Tribune Bay (Big Trib and Little Trib)

Tribune Bay, aka Big Trib, is probably one of the most popular beach destinations of Hornby Island. Not only do beach goers love to hang out there all day, but it is also a popular anchoring spot for boats too due to the protection of the elements.

Lots of open beach area when the tide is low offers a great place for many beach type activities; football, bocci, kite flying, skim boarding, shell collecting and more. It is also a great place to find sand dollars (not that you should really ever take the shells from the beach).

Typically family and younger adults can be found on Big Trib. There is also a provincial camp ground next to Big Trib which gets filled up pretty quick!

Little Trib is situated around the corner of Big Trib with a less than noticeable road to get to it. It’s sort of a secret gem and I don’t mind sharing it with people. Little Trib is considered a Nude Beach, but clothing is optional, which is why it is typically more quiet than the other beaches. It is relaxing though and we do prefer lounging there away from the younger crowd of Big Trib. I do not have photos of Little Trib, but it is a beautiful beach. Parking is a bit of a mess and if you don’t get there early you will have to park quite a bit away from it (as with Big Trib too).  Little Trib is also a bit more rocky near the grass line than Big Trib, but once you make it over the little rocks and pebbles the sand is like that of the rest of the island.

With both beaches you do have to watch out for dungeness and spider crabs as they like to hide in the various pockets of crab grass beneath the water.

Whaling Station Bay

To date, Whaling Station Bay is our new choice for beach action on Hornby Island. Located north-east of Helliwell Provincial Park and nestled among various ocean front cottages and when you get there you can see how this particular place got it’s name. The very gentle slope of the land allowed fisherman to haul up whales when they were caught back in the day for their blubber.

These days, it is enjoyed by the residents of Hornby Island as well as visiting families. We enjoyed the really warm temperatures of the mid-afternoon water where you could easily walk out into the water for a long time without it ever going over your head. There are many little beach access points around the perimeter of the bay and even toilets located on the eastern side.

If you ever get a chance to check out Hornby Island during the Summer, Whaling Station Bay is definitely a recommended stop.

Ford’s Cove Marina (area)

Technically the area around Ford’s Cove Marina is not much of a beach. In fact there isn’t sand nearby at all, but it is a great place to go for a late afternoon swim when the tide is high and the sun is hot. The shoreline around Ford’s Cove is made of weather and water beaten sandstone. When the tide is low and the sun is out, these sandstone areas heat up pretty good and when the tide comes back it, it warms up the surrounding water. It’s also a tradition for Robyn’s family to go swimming off the rocks when the tide is right. Quite enjoyable to float around there watching the various boats come in and out of the marina. Occasionally harbour seals poke their head out too. On rare (very rare) occasions transient orcas may be spotted swimming through the channel.

When the tide is ultra-low (sub-tidal) it’s great to go looking for sea critters. We’ve seen starfish, sunstars, bullheads, various crabs, sea cucumbers and more! Just be careful as the lower areas are typically covered with slippery seaweed.

Granted there are other places where one might get into the water for a swim while on Hornby Island, though the ones mentioned above are the easier accessible ones to visitors. They also differ slightly which keeps them interesting.

Have you ever been to Hornby Island? If so, which is your favourite swimming/beach place to go?

Carbera Vineyard and Winery is located [Google Map] along the main road that wraps around Hornby Island. Chances are you will most likely drive past it on your way from or to the ferry terminal.

Situated on 4 acres of south facing land they produce 4 types of grapes; Agria, Gewüztramier, Pinot Gris, Pinot Noir and Rubus Procerus (Himalayan Blackberry). A neat feature of this particular vineyard is that they have built an irrigation pond that they use to help irrigate their grapes during the short water supply during the summer.

Robyn was telling me that it can take up to 6 years before the grapes are able to be harvested for the first time. One needs to be extremely patient it seems when growing grapes for wine. To be able to stick it out for that sort of time period definitely shows enthusiasm to ones dream.

