“The froggery...”

Coming back to Costa Rica has left me with mixed feelings. So many good memories from my trip almost 10 years ago have me excited to return. However, memories have a way of becoming polished with age, so each day we drew closer in Nicaragua, I was left wondering whether this trip would live up to the expectations that my previous experiences have grown in my mind. Would everything have drastically changed beyond recognition, or would that magic I remembered from before now be gone? They say you can never go home again, because the home you remember doesn't exist anymore. The moment that you leave, two different paths are created, and you are not there to change with it as you are off being influenced and changed by a different set of experiences. Today however, I realized that the magic is still here in Costa Rica, you just have to work a little harder to get past the newly polished tourist fed exterior to find it.


Today was an adventure filled day full of waterfalls, frogs, and hot springs. We started off by driving up to the Fortuna waterfalls, a 70 meter high ribbon of water that explodes into a deep pool below. After paying our admission, we descended down into the canyon and were soon swimming in the brisk waters. I made a brief scouting voyage across the river along the path and found a better vantage point for the waterfalls. After some careful barefooted steps through the rainforest, I returned to get Denielle, and we hiked our bags across the river.

We had read about an ecological park just outside of town, so we went to see what it was all about. 11 years ago this place was a bean farm, and now it looks like any old growth secondary rainforest. Right away we saw some toucans make short work of a banana, and soon after up high in the trees an upside down sloth. I had a picture of the sloth, but it just looked like a sack of fur from where we stood. The rest of the park consisted of a 600 meter walking path, a butterfly enclosure, a lagoon, and a frog enclosure. Denielle spotted a red eyed tree frog sleeping, so naturally I prodded it ever so gently to get the photos. This was by far the coolest wildlife I have ever seen.

In the lagoon we saw a basilisk lizard, some kind of strange herons, and I was able to spot the difficult to see caiman. The frog enclosure allowed us to see a blue jeans poison arrow frog. It’s named so because it has blue legs and a red torso, making it look like its wearing pants. Feeling like we received good value for our admission, we donated 1 dollar for local school children to plant a tree to protect the Fortuna River, and made our way back to town. We kept on driving through town towards the volcano, still shrouded in clouds, to inquire about the costs for a nice evening hot springs soak. The one location that I had visited last time I was here had gone quite upscale and was charging 35 dollars per person, which included a towel and locker according to the man at the front. This was supposed to be the cheapest option available.

After returning home and having a brief snack, Google let us know about the location of a free hot spring, coincidentally right next to the 60 dollar per person, 400 dollar per night resort hot springs. We zipped up the road, parked next to the bridge, and walked down the path to the Tabicon River. There were numerous local families sitting in the hot waters of the river, and we waded in to join them, even more knowing that we were saving 70 to 120 dollars. Tomorrow we will try hiking around the volcano park and maybe will get to see some lava, and then it’s off to the cloud forests.

Tyler.

“Attack of the coatamundis...”

We’re sitting at the base of yet another volcano, this time in Costa Rica at Volcan Arenal in La Fortuna. Leaving behind the strong winds of Nicaragua was a little more difficult due to the bureaucracy at the border. Our longest border crossing yet took just under 2 hours, about half to leave Nicaragua and half the time to enter Costa Rica. The car received a drive through fumigation, and we were relieved of a few dollars to help jump the line and speed up the process.

In Liberia we encountered a Toyota dealership and tried to get an oil change as we are now at just over 9,500 km. Apparently they don’t have the Matrix here, and the filter we need will take just under a week to get here. So we booked an appointment and continued on towards La Fortuna. Along the serpentine road that follows manmade Lake Arenal we came across a large herd of coatamundis. These are the raccoon like animals we first encountered while camping in Arizona at the Mexican border. As we got out of the car, the herd quickly approached. I grabbed my camera and got a few shots of the animals harassing Denielle for food. We didn’t give them any as you should keep the wildlife wild, but it was quite apparent they are used to receiving lots from tourists due to their tame nature.

