My plans for Costa Rica were to see wildlife - as much as possible - and to go ziplining. I also wanted to stretch my legs with some cloud forest hiking to prepare for the volcano trek on Ometepe Island. After driving for about 4 hours via a quick photo stop at La Paz waterfall, we were in La Fortuna. Now, being back home and looking into some of the places I spotted along the way, I know I would like to head back to Costa Rica some day (soon!) and spend a lot more time in La Paz. I came across this website and it really whet my appetite: http://www.waterfallgardens.com/la_paz_waterfall_gardens.php After a rather simple but tasty lunch at a "Truckers stop" across the road from our hotel, whilst some of the group decided to chill out, or go paddleboarding, or canyoneering and rappeling, Olivia and I chose the Arenal volcano base hike and wildlife tour. It was brilliant and our guide Hanzel, from Desafio Adventure Company, was very fun loving and warm. He knew his stuff and presented it in an enthusiastic manner. The best spot - catching the back end of a wild cat as it disappeared amongst the trees. Hanzel reckoned it could have been a Jaguarundi! After taking us through the rainforest and spotting wildlife along the way, we climbed out of the trees to the base of Arenal volcano, which hasn't been active since 2010, but there is a clear evacuation route - just in case. Now we were standing where the molton lava had solidified and Hanzel had timed it perfectly so that we could watch the sun as it set and he also knew a certain bird would be flying by. Setting up his telescope, we were able to catch a glimpse of a pair of Toucans. This hike was with another group - randomly mixed people from different hotels - because you pick your activities and split off from the main group thus meeting even more new faces. It gets really hard remembering everybody's names, but it's a lot of fun. On the way back in the minibus, we were given complimentary beer or juice, a nice little touch. That evening, it was time to meet up with the rest of our G Adventures group and get to put some more names to faces over dinner at the Lava Lounge. I had this amazing fried sea bass and salad tortilla washed down with the beer of Costa Rica, Imperial. Being in the rainforest means it does rain hard and heavy for 5 minutes and soaks you through, as we found walking back from the Lava Lounge that evening. We got drenched! For the next two nights we were staying at Hotel Cabanitas in cabins like the one you see in my photo below. Surprisingly big and roomy inside with a nice size bathroom on the back. Free WiFi. Communal pool area amongst the huts and a large dining area next to Reception. From our porch, we had a great view of Arenal volcano. I did pick up a colony of ants running up and down my ruck sack, so watch out for that. Ants in your pants takes on a whole new meaning! This hotel was about a 20 minute walk into the town of La Fortuna.
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I felt quite uptight prior to catching my flight from Toronto to San Jose. I was worried about what I was leaving behind and what was ahead of me. I'd been in the midst of several big projects since leaving my job at the Post Office and I'd busted a gut to leave everything just so. A bit of a control freak! And what was ahead of me? I hadn't been on the road for 4 years and had never travelled with just a back pack. I love flying - and that wonderfully liberating realisation "well I can't do anything about it now" - so I sat back, watched some movies, slept a little and enjoyed the amazing scenery from my window seat on the 5 and a half hour flight to San Jose. This was enough to start getting me in the mood for an incredible adventure. Kicking off CRSG 07 April 2015 with G Adventures "Backroads of Central America" I threw myself into it. I liked the fact I hadn't made any plans for an airport transfer and could take my time before finding my way to the joining hotel. After picking up my bag from the conveyor (it took ages but that didn't matter, I wasn't in a hurry), I changed my clothes into something lighter (the humidity was seeping through Arrivals) and changed up some dollars into the local currency Colones. I got 460 colones to the dollar so it wasn't the best rate (500 colones = 1 dollar). I went outside and immediately I had a crowd of taxi drivers surrounding me. I just picked one, complete potluck, knowing the hotel was about 30 to 45 minutes away depending on traffic and a taxi for that distance cost around 30 dollars. Doing that simple bit of research before travelling is really useful. I've had my fair share of unknowing, nail biting taxi journeys and subsequent panic. My check-in at the hotel was easy and I was soon meeting my roommate for the next 3 weeks - Olivia the Austrian. It's funny, I've been using an Austrian Airlines luggage tag for 4 years now (it's the only one I have left, a freebie from my Explore days!) and I was wondering if / when I would ever meet an Austrian. Anyway, Olivia and I hit it off straight away. She's on a 10 month World tour, lucky jammer! 7 months in and we meet. We're the same age and have the same interests and hobbies - and best of all, we want to do the same things on this trip. We want to see as much wildlife as possible and climb that blimin' big volcano on Ometepe island... After chatting for what seemed like ages, we popped out for some snacks and then met the rest of our group and our CEO (Chief Experience Officer) Rafa who would be looking after us. He went through the itinerary and told us what we could expect and ended with the words "Embrace the bizarre" - with the promise that if we can do that, we'll have a wonderful holiday. I quickly figured out I was one of the oldest on the trip, but that was ok, and at dinner across the road after the meeting, I found out Rafa was 4 years younger than me. You know you're getting old when your tour leaders are younger than you! It's all good :)
The joining hotel was Rincon de San Jose. We were only here for one night and I barely saw it in the day light, but first impressions - light and airy, lots of plants everywhere, cute little bridge and walkways between rooms, rooms and bathrooms perfectly adequate, friendly staff. I expected it to be noisy all night long and it was. If your room didn't face out onto the street, it faced into the middle of the hotel where people were walking right past your bedroom window. Most hotels we stayed at were this design with a central courtyard. We had a great restaurant right across the street and it was a 5 to 10 minute walk into town. This time last month... I was starting to get just a little bit excited beyond words and a touch nervous too!
