Costa Rica

We had a great time in Nicaragua but now we moved on to Costa Rica (after spending 4 hours at a border because of inefficiency, lack of reliable electricity and general confusion). We are now in Samara, Costa Rica on the Nicoya Peninsula doing more of the same: surfing, chilling and eating ice cream.  Our next move is to take a shuttle To Montezuma, it is supposed to be a huge pain to get to so fewer people make it down but we have blind faith in the guide book saying it is worth it.

P.S. A lot of the places we stay have free wifi but no actual computers. We have been using my phone to write and update blogs but are unable to upload pictures. Once we get to an actual computer Gergo and I will undertake a massive picture upload.

 

7 – 31 – 2010

Montezuma is a bit trickier getting to then one would expect when looking at a map. A taxi, two shuttles and about 5 hours got us from Samara to Montezuma. Montezuma is a small village made up of 3 streets that are only about 100 yards long each.  The streets are lined with restaurants, small hostels and tour companies.  Hippie artisans have set up shop with small tables made of driftwood in the street and the crashing waves on the beach nearby can be heard from anywhere in town.  The hotel that we stayed at was a steep $25 US dollars a night but we were a stone throw away from the beach and had wireless Internet (couldn’t manage a warm shower though). In the evenings we sat on the porch eating Chikys (a local cookie snack similar to keebler chocolate covered crackers), reading, drinking beer and listening to the waves…every so often we got distracted by the lightning bugs that hovered around the garden infront of us.
On our first day in Montezuma we stumbled upon an all volunteer run non profit called Proyecto Montezuma.  The volunteers helped us find a turtle conservation project to take part in, surfboard rental, gave us directions to a waterfall and signed us up for a snorkeling tour to Islas de Tortugas.
On our second day in Montezuma, we went on our snorkelling tour and saw tons of wildlife including puffer fish and a small eel. However, we saw no turtles and for a place called Islas de Tortugas it was semi dissapointing.
That night we packed a bag for our hike to the turtle conservation center or better known as turtle camp. We stowed most of our belongings at the proyecto montezuma office and with only one bag full of essentials we headed 30 minutes down the beach and through the jungle to Romelio Sea Turtle Conservation Center. The center had a rustic charm that we enjoyed (howler monkeys and iguanas were all around). The wildlife and the experience that we had helped to overlook some of the hardships (clothes never getting quite dry on the laundry line, having to sleep in a bunk room with 15 other volunteers and rice and beans being a major part of every meal).
Tasks were divided into 3 categories; projects during the day, patrols and hatchery duty at night. Our first project was to help build a retaining wall out of driftwood to help protect the hatchery area from the high tide. Basically 2 hours of lifting heavy logs. Our other project was to get sand from the beach 30 feet over up to the new hatchery being built. Basically, 2 hours of lifting heavy sacks of sand. After projects we felt absolutely beat up. Night patrol consisted of 3 groups of 2 to 3 people walking up and down the beach looking for nesting turtles. The staff member we were on patrol with had been helping research sea turtles for 12 years so we figured were in good hands. We found a turtle that was attempting to build a nest just above the tide zone, after taking measurements the staff member asked if we wanted to touch the turtle. At first we declined but then quickly reconsidered thinking how many more times could this possibly happen. We hesitantly poked it causing our leader to smirk and showed us how to more or less pet the turtle. The next evening from 8 pm to 12 am we were on hatchery duty. After a turtle painstakingly builds a nest the staff dig up the eggs and rebury them in the relative safety of the hatchery. Our job along with a staff member was to hang out in a hut next to the hatchery and walk through every 15 minutes to remove crabs, ants and any other pest that may want to eat the eggs. Between other animals eating turtle eggs and hatchlings as well as human poachers an average of only 1 in 1,000 sea turtles reach maturity, hence the reason for human intervention and assistance to help the turtles increase in population.
Montezuma has been great, saving the planet one turtle at a time, hiking to waterfalls, great food and even a bit of surfing. Our next stop is La Fortuna, a city next to active Arenal Volcano, hotsprings and hopefully one last volunteer opportunity!

 

8 – 2 – 2010

We left Montezuma and headed to La Fortuna and arrived 3 hours later than we expected (shuttle to a large ferry to another shuttle) to make for a 7 hour travel day. The hotel we stayed in was clean and friendly and we booked an all day tour for the next day.

The tour started with a suspension bridge canopy walk, where we saw a coati, poison dart frog, tucan, and wild turkeys. After our forest walk we were taken to an impressive waterfall then given a typical Costa Rican lunch consisting of rice, beans, plantains, chicken, and a small salad. After lunch the guide took the group to the Arenal volcano – one of the most active volcanoes in the Western hemisphere- where we patiently waited for lava but only saw clouds. Finally we headed to “natural” hot springs which was turned into a twelve pool resort complete with a swim up bar and water slides. Even though it wasn’t what I expected our group had fun heading from pool to pool testing the temperature of each (ranging from 92 to 130 degrees F).