It’s rainy here now, so we can’t see the top of the volcano, which we are now accustomed to, but will try to see it tomorrow from the comfort of the hot springs after a day at the waterfalls. Hope everything is well at home. Hasta la vista.

Tyler.

“Monkey knife fight...”

Furious George ain’t so pretty anymore. We rented kayaks and toured the river and came across quite a few howler monkeys. I’ve attached a video of one monkey we saw walking from tree to tree. Then that evening turned out to be the night of the spiders. Just as I was walking over to turn off the light, there was a rather large spider standing in my way. I would say it was a little bit bigger than a toonie; quite a large banana spider. Naturally, Denielle was quite enthusiastic at observing such a wonderful specimen of local fauna. I was then charged with removing said spider, but before I could shoo it out the door, it ran under the other bunk bed. Problem solved, or so I thought.

I climbed up into the top bunk after turning out the light, only to have Denielle leap out of the bottom bunk moments later as something had landed in her hair. She turned on the light, and with some help, reasoned that it was likely a moth, as spiders don’t fly. I suggested turning on the fan to keep the other moths from perturbing her sleep. So I shook out her sleeping bag and pillow to show that there were no more cuddly creatures waiting, as she watched from the top bunk. As I went to move the fan, I caught a brief glimpse out of the corner of my eye of something that shouldn’t be under the base of a fan. I quickly replaced the fan in hopes that it was a figment of my imagination, but Denielle was already alert to something being amiss.

I lifted the fan once more, this time to find a spider, approximately the size of a mouse, waiting to see what my next move was. Probably some sort of small tarantula, not really a spider at all, but still the largest arachnid I had personally seen outside of a zoo. After gathering courage and Denielle’s nearby sandal, I courteously ushered our new friend along the floor and out the door. After placing my sheet under the bed to prevent further friends from coming in, we were set to sleep.

The next day we set off to find out about climbing the larger volcano. After settling our tab at the previous hotel, we were left with $110 dollars in our pockets as the ATM on the island did not like either of our bank cards. We picked up some groceries, ate breakfast in the car, and walked down to one of the main tour offices. After recent volcanic activity, and winds that had prevented the ferries from operating the previous two days, hikes on the big volcano now only went to the 1000m mark, far below what we had climbed on the smaller volcano, and for a staggering 50 dollars per person. That was enough convincing to come back to the mainland, where I now sit back in San Juan del Sur, preparing for Costa Rica in the morning. The tentative plans are Volcan Arenal and La Fortuna for a few relaxing days of liquid hot magma, hot springs and waterfalls, and then a few days in the cloud forests of Monte Verde before returning to the coast of the Nicoya Peninsula.

Tyler.

“Monsters on volcano island...”

We met with our guide at 7 in the morning and proceeded to walk towards the lesser of the two volcanoes on the island. With gallo pinto in my belly, and Denielle fuelled by pancakes, we were in for a 9 hour round trip, deep into the belly of the beast. It would turn out that Volcan Maderas was lesser only in elevation and not experience. Extinct for over 800 years, the hot spot had shifted to the taller, still active Volcan Concepcion on the north side of the island, allowing the jungle to take over. Our trip here began when we boarded the ferry in San Jorge, on the west side of Lake Nicaragua. The winds, as always, blew strong and upon leaving the safety of the harbour, the ferry began to rock violently side to side. Fears of the car sliding off into the side were quelled once the boat turned to face the six foot swell head on. The waves on this side of the lake were the biggest we had seen in Nicaragua so far, and this was on the lake and not in the ocean. We offloaded the car and drove across the island on some of the worst roads we have encountered to date and found a nice hostel right on the water for 10 dollars a night where we could hike straight up the volcano first thing in the morning.

