Hermosa Beach House Jaco

Last night was my first night out in Jaco; this wasn't due to me locking myself in my room up to now but rather that most people seem to want to go to bed about 9 or 10pm and the bars have barely started getting going then. But it was the birthday of one of the guys studying at the school so some people actually made the effort. At the first bar we went to it was $6 for all-you-can-drink - imagine that offer appearing in a bar in London, the police would be shutting the place ...

... at Cocos but this one seems particularly exposed to cross currents and harsh swells so the boat ride was like many others before it - 'exciting''. In fact I enjoy watching Billy's expression change now each time the skiff crashes into the waves he sort of tuts and gives me a look as if to say ''bloody hell a bit rough, should we be out here?" Anyway, usual mission operandi, down to 15 meters and hang on for dear life to the rocks whilst doing the 'superman impression ...

... sea. We anchored up and I would say I was one of the 1st off the boat on to dry land. We had the whole island virtually to ourselves so we set about getting wood for a fire and preparing our patch for our island party. We cooked on the boat that night and sailed back to the island, Sam, one of the lads had a fiddle, once that came out, the craic started and we had a great sing song into the wee ...

... la prima notte di viaggio in riva al Pacifico, ovvero nel paesello di Puntarenas. Come nelle altre cittadine del Costa Rica, anche a Puntarenas e' un reticolato di quattro incroci e quartieri di casupole piatte con veranda/salotto che sembrano tracciati col righello. E anche a Puntarenas le vie non hanno nome bensí sono numerate. Sará perché i numerosi viandanti che hanno per dimora fissa il ...

... Having Carolina here this week was invaluable. She helped me get set up in my new apartment, introduced me to vegetarian cooking, and walked every hiking route in my neighborhood with me, so I know where they are and can now hike them alone. As she was getting ready to leave, Mackie came by to say good-bye and finally let Caro pet her. She also let me pet her for the first ...

... beans, rice and papaya and then go the the training we study and practice until around 1 eat lunch which is similar to the breakfast and then go back to practice and study until dinner than back to study until around 9 or 10. We wake to do it all again. I smell like the jungle and even the water tastes of it. I think by the end I will also have a layer of moss. Who knows. I think from here I will go to Panama after the training and study Spanish ...

... Tamarindo (Cancun it ain´t, but wasn´t in a rush to stay either) we headed south to Mal País. Despite being Central America´s most expensive country, it officially has the worst roads. One 30km trip we had to make took over 2 hours, seriously!! En route we hooked up with Scott & Alex, a Canadian couple from British Columbia, who we had lots of giggles with for the last week. The weather turned in to the equivalent of a month of Irish rain ...

... lessons. we ended up hanging out for the day, going into town, or should i say street, buying some groceries, (and more aloe vera) and just relaxing. and last night we went out. we ended up at a bar/restaurant, where we just had a beer, well he had beer, ladies drank for free, so i had some costa rican liquir called guara, (its made with sugercane) and played pool for a while. then we headed to another bar called ´the beatle´ and i have ...

... into a free flowing jazz style jam showing off intricate finger work which can only come from a life with the guitar as your best friend. He phases in and out of classic riffs from the likes of Hendrix, Led Zep and The Doors, but its never long before he launches back into the chaos of his improvisation. Nathan plays for about half an hour and after a quick chat with the sterotypical surfkid Mike we decide its time to hit the sack and get rested for another days travelling. Its ...

... few towns in the entire country without a communal water system; everyone still uses wells. But everyone has the whitest of white clothes and the girls wear nail polish and try and follow trends in clothing. Their TV sets get only one channel; better than none. And there is no phone service, they have to walk 2 kilometers to the next pueblo. But they are happy.  Tonight I am watching that one channel with Efrains 2 oldest daughters. It is a live music ...