Rinconcito Lodge Rincon de La Vieja National Park

... but as it was very cloudy and rainy we didnīt get much of a chance to enjoy these, this didnīt stop us having a fab time swimming in the rain though. After this really hard day (!) we enjoyed a barbecue cooked by the incredibly friendly and hospitable family at our hotel. Surprisingly, everybody was exhausted - must be the building work catching up - and had a fairly early night.

... Parkoeffnung um 8 Uhr vor dem Eingang, laufen zum Krater hinauf und sehen... gar nichts. Die Wolken liegen schwer auf dem Krater und ausser einer weissen Wand sieht man null. Aber Moment mal, nach kurzem Warten zeigen sich ein paar Loecher in der Wolkenwand, und man kann Umrisse von einem Kratersee erkennen, die aber gleich wieder verschwinden. Dann sieht man immer mal wieder kurz den einen oder anderen Teil des Kraters. Es wird richtig spannend. Viele Leute kommen ...

... climb to the top where there was a huge caldera full of water. Again, in order to save some dinero in this expensive town, we decided to walk the entire thing ourselves which ended up being more than 20 kms. During our ascent the rain stopped enough to allow us some great views of the surrounding countryside. As we climbed higher and higher, we entered the forest and the rains followed. Amidst the pouring rain and mist we ...

... 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!

... for about 3 years!) and Kenlo and Dehnee (who just finished a complete tour of South America and Cuba before starting this tour!). There's Jasmine who is the same age as me from Iowa, USA. There's Ed from Colorado, USA and our tour guide John who is from Georgia, USA. There's Maartje who recently graduated with a teaching degree from The NetherlandsWe've also got Andrew, a 40 ...

... the jungle. There were four other guys on our tour, and for some reason my horse insisted on being 20 feet back of all the other horses while Vickyīs was constantly racing for the lead - so we didnīt see much of eachother that day. Eventually we were lead up a mountain where we dismounted and started hiking through some pretty thick jungle. Had to go over a pretty cool suspension bridge, swaying and missing planks just like youīd imagine in a ...

... watching the gorgeous sunrise we noticed there were no more dead bugs on the floor. Last night we walked in to a room carpeted with bugs. I guess some others came in and ate them or carried them out. Breakfast this morning was awesome. They had fresh fruit. The watermelon again was not very sweet. My guess is that it's not in season right now. There was yellow pineapple and papya. The Papya was disgusting to me ...

... for sitting in a hammock and staring over the lake, our hosts, Daniel and Maria, would be the world champions. But besides the most relaxing setting, the Solentiname islands are also home to an art colony specializing in world renown primitive style paintings. We loved this place and will definitely return.

... we went zipping down canyons on wires, over the waterfalls, went rock climbing, came down head first with no hands... It was an experience that I loved a lot. Then, it was time for tubing. They sent us through R3, rapids that were rocking but there was no control, only the guides in the water bumping us off the rocks and making sure we didn't get hurt. Lunch was good, Gallo pinto! but with real Pina juice ...

We started the morning in San Carlos, Nicaragua to arrive in La Fortuna, Costa Rica. Maybe it is because we both come from island nations, but even after travelling for years around Europe we are still amazed that it is so easy to walk or bus across an international border - no fuss, nothing. Our border crossing involved a simple stamp out of Nicaragua where the immigration officials were fascinated to see us eating banana sandwiches...donīt think ...