San Pedro...and homeward bound!!

So, with only 5 days remaining Ray and I were debating on where to go....what to do.
I have to admit, the idea of heading to some coastal location to do absolutely nothing greatly appealed. However, we had heard (from many fellow travelers) about an area in northern Chile that came highly recommended.....San Pedro de Atacama. A dusty, adobe village hidden amidst pristine lakes, salt flats, towering mountains, and literally the driest desert in the world! Man....once again, am I glad we didn't pass this one up! We had 3 full days in San Pedro (excluding travel days), and we kept ourselves more than busy!


Seeing as we had no means of transportation, and our knowledge of the area only encompassed what our guidebook told us, we ended up hooking up with a wonderful interactive adventure tour company. They lead small groups to the many surrounding wonders. The hilarious and rugged guides had us laughing and playing the entire time.


Day 1: We headed straight to the desert. Not sure if I had a misconception of the desert, or maybe no conception at all, but it turns out.....I LOVE the desert! It is vast, gorgeous, and inconceivable. We went to Valle de la Muerto "death valley", and Victor our guide lead us to the peak of the most incredible sand dune. At the top he said, "ok, take off your shoes", and then took off at a full sprint down the dune's face. I would equate standing at the top of this dune with standing at the top of a double black diamond. We just shrugged our shoulders and took off after him...charging down the dune was such a rush, up to our knees at times in sand. A couple members of our group completely wiped out, however other than a face full of sand, they surfaced unscathed! After our romp, we headed to Valle de la Luna where we trekked through a salt mountain range (essentially salt deposits that have formed hills/mountains and caves). At times we were bouldering/climbing through these incredible mountains/caves. The salt facade was almost translucent under the mud caked surface.


Day 2: We were picked up at 7a and headed to Laguna Chaxa (a vast lake in the middle of "Salar de Atacama" - the 3rd largest salt flat in the world). Here we saw hundreds of flamingos....this one surprised us!

After a quick picnic breakfast, we headed to Lagunas Minigues and Miscanti. The natural colors here are mind blowing....crystal blue/green lakes rimmed with pure white salt, orange/red mountains, dusty brown desert and perfectly blue sky. We then took a long and cold hike along the flats to a small cliff protected area where we were provided with an amazing and plentiful picnic lunch.


Off to visit a couple of native villages, and then ended the evening by hiking another sand dune to catch sunset. The evening haze prevented an ideal sunset, however the scenery remained epic! So cool.....

* Side note: All of the nature reserves are owned and run by a partnership between the locals and the government. Therefore, all of the preservation expenditures are a joint effort, which we found refreshing.


A little llama lovin'....

Day 3: Today we were picked up at 4a....eeek!
We hopped into the van and drove 2 hours into the mountains to El Tatio Geysers. The purpose of this early start was to experience the active geysers during sunrise. The contrast of the cold morning air and the boiling water/steam coming out of the ground create a visual spectacle. We arrived at the geysers at 6a, and the sun rose at 7a. During that hour the temperature was -6°C (about 21°F). Once again, we found ourselves unprepared for the cold. We had been warned that the morning temperatures could be brutal, so the night before we stocked up on locally knit hats, mittens and socks (all adorned with stick figures and llamas no less)! We then layered every piece of clothing we had (I think we wore six shirts a piece....cute, very cute). Cold....but, definitely worth it!

After an impromptu "geyser-side" breakfast, we headed to natural thermal bath. While the process of stripping down to our bathing suits (and then layering back up again) was torturous... to be sitting in a natural hot spring in such surroundings was awesome! We then visited another native village, and finished the day off hiking through a cactus forest. Needless to say, after 3 days of activity and early mornings we ended our last night with a wonderful meal and then fell into bed.


The following morning we flew back to Santiago to prepare for our voyage home.

We can't believe our journey has come to an end. It has exceeded all of our expectations and provided us with many welcome surprises. While we are sad to see it wind down, we are greatly looking forward to the comfort and familiarity of home!



Uh-oh!....you can even find a rival in the desert!