The main reason for visiting Carbera Vineyard and Winery was for Robyn to do a wine tasting. I for one have never liked nor acquired a taste for wine (yet), so I went a bit skeptically of the whole process. In fact I thought it was going to be a long process.

When we entered the small retail portion of the winery we were greeted by a friendly person (unfortunately at this time her name escapes me) and she told us that the wine tasting was free. According to Robyn other wine tastings she has been on, they have been about $5 per person. Free is always good, right?

We started the taste test with their Chardonnay. The order in which we tasted the wines is shown in the above photo. It seems though I left out their Himalayan Blackberry dessert wine, which was more like a Port. Though according to the lady they cannot call it a Port since Hornby Island isn’t in Portugal. The things I learn! I also learned that Ice Wine needs to be able to have frozen berries or something, so since Hornby Island rarely ever sees temperatures below the freezing level, they are unable to produce an Ice Wine.

After trying out all of their wines, Robyn and I decided we liked their Gewürztraminer the best and purchase a bottle to consumer later in the future. Yes, that is me trying out some of the wine, again it was my first experience wine tasting, perhaps I’ll do it again. The wine testing didn’t last as long as I thought it might and the lady was extremely helpeful and knowledgable about not only the wines they sold and produced but also answered any questions we asked.

Now it seems with some wine tours you do get a chance to check out the wine making processes. Since we were only there to do a tasting we didn’t get to see the Italian stainless steel fermentation tanks or their wall of French Oak Barrels and other equipment used in their micro-winery. Perhaps next time we’re on Hornby Island we might look into doing a little tour of how they make their wine. I’ve always thought the process was pretty cool and interesting.

Did I mention that they also have a licensed area outside where you can enjoy not only a great glass of wine, but also their beautiful garden and sunshine? There were a few people doing that as we walked around the vineyard. It definitely looked relaxing.

I do recommend checking out the Carbera Vineyard and Winery if you’re ever on Hornby Island. I am sure we will go back again and again.

If you would like more information on the Carbera Vineyard and Winery check our their website or even their Facebook page.

Day 1

We first take the Horseshoe Bay ferry to Naniamo and drive up the old highway. Stopped for gas in Parksville and noted how far the tide was out. Too bad we didn’t have more time, we would have hung out at the community beach for a little while. We then headed into Qualicum where we stopped off for some soft-serve ice-cream at the Beach Hut, played around on the beach for a while and stopped off at the Shady Rest Pub for some food.

Yes, the weather was a bit overcast with it threatening to rain. Though eventually later in the day the clouds parted a little bit and gave us some the sunshine we requested.

We arrived at Buckley Bay just in time to see the ferry leaving for Denman Island. It’s only about a 45 minute wait for the ferry to come back so the wait wasn’t that bad. The sun by this time was out and shinning down on us though.

If you have not been on the Denman to Hornby journey you’ll find yourself in a race with other cars across Denman Island to get to the Hornby Island ferry. It’s weird since the ferry typically waits for the people from the previous ferry. There are two ways to get to the Hornby Island ferry, but typically everyone takes the same road. You do need to drive a bit careful along it though as there is often deer on it, or next to it.

The silly thing about Ford’s Cove is that you can see it from the Hornby Island Ferry, but you have to drive ALL the way around the island to actually get to tit. Once we did arrive, we quickly unloaded and got into vacation mode.

Day 2

I typically wake up fairly early and let Robyn sleep in as much as possible. When I got up I heard the cry of an eagle. I grabbed my camera and headed down to the water to see if I could get a better look. It seems there is a resident eagle perch about 100 feet away from the cabin, though with my big lens, it still isn’t big enough to do the job properly.

There he is, just sitting perched on a branch. The funny thing is his body is actually facing the area where they (owner’s of Ford’s Cove) keep chickens.  As I type this, the eagle is there right now on the same perch watching over them, well at least I think the eagle is watching over the chickens. The photos above is heavily cropped so it might look like I am fairly close, I’m not.

