Iguanazul Hotel Santa Cruz

... where civil war has ripped the country a part and you will be lucky to find a fully paved road to drive on, it all seems very different. We have very little time left in Central America - and travelling to quite a tight time scale to get to Venezuala by Christmas! But for now, we will spend one more week getting through Costa Rica, and then into Panama to try and navigate the Darien Gap....bring it!

... with bathers regaining their composure before the steep climb back.

By 2.30pm we were on our way to Monteverde taking a bus to the shores of Lake Arenal. The sign reading "beware of crocodiles in the lake" prompted a swift embarkation onto the awaiting boat. The crossing all the way under the shadow of Volcan Arenal now in the daylight hours seeming less manacing and more exhausted as the sulphur filled smoke wheezed gently from it's oversized lungs.

... endelig bilen op igen, men nu var vi i hvert fald overbevist om at vi ville få en kæmpe regning fra udlejningsselskabet. Vi kom endelig ud på den rigtige vej igen, og fik tjekket bilens dæk osv. Ved en tankstation. Vi kunne se en skramme vi tydeligvis havde lavet, da vi kunne pille et stykke af fra bilen. Men ellers var det svært at se om der var kommet flere skrammer end der var før. Vi ringede til ham vi havde lejet bilen fra, og forklarede ...

... muligt for alle at gå ind og blive "jagtet" hvis man har lyst. Vi havde ikke ;) I stedet så vi på det udefra, og det var meget und**holdende. Udov** rodeoet var d** en masse bar** stillet op, og spisested** så d** var fest ov**alt i gad**ne med højt musik. Vi havde dog kun 4 tim** ved festen, så da vi tog hjem igen besluttede vi at vi ville af sted endnu en aften hvor vi kunne blive læng**e. En af mine venind** fra skolen bor nu i Santa Cruz med sin ...

... to go down as fast I would like to and I had to work my ass off to go down the 210m waterfall. I got tired halfway and probably build some good right arm muscles there lol. I´ll put some pics up once we get the CD from the guy. There was one guy who came along that took photos of us doing our thing the whole time which was good because we got so wet that you cannot take a regular camera ... or anything else for that matter. At one point, we had to jump and dive into this deep hole ...

... me this entire time. The oil capacity is 4L, which is a little more than 4 quarts,...the left over will be for the occasional top-off. I found a gas station in La Fortuna and told the guy in Spanish that I needed to change my oil...he looked at the bike and told me it was impossible!...but once I told him I had my own tools and oil and only needed a little garage space, he was more than accommodating. It was great! Thirty minutes later we were done! Usually I would ...

... hotel for new guests and some of us went begrudgingly along thinking it was going to be some sort of sales pitch. Surprisingly enough, there weren't any sales, but infact information on the hotel and area and Costa Rica. Rather helpful in the end. That evening, Ryan's dad (Murray), stepmom (Gail), Aunt Ellie and Uncle Josh came by the resort for a visit and meet and greet with my family. Saturday Feb 2nd, We got ...

... there before dark. Arrived at the main road exhausted and on my last drop of water..so my prayers were answered when the last bus of the day streaked passed and I managed to stop it. The bus was full of local chicks all dressed up and heading to Altagracia for some boogying and yet I still fell asleep (shame on me with a capital Shay) and nearly missed my stop. After showering I went off to buy some cigs at the local restaurant/ shop (cigs are well cheap here..a pack of 20 ...

... thinking about whatever comes to mind. I also read and play Playstation One at a student's house. I play soccer when I'm not injured, but I seem to be injuring myself minorly a lot for some reason.

Good things about living in the U.S.:

Paved roads (although too much is no good either)

Reliable utilities (as stated above, water in my house is unreliable and electricity goes out sometimes)

Garbage disposal and recycling ...

... the American family was staying right next door to us. Curbside service! The family - mother, father, and two teenage girls - had decided to move to Costa Rica for a year because the father had done his LDS mission in Ecuador, where he'd learned Spanish, and they wanted to just "try it out." Or rather, the parents did. The girls were definitely not thrilled about being dragged off to live in Central America and do school online where they didn't speak ...