flashback friday

some more of my awesome filming skills from our trip to manuel antonio in costa rica...



there is a lot going on in the video because there were little monkeys all over the place, but seriously can someone please confirm that the second monkey on camera actually does the sign of the cross?

Arenal- Take 2

The guys arrived from Atlanta on Thursday night with enough time to grab a couple drinks before heading to bed. I had booked a fairly early trip out to the Poas Volcano the next morning.

When we got to the volcano we were told it was releasing too many fumes to go up to see the crater. After standing around for just a few minutes it was obvious they were right not to let us up…





Our insanely annoying tour guide, Mike, gave us a few options and we chose to try to see the Poas waterfall. There had been an earthquake last year that caused devastating landslides in the area where houses, business and roads were destroyed.

To his surprise the road was open so we drove down to the waterfall. He decided to see how far the road had been cleared and we drove for what seemed like forever while he talked incessantly about what used to be there and how dangerous it was for us to be driving in the area- just what you always want to hear from a guide. Where the road used to be…



We finally made him turn back, but did get to see some other waterfalls along the way…





On our drive back we stopped at a local fruit stand and gorged ourselves on fresh cheese, fried plantains, mangos, bananas and strawberries. We also made a quick stop at a coffee plantation to enjoy the views and grab a drink. The highlight of our trip was really the views and the delicious cool mountain air…





The worker bees met us at the hotel later that afternoon and we piled up into the two cars and headed out to Arenal. Once we got close enough we pulled over with the other people on the side of the road and got our first view of the lava flowing down. It was awesome.

Our hotel sat just under the volcano on the side where the lava flows. It was amazing to watch and listen to it spew and spit boulder size lava rocks that rolled and crashed down the side of the volcano. Unfortunately it was not so easy to capture on film…



We were up early the next morning to take a nature walk around the grounds of our hotel...




We then grabbed a quick lunch and made our way to the zip lining place. As soon as the instructors started instructing I was starting to panic. I was going to be responsible for braking myself…and if I did it too soon I was going to be stuck hanging there and have to pull myself hand over hand to the next platform…uh, what??

As we ascended the stairs to the first platform my knees were weak and when we reached the top I had tears in my eyes and said I couldn’t do it. I’m deathly afraid of heights and have been my entire life. As a kid I wouldn’t even ride on my dad’s shoulders and now you want me to jump off this thing attached to a metal wire??

We had two guides with us and the very sweet one assured me that I could go with the other one, Eban. He would be with me the entire way.

That meant I had to go first. I screamed the entire way to the next platform and enjoyed it about as much as a root canal. It was also very clear Eban was not going to be nurturing me with my fears. Instead he was going to take pleasure in screaming out “no brakes!” and mocking me as I screamed in terror. If Hazel had not been in worse shape than me I would have demanded to trade him in for the sweet guy. Everyone else loved it though and really enjoyed the experience…




By the 5th or 6th line I was still just as scared, but at least able to stand on the platforms without feeling like my legs were going to give way. The 8th and final line I made Eban swear to be nice and tried really hard to enjoy the views and the experience. I won’t say I enjoyed it, per se, but I did feel less like I was plummeting towards my demise...




After zip lining we stopped at a restaurant and grabbed some much needed beers and had some delicious ceviche. Every muscle in my body felt weak so I chose to skip the old lava flow tour that afternoon. I felt like I had just finished the most grueling workout of my life. I guess that’s what happens when you have tensed every muscle in your body for 2 straight hours. Jules was still struggling with the virus she caught so we went back for a quick nap before meeting everyone at the hot springs.

The hot springs were a great way to relax after the day and the swim up bars only made it that much better. We were all exhausted so after dinner there we came back to the hotel and crashed.

We had amazing luck with the volcano. Normally the tip is covered in clouds, but it was pretty much visible to us the entire time. The weather held out and Saturday had been amazing.



Of course, sometimes luck runs out. We had a minor little issue with a car key on Sunday and spent most of the day dealing with it before heading back. But, we got back to San Jose by dusk and went out for a great dinner at a nearby Peruvian restaurant.

I hated putting the guys in a taxi the next day, maybe almost as much as they hated going back to work.

It's been a while since we traveled with a big group and it was great. We're so glad you guys got to come down!!

We had planned to go to the beach in Tamarindo this weekend, but after hearing about the 7 hour drive we decided to stay put and maybe try to see some of the attractions close by.

cahuita (ca-wheeee-ta)

The great thing about Costa Rica is while it’s pretty diverse it is also pretty small, making it easy to get a little taste of everything. We went to the Caribbean coast this weekend to the small town of Cahuita. The Caribbean side of the country is like a different country all together. When the railroad and banana plantations reached this area large numbers of Jamaican workers were brought over to do the labor. This has led to a very Afro-Caribbean laden culture.