Santiago....and the troops arrive!!

After our arduous but successful border crossing, we arrived in Santiago, grabbed a quick bite to eat and hit the sack in preparation for our early morning journey to the airport to pick up Patty (Ray's mom) .

Patty arrived safely after her long redeye flight, and we headed to the hotel where we would be spending the next 5 days. To spend 5 whole days in one location can only mean one thing....backpack explosion!! We wouldn't have to be living out of our packs for 5 days....ah, luxury!!

*side note: this hotel was much more chic than our usual hostel accomodation [thanks to our gracious and generous parents-Patty & my mom and dad (who would be joining us in a couple of days)]. This new found indulgence included a mini bar, TV, air-conditioning, a beautiful pool area, restaurant and bar...not to mention wonderfully fast internet connection!

On Patty's first day, we headed to the city center to wander through some outdoor markets. Later we climbed to the top of Cerro Santa Lucia, where we found hazy, but exquisite 360-degree views of the city.


The following morning we took a guided tour back towards the Argentinean border, stopping at the San Estaban winery on the way. We then rode up the 27 steep s-curves through Los Andes to Portillo Winter Resort. Another breathtaking moment....an absolutely gorgeous location with a crystal blue lake settled amonst the mountains. The weather couldn't have been more perfect, warm and sunny with a cool mountain breeze. And despite our impeccable weather it was easy to visualize it's potential winter wonder in our mind's eye. We had a wonderful lunch at the resort, and then spent a couple of hours basking on the rocks at the lake's edge. Later we spent and entertaining evening at Bali Hai for a dinner show with typical Chilean dancers. Both Ray and I were pulled on stage multiple times, Ray was even suckered into a dance competition.....shook his booty with the best of 'em (we were proud)!!


The following morning we hit the streets once again....often the best way to explore a place. Visited the amazing Museo Chileno de Arte Precolombio (a museum that chronicles 4,500 years of pre-Columbian civilization). Later we continued to wander the streets, and through a small twist of fate ran into two hilarious girls from Denmark that we had given a ride to (2 weeks prior) in Bariloche, Argentina. After catching up with them, the three of us returned to the hotel, then headed out to a local seafood joint where we were awkwardly serenaded by a crooning Chilean Sinatra! Back to the hotel in time to greet the rest of our crew (my parents Ted & Nancy, sister Liz, and niece Willing), who had been traveling through Patagonia via boat for the previous few days.

The following morning (with our group complete-7 in all), we packed into our rental car and headed for the coast. Drove through Valparaiso and moved on to Vina del Mar (a well-groomed, garden city by the sea). We enjoyed a fabulous patio lunch and then spent the afternoon walking, lounging and frolicing (no joke...a few of us had the sillies) on the beach. Again, the weather was perfect. We piled back into our car, sunkissed and satisfied. Our trusty driver/navigator team (Ted behind the wheel, Ray in charge of maps) got us home for a shower and a catnap before heading out to catch some nightlife!


Next day....Vina Concha y Toro Vineyard and Winery (noticing a theme?....when in Rome, right?!). Some of you may recognize the name Concha y Toro as it is the largest exporter of Chilean wine. Had a wonderful tour of the vineyard followed by an excellent winetasting (paired with various cheeses)...Willing and I made an efficient team, she tackled the cheese (that I unfortunately can't), while I tackled the wine (that she unfortunately can't)! Off to the wine and gift shop both Patty and Liz did some damage....hard not to. Topped off the evening with a outdoor dinner in the trendy Bella Vista section of town.



On everyone's last day we headed to a wonderful and authentic artisan market before regrouping to head our seperate ways :( Patty off to Maine; mom, dad, Liz & Willing back to Connecticut; and Ray and I back to our "pre-parent" accomodations....hostel here we come!!

Next stop San Pedro....nearing the end!

Mendoza

Nothing all too exciting about our first day in Mendoza.....arrive, check-in, and hit the streets on foot to aquaint ourselves with the city.


