Hotel Tatanka Santa Cruz

... loads of people. Vendors were constantly
trying to sell us hammocks, sandals, gum and pretty much anything else
they could get their hands on. However, that wasn´t nearly as annoying
as the woman standing directly in front of us selling rice, beans and
fried chicken. Every couple of seconds she would YELL out ...

At day 3, I am now awed and entertained by the traffic choreography on the streets of Costa Rica. On our daily complimetary breakfast, my friend and I sit on the outdoor patio of the café and watch the traffic outside. We both agreed that road rage seems overrated or almost unknown here since the general rule of thumb seems to be give and take, and that the car horn is the driver's ...

... der var sket, og så aftalte vi at vi måtte kigge på det når vi kom tilbage fra Tamarindo. Vi har i hvert fald lært at der er begrænsninger for hvor eventyrlysten man bør være i en Toyota Corolla.. Nu er vi SÅ stædige ang. Det s**** vandfald, så senere på ugen lejer vi den største fire-hjulstrækker de har, og så skal vi nok komme til tops på den vej, og få set vores vandfald J Endelig kom vi af sted mod Arenal efter 4½ times spildtid, og vi ankom ...

... Så det gæld** jo om at få sparet lidt inden, så d** ** penge til turen. Som nogle af J** måske har hørt har jeg valgt at blive en måned læng**e (Undskyld mormor - jeg lovede dig vist at komme hjem til tiden). To af mine gode venind** havde besluttet at blive læng**e, den ene til midten af April og den anden til omkring Maj ell** måske læng**e. Doro(hende jeg bor med nu) og jeg havde hele tiden holdt på at vi skulle hjem som planlagt, men så begyndte ...

... to the next rapel site. I was hoping I would be dry but there was no way to stay dry. No accidents on this one except for what I did to poor Helen there at the end when we were on the trek back to the site after the rappels. I slipped on a rock and my hands went up only to hit Helen on the right side of the face as she was right behind me. All you heard was WHOMP.... I was like...I hope I didn´t hit Helen and that was like a rock or something ... but when I turned around I saw ...

... the valve covers and adjust the rocker-arm and valve clearances, inspect spark plugs, and change the final drive fluid, but the Pan-American Pebble Pounder (the bike (or Malin), submitted via blog comment by marachuck!) is running great so I think an oil change will suffice until we get back stateside. It was so much fun...I forget how much I love to wrench on stuff!!...and it feels good to give a little tender loving care to the vehicle that provides us with so many smiles!

... today! Many of the group headed off to Coco beach for the morning - about 1/2 hour taxi ride south of the resort. The afternoon was spent on the beach for nuptuals, near the pool for photos and then at the snack bar for the reception. This is truly the way to get hitched! Sunday Feb 3rd, Ryan and I grabbed a cab and headed off to Coco Beach to visit Murray, Gail, Josh and Ellie. Note - know how to say anchor ...

... cost $1.20..60 pence, which doesn't help the effort to give up smoking at all) and as usual the place was empty. Instead of customers sitting around, the owners whole family were gathered around whilst strumming on guitars and singing. I was bullied into joining in with the chorus and then I gave them a hearty applause. Noticed a funny thing on the menu (an A3 sheet of paper taped to the wall); the prices of chicken and beef had been changed from 35 to 40 Cordoba's (quite ...

... people burn trash here)

Communications (no phone or internet, TV antenna only gets one fuzzy channel)

Hot water

Air conditioning

Furniture

Lo wer humidity

Good things about living in Costa Rica:

Lots of TIME: time to sleep, time to think, time to read, time for everything

Tranquility (very low stress, if any)

General friendliness and feeling of community

Fresh food (fruits, meats, etc.)

... language. The mother was very sweet and chatty, but we never did manage to get her name. Off to bed, where I insisted on sleeping with a light on, as we had to be up and down to the hotel by 7:45-8, and it was already almost 3. Besides the stars, I thought the neatest thing was that that beach was riddled with clutches of turtle eggs, which we'd tromped back and forth over without knowing a thing. In a couple of months, it will be swarming with baby turtles.