We got a late start on Friday and the drive after dark was not so much fun. Bike riding is a widely used mode of transportation in rural Costa Rica. Coming up on a bike rider in the pitch black dark on a mountainous road doesn’t make for a stress-free road trip. They also have no issue, whatsoever, with walking in the road or just hanging out on the very edge of the blacktop. Thankfully we didn’t kill or maim any Costa Ricans on the way, although the guy who was just sitting in the road better thank his lucky stars that he was wearing white shorts.

While dodging pedestrians we were also up against every Chiquita, Del Monte and Dole semi-trucks in the world. You better enjoy that next can of pineapple chunks because we surely suffered for it.

Almost 5 hours later we finally found our hotel and set out to get dinner. It was about 9:30 and per the bartender at the “Reggae Bar” where we stopped, their kitchen as well as all other kitchens in the town were closed. We decided to fill our empty tanks with some Imperials and then go back to the hotel to split a bag of low fat corn chip roll thingies that Jules was pretty sure she had in her work bag.

I guess the bartender heard us laughing about how we were going to bed hungry and asked if we had ever had plantains.

“Yes.”

“Do you want me to cook you some?”

“Really?!? You want to cook us plantains?”

“Why not?”

And off he went to pluck a plantain from his yard. I kept telling Julie how grateful I was, but that I couldn’t help but hope he salted them. When they arrived they were perfectly salted, perfectly cooked and on the house.

Our hotel room was of the “open air” variety with no a/c. I was pretty worried about it, but thankfully the air at night cooled enough that with a fan it was very comfortable. Although the lack of windows helped with the cross breeze it didn’t help with the howler monkey bonanza that was going down at 4am. By 6am every bird in the world was chirping and squawking in the trees outside our hut.

It was raining when we headed to breakfast and we knew our plans for snorkeling were going to have to be canned until Sunday. The owners had a ton of suggestions for a rainy day, but we thought a day spent reading on our balcony sounded much better.

Jules refused to adhere to the sitting position in which the hammock was hung…



We headed back down to the Reggae Bar for lunch and then returned to our reading/bird watching.

We drove into the town to have dinner and catch a live reggae band, but I wasn’t feeling great so we headed in for another early night.

It was storming all night and morning which helped with the noise from the animal kingdom but meant another day without snorkeling. It was obvious that things just weren’t going to go as planned this weekend so after another delicious breakfast from our sweet hosts we hit the road back to San Jose.

Even though we didn’t get to do the things we wanted to in Cahuita it was cool experiencing this very different side of Costa Rica. With all the reggae and Rastas it was like taking a trip to Jamaica…just without the violent crime and disgusting homophobia.

We’ve got friends (Yay!! ) coming this weekend and we’re headed back to Arenal. Hopefully this time we’ll get to see some lava.

manuel antonio

Us three Georgia girls set off for another road trip weekend on Friday and arrived in Manuel Antonio just after dark.

We met up for dinner at one of our hotel’s restaurants and enjoyed some delicious grub and some lovely hospitality before calling it an early night. Those are becoming quite the norm for us these days, but hey, we’re still recovering from all the socializing we did in Atlanta.

Jules and I had a leisurely breakfast on Saturday by the pool at our hotel which was tucked just inside the lush greenery of the jungle. We lounged by the pool and kept our eyes out for monkeys until it was time to head out on our snorkeling tour early that afternoon.

The hotel had told us it would take about 5 ½ hours. That’s a pretty good amount of time so we were expecting some pretty great snorkeling. After a short transfer into the neighboring town of Quepos we boarded the catamaran with about 40 or so other tourists. Immediately we spotted some dolphins and followed them around for a bit. We then began a slow ride around the coastline and when it was announced drinks were on the house we quickly deduced this was going to be more of a booze cruise than a snorkeling expedition. Which was fine with us, it was a beautiful day and it felt great being out on the water…





We did actually snorkel. Well, I did for about 10 minutes. The visibility was poor and the fish life pretty scarce. When Jules spotted a jelly I swam back in and got myself another rum punch. I’ve got a bad track record with those little creatures and was not risking yet another sting for such meager snorkeling. When a guy climbed back in the boat with a pretty nasty whelp across his arm I took another sip of my cocktail and knew I had made the right decision.

The crew had cooked us up some delicious fish kabobs, but my cocktail-to-food ratio didn’t feel too balanced, so I suggested another meal at the cute little restaurant at our hotel. We finished off the night there with good food, another cocktail or two, easy conversation and lots of laughter.

After breakfast and check-out on Sunday we headed down to the national park. We had to stand in line for a while and just as I was about to melt into a pool on the ground they opened the gate.