The following morning we rented a couple of shoddy mountain bikes (a full day on these puppies will guarentee you saddle soreness for the next couple)! However, what they lacked in comfort, they made up for in efficiency...we were able to see quite a bit more than would have on foot. We headed to Parque General San Martin (1040 acres of forest within the city), rode up Cerro de la Gloria for the views, and then to an archaeological and natural sciences museum.


The next morning we took a bus (about 17 m southeast of the city´s center )to Maipú where we rented our 2nd round of bikes (this time spiffy red cruisers with wide cushy seats and baskets)! Mr. Hugo, the owner of the bikes, loaded us up with a map, a bottle of water and a glass of wine and then sent us on our way. We rode about 16 km in total stopping at a handful of local wineries. Some small and rustic, others a bit more built up. Most date back to the mid-19th century. *If you buy Argentinean wine at home (as we do), it most likely comes from here, as 70% of all Argentinean wine comes from the Mendoza region.


On our last full day here, we aimlessly wandered the streets....just observing and experiencing. A few of the streets we lined with people selling everything from extension cords & outlet converters to Hello Kitty socks & underwear (which of course Ray stocked up on).




The next day we hopped on the bus that would be taking us across the border into Chile. This border partol proved to be painstakingly thorough in their checks. Customs, baggage scans and searches.....but, most importantly NO plant and animal products to cross the border. Eight hours later we arrive in Santiago!

**this is where we "cheaked" our baggage.....

PATAGONIA

And to think we almost passed this area up! Realizing that we had just over 2 weeks to spend in Argentina, we were hesitant to head to the southern areas (as the bus journey alone would take 2 days each way). But, we were fortunate to find some affordable flights that would cut our travel time substantially....and man, did we make the right decision. The Patagonia region has been one of the major highlights of this entire trip!


Before I forget to mention, the weather throughout Costa Rica and Brazil was primarily high-90s/high humidity. Our first few stops in Argentina (when not rainy) were perfectly dry mid-70s. Now in southern Argentina we were met with gorgeously sunny days that ranged from 40-55 degrees! Brrrrr. We didn´t come quite prepared for these temperatures! As I write this, we have been in these cooler areas for a couple of weeks, needless to say our tans have faded.....


We flew from Buenos Aires to El Calafate, where we rented a car which allowed us our first taste of the "freedom of transport" in over 2 months! We drove to El Chaltén a small town roughly 200 km north of El Calafate. Both El Calafate and El Chaltén are small mountain towns filled with cozy restaurants/bars and climbing/trekking shops. We booked ourselves into a small hotel, and hit the sack. The following morning we loaded up on oatmeal and hit the trails. This hike was hands down the most amazing hike either one of us had ever done.....breathtaking, awe inspiring, pinch yourself beauty. We did a 26 km (roughly 16 mile) hike through the Fitz Roy range in the Andes, to Laguna de Los Tres. An amazing hike that took us through a huge array of terrains....mountains, deserts, rocky river beds, quirky twisted forests. The last hour was a tough steep climb, and what we found at the end was incredible...a deep teal green lake nestled between snowcapped mountains. We returned to town exhausted and content, had a delicious pint of beer and tasty meal, and then fell into bed.


The following morning we drove back to El Calafate and headed to the Perito Moreno Glacier. Wow...this thing is massive (3o km long, 5 km wide, and 60 m high). I had forgotten how incredible the almost indescribable blue-hue of a glacier is.



The following day we flew to Bariloche, rented car #2 (ok...now we´re just spoiling ourselves), and headed to El Bolsón. We had hopes of hiking one of the local mountains the following day. However, rain once again foiled our plans. We were advised by the "Mountain Club" in town, that not only the trails, but the dirt access roads would all be washed out due to the previous night´s rain...boo. So, we settled for a smaller (2 hour) hike. The hike itself was nothing special, but we ended at a beautiful waterfall, and due to the rainy conditions we had it all to ourselves!



