Dominical

We now arrive in Dominical...one last laid-back beach town before hitting the beauty and isolation of Peninsula de Osa!


Despite it's similar mellow vibe, this tiny town appears to be much more family oriented. Lots of kids here...and with it's vast and rambling beaches and extremely shallow water, it proves to be the ideal playground!

We stayed at a place called Tortilla Flats...simple rooms, but excellent food (recommended by guy from Virginia who has been living in the area for the past 10 years). Huge stips of calamari with spicy plum sauce....oh yeah. And breakfast- eggs, gallo pinto (rice & beans), tortillas and fresh avocado...totally hit the spot!

We explored the town all morning, bought ourselves a pineapple for lunch, and then hit the beach for the afternoon. Ray rented a surfboard for round #2, while I signed on as "photo documenter". He got up! Twice! His initial frustration quickly dissolved into the satisfaction of success! Of course the pictures are on the other camera :(

Then we showered and headed out for another amazing meal at a local organic restaurant (I guess we ate well today!). And to top the meal off, a VW bus pulled up right in front of the restaurant and about 4 guys spilled out to put on an incredible "fire throwing" show!




On our walk back to the hotel, we ran into a couple from Scotland & England (that we had met earlier in the day) who had the room next to ours. Before we knew it, the four of us were having a blast dancing the night away at the local dance club....too funny, such a whirlwind of a night.






*One last thing....Attn: Mainers & mountain lovers alike....see anything in this photo that you recognize?!

Montezuma

It feels odd to have been on the computer 3 days in a row, but we´ve found that hopping online for 1/2 hour here and there is a brief but heavenly escape from the mid-day heat!

A quick side note that I neglected to mention in the last post...
While on Scott & Carol´s boat off the coast of Potrero, we were watching a troop of monkeys swinging through the tree tops...marveling at their grace and accuracy. Hard to tell exactly how many there were, our best guess being about 4 adults and 2 little ones. At one point one of the babies attempted one of the big leaps from one tree to the next and missed his mark. He the proceeded to fall about 30 feet (with the 6 of us scared to view the outcome)...but, he actually caught himself on one of the low branches. By his tail no less!! He then sat on the low branch for about 5 minutes, most likely shaking away the stars and catching his breath. The adult that must have been his mother waited patiently for her little guy to gather himself and slowly climb back up to join her and they continued on. Live and learn little one, we´re glad you´re ok!

So, from Potrero we had an extremely long day of bus/ferry travel (12 hrs). We arrived that evening in Montezuma, the small beach town that we decided to hide out in for the next 4 days. This place is awesome! The majority of the coast is rocky, however there are sweet little sandy inlets scattered throughout. We took the laidback beach vibe to heart during our stay here. Didn´t do a whole lot, other than walking the beautiful coastline by morning, and took to our books in our hammocks by afternoon. One morning we did hike up to the Montezuma falls. A fun steep hike (so vertical that the trails had ropes for stability), up to 3 waterfalls. Each emptying into the next, with beautiful cool-water swimming holes, the highest of which had a rope swing. Believe it or not, these falls were an even better ¨heat escape¨ than any internet cafe ;)


Great food, good company (always meeting interesting fellow backpackers), a relaxing few days.
Ahhh....

A goofy self-portrait while treading water....


Next we´re headed to Dominical (just south of Manuel Antonio), and then on to Peninsula de Osa for a handful of days. Can´t believe that we fly to Brazil in less than a week!

Hope you all are well....we miss and love you!
xoxo..K&R

Tamarindo and Potrero

*For those following...the computer connection cord that we brought with us only works with our small camera. We do have some great pictures on our better camera, but unfortunately are unable to share them until we return!

We left Monteverde at 6am, took our standard ¨3 bus¨ journey, and arrived in Tamarindo later that afternoon. Tamarindo is a beach town riddled with surfers, beautiful beaches, and incredible sunsets.


That night we went to Ray´s uncle Scott and his wife Carol´s house, where we had a delicious dinner along with their friends Lucy and Darrel. Scott and Carol own three rental properties in the town of Potrero, and this one in particular is AMAZING (wish we had pictures to share). A three story town house of brand new construction, and beautifully decorated. All of the furniture in the house (along with the furniture in the other two units) is made from the wood of one Guanacaste tree...beautiful dark, handcarved wooden pieces. A great evening overall!