Having no real idea of what to expect other than the length of the hike, we began with great anticipation for what lay ahead. As the path elevated and the trees enclosed, we heard our first indication of the monsters on the island. Of course there are monsters on an island formed by not one, but two volcanoes in the middle of a tropical lake. Close your eyes and think back to the first time you watched Jurassic Park, now open your eyes and you are there with us. We climb higher and higher towards the ever present clouds that shroud the top of the volcano. As we get higher, the prehistoric roars grow louder, and closer, then quiet and further away. Several hours in, our path now consists of nothing more than a plethora of roots and mud, straight up a ridge not more than two meters wide with either side falling precipitously off to oblivion. This is no Sunday walk in the park. Hooking into roots with the hands while the feet slip helplessly off the mud and the clay, we slowly work our way to what I think, and what Denielle hopes is the top of our ascent.

Well within the clouds now, every step threatens to sink under the mud, filling the shoes, only to suck back, ready to claim the next foot. It is clear that we are on the top now, but we do not stop. Now we descend into the crater, going down now more treacherous than going up. The clouds briefly open below and give us a vantage point of the lake that lies within the crater a few hundred meters below. With bellies grumbling we continue on ahead. After hours of climbing vertical pitches of mud encased root ladders, our guide now tells us to be careful because the next section is “dangerous”. Denielle’s eyes open wide because the past few hours have been anything but safe. One slippery misstep here now results in relentless tumble into the crater. Dangerous now only because there are no tangled roots reaching out to abate your fall. But we arrive unscathed, ever so slowly, to the bottom of the crater and quiet the monsters within our bellies.

A few hours later, just before the end of our tour, we come upon the source of the monstrous roars. Two small howler monkeys perched silently in a tree, staring inquisitively at us down below. These are not monsters at all, but the monsters must be somewhere on the island. The giant insects in our hotel room could be mistaken for monsters. I thought I saw a bat fly across the room and land on the wall, but it was only a moth no smaller than my hand. Huge. Anyway, If you have a chance, google howler monkey sounds to get a taste of the feeling. Remember to close your eyes and picture yourself in the middle of Jurassic Park. We arrived back at our hotel soon after encountering the monkeys, covered in mud, rather caked in it from head to toe from slipping and sliding carefully back down the volcano. This day was an adventure and an experience that will not soon be forgotten. Denielle seems to have had her fill of steep slippery volcano hikes, but I still yearn for the peak of the bigger active Volcan Concepcion. After a day of rest, perhaps kayaking up the river to see some wildlife, we may venture to the north of the island so I can make an attempt on the peak and discover the true monsters of the island.


Tyler.

“We’re not in Kansas anymore...”

Every morning here I expect to walk out and find our hotel situated on top of some evil witch with striped socks and ruby slippers. The wind every night is quite something to behold. Gusts constantly grab hold of the loose corrugated tin and slam back down in clangs that keep us awake. I’m on the lookout for a tin man and a cowardly lion as I’m sure one of these nights the wind will carry us away to Oz.

Today we had a great day at Playa Yanqui, as we were the only people there besides a man with a gun that protects you from the banditos. We had left early to take advantage of the high tide, and after 3 hours of frolicking in the small waves, my muscles could paddle no more. So I came out of the water to meet up with Denielle, whom had taken refuge from the sun under the branches of an acacia tree. As I put my surfboard on the ground and covered it with rocks to keep it from sailing away, a 2 cm thorn from the tree got intimate with the inside of my left foot. Along with the numerous angry red ants patrolling the tree, and thorny branches swaying in the wind, Denielle had managed to locate the most precarious place to perch upon on the entire beach.

After a brief peanut butter sandwich, I took a bottle of water and began a trek along the expansive beach that had now grown almost 60 meters due to the falling tide. Just before the far point the valley funnelled the already strong winds into an angry gust, carrying sand to blast away any remnants of dead skin on my body. I carefully made my way barefoot along the rocks rimming the Cliffside, a path made possible only at the lowest of tides. What drives us to constantly seek what lies beyond the proverbial next corner? I always seem to have a strong urge to keep going, with hopes that something wonderful or mysterious must lay ahead just past where the eye can see. Perhaps being born on a continent settled by those trying to get away, in search of something better, has been carried along through the generations so that we have that same strong desire to explore the new and undiscovered.