Later that day Robyn and I headed over to Helliwell Provincial Park. I’ve written about this park before and have taken many a photo of it. We still highly enjoy walking around the high bluffs overloading the ocean. Instead of seeing eagles soaring on the thermals we did see many turkey vultures, just not close enough to get a good photo though. We also saw what we might have thought was a whale in the water near the shore. Something large and grey was moving along just off the shoreline below us in the water.

When we got back to the cabin it was time to go for a walk towards Heron Rocks. The walk consists of walking along sandstone as the water gentle laps against it.

The sandstone is pretty cool as the ocean’s water has worn it away over time. At lower tides you can check out the little critters that inhabit the sub-tidal area; starfish, sunstars, spider crabs and more.

When we got closer to Heron Rocks a juvenile bald eagle kept chirping away on in a tree. I did notice that there was an adult bald eagle in the area a few trees down from him, perhaps the juvenile was telling the adult he was still there? The adult just hung out on his perch and preened himself.

We headed back to the cabin and started dinner.

We enjoyed chicken and corn on the cob on the little habatchi (sp?) we brought along with us. We sat on the porch eating our bbq’d food and watching the sun set behind Denman Island. As usual, this place is not only beautiful, but also very relaxing. We also enjoyed a fun game of Crib too. Yup, Robyn was the red pegs and in the lead.

Today: We’ll be hitting up V0R1Z0’s for some coffee and their delicious cookies before we head over to Whaling Station Bay, Big Trib (Tribune Bay Park), the Co-op for some lunch meats, Small Trib for some beach action and whatever else we can think of. We’re also planning on heading to Helliwell again, but this evening to watch the sunset. We also noticed that local resident artist Graham Herbert had painted one of the nearby water towers, which I’ll definitively get a photo of today.

On a side note: The internet is pretty flaky and barely managed to upload my photos to Flickr on the local WiFi here. I had to switch over to my iPhone and tether off of it to write this blog post though. Yes, I am someone who enjoys being connected even when on vacation. It’s not work so it’s still enjoyable.

This past Sunday Robyn, her mum and myself headed up to Whistler for a little bit of siteseeing. The plan was to head up to the Peak of Whistler and wander back down to the Roundhouse Lodge, jump on the Peak 2 Peak to Blackcomb and head back down to the Village. So we did just that.

One thing I would like to remind people is that the Day Lots in Whistler are now Paid usage and the daily fee is $12 per car. It is also tracked by license plate, so you can’t just pass your ‘ticket’ to someone when you’re leaving either. Yes, we do like the paved lots, but it just makes a Whistler trip that more expensive. For a Siteseeing Gondola Ticket, they sell for $43.95 and for the 3 of us it would have cost a total of $143.85 (includes the parking). The great thing about having an EDGE card is that we had free siteseeing tickets since we reloaded are cards with Winter time before a certain date. Add the price of food on top of that, and it can get a bit expensive.

If you have NEVER gone up to the Peak of Whistler or Blackcomb during the Summer season, I do HIGHLY recommend you do it at least once. The views and scenery are breathtaking and you might get a chance of seeing some unexpectant wildlife too!

On to the photos!

It does feel different going up a chairlift without all your snowgear on. It is easier to move around on the chair and check out the scenery though.

Once you get to the top of the Peak, you are presented with 360 degree view of the near by mountain ranges. Did I mention how clean the air is up at Whistler too?

I believe the High-Note trail might be partially closed, so we decided to stick to the track road that leads back down towards Harmony Bowl.

They still have so much snow up on Whistler for being July. I hope it all sticks around to use as a base for this upcoming Winter season though.

Do you think there is enough snow still? Look at that height of that snow wall! The great thing about so much snow, was that it kept you cool with the cloudless sky. It must of been like 35 Celcius (95F) up there.

