Hotel Villas Vilma La Fortuna

... NOT Boca Arenal)...we got off the bus too soon. Note: We aren´t using a travel guide book, which has its ups and downs, but forces us to depend more on information from the locals. Hitchhiking in Costa Rica (outside of San Jose) has an acceptable risk factor so instead of waiting for the next bus, we took a shot at it. It took only 5 minutes of surveying cars and emploring the promising ones with our thumbs - Sophie´s ...

... the nearby volcano. We didn’t have high hopes since it had begun to rain and the cloud coverage was pretty substantial near the volcano. Much to our surprise (and delight) the clouds dispersed long enough for us to see some substantial activity on the volcano (rumblings and all!). While we didn’t see huge lava flows, we did see the spewing of hot rocks and hoe some of these tumbled down and broke up as they rolled down the volcano. The initial activity even ...

... Vulkan Arenal, der bei momentan klarem Himmel super zu sehen ist und majestaetisch vor uns steht.
Was hier oben im Nebelwald wirklich toll ist, das ist das angenehme Klima. Durch die Hoehe sind die Naechte eher kuehl und die Tage nicht zu heiss, so dass wir uns richtig gut erholen koennen. Nach ein paar Tagen heisst es aber wieder aufzubrechen, denn ein grosser restlicher Teil des Landes wartet noch darauf, von uns erkundet zu werden.

... my blood for 4-5 hours and then leave its feces on my lip. And in the morning if i were to rub the area i would have released a protozoan in my body which causes a disease called Chagas and that would kill me in 20-30 years. My heart would have explanded until it exploded or have a massive heart attack!. Luckly, I found this bug before it had a chance to do that!!! Or else that would have not been much fun. Now, we keep that bug as a pet and show it off on our ...

On this day, Jesse and I decided to split up for a day, the first time we have done this. Jesse wanted to get a beach day in before we got to San Jose, but I wanted to see the famous Costa Rican cloud forest of Monte Verde. So he headed west toward Tamarindo beach, and I hung out for a couple of hours and then headed east into the mountains. Before I left I did 2 things. First I called the Suzuki dealer in San Jose to see if ...

... time, she loved it! It was the best thing we've done so far :-) Very nice guides, we survived class 3 and 4 rapids, had a fresh fruit break, and were greeted by the oddest welcoming crew one could imagine at the end. Howler monkeys, a couple horses and a couple dogs. Very cool. The guides also offered us beer at the end! pura vida! We ended the day with a not so great meal, but happy to have survived the flood of rain that fell in the afternoon. We're off to Monteverde tomorrow!

... of the ten most active volcanoes in the world. What better place to spend the first week in Costa Rica! On our first night there we went hiking on the side of the volcano...the daily eruptions cause lava flow on only one side of the volcano, so the other side is covered in lush vegetation and secondary forest. It was a surreal experience to walk through the dense forrest to the sound of howler monkeys (for those of you who´ve never heard a howler monkey - they are little monkeys ...

... of the night speaking with our driver so I could practice my Spanish! Then we had a great buffet dinner! The next morning we went on another hike, this time to a beautiful waterfall. We had to walk down what seemed like a million stairs, but it was so worth it!! I can't say much more about it, I will let the pictures speak for themselves. One thing I will say, is that one of the guys in our group, in his 70s, was totally leading ...

... the first person in our group climbed a lofty platform and caught a rope which was secured to your harness and a sort of bungee cord attached to a tree far above. The gate opens and the instructors tell you not to jump but to step off the edge. This applies especially for men, if they ever hope to have children! The instructors almost made it sound easy but that first step off took some ...

... for Smokeboy, the rain started to get bad. 6 miles to town, down a steep muddy hill, half a pound of burgers-bacon-lunchmeat, it´s raining, and he´s wearing steamed up glasses. HIT IT!!!! Actually, JJ was EXTREMELY reluctant to go down that crazy hill. But he got the balls and down we went. Me on the world´s most beat up mountain bike, JJ wearing a wet white wife beater. Oh my!! Stupid Sexy JJ!! (what is it with my Asian friends always wearing see through tank ...