After making it beyond the slippery smooth wet rocks that try to guide you ever so gracefully into the water’s edge, I looked up to see a pair of tunnels carved through the rock. Continuing on, the clicking of hermit crabs as they stop, drop and roll in advance of my approaching footsteps is heard all along the rocks. I feel somewhat sorry for the ones that roll far, having spent most of the day crabbing around to get to that point, only to lose the battle to gravity to preserve themselves from the unknown threat. I climb up into the first tunnel as two bats quickly flutter away. The tunnels are each relatively small, only about 15 feet long or so, but look as though they were carved just for me so I could find my way across to a desolate stretch of beach. I gingerly make my way through both, taking care of my soft feet on the sharp rocks, and set foot onto my own private beach, complete with a lagoon in back healthily stocked with numerous egrets, herons and shorebirds. I want to stay here longer to take it all in, but know that the rising tide will make me a prisoner here, so I make my way back to Denielle.

We have one more full day here in San Juan, and then it’s off to the island to climb the ominous volcanoes. However, if this wind keeps up we may not be able to make an ascent all the way to the peak. I am eager to visit the island, but the multitude of waves that I have been catching, all to myself, leaves me yearning to stay close to the beach. I have adopted a new form of surfing that preserves the paddling muscles, appropriate only in small waves in shallow water. I simply walk my surfboard into position, jump on at the last possible second and provide a few quick paddles and pop up to ride my tiny little waves. It’s a lot of fun, and the technique allows me to catch dozens of waves an hour without becoming exhausted. I feel that my stand up technique has been greatly honed with all of these waves, and now feel better prepared if and when the swell increases in size. Roving water outages keep me out of the shower at the moment, but hopefully the agua is restored soon so I can get the salt out of my eyes.

Tyler.

“Clean and dry...”

As I sit on the beach reading, a crab superhighway bustles beneath my feet. It’s really quite a sight to behold. Dozens of hermit crabs hustling this way and that with no real purpose but to keep moving. In many ways our trip feels like that of the hermit crab up to this point. No concrete destination, but keep moving. The road has become a big part of our life. We have surpassed the 9,000km mark this week and find ourselves in the very far south end of Nicaragua. It didn’t take us long to get here, only a day from the northern border, and we now have visual contact with the northern coast of Costa Rica. The drive down was fairly uneventful, with the exception of the police check stop just outside of Leon.

It started with the standard license and car permit, but then I was asked to get out of the car. I followed the officer over to his beat up Toyota Hilux where he proceeded to explain how I was going to fast beside the turning lane. How fast was I going? His reaction indicated that he had no idea and the whole operation was a farce to get money. Then he became honest, which was a relief, and his good mood and jovial nature helped me to relax. He said that they had little money for gas, and that they needed 4 gallons to fill up there police truck. In litres? I asked. 16 litres he said, they wanted 20 dollars. Thankfully we were directly across from a gas station where I was able to calculate the price of 16 litres. He saw the wheels turning in my head and said, okay, 10 dollars. I told him I only had 9, and the deal was done, we were on our way.

We have set up in the town of San Juan del Sur for a week to get away from the hustle of the road, to leave the other hermit crabs bustling along the highway. I managed to bargain for $15 dollars a night for our current place which has a private bathroom, a public kitchen to be used, and free wireless internet. Denielle has been filtering water with our trusty UV penlight, keeping us hydrated for free. One of the things that I tend to miss while I’m somewhere tropical is the feeling of being clean and dry. With the excessive heat and high humidity, one seldom finds themselves in these conditions. However, we just had our laundry done after a month on the road, and I’m typing in clean warm dry clothes and am quite content. We’re only a block from the beach, but there are no waves here and hardly any beach to speak of. The high tide mark encroaches right up to the street and beachfront restaurants. We’ve been going to beaches to the north and south of town each day, as have most of the other tourists. There are some waves to be had, but are often crowded and small. The wind is another entity in itself. Gusts constantly howling in from the lake ensure that newly applied sunscreen is an exfoliating process.