We got back to the Roundhouse Lodge for a quick dehydration break, pick up a couple things at the gift shop and then headed off on the Peak 2 Peak across to Blackcomb Mountain. Does anyone else find it a bit odd to try and grow grass up there (as in the photo) where in a couple of months the snows will come again? I’m sure it would look nice with green grass as opposed to dry dirt, but… Oh well.

A couple of tourists on the gondola with us were talking about how there had been some bear sightings on Blackcomb. As we approached Blackcomb they got up to the glass of the gondola with their cameras ready. I too have seen bears from the gondola before, perhaps we’ll get to see them again?

Tourists, Skiers and Snowboarders were loading up into the Mountain Express buses. These buses take people to 7th Heaven for which you can access the Blackcomb Glacier for Spring/Summer ski/riding. That day was the last day for the season too. Robyn and I want to get up to the Glacier one year, perhaps next year will be the year. I haven’t done a t-bar before so I am a bit hestiant to try it out.

The patio at the Rendezvous Lodge was busy with people eating great good and enjoying the great view. We headed back down to the Upper Village via Solar Coaster, I was on the look out for bears though.

Behold, a black bear foraging on the dandylions underneith of feet as we went down the chairlift. I don’t think it was an adult because it wasn’t as large as other black bears I have seen. He (or she) never did look up though, must be used to the human traffic overhead.

Once we got down to the Upper Village, we stopped off at Merlin’s for lunch. The food there (as with most places in Whistler/Blackcomb) was good. The patio had a nice breeze going through it which helped with the sun shinning down on us too.

After lunch we checked out the Farmer’s Market too. Busy with people checking out all the vendors and their wares. Lot’s of great things to see and buy too.

It was another great day trip up to Whistler/Blackcomb and we look forward to doing it again soon later this summer.

Have you been up to Whistler during the Summer? What are your favourite Whistler Summer activities to do? If you haven’t gotten up to Whistler in the Summer, what would you like to do if you could go?

After the wedding we drove up the west coast of Vancouver Island and did some car camping just south of Port Renfrew. Don’t worry, I’m sure I’ll be writing about the various beaches that are dotted along the coastal road on the way to Port Renfew as well as our camping adventures too.

Typically Robyn and I stay in a place for more than one day, though we decided to blaze across the island and head up to Qualicum Beach. Qualicum is a beautiful (but quiet) town about 40 minutes north of Naniamo, or 10 minutes north of Parksville. What we love about Qualicum is the massive beach front area that the old Island Highway drives alongside, especially when the tide goes out, and it goes WAY out too.

When stopped off at the Visitor Info Centre (a first for me) and we inquired about places to stay along the beach. The friendly staff highlighted a couple places for us and we headed up the road to check them out. First was a property that had small, cute and quiet cottages next to the beach, though they were booked full. The lady who ran it  recommended we headed two doors down to Buena Vista by the Sea and mention we were sent there. So we did just that.

Buena Vista by the Sea

When we pulled up to the little motel the owner came up and introduced herself to us. Claire asked if we were looking for a place to stay the night and we were in luck, she had one room available. She even took us to the suite (called the Hornby Suite of all things) and showed us around before we even paid for the room. Typically it was meant for more than 2 people as it had 2 bedrooms but came equipped with a kitchenette (full-fridge, sink, full-oven, cabinets, cookware, flatware etc), eating table,  master bedroom with a comfy queen-sized bed, two futons (surprisingly both were comfy too) one which is in the second bedroom that overlooks the water, a nice sized 3-piece bathroom and of course an LCD TV on a movable trolley.

Once we were told the price (under $90/night) we quickly said yes and followed Claire back to the office. Once we paid for the room, got the key we unloaded our baggage in the room.

Did I mention they give you fresh ground coffee for the morning? Enough to fill a regular sized coffee maker (not one of those dinky, small hotel ones either) and it was good too! Claire also gave us a small container of fresh milk when we checked in too. You have fresh ground coffee, tea, hot chocolate and even apple cider available in your room.