The next day we headed back to Bariloche to explore the city. We found out that Bariloche is a big chocolate town. We hit up a few of the local chocolate hotspots (got a few free samples) to determine where we were going to make our big Easter purchase! Settled on a place called Mammushka...oh man, this stuff was good. Got ourselves a small varietal box and stashed it away for Easter (we would at least be celebrating the commercial aspect of the holiday)!






Next we bus to Mendoza....wine country.

Buenos Aires!

We flew to Buenos Aires and settled into our hostel "Chill House", an extremely modern and chic hostel with an amazing rooftop terrace that overlooks the city.....great find!


Our first day we explored a section of the city called Palermo, small streets filled with great shopping and restaurants....not to mention great "beautiful" people watching. People definitely put an effort into their appearance here. You can imagine we fit right in with the shabby backpacker clothing we'd been wearing for 2 months! That night we had an impromtu rooftop barbeque with 12 of our hostel-mates....so fun, and the food was wonderful. The night ended with very animated and multi-cultural game of sherades.



The following day we had hopes of scoring tickets to a futbol match between two Argentinean teams that are considered the biggest rivals in the world (Bocca vs. River). We ran into a few deterrents however. Not only were the prices astronomical, but we were warned multiple times about the true passion of the fans.....when attending this match, one runs the risk of either getting stampeded, hit with a dead chicken, or drenched with a flying bottle of urine. Yep...all set.

We were fortunate enough however to be invited to a local guy's house to watch the game (a friend of one of our hostel mates), so in the end we got to experience the game in the company of true fans and in the safety of their home...win win! Capped off the afternoon with some frisbee in the park (the Aerobie we brought along has been a HUGE hit)!



The next day we explored the Central portion of the city. Saw the Obelisco, Casa Rosada (where Evita sang from the balcony), and the amazing Cementerio de la Recoleta (a gorgeous cemetary for Argentina's elite)-a walled cememtary with massive and ornate statues and tombs. That evening we attended a fabulous tango show at one of Buenos Aire's oldest tango clubs. Such a fun evening.


***Here in Argentina, the wine flows like water. We've found mediocre bottles of wine (at restaurants) for $2.....and decent bottles for $6. Needless to say you can get a good bottle for $10! The red meat is plentiful and the starches are in full abundance...veggies (at restaurants), not so much. As in Brazil, we've found that the continental-type breakfast offered at the hostels/hotels often consist of toast and about 10-15 different versions of sweet cakes...no joke. We receive a basket of bread at almost every meal, and when ordering fish or meat it most often comes accompanied by rice and potato. So, we've just been telling ourselves "moderation, moderation"....and purchase fruits and veggies to snack on in the meantime!

Crossing the border...Brazil to Argentina

After our extremely LONG bus ride, we arrived in Foz do Iguaçu, the town famed for the amazing Iguaçu Falls. We settled into our hostel (and caught up on some sleep...it´s amazing how draining sitting on a bus can be). The next morning we took a bus to the Brazilian side of the falls. The Brazilian side is known to have the vast and incredible view, while the Argentinean side is a bit more interactive (you can essentially walk through them). WOW! what an incredible sight! There can be as many as 275 waterfalls roaring into the Rio Iguaçu at one time, it´s grandeur is truly impacting.



*once again, all of our pictures of the falls are on the other camera....



The following morning, we had a seamless transfer across the border into Puerto Iguazu, Argentina. We had planned to head to the Argentinean side of the falls later that day, but the weather was gloomy and wet, so we postponed it by a day. Well, the next morning we woke to find our hostel literally flooded! It had been (and continued to) torrentially down pour...so much that all the water that was rushing down the street was somehow directed straight into our hostel! The poor girl running the place was frantically trying to bail the dorm rooms and evacuate the unsuspecting sleepers. We helped her in redirecting the water, and salvaging anything we could. Needless to say, the day did not turn out to be waterfall viewing material, but an adventure nonetheless!!

Rio

We spent three full days in Rio, and unfortunately it poured for two of them...but, we didn't let it get to us. Keep on truckin'....



We stayed in a quaint area of the city called Santa Teresa. Set on a hill, with one narrow cobblestone street running it's length. There is a charming, rickety trolley that runs up and down the hill, and costs only 60 reias (or 30 cents) per person.

