Que Rica Costa Rica

The guidebooks and fellow travelers had hyped Costa Rica as being a bit of an anomaly for Central America. Indeed, it was very different and the differences for the most part were very welcome: clean roads (not as much trash), a bus system w/ non-big-yellow-school-buses (some w/ air conditioning), grocery stores w/ fixed prices, and no pan-handlers and manipulators at every corner; pretty much that sense of desperation was gone. So it felt really good to be here, but naturally there was a price... and in Costa Rica that price is very literal EVERYTHING COSTS MORE... a bunch more. Well some of the hostels were pretty cheap but think of Eco-tourism and think $$$. Probably worth it if you plan on just going to C.R. but after visiting other Central American countries it seemed a bit outrageous. Anywho... here is brief description of our route and adventures.
Horse Dancers
First stop was the small mountain town of Tilaran, home of the high-stepping horse dancers. We lucked out as there was a big rodeo and horse parade the day we were in town. We watched the endless, disorganized procession with the rest of the town and then munched on some mangoes from a big tree in the park.

Cloud World
On to the cloud rainforests of Monteverde, home of the unique avian wonder the Quetzal and some pretty crazy zip-lines through the canopy forest. Monteverde is one of those places where young ecologists go studying for semesters... you really could stay here poking around in the forest forever, so much diversity, so many creepy crawly things. Rachel saw her first giant tarantula on a guided night hike and managed to spot the famous Quetzal on a guided day hike. The guides are probably worth it as their English was excellent, yet get ready to crack that wallet as nothing is cheap in the clouds.
Rental Car Mischief
We decided to make Costa Rica the last country in our adventure and thus wanted to go out in style... so in true American tourist fashion we got us a big ol' automobile and toured the rest of the country. Our primary objective was to find the perfect beach and thus we scoured both east and west coast beaches. After traversing the highway abyss through San Jose, we headed to Limon and then the beaches near Manzanillo on the Caribbean. The rental car paid off as we now had the means to pull off and explore any beautiful bit of coast or scenery (vs. watch it briefly from a bus window). We also decided to camp on abandoned roads as if we were in the States... and we felt pretty safe except for the wakeup call from a man carrying a machete outside our tent :)
We tried to snorkel on the Caribbean side but pretty much decided it was no Belize and thus we headed toward the Pacific Ocean. But first we thought we'd get engaged... Finally! And what better location than a natural hot-spring underneath the active volcano Arenal... very romantic... Scott scored some big points. But enough gushy stuff, the train kept rolling onward to Nicoya Peninsula where we abused our rental car on some real sketchy roads on our way to the Pacific. There really were no (minimal) paved roads between popular beaches. We pretty much took compass bearings and hoped for the best at crossroads. Alas, we were rewarded for getting lost as we had beach after beach all to ourselves. We did find the perfect beach... actually, miles of them! When we finally did make it to some of the big "surfer" guide book destinations, we felt they were pretty lame compared to our personal naked beaches. For those of you still with me, GO NOW, the bulldozers and developers are moving quick. Godspeed.
The Return Home
The journey ended Sunday, May 20th when Scott and Rachel flew home from the San Jose International Airport. The discussions regarding whether or not to continue on through Panama and South America were pretty intense. Scott's weird tuberculosis-like cough and travel fatigue tipped the scales and thus we decided to spend the summer leading trips and volunteering at Camp Miniwanca. One week of visiting with family before the summer camp training begins...

Nicaragua

Pineapple fields in Nicaragua

Nicaragua took on a different feel than other countries we had visited. After reading about the chain of 11 volcanoes lining the Pacific coast, the beautiful surfing beaches, and the largest lake in Central America, we were ready for some great experiences. The journey started a little rocky when we were forced to spend a night in the capital city of Managua - which is perhaps the scariest city we have visited since Belize City. We were told of the dangers and encouraged to take a cab 6 blocks to the ATM. This seemed ridiculous, but we heeded caution and took the prudent route. The taxis of course took advantage of this fear and overcharged to ensure our safety. This somewhat started to lay the groundwork for our experiences in Nicaragua. At this point in the trip, we needed a little pampering...

A much needed American meal at Pizza Hut
Scott getting a shave and facial

After the pleasantries of Managua, we headed to Granada which is a colonial city situated on Lake Nicaragua. Although the city was beautiful, the hotels were expensive, the market was incredibly stinky, and it was hot as hell. We noticed a different vibe in Nicaragua that perhaps is due to being the second poorest country in the Western hemisphere (after Haiti). Actually the vibe wasn´t really that different just perhaps a bit more concentrated... the vibe was desperation. Cab drivers, junk peddlers, store owners, were all a little too desperate for our gringo dollars. The cab drivers would lie about directions and schedules while street kids would haunt you with souvenir whistles. One restaurant so abused the description of the food that we couldn´t eat it and gave it to one of the old ladies on the street. So you pretty much had to watch your back. At this same time, our Spanish skills were really paying off as a means of ripoff insurance. By asking several people about schedules and directions we were able to meander our way through the country pretty easily.

One highlight of our trip was Isle de Ometepe, a volcanic island in the middle of Lake Nicaragua (huge freakin´ lake). We boarded a cargo ferry and tried not to barf (or fall off) on the stomach-churning journey. We hired an 18 year old kid to guide us up Volcan Concepcion, who kicked our butts running up the nearly vertical trail. Luckily, we could not hike to the summit because it has been active in previous years. Our aching quads and biceps were rewarded with an incredible view of Lake Nicaragua through the misty clouds. That's the one downfall of a cloud forest - you can't expect to have a clear view. We also saw an entire gang of howler monkeys and the elusive white-faced gringo monkeys (a smarter type of monkey than the typical gringo monkeys who climb the volcano).Our final desintation in Nicaragua was the Pacific Ocean. Supposedly, San Juan del Sur boasted one of the finest beaches (easy to get to) in the country. We realized our guidebook was sadly mistaken when we sat our fatigued, emotionally-depleted selves down on the beach for a view of boat after boat blocking the Pacific. Not exactly what we had in mind... This was a surf town full of bleach-blond surfer dudes and dudettes who "like totally caught a bitchin' wave" type of town. Perhaps we just weren't in the mood or were affected by the rising temperatures with a stuffy hotel room, but we needed the mountains of a different country for recovery. We headed for Costa Rica for some relief, although these kids in Nicaragua really lifted our spirits. The picture below is one of many throughout the trip where we play with local kids new to digital cameras. Rachel amused them for about a half-hour amid the deafining cry¨otra vez, otra vez¨ ... again ... again ...So we weren´t super impressed with Nicaragua as compared to Guatemala or Honduras. To be fair, we did meet some travelers who said they loved Nicaragua (though they hadn´t been to Guatemala) and we pretty much stuck to the gringo-circuit (which attracts the more aggressive turistivore types) but... when we crossed that border to Costa Rica... it felt like we had found the promised land!