The next morning we were planning to take a surfing lesson as a ¨refresher¨, as both Ray and I have only surfed twice in our past, both times over a year ago. However, at the last minute we opted to rent boards for a 1/2 day, and save ourselves the money. Reasoning: we technically know what we´re supposed to do out there, now we just need the practice. Uhhh...yeah. In our morning of surfing Ray got up once, and me not so much! Pretty much spent the morning getting pummeled by waves....still fun nonetheless. We´ve not been defeated, we plan to give it another go!

Just to keep the travel ¨faux pas¨coming....Later this afternoon we realized that I had left my ATM card in the machine the day before. Doh! We knew our chances of getting it back looked grim, but stopped by the bank just in case. Armed with my passport and a photocopy of my card, I spewed out a clumsy attempt at ¨El cajero automatico se ha tragado mi tarjeta¨(the automatic teller machine took my card). SUCCESS, I am once again in possession of my card! We couldn´t believe it...luck was on our side. From now on I will always remember to hit the ¨exit¨ button before leaving the ATM.


On our 3rd and final day in the Tamarindo area, we joined Scott, Carol, Lucy and Darrel for an amazing day on their boat. Wow...it was perfect. A day filled with snorkeling, swimming, isolated beaches, picnicing, sun and cold cerveza...doesn´t get much better. Thank you thank you thank you to our gracious hosts!!



Next stop....Montezuma.

Volcan Arenal & Monteverde

We´ve let over a week slide by, without report...I will attempt a somewhat brief summary! We left off having arrived in La Fortuna, a town at the base of Volcan Arenal. The following morning Ray suprised me by secretly booking a birthday massage, given by a tiny local woman....and wow, it had to have been one of the best I´ve ever had! Later that afternoon we took a fabulous tour which included a hike at the base of the volcano to a gorgeous waterfall, followed by a stop at the viewing deck (where we were fortunate enough to see an abundance of lava rocks rolling down the face.....spectacular). The guides then brought us to Baldi Hotsprings for dinner and a night of soaking in the MANY springs (ranging from 90-150 degrees F)! These particular springs are definitely geared towards tourism, far from the rustic natural springs that once solely existed...but, a heavenly indulgence nonetheless! We were even able to catch the last 4 minutes of the the 4th quater of the Superbowl (at the swim-up bar)....yah Saints!



The following morning we took a Jeep-Boat-Jeep combination to travel from La Fortuna, across Laguna de Arenal, to Moneverde cloud forest. We found an amazing hostel in Santa Elena (a small town neighboring Monteverde)....brightly painted rooms and bathrooms, and an amazingly upbeat and accomodating staff.

We unloaded our bags and immediately booked ourselves on a Canopy Tour via ziplines! Thirteen lines in total, one running over 1km in length! They ended with a ¨surprise¨...a Tarzan rope swing!! So fun. This one I forced myself to do, as there´s almost nothing worse than regret. The guide may have had to give me a little shove off the platform...not sure. A 30+ ft drop followed by an adrenaline filled swing over the lush green rainforest. No regrets!
Our time in La Fortuna and Monteverde were filled with tourism type adventure. The area is rich with wildlife and oppertunity, that we figured we´d tag along with the experts to get the full experience.

The following morning we took a long hike to an amazing viewpoint from which we could actually see the Golfo de Nicoya and the Peninsula de Nicoya. That evening we took a guided ¨night hike¨. A bit eerie, which made it that much better. With only our flashlights and our guide, we hit the forest with hopes to see the abundance of noctunal wildlife. Success! We saw a mama and baby sloth, an opossum, a huge variety of insects, a venomous viper, and then a mouse (who most likely didn´t stand a chance), and last but not least...a huge tarantula (eeeeek)!

The next morning we woke up for an early tour of a local organic coffee plantation (one of 20 + in a co-op). This was a wonderful experience. It ended up just being me, Ray, the elderly farmer (Juan), his 4 year old granddaughter, and our guide. We spent the first hour learning all about the growing, harvesting, cleaning, and drying of the beans. We then sat on Juan´s porch sipping his ¨sundried¨coffee and eating freshly baked bread....one of those situations where you have to pinch yourself. We then drove back to town to learn about the roasting and packaging of the beans, and were able to sample the other 3 varieties.