On our first morning, we went to Parque Nacional da Tijuca, where we spent the day hiking around in the rainforest (the perfect solution to the rain)! It was amazing to be in such a lush and beautiful forest in the middle of this grand city. The following morning we took a bus to the base of Pão de Acúcar or "Sugar Loaf" and then a cable car to the top. When we arrived there was thick cloud of fog covering the top, however within minutes the fog lifted and we had an outrageous viewof the city. That afternoon we stopped by Maracanã, Rio's stadium & 'shrine to futbol'. We had extremely high hopes of catching a live game, however we discovered that their usual midweek match was an away game....boooo. So, we wandered around the facility instead, sat in the bleachers, and cheered on our make believe teams! That evening unable to pass up a St. Paddy's celebration, we strapped on whatever green we could find and headed to Waxy's Irish Pub (where we found plenty of Irish spirit)!

The following morning we wandered through downtown Rio, and then headed for the beach that afternoon. We decided on Praia do Ipanema, as it is supposedly the hotspot for Rio's beautiful people....who doesn't love a little people watching, right?! Despite the overcast weather, the beach was still hopping and gorgeous! The following morning we took a train to the peak of Corcovado, where we saw the immense statue of Christ the Redeemer. Then hustled back to the hostel to shower and check out, and off to the bus station to board our 24 hour (yikes!) bus to Foz do Iguacu, a town that borders both Argentina and Paraguay.

Busin'......

Side note:
So while in Rio, an escalator ate my flip-flop. I'm serious. We were heading down to a ticket office to purchase our bus tickets, and upon disembarkation the teeth of the escalator snagged the toe of my flip flop and swallowed it. Of course the whole machine stopped due to the jam....embarrassing. In my mortification I was hoping for at least one empathetic smile or shake of the head....but no, just a substantial amount of "stink eye" from the people forced to use the stairs.
Despite the fact that I am pretty confident in both my escalator skills and the fact that this was a freak accident, I still received verbal instructions (in broken English) on how to properly dismount an escalator, "Must never touch the yellow line. Not here in Brazil, not in United States....not even in Europe". Thank you sir, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks to the three crafty mechanics, my shoe was extracted (quite beat-up, but still functional), and were sent on our way!

Salvador

Took our overnight bus and arrived in Salvador the next morning (and they even provided us with blankets and snacks this time....luxury)!


Our first full day in town, we took a small bus to the area known as the "old city". Salvador is a wonderful city, rich with history, culture, and colonial architecture. It is known as the "African soul of Brazil", as it was once the largest port for slave trade (in the 1600-1800s). The buildings and churches are magnificent, and the narrow, steep cobblestone streets remind you that you are a world away. We went to the local market Mercado Modelo where we found stall after stall of colorful clothing and handicrafts. Spent about 10 minutes bargaining with a woman on the price of a dress, and left having a bit of success....she came down 10 reias (roughly $5)!

Our time in Salvador fell on a weekend, providing us with an abundance of night life. Both of our dinners (Friday and Saturday nights) were accompanied by live music. The first night was wonderful...a female vocalist/guitarist (amazing voice) with her "one man band-esque" companion. He literally was sitting on the base drum upon whichhe kept the beat with his right hand, his left hand worked the other drums, symbols & wooden block...while he played the tamborine & chimes with his feet! They were great!


Oh...one thing I forgot to mention. A lesson we learned early on in our time in Brazil regarding ordering entrees....only order ONE entree for two people. Our first night in the country, I ordered what I assumed would be a normal, human sized sandwhich...silly fool. It arrived and with no exaggeration, it literally filled a typical dinner plate. No sooner had I exclaimed, "this thing could feed a family!", than a family of four sat down at the table next to us and ordered the exact same sandwhich to share between them! We made the mistake one more time, each ordered our own dinners, and received a feast fit for twelve. Since then we've been doing a lot of sharing when it comes to food!

Next stop Rio!!!

