Home, safe and sound...

... as sound as can be, after a nearly 26 hour travel time to get from San Jose to home again. Its a long and tedious story of flight delays due to weather, waiting around in airports for connections and buses all over the place. Regardless of it all, yes, I am home and doing all of my laundry to be sure no sand fleas followed me home - in fact doing the load twice just to be sure, as the little bastards can live underwater for a time.

But yes, home and exhausted. At least I can say I am clean and shaved. And all of my photos (930 of them) have been backed up three times. Now comes to process of sorting them, discarding the out of focus ones and getting a small library of the best assembled for processing in Lightroom and uploading to a Facebook library. That should take, oh, a week or two, lol...

Noticed on returning that there is a LOT of TV shows that started while I was away, so at least I will have something to fill those boring moments here at home when my brain will be thinking that' it's time to head to the beach for a swim or to go reefing.

I've noticed a real attitude switch since the incident with the bus and the tree and the truck - I really just don't feel like I care (to an extent) about not saying something to spare someone an uncomfortable moment. I really see how easy shit can happen now and I plan to take every advantage that comes my way now ... if I want something I will ask for it. If I don't want something, the person asking will know. No more fucking around with word games and spared feelings, they suck. Again, within reason, but yeah... life is too fucking short.

Really wish I was back in the jungle sweating my ass off and trying to avoid killer spiders and snakes though... this being home shit is tedious and prosaic. Come on 2014!!!

Signing off from Costa Rica

Thirty minutes until the shuttle takes me, once again, to the airport. This could be the story of my life in some senses, coming and going from airports. Not a bad story and definitely not a bad life! But yes, sadly, troubles aside that this trip has sprung upon me, the 2013 excursion has come to a close. Woke up way too early, due to falling asleep way too early, but at least I got to enjoy a nice last view of the mountains around the Central Valley and see some of the coffee plantations lining them, all while sipping on nice Costa Rican coffee on the rooftop of Pangea.

The mountains on the edge of town

And of course, a nice shot of the coffee!

Also, spent an hour outside talking to a fellow backbacker from Ireland, both sitting curb-side. The dude was completely wiredç on cocaine, self confessed, and man, what a riot! Every time a car or bus zipped past too close for his addled brain, he would recoil quickly to avoid being hit - me I didnt move, because, yeah, they never came that close, lol! 

Also, they forgot to mention last night in their logs that I had paid for the shuttle and when I went to get my ticket for it this morning, no-one knew anything about it and they had to phone the girl who worked last night and wake her up to confirm. The never ending saga of central american in-efficiency continues ... lets hope that is an end to it, and the airport adventure is smooth sailing...

So, with sadness, I sign off from the rooftop of Hostel Pangea, in San Jose, Costa Rica. There will be other updates, reviewing the places I´ve stayed and the places I went along the way, for those who stumble upon this blog around the globe, looking for travel advice. 

Adios from Costa Rica!

And though finished, the adventure continues

Seriously, as if the tree incident of yesterday was not enough, today there were adventures a plenty and they almost made me lose all the sanity I have left in me, lol. We´ll get to that in a moment, first, the lead-in. Woke up rather early to the howler monkeys just giving it in the jungle behind the hostel. Did my packup, laundry and then went and had breakfast on Playa Negra one last time, all the while snapping last minute photos. Mostly of the hostel, as I plan to do a write up about this place, as it was simply incredible - I enjoyed everything about it, honestly. Great co-guests, great staff and an amazing ambiance. More on that in another post.

Come 9:00am, I wanted to pull some money out since my card had actually worked once and I figured all was well at that point. Not so. The accident from yesterday must have fucked the connection to the Cirrus network again, because no way in hell was my card going to work. No, that would have been too easy - and nothing is ever easy. Suffice it to say, it didn´t work at all today, not even here in San Jose at a fucking Scotiabank. I had to rely on using the mastercard and that was an exercise in testing my patience too as most places want a passport for tourists using credit cards to avoid fraud. And of course, loaded up with food for the day and a load of Marlies, no passport of course, and can´t get anything.  So yes, figured, wait, San Jose is a major urban center, the machines will work there. Nope. And getting the hostel here and the cab I took to get here to take mastercard nearly made me just walk to the airport tonight... fml.