We spent the rest of the day regrouping in preparation for our jaunt to the next destination. Splurged on dinner...Latin Fusion tapas....incredible. Yum....

And the Rest of the Caribbean Coast...

It´s been a few days since we´ve had access to a computer....but, we´re still here. Let us play some catch up!

From Puerto Viejo we rented a motorbike for the day/night and scooted farther south down the coast to Manzanillo, and then backtracked to Playa Uva where we found a great bungalow to spend the night. Our tiny abode was nestled into the jungle, however, the ocean was in full view as soon as we stepped out the door. Beautiful.

*Allow us to backpedal and mention that this day in particular turned out to be continuous string of challenges. We woke (me quite pathetic with not only a sunburn, but the first twinges of Montezuma´s Revenge, which fully developed throughout the day) to find a couple of minor possessions had been taken. Just a flashlight & our new giant bottle of clean water. Obviously not a huge deal, but still...NO STEALING!!! Despite our efforts in prevention, Ray later joined me in the sunburn department...and our bike feeling a little left out got a flat.

Over the following two days we took a handful of buses to the small river port of Pavona, where we hopped into a small boat that puttered us down the most amazingly beautiful canals and rivers to the village of Tortuguero. Tortuguero, which literally means turtle place, is best known for it´s hordes of hatching turtles (unfortunately, it is not currently turtle season). However, the area instantaneously became our favorite thus far....it is amazing! Toruguero is only accessible by plane or by boat, which creates the notion that you are in an secret haven. No cars and an abundance of wild life....can´t get much more remote. We spent the next couple of days exploring the Parque Nacional Tortuguero, which is completely riddled with monkeys, crocodiles, various lizards, birds, you name it. We took a 5:30am canoe tour, followed by a hike later in the afternoon. We were required to rent rubber boots for the hike, if a snake strikes it´s most likely to strike between the ankle and the knee.....comforting. Beautiful beautiful beautiful...We would recommend this area to anyone.

After 3 days and 3 nights here, we bused back to San Jose in preparation to head NW. We connected once more with Jairo & Maria, who took us to an amazing restaurant with the most incredible view of San Jose. We feasted on authentic Costa Rican cuisine while a handful of teenage traditional Costa Rican dancers provided us with energetic and colorful entertainment. A WONDERFUL night....thank you again Jairo and Maria. This morning we hopped back on a bus to La Fortuna, a town at the base of Volcan Arenal. We have an incredible view of the massive volcano from our hostel window....surreal. We will be hiking the base tomorrow afternoon, followed by dinner and then a dip in the natural hot springs.

XOXO

K & R

Puerto Viejo

We are in Puerto Viejo now. A town further down the Caribbean coast. A bit more touristy, but still gorgeous! This is a huge surfing area, but it is definitely geared toward the expert. Ray and are itching to try our hand at surfing again, (as we have both had lessons about a year ago), but the rough water and coral reef are telling us to find a beach a little better suited for us...at least for now!

We are staying at a place called Crocodile Surf (where you can choose from a simple bungalow or the campgrounds). We opted to pitch our tent (thanks Will), and hang our hammocks for a cheap and relaxed stay. Weŕe off to spectate a local surfing tournament this morning, and might rent a motorbike tomorrow to explore the surrounding towns/beaches.


While we have had a few sunny breaks, the weather has been mostly overcast with off and on rain...therefore our freckles are awaiting their grand debut!
All our love,
xoxo....K & R

We´re here!

So yes, we safely arrived in San Jose on Monday afternoon! Settled in to our hostel, and then joined our friend Shayla´s Costa Rican friends (Jairo & Maria) for a delicious dinner.

The following morning we took a 4hr bus ride to Cahuita (which is a small village on the southern Caribbean coast). This is our second night here, but it has already proven to be a fabulous 1st stop. Small town, mellow vibe, hardly any tourists in sight....perfect.
Gorgeous black sand beach "Playa Negra".

We went for hike today in Parque Nacional Cahuita, and then capped off the afternoon with a little 2 on 2 futbol with a couple of local 8 yr olds...which we lost.

Off to find a bite to eat...will be in touch soon.
Hope all is well,
xoxo...R & K