Cabinas Arrecife Cahuita

... river became very windy and we could hear the rushing of the rapids ahead. I knew we where approaching the first set of rapids, and you could see the river suddenly becoming extremely choppy with huge boulders popping out everywhere. Juan suddenly instructed us to paddle hard, hard, hard, and we did. The raft dipped and turned out of control and we were suddenly out. We made it and it was awesome, we gave each other a high five with our paddles and cheered ...

... My focus at that point was just getting through the rest of the trail to find water. <br>Photography be damned!!<br><br>So after the grueling rest of the hike, I relaxed with a humongous bottle of cold water and a Coke Light at the restaurant there. I regained enough energy to find the bus station after another mile walk in Cahuita back to Puerto Viejo whereI headed to rest for the afternoon.<br><br>And I'd do it again too. Next time, though, with water and a friend to lug my gear for me.<br><br>

... houses that reminded me of South East Asia. It was nice to get to a beach and unwind. The prices are more than in San Jose so we need to budget a bit still. We went for a walk in the rainforest but saw no sloths. Not happy. There are an amazing amount of tropical vegetation and quirky animals around though, it is best known as a country for that. We moved to another guest house that was slightly nicer and friendlier and went for a walk to the frog garden I had ...

... returned to Casa Fiesta, a horse had ventured down from the hillside and was in the yard. I wanted to feed him but the dogs were not happy with his presence and chased him away. I could tell this horse was used to the dogs, he acted as if they didn't exist but moved out of their "territory" anyway. I decided to photograph my coke-a-cola light bottle on the beach with my flip flops, those who know me will appreciate the photo. There were ...

... where we have a pizza lunch by the bus station and it starts raining again. Embarrasingly we then take a cab about 600 yards as it turns out to the small local airport. As we have time to kill Liz watches game show Panama TV, some sort of Blind Date and Judge Judy and I go off and get my haircut (without a disaster). So its our local flight via Bocas islands to Panama City and this is where the old Shorts aircraft have gone!

... I passed a large truck dragging the road to even it out and came to a little village where, lo and behold, there is an OPEN internet cafe! The local bar was open so I bought a Fanta and came here to write my account of the past few days. The computer I'm on is ancient so I can't download any pictures as yet but I will when I get back to San Jose or at another internet cafe. It looks like it might storm now, so I'm going to head back. Miss you all!

Hola!! I've got a TON to write already, after just 5 days here! I'll start from the beginning... flights were pretty standard - nobody next to me to Seattle, then a red-eye to Miami, and a great connection to San Jose, Costa Rica. It was about 915 when I arrived, and I took a taxi to Heredia, a suburb of San Jose, to sign in for my week of volunteering (sea turtle conservation for those who might not know!). Met Claudio, and he gave me all the information on how to take the ...

... Gill about English/American attitudes and culture, that Rachael and Ellie couldn`t quite stay awake for, topped of the evening and we got some sleep, ready for our escape away from San Jose where we had decided we wouldn`t be staying/ever returning to again! Unfortunately, after the taxi ride to the bus station where a bus awaited to take us to Cahuita, Oli mistakenly gave the taxi driver a parting gift of 30,000 colones (thirty quid) for a 3 ...

... around in a semi-circle behind her, watching while she flips sand over the hole. I'm so close I can feel the sand land on my shins. When she's done, the turtle slithers her way back to the ocean. Only about 1% of her eggs will survive. We walk back to the van. Janita stubs and breaks her toe in the darkness :(. We pile back into the van, ready for another hour and a half of reggae music on the way back. We get back to the hotel past 1 in the morning.

... thats some powerfull water.. I have been caught in some rip tides while I´ve been here.. costa rica is not actually good for swimming.. and as I hear the Carabean side here is the worst. Sorry if my entries are not as good this time around I haven´t really done much other than beaching and wildlife..plus the internet is soooo aweful here. Its really slow and costa rica has a tendency to loose its power oh a few ...