Olinda

We have spent the past two days in Olinda, which is the cultural counterpart to the larger city of Recife.

Olinda is a quaint city, with a very European feel. Narrow, cobblestone streets, brightly painted houses, and as our guide book puts it, "satisfyingly decaying architecture". We spent both yesterday and today exploring the many churches, museums, and hand-craft shops.

We befriended a local shop keeper, even though neither of us spoke the other's language. Basically we understood every 5th or 6th word! His name was Ruy, and he got a kick out of how close his name was to Ray's. He asked us how long our trip was, and when we told him he laughed and wrote down two phrases (which we later looked up). "90 dias nao ferias....aposentado", translation: 90 days is not a vacation.....it's retirement!

We had dinner at a nationally known restaurant called Oficina do Sabor, where we indulged in their house specialty....pumpkin stuffed with tilapia in a coconut sauce. Wow....our eyes were rolling as we ate. Soooo good!


In about an hour we'll be heading back to Recife to catch a 14 hr overnight bus to Salvador. We've found these overnight buses are ideal....extremely comfortable seats that almost fully recline, we don't lose any days to travel, and we omit the cost of a hotel! Go to sleep in one city, wake up in another!

Fortaleza, Praia de Pipa & Jacuma...

Ok...one more quick addition to bring us up to date. We let ourselves get quite behind on this bloggity-blog.

So, from Manaus we flew to Fortaleza (a city on Brazil´s northeastern coast). We stayed here only one night. A place to recharge from our sleepless night of flying, and a the perfect stop en route to our small town destinations! Stayed at a great hostel that reminded me of the Secret Garden. It looked like nothing from the concrete exterior, but once we entered it was all beautifully painted and lush. We basically spent the afternoon dropping our filthy Amazon clothes off with a sweet older woman who ran a "lavandaria", and catching up on sleep. The following morning we booked ourselves on an overnight bus to Natal, leaving at 9:15p....we had all day to kill. So, we stored our bags at the hostel and once again hit the streets. Spent the morning wandering through the local & free art museum. That afternoon we caught a matinee at the local movie theater that played their films in English with Portugese subtitles. I went back to pick up our laundry, and was about to cross the street when I saw all our clothes hanging along the sidewalk on a clothesline...with the sweet older woman standing guard! Too funny. Took that as a sign that they weren´t quite ready! Grabbed some dinner, then our clothes, and then headed back to the hostel for a quick shower. Off to the bus station for our overnight jaunt.


The following morning we woke in Natal. Switched buses, and headed to Praia de Pipa...a cobblestoned beach village, laden with great restaurants and adorable boutiques. We stayed in a wonderful hotel here. Priced no differently than we´d been used to, but this one had a beautiful pool, and a fabulous breakfast included....score! And the beaches we lined with incredible red/orange cliffs...breathtaking.



Next location....Jacuma (which is where we are presently). Now this is a really REALLY small town. Absolutely no English spoken here. And I don´t believe I´ve mentioned how poorly we squeak by with our Portugese. Where we could get by with Spanish...we are drowning with Portugese. The best we can do is use the fact that we stick out like sore thumbs to our advatage and let those who want to help us...help us! So, we got off the bus, and the bus driver essentially left us in the care of an old man...who we decided to trust. He then made a couple of phone calls, and brought us to a Brazilian/German hotel, run by an extremely accomodating German woman named Janice. It´s rather comical, because she´ll try to explain things in Portugese and when she realizes she´s getting no where she´ll switch to German....as if that´s any better! But, the three of us are getting by with A LOT of hand gestures. Her hotel is gorgeous. We don´t know, but it looks like she is the new owner and is doing quite a bit of work to it. It over looks the beach. We spent today at....the nudey beach! What an experience. We were expecting the clothing aspect of it to be optional. But, as soon as we stepped onto the beach we were greeted by a rather large naked man, who pointed us towards the changing (or un-changing station as the case may be) where one must disrobe if he wants to enter the beach! He also informed us of the beach rules....no photographs of other beach goers, no touching the other beach goers and lastly, no man is permitted on the beach without a woman. So, yes...that sums up today´s activities!


