Pochote Grande Jaco

... come here to get out of going in the military, also the pay is better in Costa Rica. So they send money home to family. A lady getting her hair done there spoke to me and I found out she was Russian (random) who had lived in Cuba for 24 years, come with her family to Costa Rica, broke up with her husband and now is getting married to an American in a weeks time. Very interesting! But when I got out I rushed to the vague area we were supposed to meet and luckily found Shane ...

... the park.... Note Its interesting how many people just come to costa rica, and they stay here for like months on end without ever exploring other countries in the area. I´m now going to power through and hit some small towns on my way down to panama trying to see and get the most out of my last 10 days of travel. Thats all folks...

... are so much fun because they act like highschool kids, maybe because they practically are. They act silly and do crazy **** but that´s why they are such a good time, they have no inhibitions and I have to remind myself what it was like to be young buck. We go back to Gwendolyn's condo and I end up falling asleep. I end up going home around 11am and I'm very tired but still hype. Anyways, what a Awesome night ...

... risen to nearly 2 metres height in most of the path we walked in the morning, so it was not easy to find your way. There was thick mud and small rivers all along and we often had to climb on top or around huge trees. It would have been impossible without the assistance of a guide. Steffi actually had a couple of moments of panic when we reached some of the deeper puddles. The guide had not been able to find rubber boots of his size (45) so he had ...

... a tricky hike thru water, mud and slippy hills....but once there you can swim in the rock pool at the bottom. Also did a day trip to Tortuega Island for some snorkelling (not that clear in the water tho), BBQ lunch and relax on the beach. Decided to move on to Manuel Antonio tomorrow...change of plans....was initially thinking too touristy....but hotel at Mal Pais assured us that its low season, so it will be worth the visit.

I´ve finally arrived in Monteverde after a wild ride in the Interbus. I met some neat people on this three hour journey - a casino architect from Sin City (of course,) and a writer and her husband (who was from Munich. He raved about the place and now I am really excited to get there.) Anyway, the first two hours of the trip were great. We were cruising along. However, we knew we were in for ...

... Big Boys cry. Valovi so drugac super, glih prov velki, lepi. kadar ne piha, kar pa kar veliko. najbolj zanimivo pa je, da zelo malo ljudi surfa. res neverjetno. sploh pa zjutraj sonce vzide ze pred 6h, oni se pa ne prikzejo iz bajt do 8h al 9h, tko da je kar meka. res nevem kaj je s tem soncem tle, ker zaide pa ze pred 18h in je vecino dneva popolnoma neuporaben. smo pa seveda v dezevni dobi, kar pomeni, da vsak dan sigurno dezuje, ali pa po vec ...

... the nearest town to Arenal Volcano. This volcano is still active and erupting, but due to its location the eruptions are not easy to see as there are constant thunderstorms and cloud cover especially at this time of year. This is where we had our first proper experience of the cowboys but more about them a little later. On arrival after a good bus journey through the mountains we were in what was to become our default mode of having no accommodation booked ...

... are walking across the border it wouldn´t be so bad, but taking a vehicle through is an exercise in patience and frustration. Not to go into too much detail, but you have to get a vehicle entry form in one place, pay for the form only in another, pay the fee for the vehicle in another, then take all the reciepts, forms, multiple copies of everything to another office, by this time wait for lunch to be over, and then get everything stamped, they love stamps down here. Three ...

... all smile and welcome me. We eat pork on a stick which was roasted over a bar BQ made from an old car wheel. It comes with tortilla and salad. It is really good, but when I am done, I all of a sudden remember the advise of my friend dr ken, before I left; to not eat veggies washed in local water; only peeled ones. Oh well, let the party begin! We head back to the room. When the lights go out it is dark, as in very dark. I put the flashlight close to the bed ...