COSTA RICA, Canopy Zipline Tour, Monteverde

Thursday June 5, 2008

The zipline tour lasted about 2 hrs and that is the most fun that I have had since I entered Costa Rica. That alone is reason enough to come here. I am not sure how high we were sometimes but a couple of times it had to be 200 ft. above the ground . It is hard to calculate because you are going tree to tree but when you go over the valley below who knows. Hopefully the pictures will give some idea. It wasn´t scary, just exciting. You control the brakes by your hand but if you slow down too much it is a long way to pull yourself to the other end.                

After the canopy and suspension bridge tour I went to the Butterfly Garden which is billed as the 3rd largest in the world.

COSTA RICA, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve

Wednesday June 4, 2008

I just got back from hiking in the Monteverde Cloud Forest. I did not get there until 12:00 and was scared that it would start raining because it usually does every afternoon here. But the sun was shining and the weather was great. The trails are well paved and most of the time you are just immersed in the jungle. There was one place where you could see out over the mountains and valleys in the surrounding areas which was spectacular. Will upload pictures when the internet is faster. The entire hike only lasted about 2 hrs. I finished just in time to catch the 2pm ¨chicken¨bus from the Reserve to Santa Elena which is only about 3 miles but very steep and bad. A ¨chicken¨ bus is former U.S school bus which is now being used to transport people in Central and South America. Nice to know that I am riding on a bus that is no longer considered safe in the U.S. lol Unfortunately for us the bus had a flat just 3 minutes into our trip and 16 people climbed into a minivan. I was the last one to get in and secured my seat on the floor, which is not a good thing on a bumpy road.

Tomorrow at 8 am I go on the canopy zip line tour. Will update hopefully after the tour.

Note: I rode 4 local buses on Monday and I was the only ¨gringo¨on the bus. I see lots of minivans with tourists go by but I thought at least some backpackers would be riding the local buses. I guess that Costa Rica has gotten so touristy that people come prepared to spend $40 a person to ride in the air conditioned minivan without having to stop every 5 minutes. Personally , I enjoy paying $2, stopping every 5 minutes (maybe not so much) and seeing all the locals interact. To me that is as much a part of the experience as seeing the beach or rainforest or volcanoes.

COSTA RICA, Playa Tamarindo

Friday May 30th thru May 31st

I arrived at Playa Tamarindo yesterday and it was exactly as I was told, very Americanized. Luxury condos, pizza huts and souvenir shops. I survived the tropical storm that hit Costa Rica and Nicaragua. Luckily I had just left San Juan del Sur before the storm hit. I was in Liberia when the storm hit and there was 24 hrs of some of the hardest rain that I have ever seen.

Tomorrow I go on a catamaran sailing and snorkeling. It is my first expenditure splurge but I always did love sailing even though I have not had many opportunites.

NICARAGUA, San Juan del Sur (Maderas Beach)

Tuesday May 27th

I took the early truck shuttle with 15 surfers to one of the best beaches to surf in Nicaragua. Another 25 joined a couple of hrs later. I watched for several hours and was amazed at the skill of many of these surfers. There was a crew videotaping what I assume were 2 Nicaraguan celebrity surfers. They were amazing. This seems to be the town to learn to surf. Private lessons are cheap and so are the accommodations.

NICARAGUA, Climbing Volcan Conception

Sunday May 25th

Today I along with my guide and 4 people from Belgium and 2 Aussies climbed Volcan Conception up to the 1400 meter mark. The volcano is almost a perfect cone and is 1610 meters high with an almost vertical climb through the jungle up to the 100 meter mark. Then it is slippery volcanic rock which is mostly like loose gravel. The last 300 meters involved hanging onto rocks to keep from sliding back down. The volcano was active only 5 months ago so that added to the level of excitement and danger. We saw lots of howler monkeys on the way up through the jungle. At 1400 meters we wanted to continue but the clouds completely covered the top of the volcano and the guide said there were many crevices to fall in and since we could not see , we would have to go back down.

That is when it got really scary. The descent was very slippery and everyone kept falling and then sliding for several feet before being able to catch onto a rock. The guide even caught one girl who started sliding and slid for almost 10 feet before he stopped here. Needless to say we went down very slowly. The climb was 9 hrs up and down and everyone was tired and bruised afterwards.

I will post pictures hopefully tomorrow.