The main surf beach is Playa Maderas, and takes about 20 minutes to get to. Our little matrix doesn’t have too many problems navigating the rough road until the last half kilometre or so. The first day we made an attempt up a very steep hill that was thwarted by an oncoming truck. After reversing all the way back down we took another run at it with greater speed. The crux of the manoeuvre was the large series of ruts and bumps about three quarters of the way up. Our second attempt saw the car come to a stop just beyond this, and alas another reverse trip to the bottom. One last attempt carried us quickly past the bumps, but the steepness of the hill and the non-aggressive tread pattern of the tires saw a battle between slipping out in second gear and stalling the engine. I pumped the clutch to keep the engine alive, knowing first gear would result in more spinning. Gingerly, and with much toil on the clutch, the car arrived on the top of the hill, only to find an even steeper hill going down towards the beach. We parked the car at the top and continued on foot.

Today was our second time to Maderas, as yesterday’s trip to the southern beaches of Playa Tamarindo and Remonso resulted in no waves. This time we parked the car at the bottom of the first hill and walked the extra couple hundred meters. The surfing was much better today, but as we left, 35 people were in the water trying their best to hit one another with their giant rented surfboards. Quite the hazard when you consider the strong offshore winds grabbing them like kites as the land-legged masses go catapulting into the water in every direction. A few more relaxing days here and then we’re off to Isla Ometepe, the largest volcanic lake island in the world. Although that seems like a narrow category, kind of like me being the best surfer from Calgary in southern Nicaragua this week.

We’re excited to go to the island though, and climb the two volcanoes. The active Volcan Concepcion rises just under 1700 meters from the warm lake waters, and spews sulphurous gas from the top. The other volcano, extinct for 900 years is slightly lower but features a lake in the crater in the top. Numerous opportunities exist for spotting wildlife, so we can hardly wait. And then it will be on towards Costa Rica and down the Nicoya Peninsula.

Tyler.

“One night in Leon...”

I thought that this title was simple and descriptive. However, now that I read back upon it, it looks like the title of a gay adult film. We have arrived in Nicaragua, in the town of Leon. We had initially went to the beach town of Poneloya, but after walking for over an hour looking for a hotel, decided that it wasn’t worth it and made the drive back to Leon.

It’s nice to be out of Honduras. There really wasn’t anything there worth staying for. The ruins were interesting, but not beyond a day. Besides, the whole country is full of potholes, that is, when there is enough road for a pothole to form in. We drove for a long ways on gravel and unfinished highway. They should take all of the speed bumps from Mexico to fill in the potholes in Honduras.

New year's eve was relatively uneventful with the exception of the start of world war 3 at midnight. Our whole time there kids had been lighting fireworks off in the main plaza, but come midnight the war had escalated. It sounded like the invasion of Baghdad. Most of the fireworks don't produce light, but instead put all of their power into sound. Some of the bigger ones you can feel the compression wave of air and your whole body goes into danger response mode as if you are about to die. The noise went on for hours, and in the morning we found piles of paper and cardboard firework remnants clogging the streets. Truly unbelievable.

The Honduran/Nicaragua border was a little crazy this morning. After driving around the town we slept in for an hour because we couldn’t find the highway, a friendly policeman saw that we were lost and decided to search our car. Thankfully an actual friendly citizen stopped during our search and asked us where we were trying to go. He spoke English very well and led us to the turnoff. About 10 km from the border, there was one last police checkstop where we had to pull over and have the car searched. I find it very hard to understand all of the Honduras people. I’m not sure if it’s the accent or what, but it might as well be Greek. Through some hand gestures I figured out that he wanted to see our safety cones and fire extinguisher. I took great pleasure in producing said items, and you could tell he was annoyed that we were prepared and would not be getting any fines today.