For those who can’t quite disconnect from the Internet or Office, Buena Vista by the Sea does offer FREE Wireless! Yup, you don’t have to log into some weird hot-spot controller, or pay any extra money to use it either. You just select the Wireless SID, enter the password (which is supplied in the room) and connect. The speed was good too. Since I didn’t have a cellular signal for 2 days prior, I was glad I could log into the Internet and check email as was Robyn.

Did I mention the view you get when you stay at the Buena Vista by the Sea? Yup, the above photo is our little patio with the beautiful view of the ocean (Georgia Straight) with parts of the mainland in the background. It’s a great thing to wake up to in the morning! We also had dinner and breakfast out on the patio. The other suites on the property also have patios or direct access to the backyard and beach.

We highly enjoyed our stay at the Buena Vista by the Sea motel. Claire and her husband were awesome and extremely friendly and helpful during out brief one night stay. We definitely will stay there again and might even might head up to our Hornby destination this August a day early just to stay here again. Hopefully they have room!

*update*

In my rush to get out a blog post I forgot to add some of the photos of the property to share with you! The backyard that backs onto the beach is great for relaxing. Two large decks with loungers, tables with umbrellas, a great looking flower garden and just a really relaxing atmosphere. Add the cool breeze from the water, and the smell of the ocean air and the property is one of the best places we’ve stayed at. There is even a gazebo to hang out in if the weather isn’t the greatest.

With the last day of the Winter Olympics being today, I should I have some time to upload and write more about my experience during the games. With the Paralympics starting soon in March, I’ll be back outside with camera in hand to experience that too. Hopefully Robyn and I can get up to see some of the Paralympic events too, especially the Alpine!

Recently (yesterday), I was invited along with a buddy of mine, to be guests on the Travel Alberta train up to Whistler and what a great way to get up to Whistler too. I have not been on a train since I was little and living on Vancouver Island.

We embarked on our little adventure very early in the morning;4:50AM. In the rain, we booked it up Georgia Street to catch the appropriate bus at the Shangra-La Hotel, which then took us over to North Vancouver to where we would me up with the Rocky Mountaineer and the very friendly Travel Alberta people.

We boarded and found seats next to a couple from Australia who were freelance accredited photographers for the Olympics (Jeff and Courtney Crow). They turned out to be awesome people and company for this trip and shared many stories of their combined 35 years in sports photography.

The train pulled away and we were given the safety speech not long before the first drinks where handed out. It was a bit too early for alcohol (according to some government law) but we did cheers to our departure and the experiences we would have through out the day.

It was raining and quite dark so there were not many photo ops along the way until we reach the Squamish area. Keith and I had a great time explaining the various areas the train traveled through to our new Aussie friends who were amazed at how beautiful it was along the coastline even in the early hours of the morning. Before we knew it, they started serving breakfast and it was a treat. For those food-crazed people, I did not get any photos of the food as there wasn’t much room to bring out the camera with the four of us at our table, but it was good and I was looking forward to the dinner on the way back.

After breakfast we headed back upstairs to where Jon (VP of Marketing) had a special gift for us. In a really cool way of presenting the people with media information, Travel Alberta loaded up their contacts, photos, videos, notes and more into Apple iPod Touch 8GB units and handed them out.

This went over extremely well and what a really cool way to give people all the information they might need (and more) at their finger tips? With all the information they put onto the iPod Touch, there is still about 7GB of room left! They even had laser etched their logo and URL on the back of the iPods. Makes me wonder how much money they spend on all these iPods as they have been operating the train each and every day of the Olympics.

The sun started to rise and give light to the dreary morning we were experiencing. Though the weather was not dampening anyone spirits. The views from the rails along the Sea to Sky are breath-taking. I am envious of John and Rebecca’s trip with Travel Alberta as they had a blue bird day.