Speaking of FML, did I mention some German tourist lost her phone on the bus coming to San Jose, and suspected theft and requested we stop at the nearest police station? Oh yes... they lined us all up outside and searched our bags. Then they verified passports. And as they were splitting women and men into two lines for a strip search, the phone was found on the bus, at the back, under a seat... saved by the bell.

So yes, a very trying day on my already unsteady nerves... so cannot wait to get home and actually have a bank machine work for me. Better yet, to have access to paying with debit period, which does not exist here. LOL!

But hey, dont get me wrong, the adventures are fun after done and they do make for great stories. I´m just really tired and tired of not having money at my reach. Whatever, day is done, all is arranged for transit to the airport tomorrow morning. How about the daily dose?

Last use of my mozzy net for a while

Imperial, the beer of choice in Costa Rica

Artistic shot of a flower

And of water beads on a plant

And of another flower

The beach in town near the bus stop

Seriously, they ARE that big and BIGGER

... and fucking ugly too!

Dog digging for crabs in the sand

The main strip of Puerto Viejo

Storm brewing in the central valley

Not just brewing, coming in strong

Oh shit, the bag search begins...

... and starting to line us up for strip search.

Great cloudy mountain in the central valley

Coffee terraces - finally found one cool enough to shoot!

Okay kids, thats the limit of my patience for the day... wont be any new photos tomorrow as I will be in transit pretty much all day and spending the night in the airport in Montreal Saturday night waiting for my ride to QC at 6am Sunday. No matter what adventure happens tomorrow, lol, we´ll catch up on Sunday or Monday. Cheers and thanks for coming to see the things that I have seen for the 2013 excursion...

15 seconds

Fifteen little seconds, that is the difference between life and death, maybe a few more or a few less ... but that´s it. Today I learned that lesson very well. More on that later... I am just very happy to be here to tell you about it.

Woke up this morning and the sky was blue as all hell and not a cloud was in sight. The temp was already at 30 degrees when I crawled out from under the mozzy net and went in search of coffee. In the end, I decided against Manzanillo (I had been flip flopping on it all night long) and went to Cahuita instead to trek in the jungle there and sneak onto the reefs to snorkel - you need to hire an official dive guide for this, but fuck, I´m not a novice; I know what I am doing and won´t damage the coral. And you know, I had to pay to get into Cahuita anyways, so no I was not going to shell out another 20 bucks for an *official* reef guide. I managed to get to a few reefs without getting caught so mission accomplished, lol.

Did a really nice five hour trek along the jungle and beach path there - did it barefoot for the most part too! There is something very tactile about walking in the jungle barefoot, hard to explain. But, it was awesome. I am sure the care I was paying to where I was walking made me miss a few things, but still ... I walked barefoot in the jungle. That is all that I care about. Saw some amazing things too!

Yes Rachel, more trees - get over it. ;)

Cahuita Beach

A river running parallel to the trail

Illegally obtained photo

More of the Cahuita trail

Reminded me of Asia way too much to simply not take a photo

Jesus Christ, I found your lizard!!!

Stingray, chilling, chilling....

Didn´t see the monkeys, but did see they like the beach too!

So that´s a small sampling of Cahuita... now, while there, I saw a massive storm coming in, while I was still 6km in or so, and decided to come back... ran into some fellow hostelers and the owner of Kaya´s chilling in the same place I´d seen the stingrays earlier... made my way back to the bus stand, as I just love the chicken buses (local buses) and on the way, the storm hit full force ... 60-80 kmh winds and driving rain... once on the bus and on the way, the wind uprooted a massive tree and knocked it and the power lines down, on top of a truck, directly in front of the bus - just a few seconds more, and it would have been me - 10 seconds, 15 tops... luckily, the driver was mostly fine... but here are some photos I took literally from beside the bus.

But yes, I am fine - just really shocked, honey badgering and really in need of copious amounts of beer. So... until tomorrow amigos!

Tropical Deluges & Sloths!