Hope all is well and we´ll be in touch soon. xoxo!

Entering Brazil!

We flew from San Jose to Manaus, a city in northern Brazil that lies on the Amazon River. Stayed overnight to allow us time to reconfigure our packs for our 3 day trek through the Amazon (which we were scheduled to start the following morning)....so excited!

The next morning we stored our extra belongings at the hostel, and were shuttled to a small port where we were to board the first leg of our transport. Here we met our fellow trekkers...a couple from Sweden who had just spent the past 40 days sailing across the Atlantic, a extremely comedic Australian couple, 2 young guys from Israel (who were preparing to spend the next 14 days in the jungle), and a mother & daughter from Canada.

We hopped in a small water taxi which brought us across the Rio Negro to where it met the Rio Amazonas. This was an amazing sight. Though the two rivers flow right into one another, there is a distinct line where they meet....black to brown. They are of not only different temperature and current, but of different composition. We got off the boat, and loaded our packs into a couple of vans which brought us to the next river port. On the way we stopped at a random shack (to allow the boat driver time to prepare the boat), where we we given the oppertunity to try a number of indigenous, exotic fruits. Hopped into boat #2, and off we went to the depths of the Amazon!

Upon arrival at the "lodge", we were introduced to our guide, Alan. We dropped our stuff at our bungalows, and came down for lunch. The dining area was basically a simple wooden building right on the river. As we descended the steps to the dining area, a young local man approached in his ridiculously simple wooden boat, with a recently caught fish that essentially filled the bottom of the boat...no joke. The fish was a Pira Racu (I'm probably butchering the name), but it is the largest scaled fish in the world. A prehistoric fish that acutually has lungs! The fisherman then proceeded to scale and filet the fish right there on the dock (we have pictures of the entire process....on the other camera).

After lunch we tried our hand at piranha fishing, with only a simple bamboo rod and some chicken fat for bait. It actually proved to be rather easy, as they bit as soon as you drop the bait. It was here that Alan told us that swimming was relatively safe, he just advised against it if we had any open or bleeding cuts. Despite all the potential dangers (gators, piranhas, leeches, anacondas, microscopic fish that swim up your pee stream and eat you from the inside out) people still swim here...Ray went in, I couldn't muster up the courage. After fishing we all piled into what was to be our "family skiff" for the next few days, and spent the afternoon animal watching. We saw many birds, monkeys, sloths, caimans, gray & pink dolphins.

Later that evening we returned to the lodge to change into our long clothes (to ward off the insects), and back into the boat to hunt some caiman. For those who don´t know, as we did´t, caimans are related to crocodiles. Here it was a Friday night, and we were actually going Crocodile hunting!! Guided only by the light of the moon, the driver navigated us through the dark waters. Alan was standing on the bow of the boat with his headlamp, scanning the coast for the reflection of eyes. Once spotted, he would signal to the driver who would kill the motor. We then coasted to the edge of the river, Alan laying on his belly, the caiman essentially paralyzed by the light...and he would just snatch it up! Incredible.



The next morning we woke early to view that animals at sunrise. Later that day, we took a 3.5 hr hike through the jungle. Being as the jungle is so dense, it is virtually impossible to see any wildlife...but, we did learn a lot about the flora & fauna. We were given the opertunity to eat a coconut worm. A grub that is planted into a coconut by a fly, that basically lives off the coconut...supposedly a favorite with the monkeys! Gronya and Dan (the Australian couple) jumped at the chance to try one, unfortunately followed by Ray! No kisses for at least a week....

We headed back to the lodge to regroup for the evening...we would be spending the night in hammocks in the jungle!

Arrived at our camp, took another 1.5 hr hike, then back to hang our hammocks. Cooked chicken and rice over the campfire...then spent the evening highly entertained by the Australians! And despite a rocky start (cockroaches & baby tarantulas)...we all eventually fell asleep to the sweet screeching of the howler monkeys!