We talked to numerous people from Travel Alberta including Maureen, Noelle and Susan. They were all great in providing any answers we had questions for and talking about things we did not know.

On a cool note we also had a great talk with the CEO of the Calgary Stampede about the role of photographers covering the Stampede. We also talked to him a bit about social media including twitter and applications for the iPhone (which is turning out to be a great side project for me). If you have never been to a Calgary Stampede I would highly recommend you adding it to your Bucket List. Even though I only spend 1 day, many moons ago, it was enjoyable (sans the company I was with). I would love to go back and photography the 10 day long event! The rodeo, chuck-wagons, festivals, the people, all of it! And to think, it is only a 60 minute flight away from Vancouver!

Along the route up the Checkamus River we were given two options if we did not have plans once we reached Whistler; to see the Alpine events in Creekside or to check out the 4-man Bobsled event at the Whistler Sliding Centre. Keith and I opted for the Bobsled, or is it Bobsleigh? Anyway, there were reports that the rain was to let up and the clouds were to break.

After walking around Whistler Village for a little bit we headed up to the Sliding Centre to check out the 4-man Bobsled event. I’m not going to bore you with countless photos of the sleds themselves, as I will be writing a post for that at a later time. At this time though, I will have to mention there were some pretty interesting characters as Keith and I watched as the first run of the event unfolded.

We headed back down to the Village after the first run as we didn’t want to face the crowds that would be created with having over 12,000 people at this particular event. We were told the event was sold out  and I was told at an earlier time, that the capacity of the Whistler Sliding Centre is around 12,000. With a crowd like that we did not want to miss the bus back to Creekside to get back on our train home.

When we got back down to the village we rounded the corner of the Longhorn, CTV has a little building setup for when they do news casts and interviews with various people. There was a big crowd that had gathered there and in the chair being interviewed was Usher. He was slotted to perform at the LiveCity Whistler venue that evening. He definitely got the crowd all riled up too.

We continued onward towards the Whistler Golf Course (this was the home of the Alberta Hospitality area). Along the way another show was entertaining the crowds at the plaza near the Amsterdam Pub and Araxi. They got also go the crowd to participate by dancing, which a lot of people part-took in. The vibe at Whistler is (to me anyway) bigger than that in Vancouver.

We arrived back at the Alberta Hospitality centre were Keith and I enjoyed some complimentary snacks and beverages. We watched the second run of the 4-man Bobsled event where Canada won Bronze. We then watched the Men’s Curling and Canada won a Gold for that. As of right now we have 13 Gold medals! Everyone is hoping the hockey game today gives us our 14th Gold medal!

4:30PM rolled around and we boarded the buses back to Creekside and hopped on to the same train which would take us back down to Vancouver. We were scheduled to leave at 6PM but it seems the last bus was late on departing so we were a bit late in pulling out. We enjoyed the free drinks and awesome conversation nonetheless.

We met back up with Courtney and Jeff who had a great relaxing time. They both have said this has been the most relaxing Olympics they have attended and that the trip up to Whistler was much needed and enjoyable. Courtney also mentioned a website she runs called ExplorerGirls.com. A website in which girls and woman who are into travel and an active sporting lifestyle can connect and share experiences.

As the train pulled out from the Creekside station, we headed down to the bar area to catch the Bronze medal hockey game. Being on a train the live feed was delayed for web but also the signal would cut out here and there but it was great to watch it.

We were served various appetizer type food but it was most excellent, I really enjoyed the Braised Elk. The AAA grade Alberta beef is never a bad thing either.

Eventually further along out route back to Vancouver we were in for some great entertainment by Brett Kissel. Everyone was singing and really enjoying his performance. What a great way to end a fun day. Let’s hope he gets a gig during the upcoming Calgary Stampede!

Many thanks to the people at Travel Alberta for the experience and your hospitality! How I have a craving to head up to Lake Louise and the Calgary Stampede and the many other events and beautiful areas you offer!