Yes, you read that right ... sloths.. And baby howler and spider monkeys, crawling all over me and hugging me. No photos of it though as they do not allow cameras in the monkey cage.

So woke up this morning intent on going trekking in the jungles of Manzanillo, but the rainy season hit at around 8:30am and lasted until around 12¨00pm or so. With that, I axed that hike and did the jaguar rescue centre today instead of tomorrow - figured why waste a day? In the end though, it wont be Manzanillo I go to tomorrow, but Cahuita - monkeys, jungle trekking and the best coral reef on this side of the coast! Sounds like an excellent way to spend my last day in PV...

Kinda burned out today - loads of walking around after the rescue centre, as the rains had stopped by then and the sun came out in full force. Anyways, daily roundup of photos... and I know youre all going to like them! :)

Fer de Lance - most deadly snake here

Emerald Tree Boa

A Montezuma bird

What you were waiting for! Baby sloths!

And a baby howler monkey!

Crazy assed bird was back stalking me again!

The deluge!

Cool flower after the rains - artistic shot...

Liberian rattlesnake

Baby howler monkey - it loved to hug me!

And another baby sloth! :)

He lied - I followed his nose, no Fruit Loops...

And yes Rachel, an ocelot - Happy now? ;)

Okay sports fans, that´s it for this update - dinner time. Thinking herb encrusted sea bass or red snapper. Or maybe shrimp and calamari cosada. Either way, a happy belly... stay safe mi amigos!

Es muy caliente aqui!

No lie, its 42 degrees with humidty - I am sweating in places I didn´t know that people could sweat from. LoL! Today was adventurous to say the least - almost died, lol. No lie - was snorkeling at Playa Uva today and the water was very choppy and the reefs are right at a break, so killer waves. It kept pushing me into the coral, where I found three stonefish within a 5 minute period. One stab from their quills, and it would´ve been nuclear pain and likely death. Fucking idiot that I am, I stuck there trying to take pictures of them while fighting the waves and current. Little did I know that my batteries were dead and I was taking nothing! Idiot, indeed!

So yeah, I did all of this while either really hungover or still drunk - cant decide which it will be.Met a bunchy of locals yesterday who work at - own a great bar on the outskirts of town, called The Point. Promised the owner I´d throw some photos online, so that is coming below - and trust me, if you want great ambiance and amazing food, this is where you want to go. This is an ex-pat bar (expats are people who live abroad while keeping their citizenship in their native country). I actually met a guy from Montreal there today, lol. So yeah, was there last night and mixed way too many substances to be healthy, barfed it all out behind a tree and then went back for more! LoL! The local swill, guaro, is not for the faint of heart, let me tell you...

So yeah, went back today to have ceviche de la casa (made with marlin today!) and man was it great! Also chomped down a plate of chicharones and pattacones, with pico de gallo and refried beans. With a pint of beer from a local micro-brewery. Wasnt even embarrased about my barf fest last night when I sat with the same crew today. LoL!

Tomorrow I will be going trekkiung in Manzanillo National Park - hoping to see some more animals and birds, as there havent been enough of them yet. Thursday I will head to the jaguar center, where yes, there are sloths and no sadly, they cannot be handled...

Photos_ You know it! :)

Playa Uva

The break point at Uva - aka where I almost died!

Artistic shot of driftwood at Uva

Went hiking up into the jungly cliff at Uva - gnarly!

While trekking, came across this river - lagoon

Playa Chiquita - better snorkeling here for sure

Fire ants that I almost stepped on - lol, another near miss!

Rather cool jungly trees - reminded me of Tarzan...

The rad pool room at The Point, Puerto Viejo

Ceviche and damned good at that! With a nice Segua.

Chicharones :) Not just in Mexico!

Some cool bird that kept following down the road...

A flock of pelicans

What a backpacker hostel looks like - Jealous?

Well, thats it for today´s update super friends... gotta go load up on water for my day long trek into Manzanillo tomorrow... come on sloths and toucans! Oh and monkey´s too... hey! Speaking of animals, I did see a jesus lizard today (basilisk) but did not have my camera and likely would not have been fast enough to shoot a picture anyways - it was running and VERY fucking fast, and yes on its back legs...

Adios!