We pulled up into the border, well, drove right through it first, then went back and were swarmed with kids and adults trying to offer their services. They wouldn’t go away, and although we had managed all the other crossings thus far on our own, had two people get all the paperwork done for us for 10 dollars each. When we got to the Nicaraguan side, we had to go through the same process, but this time only 10 dollars for one person, and 12 dollars for insurance for the car. Oh yeah, we tried to get car insurance for Guatemala and Honduras, but could not find any, so have been uninsured in both countries. It seems fairly appropriate looking back on it now. The highways here are fast and smooth, with little in the way of hills. Right off the bat we drove past a large active volcano which was fun to see. We’re spending the night in Leon in a hotel that has internet, and will head south in the morning. I’m not sure where we’re going, as we want to check out the lake and the volcano island in the middle. But we might stay for a couple of weeks if we find a nice town, close to the Costa Rican border, and then we can always do day trips from there.

I’m excited to get back on the beach again and into the water. It reached 38 degrees today, so it would have been nice to stay on the ocean, but not nice enough to stay where we were at. The surfing should be fun. The waves were small in Poneloya for the brief time that we were there, but the winds were strong offshore, even in the late afternoon due to the big cool lakes in the middle of the country, so the surf should be good all day wherever we end up. That’s all for now, I hope everyone had a merry Christmas and a happy new year.


You can view the link to the map here:

click me

Tyler.

“Ruins and spiders and birds, oh my...”

We had a great two nights at Antigua in Guatemala, and then headed out towards Honduras with the hopes of making it close to the border. The highways were better than anticipated, and after being lost in Guatemala City for only a little while, we found ourselves at the border at 2pm. We decided to cross so we could spend a full day at the ruins at Copan Ruinas, some of the best Mayan ruins around.
The border crossing went very well after the guy doing the paperwork finally showed up. After waiting for about 15 to 20 minutes, we got the necessary forms stamped for the car then proceeded to get our passports stamped at the next building. After that we moved over two windows to get the Honduran side to let us in by stamping our passports and filling out another form. Lastly we went to the final building to get our car into Honduras, where there was an English speaking Hondurite who helped us greatly. All together it took just under an hour and we were on our way, 10km in to Copan, next to the ruins.

Apparently other locations have much larger buildings, but this site is one of the best collections of hieroglyphs to be found. We opted not to take the walking tour because neither of us really cared about the history that much, and just walked around and took pictures. It was pretty fascinated to see all the carvings and buildings, but the most interesting thing for us was the group of macaws that we encountered near the entrance, and a bunch of small mammals that looked like half rodent and half deer. Denielle wasn’t too impressed with the tarantula that I found in one of the holes in the ruins.

Its new year’s eve tonight and our plans so far only involve eating out at some place with internet to update the blog and let everyone know that we’re still alive.

Tyler.

“Earthquakes and volcanoes...”

We’ve spent all day walking around the streets of Antigua, looking at the ruins and the buildings. The doors are constructed from thick slabs of wood ornately adorned with wrought iron and brass knockers shaped as animals and faces, and impregnated with thick metal spikes. You get the feeling that the town is trying to protect itself from some hideous monsters that come out each night, or are awaiting the wrath of the Mayans that they ousted so long ago. At any rate, we’re prepared for invasion. The ruins we visited today were very interesting. Being situated next to a number of volcanoes may not be the best town planning, but it sure makes for some interesting history and architecture.

This town used to be the capitol city of all of Central America for 233 years. Originally founded in 1543, a large earthquake in 1773 destroyed many of the original buildings, and the capitol was then transferred to Guatemala City. Walking through the old ruins makes you wonder about all of the history that occurred in these places and what people were doing here for all those years. After touring the buildings, we strolled through the cobblestone streets and walked through the market. A cornucopia of vegetables and fruits were all displayed in baskets at every stall. There seems to be a lack of avocados however, which has disappointed Denielle, after reading that the townspeople are often referred to as “green bellies” for all the avocados that they eat. The volcanoes seem to be absent as well, as overcast skies both days have prevented us from seeing the peaks, let alone any liquid hot magma action.

Tomorrow we leave for the Honduras border, and the next day we will cross to the town of Copan to see some ancient Mayan ruins.

Tyler.