You can check out the other photos I am sharing online during my Olympic experience over on Flickr too!

Lost in the jungle at the far end of Playa Negra this wonderfully wild hotel is right on the cusp of a dramatic black-sand beach and sloth-filled rain forest. Each wood-paneled room has a hammock-swinging balcony looking onto the Caribbean only meters away. At night the isolated location means guests are serenaded by howler monkeys, macaws and the crashing surf – Lonely Planet

After reading that and noticing that breakfast is included we popped over to their website to look up information such as rates, amenities as well as to see their location in relationship to Puertu Viejo itself. It was perfect and we were excited to book our stay with them, even if we booked it back in March of 2009. Did I mention that one of the co-owners of the Banana Azul is from Vancouver?

When we first arrived at the Banana Azul it looked just like the photos we saw on their website as well as Trip Advisor and Flickr. After all, in this day and age of photo post processing you have to be careful as photos can be easily manipulated to look better than they really are.

Check in was fast and easy. We were greeted by the front desk person and shown to our room (#6) aka Ocean View room.

The immediate above photo is an HDR (High Dynamic Range) photo I took to help show the view of the ocean we had from our balcony as well as the surrounding grounds. Granted we can see the garden area to the left of the photo, but being able to see the glimpse of the ocean was pretty cool and excited us both. You can also hear the waves crashing from the room as well as from the bed. A great way of falling asleep.

The rooms are designed to maximize the ocean breeze as well (or we would like to think they are). With the open-air bathroom, the breeze sweeps in through the bathroom, into the bedroom and out through the balcony. We found that when we kept the bathroom door closed, the room got hot fairly quick, but once we opened the bathroom door, the breeze came through and the air temperature dropped.

Next to the front door of our room is where the bathroom is located. The bathroom consists of a large sink, mirror, flushing toilet and nice walk in shower. Don’t worry you can flush your toilet paper down the toilet, unlike a lot of places in Costa Rica were you cannot. The shower itself is nice, you do get hot water, but at times the pressure isn’t the greatest. I found that majority of my showers were cold to warm as I tend to shower when everyone else would shower. But with the humidity a hot shower was rarely ever needed.

You can check out their other Rooms as well as their Rates too.

Amenities: Dinning

Banana Azul offers quite a bit on their little piece of property. They served Breakfast (which is included), Lunch and Dinner as well as a fully stocked bar.

The staff was wonderful and always friendly. The food was awesome too. Robyn and I actually didnt ever feel the need to go into Puerto Viejo to eat at the various restaurants, and we believe we also saved some money doing so too.

Breakfast (being included) were different each morning; fresh fruit, then whatever was the days breakfast. We had breakfast burritos, quiche, scrambled eggs, and one of the most delicious crepes I have ever had. $5 per person if you’re not staying at the hotel.

We only ate lunch there a couple times but when we did they were most excellent. They offered a choice between burgers, nachos, quesadilla and more. We actually went into town a couple times and picked up some food from the local market for lunches, but that’s because we thought it would be and save us a little extra money.

Dinners were $10/person for a 3-course meal that consisted of salad bar, main entree (changed each day) as well as desert (this too was different each day).

Drinks were hand made by the staff as well, everyone that wrote about the drinks on Trip Advisor said Franklin made the best Mojito’s ever. I would have to agree, though it’s the only time I’ve ever had them and being made fresh I’m sure is a good thing right? The Pina Colada’s were also really good. Drinks started at $3.50 or so and went up, this also includes pop/soda/energy drinks.

Amenities: Pool

There is a small pool that was recently finished this year as well. Great for those days where you just want a quick dip without getting all salty or when the waves are too big. There is a jacuzzi that flows into the pool, but take note, it isn’t like a hot tub, but it is jetted. Why would you want really hot water in the pool when the humidity is pretty hot already? Surrounding the pool are some tables and lounge chairs. The little cabana also has a hammock you can lie on and swing.

