- Brazil, Central America, Europe, Greece, Independent travel, North America, Photography, South America, Thailand, Travel Blog, USA, Wildlife
Countdown To Rio
It’s that time again. Never mind counting the days, we’re just arriving at the stage where we’ll be counting the hours until we lock the doors behind us and head to Heathrow to start our next great adventure. The exotic, vibrant city of Rio de Janeiro awaits, one of the world’s greatest carnivals about to begin, romantic sounding locations like Copacabana, Ipanema and Corcovado soon to be on our doorstep. It’s a little over a week until the journey begins. After waking up on New Year’s Day many thousands of miles from home in each of the last two years, this feels like a late start for us and the…
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Costa Rica Pura Vida
Rather like “hakuna matata” in certain African countries, “pura vida” can be heard, and seen, everywhere in Costa Rica, and really does have as many uses as the picture above suggests. It’s the motto of the national brewing company Imperial, it even appears on the national football team’s shirts. Above all, it conveys the contentment and happiness of the Costa Rican people. Costa Rica is a rather enlightened nation, one which receives envious glances from larger nations and greater powers across the globe, in terms of its environmentally friendly policies and its relationship with the natural world. It isn’t hidden and is most certainly not a role played by posturing…
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Hallelujahs In Alajuela
Including a break for lunch it takes about five hours to drive across country from the coast to Alajuela – it’s good advice when travelling Costa Rica’s roads to allow plenty of extra time, these roads are slow and there are regular delays. Alajuela, the country’s second city yet within easy reach of the capital, is our last port of call here, mostly for convenience as we are now close to both the airport and the COVID testing facility which is needed for entry in to the USA. Along with a fair pile of paperwork. A wander around Alajuela city centre takes in the cathedral, the adjoining green square and…
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Potrero: To The Lonely Sea And The Sky
We’re sitting in the balmy breeze beneath the swaying palm trees on Sunday evening when we first hear news of the eruption, some seven days after the event. It seems that Turrialba, one of Costa Rica’s more active volcanoes, experienced its most violent eruption since 2011 last Monday and deposited significant amounts of volcanic ash over areas which we have travelled through since then – yet we only learn of it now! Not sure how we missed that. Choosing our location for this last full week of our Costa Rica tour hasn’t been completely straightforward; the northern Pacific coast has a fairly high number of over developed resorts, which we…
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Lakes & Mountains Of The Central Highlands
Two things which are a regular aspect of our travel but haven’t yet featured in Costa Rica, each come into play on our journey from Cartago to Atenas: a train journey, and a hire car. The rail service here is extremely limited, with just two short lines heading out of San Jose in different directions, one of which is, handily, to Cartago. Once the transport of fruit started to switch from rail to road, the railways steadily fell into disrepair and each time an earthquake wreaked havoc, another section was abandoned. Some modest investment has recently enabled purchase of old stock from Spain and new stock from China (not Derby,…
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Cartago: In The Shadow Of Irazu
Our arrangements for the journey from Tortuguero to our next base are a bit on the sketchy side. The instructions are to be down at the riverside at 8.30am and ask for Kendall, who will take us in his boat to the nearest point where the road meets the river, at La Pavona one hour’s ride away, where we are to ask for a man named Robert, who will drive us to San Jose. After that we have to find the bus to Cartago. At precisely 8.30 a man in a blue polo shirt approaches us saying “La Pavona?”. He isn’t Kendall but he knows which is our boat. Later,…
- Central America, History, Independent travel, Photography, Transport, Travel Blog, Walking, Wildlife
Tortuguero: Beyond Roads
Two of Cahuita’s most colourful characters are downtown on our last night in the village, firstly the “Latin Hendrix” who is again strumming his guitar and wisecracking in Luisa restaurant, seemingly amusing himself as much as anyone else, like all good performers. Our other new friend Boa, meanwhile, is in Coco’s Bar and has obviously had more than enough booze already, his normally darting eyes unfocussed and his walk decidedly unsteady. We chat for a while, kind of, until a waiter tells Boa that it’s time for him to go home, and by his actions it’s clear that Boa is intending to ride his motor bike home despite being too…
- Central America, History, Independent travel, Photography, Travel Blog, Walking, Wildlife, World food
Spiders, Snakes & Reggae: Tales Of The Caribbean
Cahuita village sits neatly on a small rounded headland jutting out into the Caribbean from the lush green jungle, with two very different beaches either side of its centre, Playa Negra and Playa Blanca. As the names would suggest, one consists of black volcanic sand, the other the pristine white sand of tropical paradise, the latter inside the national park. In between the two, rocky deposits of dead coral form a natural barrier. After a couple of false starts we find some properly tasty Caribbean food, our enjoyment of which is enhanced by the live music of a local character nicknamed the “Latin Hendrix”. We’d actually read about this guy…
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Eastwards To The Caribbean
The time has come to move on and bid farewell to La Fortuna and its imposing, looming volcano, and farewell to all of the great things that the Arenal area has to offer. Our week in La Fortuna has been so full of experiences and activity that we’ve barely mentioned how settled we’ve felt here. This town may be a popular destination for visitors to Costa Rica, but for us it’s been just the right blend of plenty of options without being over cooked. Recommendation wise, our favourite restaurants have been Snapper’s House with its fabulous seafood, a sumptuous family run Peruvian restaurant named Chifa La Familia Feliz, and a…
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Adventures & Adrenaline In La Fortuna
We’ve had some pretty amazing adrenaline adventures before – whitewater rafting, tombstone dives, even a bobsleigh run – and now La Fortuna goes into our history as a place where we have matched or even surpassed those thrills. Ever thought of coming down a mountain via zip wire? Nor had we, until the temptation was just too strong…. It’s on the Monday that whoever is in charge of La Fortuna weather throws a few switches and changes a few dials. Heavy cloud cover replaces bright sunshine, regular bouts of torrential rain flood the soakaways and send everyone running for shelter, and the imposing Arenal volcano disappears from view completely. The…