Woke, ate a quick breakfast, loaded the boat, and headed to the house of a local family. We arrived and 4 of the 11 children were bathing in the river. Amazing to see how this family lives. What initially appears to be complete poverty, actually unveils itself as complete self-sufficiency & sustainability.

Back to the lodge, a quick lunch of the previous day´s catch (both Pira Racu & pirahna), and then already time to head back to Manaus.

We spent the next day exploring the city while we killed time prior to our late night flight to the coast of Brazil. We ended the day at a beautiful "European-esque" square of Teatro Amazonas, where there was a live musical show going on on an outdoor stage, the animated version of Peter Pan played on a nearby screen, steet vendors galor, kids dancing through bubbles....very festive very fun!

Drake Bay

On to our final Costa Rican destination....Drake Bay (the northern coast of Peninsula de Osa). We were originally planning to head to the southern end, but decided to stay north to maximize our remaining time.



Drake Bay is extremely remote, so remote that there are "maybe" two restaurants and only one small convenience store. That being the case, the local hotels provide you with three meals each day. While in route, we joked that we were heading to our "all inclusive luxury" resort.....more on this to come.

We took a bus from Dominical to a town called Palmar Norte, where we planned to catch our next bus to Sierpe. We were waiting at the bus stop, when a yellow schoolbus pulled up. Stupidly assuming the schoolbus was intended for students, we remained where we were. An older man looked at us and said, "Sierpe?"...to which we nodded, and then filed on the bus. Ah...the old familiarity of the brown bench seats and "pinch & slide" windows! The bus brought us to the small port of Sierpe, where we jumped on a small water taxi for an incredibly beautiful 1 1/2 hour jaunt to Drake Bay. The driver pulled as close to shore as he could, pointed us in the rough direction of our hotel, unstrapped our bags from the bow of the boat, and sent us on our way.

We hiked up the steep drive to our "all inclusive luxury" resort, and were given two options. "Would you like electricity or a view?". At that point, after a long and sweaty day of travel (and hauling our packs up the steep drive-me with one busted flip-flop), the electricity option (namely the fan option) greatly appealed. But, all it took was seeing the view for us to change our minds. Being so high up, it was incredible....full view of the Pacific.

We settled in to our little candlelit bungalow, took wonderfully cold showers, and headed to dinner. Being as the meals were all communal, we met A LOT of people at this hotel....another perk! And the food was great!

The next morning we took an hour hike to a very small beach on a very secluded cove. On our way we spotted a snake downing a rather large gekko....both amazing and chilling to witness. We set up our hammocks at the beach, and were just settling in when Ray spotted two Macaw tucans in the neighboring tree! Just as we were gathering our stuff to walk back, a troop of "white faced" monkeys passed through, one of which was holding a bag of chips...presumably snatched from the nearby trash can! A couple of people walked by at that point, and I think got a little too close for comfort, as one of the monkeys bared it's teeth and hissed...yikes. Their cue to back off!

On the way back to the hotel we checked out a local scuba dive company to inquire about the following day's dives. We were able to book ourselves on the dive boat leaving early the following morning...Whooopeeeee! They were so accomodating. Ray was able to complete the Discovery course with his instuctor (Jean-Paul), and do the afternoon dive with him. I did two dives with the divemaster (Kiki), and one other girl. Jean-Paul was kind enough to let me listen in on Ray's instructional "debriefing", as it had been 5 years since my last dive. We had a great time! Ray picked up all of the skills very quickly, and loved the experience. We saw a bunch of white tipped reef sharks, big manta rays, an octopus, eels, and tons of gorgeous fish.

Now time to pack up once again, and head back to San Jose for the night before flying to Brazil.
We connected with Jairo and Maria one last time. Maria picked us up to head out for dinner, but not before we headed to the emergency room! Jairo had suffered an ankle injury the night before during a soccer game. They took an xray, and luckily found no broken bones, but most likely a really bad sprain. No soccer for at least a month :( We told him we could skip dinner so that he could go home to rest, but he shook it off saying, "I can eat!". So, we headed out for a wonderful sushi dinner. Thanks again guys!