We skipped hiring a guide which turned out to be fine because it was easy enough to look where others were looking. We got to see everything we hoped to see and even a few extras. It is no wonder this is the most visited park in the country…






Outside of our trip to Bangkok this may have been the hottest I’ve ever been. The animals were awesome, but it felt amazing to get back into the car, crank up the air conditioning and head back to San Jose and our shower.

It was a great weekend and in just 3 days we’ll be off again. It is Semana Santa (Holy Week) here leading up to Easter so we get a 4 day weekend and are headed to Nicaragua on Wednesday night.

Hope everyone has a great Easter and eats at least a dozen deviled eggs for me!

jaco

We decided not to venture as far as the beach this past weekend. It was our first road trip so we played it safe and headed to Jaco, just over an hour outside of Escazu.

We wanted a relaxing weekend and that's exactly what we got. We stayed at a lovely hotel atop a little mountain (or was it a big hill, not sure which) overlooking the Pacific Ocean.

After a painless drive we arrived in time for an early dinner at the hotel on Friday evening. The hotel was lush and secluded and just what we were hoping it would be.

Saturday was spent lounging by the infinity pool…



and that night we joined the rest of the hotel guests in the amphitheater to watch the captivating sunset…



Thinking that we were going just to relax I left behind my massive camera bag and only brought along the point and shoot. Of course, I quickly found this was a mistake.

While in the shower, Jules came running in and opened up the curtains (no peep show folks, our windows opened to nothing but the forest and the ocean far below) to show me the huge iguana in the tree by our balcony...



Then as I was getting out I heard all these bird noises outside. It went on for so long I quickly got dressed and ran out to see what was making all the commotion. “It could be parrots or something!!”

No parrots, but even better- a Swanson’s Toucan! After running around Igazu in Argentina like a maniac trying to see a toucan, there he was just perched on the tree outside my balcony. Another toucan even joined him for a while. They were so magnificent. It kills me I didn’t have my big camera!





I’m actually a little scared at how much I enjoyed them. Jules is worried I’m going to become some dorky, old lady birdwatcher and drag her on bird-watching expeditions when we’re old and gray. I’m worried that it won’t even take me that long.

We left early afternoon on Sunday and after some errands and lunch enjoyed a little sunshine at the pool here.

We’re going to Manuel Antonio this weekend for some beach time and some more wildlife at the national park. Don’t worry, I’ll be totally prepared with my giant lens and my dorky bird-watching binoculars.

safe and sound and finally well-rested...

So, we got to Costa Rica just before noon, their time, yesterday. I have to say, yesterday was not my finest travel day. Maybe it was because I was out of practice or that we couldn't get a taxi to save our lives or perhaps the fact that I had another “less than 4 hours” night of sleep had something to do with it. I need my sleep, people.

Anyway, I hereby publicly apologize not only to my poor, poor wife who had to deal with me, but also to that woman in the security line that I made a snarky comment about...at a volume I made certain she would hear. Even if you refused my numerous offers to let your friend cut in front of us so you could stop staring past me and holding your conversations over my head- I was rude and it wasn’t right to take my bad mood out on you. Sorry.

Now, with that out of the way…

So far, so good with San Jose-actually we’re staying in a suburb called Escazu. Our hotel is comfortable, has a huge gym, lovely grounds that make you forget you’re in the ‘burbs (I’ve never seen so many birds of paradise!) and the egg guy at breakfast helped me learn how to ask for my egg white, mushroom and onion omelet in Spanish. It was very sweet, even if I’ve already forgotten.

The only real issue we’ve had was the several hundred teenagers that were staying at the hotel yesterday. You can imagine the noise level. Thankfully, they left today. I can’t tell you how sweet of a sight it was to see a couple hundred teenagers wheeling their suitcases into the lobby to checkout this afternoon. Repeat- I need my sleep, people.

We’re thrilled to be back in warm weather, so this weekend we’re headed to Playa Tamarindo (translation: beach). It should prove to be a perfectly relaxing weekend after the stress of leaving home.

BTW- I had written this sappy goodbye post about how wonderful you all are and how grateful we are for such amazing friends and how much we’re going to miss you, etc. But, when we found out we were back in ATL in just 8 weeks I deleted it. It seemed a bit much considering we’ll be seeing you in 2 short months. I mean, you’re still awesome, but I don’t want to deal with a bunch of big heads when we get back. Got to keep you grounded :)

zip line anyone?

as we start planning our time in costa rica it looks like we'll be in costa rica most weekends. if you want to come visit we'd, of course, love to have you! we just need to know when you'll be coming so we can plan accordingly.

any weekend except easter weekend (unless you want to go to nicaragua with us) is still pretty open.

we'll be there from march 14th- may 7th.

volcanos, waterfalls, beaches, cloud forests, hot springs and all just a 4 hour flight away...what more could you ask for??

latin america- part dos

Okay, okay...I get it God, I need to focus on my Spanish lessons- PRONTO!!

We're headed to Costa Rica next round!!!