That evening we meet up with our friends from Belize, Nic and Laura, for some drinks and silly pictures one last time on our central American tour. The next morning we were up early once again and after a hot(!!) shower began the trek to the Monteverde region.

Although the transportation was called jeep-boat-jeep it turned out to be another shuttle-ferry-shuttle trip into Santa Elena. We set off in search of our last volunteer opportunity and started at Santa Elena reserve. We were surprised to find out that volunteering would be working from 8:30 – 5 carrying sacks of rocks up the mountain to be used for trail; lunch, transportation, and housing would not be provided. We instead opted for a coffee coop called Cafe Monteverde. We are spending our days drinking too much free coffee learning about the coop (42 farms participate), visiting farms, and doing odd jobs like painting and repairing fences.

Last night we went on a night tour and saw two sloths, a porcupine, walking sticks, tarantulas, and a tree frog. On all the tours the guides have been incredibly educated about the wildlife and have had an incredible nack for finding wildlife we never would have spotted. All guides are licensed and must complete courses in history, biology, and ethics.

There are still 4 days left here in Santa Elena where we plan to visit a local artisan shop and go on a zip line tour. Less than two weeks left until our return!

 

8 – 3 – 2010

Once again my dad has been asking great questions that I would not have thought to talk about. Here is a selection which also includes a few questions from my friends too.

How do you know what bus/shuttle/boat to get on?

In most countries we have taken public buses and we learned quite quickly to make friends with the guy collecting money. Once befriended, he’ll point you to the correct bus at one of the cities the bus is going through. Almost none of the buses are direct but all will take you to a town that you can transfer to the correct one.

The money collector is a bit of a special guy. He usually takes his place in the front stairwell of the bus his main job seems to be to pack the bus well beyond a safe and comfortable capacity. He does this by yelling the bus destination while hanging out the open door as the bus is slowing down. When the bus slows down to about 10 mph he jumps out running up to the people waiting for the bus grabs their bags and takes them to the roof of the bus. depending on the patience of the driver the guy comes through the bus doors or has to crawl down the ladder and enter through the emergency exit while the bus is in motion. The money collector then gets to his actual job of remembering the faces of all new passengers and collecting money.

Sometimes we take a shuttle and in those cases it quite easy; the driver takes us to his portion of the drive then we get on the next ferry or bus by looking for the same company logo.

Also The Loney Planet – Central America on a Shoestring book has really helped us navigate from town to town.

Are the towns safe?

Neither Gergo or I have felt in danger while traveling. Sometimes we will walk around after dark and if the street is strangely isolated we’ll turn around.  However in almost all occasions everyone we encounter (local or foreigner) has been extremely nice and helpful.

Do you meet other people or is it you two the whole time?

We have met many other travelers either going the same direction as us, coming from where we are going, or just on a short vacation. It’s been great meeting so many different types of travelers a few we kept running into and almost all had great recommendations on places to sleep, eat, or visit.

What does a typical meal consist of?

In each country the staple food is rice and beans mixed with the local specialty. Belize we had fresh fish, Guatemala had a lot of corn tortillas with chicken, Nicaragua added chicken (but mostly rice and beans), and Costa Rica has a choice of meat, salad and fried plantain along with rice and beans of course. The rice and beans mix is called Gallo Pinto which is a bit confusing because it translates to spotted rooster…we haven’t asked.

Its a tropical climate, does that mean there’s fruit every where? What kinds?

There is a lot of fruit around and many times we are hiking the air will smell sweet from ripe fruit on the ground. Fruit grown here includes bananas, plaintains, oranges, mango, coconuts, limes, guava, avocados, and starfuit. They also grow a lot of corn, sugarcane, peanuts, and beans.

Are iguanas everywhere?
Not until Costa Rica did we see iguanas. Even here they are not abundant. But we have seen lots of fish, insects, birds, and monkeys

What is the most useful/helpful thing you packed?

I would say the mosquito net and our own sheet and pillowcase. Gergo thinks the knife we brought (thanks Sonya!) and our guidebook.

Did you pack stuff you haven’t used or is there something you wish you would have brought?

I brought hair product to make my hair not frizzy but I haven’t used it once. Not because my hair is frizz free but because the time I spend getting ready is minimal.

Gergo: Beanie hat because it has not been cold enough and socks because his shoes were stolen. Gergo wishes the dogs could have come along.

Do you walk a lot with your pack on?

Nope. Most of the time we have it on to walk to the bus or from the bus to the hostel. Usually under 10 min. at a time but they are easier to throw on top of a bus while it’s moving or to use while walking down a steep hill than any other luggage.

Are you ready to come back to Austin?

Yes and no. We both miss friends, family, and familiar food but it feels like we just left yesterday.