So coming up over the next 3 weeks, I'm going to be sharing my Central Americas trip in detail - where I stayed, what I did, how I felt about it, what the transport was like, what the wildlife was like, the rush of air to the lungs whilst ziplining high above the rainforest canopy, those serene moments - watching the sun set with the locals, climbing an active volcano, standing on a live crater rim, how awesome sledding down an active volcano was, chilling on a remote beach, being in the oldest city in Central America, being in the poorest country in Central America, what walking the streets of El Salvador felt like, seeing my first Mayan ruins, hanging out in a beautiful UNESCO World Heritage Site... This time last month I was doing something I've wanted to do for a while; I celebrated Easter with my family in Canada. This was only my second ever family celebration in my second home and it was really special. It was also my 10th trip out there in 10 years. Sometimes there are times, and this was one of them, where I purposely didn't take any photos and just sat and soaked up the wonderful family atmosphere, pinched myself a lot and thought about how lucky I was to be there. Hopefully there will be more trips and more celebrations to come!
I took some very nice pics of a mating pair of Pearl Bordered Fritillary butterflies at Bentley Wood in Wiltshire today. The iPhone 4S isn't known for its macro photography, but the subject matter was ultra accommodating! I guess you can get lucky - if you're patient enough.
I keep forgetting it's a Bank Holiday today. I guess when everyday is a holiday, you just lose track of time... ;D
I think marginally worse than packing, is unpacking. I tend to pull everything out of my luggage to get to the good bits - souvenirs from my trip - scatter things around the house and then take ages to put stuff back in its rightful place. Over the last few days and, in between sleeps, I've been getting to it - slowly. Checking out my zipline photo CD was top priority. For 3 whole weeks, I've carried that CD up through Central America, across to Canada and then over the Atlantic back to the UK and I was itching to take a look - which I've now done. I've also been loading up 1,150 photos from my Fuji camera and iPhone and already whittled them down to 1,050. Still a way to go... Going through my kit has been another big job. As expected (and hoped!) my Berghaus items held up well. My cap didn't get stained with sweat and running red hair dye (!) My day back pack was never any trouble, very comfortable and, even though I almost lost it over the side of the volcano Concepcion many times that day we hiked up, it never fell apart on me, albeit getting quite dirty and dusty over the course of 9 hours. And lastly my boots; they were the best. No blisters, great traction and giving them a complete hose down with iffy Nicaragua tap water has not dampened their spirits. They look clean enough (I think I picked a cracking colour - sandy) and they don't even smell from the iffy water. I'm about to embark on a mega ironing session, after completing a mega washing and drying session - and that's just with my clothes. Oh, the joys of being home! I've still got to wash my shoes and flip flops, day back pack, money belt and I've got a yellowing "once was white" Kaftan to figure out how to restore to its former glory. I hope it's not ruined thanks to Nivea's oil based factor 30 suncream, that didn't even stop me from burning. There's also some mending to do. My big ruck sack needs stitching up in 3 places where the seams have given out. Considering it was only £45, it held up pretty darn well - and I must have been getting stronger because I could carry it in my arms towards the end of the trip! Don't know whether it would have been comfortable enough to solely back pack with, but luckily I didn't have cause to find out if the reviews were true. Lastly, I forgot to G+ whilst on tour, so I've been doing it retrospectively. Yes, social media-ing yourself is time consuming, but I managed to get stuff out on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram thanks to linking them altogether. This is a great way to share your experiences on the road in real time with your family and friends. I prefer this instead of keeping a live blog. The spontaneity of an immediate post is exciting. My blog requires more depth - less "in the moment", more reflecting on the amazing-ness of my journey - so I like to think about the content whilst I'm travelling and then post retrospectively. It's great to be back working on the website and marketing strategy again after a month off. The preparation before any trip is a killer - way too much to think about