Rancho Ricco Nicoya

... ground
to a stop and wouldn’t go any further. It was just too steep and we
had the extra weight of the two tour guides. So we parked good ‘ol
Wesley and let him rest while we started the hike. I was able to
practice a lot of my Spanish as neither tour guide really spoke
English. We learned about some of the rainforest’s medicinal plants
and how to say White and Black Faced Monkey in Spanish. After ...

... around a strange country with road blocks and protests. We were safe and the bikes secure and we decided it was best to await the results. We basically took the day off and explored. It was eerie the streets were very quiet compared to Friday and Saturday. I am sure that this is due to the fact that most of the population is Catholic and are at church. I also contacted a freight company called GIRAG in Panama to ...

... and dont know if the ATM or Western Union are going to be like in Nicoya. I accept. I arrive in Nicoya and after a few questions in spanish and some leg work, I find the Western Union office and the money is successfully received. Yay! I'm back in the game. the only ATM in Samara would not accept my VISA card and only give me $20.00 per session. I think most travellers have experienced this while travelling and it can get kind of frustrating and ...

... should it be required! Once on dry land we took a taxi and then bus to the border, where we collected two more passport stamps and then continued on to Liberia. Settling for the cheapest hotel we could find (a whacking 9 dollars!), we resourcefully prepared dinner using tupperware and penknives: tomato, onion and advocado salad, before booking ourselves on a trip to Rincon de la Vieja National Park for the following day. We had debated whether or not to ...

... it to be over full. And that was one of them! The day flew by, as we continued along and eventually ended up in a very small pueblo. We didnt know where we would be staying at night, it was one of those days like, we'll see where we end up and go from there. In the town was a community hall, and a school, so the brothers went off to inquire if we could rent the hall to set our tents up in. While they are gone, the sun is setting, and we are waiting, and ...

... like that) Amazing. And then Sonny saw a lizard that runs on two legs, I was busy looking for more monkeys. We then spent a delightful afternoon on the beach with only a few other people (It was Saturday afterall) Lovely, warm water.........well, lovely except for the little stinging jelly fish. Not really painful or long lasting just little stingers. People here seem to get use to them. We are being careful to use ...

... up and down with joy as Johnny, my oldest boy who never talks in class, became the one raising his hand the most. And then we went to see the animals. We saw various types of wild cats and toucans and monkeys and parrots. Each had a story and some were even missing limbs, but they all elicited gasps of wonder and joy from my students. When we came up to the jaguar's enclosure they couldn't believe their eyes. He was so big and so beautiful, totally unconcerned with the crowd ...

... t happen till about 630 on most days. I think I learn about 30% of the Spanish with the host fam! I'm heading to Playa Hermosa at 330 am on a public bus on sat morn to buy a surf board, its 5 hours + on a bus, but Tamarindo is a tourist trap for sure! its city prices in a 2nd world country! but there are dimonds in the ruff, I found a place we call the "dirty soda" its like for bucks or less for lunch if u bring your own drink!

... Nope.   It did, however, have an enormous festival that seemed to be celebrating policemen going on when we got there at dusk.  Either that, or it was festival where the policemen were doing a lot of celebrating.  There was no conversation about staying in Santa Cruz, as our brief walk through town was not particularly uplifting.  It was the most run down city(?) we'd seen in Costa Rica, with more bars on the windows and doors than San Jose had ...

... just keep the animals from coming out. If you lay-low and are in a non-touristy place they will be there too. When we went to Brasilito, we stayed at a little hotel called Plano Plato (or flat alligator). We went to bed the first night and woke up to a tremendously loud sound. We looked outside our bathroom window and there must have been 15 howler monkeys in a tree not 20 feet away from the window! So, trust me, they're in the places you least expect.