice though because it is quiet and the locals are extra courteous and friendly as they haven´t seen any foreigners in a couple of months now! The other bonus to the low season are the prices. I am getting a deal at the place that I am staying. I have a full bungalow with private bath and kitchen for $8 a night. I plan on staying here until Oct 16th at which time I am going to go to Jaco to try out the Bikram yoga studio. From there I am going to make my way to the Caribbean to see Mom and Denis.
So - what have I been doing you ask? Well, I have been waking up between 6 and 7 each morning (going to bed very early). I am still trying to get some sort of a workout first thing in the morning. It just starts the day off right. So, I have gone for a couple of jogs on the beach and I have also led myself through yoga, which was much more difficult than I thought that it would be. Mostly, I just felt a bit silly to anyone walking by and wondering what the heck I was doing (also done on the beach). Yesterday I went fishing with a local named Josue. We hitched a ride up to a town called Playa Hermosa, about 7 kilometers away. We had lunch at his family´s house there, which was much different that what I had expected. It was not quite the dwellings that we grew up in but it was really nice and had everything that many would want - including all possible electronics! After lunch we went to the beach and fished with just line and crab as bait.
It seems to rain mostly at night and with a tin roof on the bungalow I feel like I am really in the jungle as it beats down and drowns out every single little noise that you would hear otherwise. I have been watching movies on my netbook at night before bed. I am really happy that I can do that as I am not sure what I would do otherwise - probably just read my Lonely Planet over and over and over again. There wasn´t any room in my pack to take even a single book and there certainly aren´t any bookstores here!
Anyways, that´s enough for today. So far, so great! I will try to keep this up :)
C.
I am staying in a small town called Mal Pais right now. It is on the southern tip of the Nicoya Peninsula. It is known among surfers and therefore caters to tourist that come to ride the waves. But, it is not tourist season so more than half of the restaurants and hotels are closed at the moment. It is nice though because it is quiet and the locals are extra courteous and friendly as they haven´t seen any foreigners in a couple of months now! The other bonus to the low season are the prices. I am getting a deal at the place that I am staying. I have a full bungalow with private bath and kitchen for $8 a night. I plan on staying here until Oct 16th at which time I am going to go to Jaco to try out the Bikram yoga studio. From there I am going to make my way to the Caribbean to see Mom and Denis.
So - what have I been doing you ask? Well, I have been waking up between 6 and 7 each morning (going to bed very early). I am still trying to get some sort of a workout first thing in the morning. It just starts the day off right. So, I have gone for a couple of jogs on the beach and I have also led myself through yoga, which was much more difficult than I thought that it would be. Mostly, I just felt a bit silly to anyone walking by and wondering what the heck I was doing (also done on the beach). Yesterday I went fishing with a local named Josue. We hitched a ride up to a town called Playa Hermosa, about 7 kilometers away. We had lunch at his family´s house there, which was much different that what I had expected. It was not quite the dwellings that we grew up in but it was really nice and had everything that many would want - including all possible electronics! After lunch we went to the beach and fished with just line and crab as bait.
It seems to rain mostly at night and with a tin roof on the bungalow I feel like I am really in the jungle as it beats down and drowns out every single little noise that you would hear otherwise. I have been watching movies on my netbook at night before bed. I am really happy that I can do that as I am not sure what I would do otherwise - probably just read my Lonely Planet over and over and over again. There wasn´t any room in my pack to take even a single book and there certainly aren´t any bookstores here!
Anyways, that´s enough for today. So far, so great! I will try to keep this up :)
C.
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