whatever the trip length and even without a full time job in the picture - but once I'm at the airport (people watching and the anticipation of flying somewhere new fuelling my adrenaline) a real sense of calm descends upon me and I instantly relax. I don't even need to be at my destination. I LOVE airports. There is something to be said about taking yourself out of everyday life every now and then to "get away from it all". And I had waited long enough to do such a big trip! 3 Christmases in the Post Office later and finally I was ready to take that leap of faith. I find I forget about all the stuff that went before (the prep, prep and more prep) and my brain becomes a blank canvas to work with. Then I start to observe, watch, listen, think and miraculously the ideas come flooding in - articles, stories, scenes, pitches, characters. I couldn't type into the notes app on my iPhone fast enough! I also think it's really important to take time out from the bustle and grind to reflect and to feel grateful if things have been going well, or to feel humbled if things haven't. It's the nearest I will probably get to meditation. These three posts appeared in my Facebook feed when I was on my long journey back to the UK and they all struck a chord with me. I knew on this trip I wanted to do fun, crazy things, but I also wanted to get back to nature. After last year, this trip was all about recharging my batteries and having fun with like minded people. Getting back to my adventurous side. This trip was good for me in so many ways, but one of the best ways in which it helped was uncovering the next set of challenges I would like to overcome - and I now have a list! At the moment, I have to admit that some of them feel insurmountable, but, little steps. More on these later.
This time last month the fun was just about to start as the journey was just beginning...
I remember being so tired, I made a rarer than rare mistake at Security and, even when they caught me, I was still completely oblivious. I was carrying two bottles of smellies (birthday present for my Aunty's 70th) way over 100ml. I was worrying about putting them in my suitcase, squashed in with my big ruck sack and hiking boots, so I decided to take them in my hand luggage. Duh! By the time I got to the airport at 5:30am, I hadn't even registered I was carrying them, let alone that they were 300ml bottles. Guess how I spent my time from clearing Security to boarding my flight... That's when I really knew how completely exhausted I was and how much I needed this holiday! Getting through the jet lag one snooze at a time...
Just about a month ago my Facebook status read: "Ahhhhhh 7 days to go (and 1 until I fly) but already loving the G Adventures offline app, so I can pick the stuff I want to do as we go along the tour. Nice!" and later... "Trying to pack for all weathers and seasons is quite a challenge." I remember my taxi coming at 5am for me on April 2nd and I was literally taking stuff out of my case and out of my back pack right up until that point. After having a few hours kip and "sleeping on it", I still didn't get it quite right for Central America (Canada thumbs up), but more on that later. I fall in and out of love with apps - and also because I keep filling up my iPhone memory. However, I did download the G Adventures app which gave me some of the options for activities on a daily basis. Very handy although it wasn't inclusive and my written trip notes had much more information on. And yes, I still travel with paper. For my flight from Toronto to San Jose, Costa Rica, I also downloaded the Air Canada Rouge in flight entertainment app. as per their instructions. They don't have screens on the backs of the seats; instead you watch on your smartphone or tablet and you can rent an iPad for 10 dollars for the duration of the flight. I thought that was reasonable for a 5 1/2 hour flight. It works off of wireless and you keep your phone on "in-flight" mode. There's quite a range of programs to watch and you can pay extra if you want to see the very latest movies. There was enough in the free section to keep me occupied. An interesting idea anyway. That was the first flight where I'd experienced something like this. |
AuthorBlogging is an amazing concept so here I am giving it a whirl. You'll get words. You'll get pics. Sometimes a vid or two. You'll get tongue in cheek, the odd humble opinion and an honest insight into my travels and writing life. Maybe even a few gems along the way. I'll be musing on home turf as I see more and more of the UK and sharing my experiences further afield on holidays and adventurous trips across the globe. Archives
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