Tico Banter

Trip Start Nov 25, 2006
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Trip End Feb 17, 2007


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Flag of Costa Rica  ,
Monday, February 12, 2007

We finally got off the sunloungers up in Tamarindo and headed inland to see...a volcano! Shock horror a volcano in Central America?! We spent 2 nights in La Fortuna, in the shadows of active volcano Arenal. On arriving the weather had the check to start raining and it didn't stop for most of the day.  This made our family walk to what Lonely Planet rated as a nearby waterfall a failed mission. An hour in we were not near, we were soaked and the waterfall park was closing and we still hadn't seen this supposed volcano, our trip to Arenal seemed doomed! The next morning, a fraction brighter we took the lazy option...a taxi to the waterfall, we still had 600m to climb down a hill to see it. It was very beautiful, hidden in the jungle and woorth the walk back.  That afternoon with the cloud lifting, we finally saw the stunning Volcano, not surprisingly it looks exactly like you would imagine a volcano in geography lessons and went on a nature trek to a lookout.  As the sun set we watched lava bombs glowing red roll down the volcano side. Spectacular and this time I didn't have to climb across the hot lava field but could relax and enjoy. Will this be the last volcano I get to take photos of on this trip I wonder?

Whilst making our way onto a boat to cross Lake Arenal to get to Monteverde and the cloud forest, our next stop, I heard a voice.. Rob Friend with his mate Nick from uni were also about to board the boat and head to Monteverde for a few days. Fate rather than good planning on our part but was very nice to see another friendly face on the otherside of the world! We went to Monteverde to see the jungle and cloud forests but this time the weather reversed our fortunes, it was bright and clear the morning of our cloud forest trek. Too hot to see many animals but we did see a great deal of green mossy trees and get to watch our guide making animal and bird calls for 4hours. Very amusing, although completely ineffective! Rob and I had few nights out in the hip hop and not so happening little down of Santa Elena, Rob was sad to discover that in salsa clubs it is best to salsa and that there are rules to salsa not that this stopped him from bopping around all the locals having their Firday night disco.

Left Monteverde yesterday am, Rob and Nick headed north to nicaragua and me and the parents took a bus south, back to the coast. On the way we stopped (and nearly missed the bus) looking at crocodiles chilling on the river bank, made me think I was back in Africa for a  while! Spent last night in Jaco, just down the coast from where I stayed last time I was in Costa Rica. Today we hired bikes and sweated our way around the headland and down a long rocky sandy track to the turtle house and beach. It was even more beautiful than I remembered and made better by Marco, the craziest ranger of all being there to entertain us t\with his crazy spanglish and cries of 'Oh my god.' The house had not changed that much-still not electricity or running water but the turtle project was thiriving, awaiting the next turtle season in June. Tomorrow we are heading further down the coast, our last stop before we fly home as my mini-gap year is rapidly coming to an end.
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