I didn’t use the pool and Robyn did dip her legs into it one day as we preferred the Caribbean Ocean that was like 50 meters away.

Amenities : Gecko Trail Adventures

The great thing about Banana Azul is that they have an on-site tour company. The staff of the Gecko Trail Adventures were always friendly, helpful and offered great advice on the area around and answered any questions we had. With them we booked all of our little adventures: Whitewater Rafting, Manzanillo Refuge Jungle Hike as well as our River and Sea Kayaking with Rain forest hike.

Amenities: Other

They offer free Wireless Internet access. This was dodgy at times and from our room we would only get 1 or 2 bars of signal level. It would also drop out but not on a consistence basis. Granted the Access Point I saw was a Linksys at the front desk, though one day I did go sit in the foyer area and still my connection would drop out. Yes, I can’t fully disconnect even on vacation but it didn’t bother me too much. I could recommend a setup they could use that would turn their entire property into a WiFi hotspot for their customers. In fact it would also light up the area next to the beach where their hammocks are. I could also come down and install the whole set up for them too!

They also have an Internet room, this room is also the ONLY air conditioned room on the property too. Though, we didn’t really ever complain about the heat/humidity, but for those who need an escape can sneak off into this area, cool down and check their email or Facebook.

There is DVD rentals as well as a portable DVD player. They have a small assortment of DVDs and I thought it was funny that I owned about 80% of them back home. We did rent a couple movies and relaxed up in our room a couple nights.

You can rent bikes from $5 per day. We did one day and headed towards Punta Uva (takes about 1 to 1.5 hours by bike). The road’s are riddled with pot holes so if you do use a bike be prepared for a sore bum.

Other Notes

If you do stay at the Banana Azul it is roughly 1 mile (1.6 km) away from the town of Puerto Viejo. It takes roughly 20 minutes to walk along the beach, shorter if you take a bike, or you can pay roughly $4-5 US each way for a Taxi. You can even flag the bus down, but it would probably be quicker to walk to town than wait for the next bus.

The Banana Azul is kept exceptionally clean too. The staff clean the rooms every day even if you’re in the room! There are no “Do Not Disturb” hangers but chances are you will be outside enjoying the Caribbean when they come to make up your room. The grounds are maintained throughout the day, the hanging plants get watered, the area is raked and even the pool is cleaned daily.

Property Photos

Overall we really really enjoyed out 7 nights at the Banana Azul. We believe that no trip to Puerto Viejo is complete unless you stay a few nights at this beach side location. In fact since we definitely want to come back to the Caribbean side of Costa Rica, we will definitely be making reservations again for this secluded gem of the Caribbean coast.

Many thanks to Colin, Roberto and the staff at Banana Azul for making this the best destination vacation we have ever had!

The day before our last day in Puerto Viejo at the Banana Azul we checked out in the evening after a delicious dinner. It was sad to check out and it was sad to think that we would also have to wake up early to leave the next morning. Staying at the Banana Azul helped us fall in love with the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica, the staff is friendly and helpful, the accommodation was relaxing and everything about it was pretty much perfect.

The following morning (January 4th) we woke up and made sure we were all set to leave. The private bus picked us up at 6:40am and we were on our way to the Exploradores Outdoors rafting centre where we would get to have some breakfast and store our luggage in their secured locker area.

When we arrived at the centre, the breakfast consisted of sausages, scrambled eggs, rice and fruit. Other buses pulled in as well so there was about 60 people who would be going to the Rio Pacuare to do some white water rafting. The Rio Pacuare is one of the Top 5 Rivers to raft in all of Central America, we were looking forward to it.

“The river plunges down the Caribbean slope through a series of spectacular canyons clothed in virgin rain forest, through runs named for their fury and separated by calm stretches that enable you to stare at near-vertical green walls towering hundreds of meters above – a magnificent and unique river trip.” – Lonely Planet, Costa Rica

After breakfast and putting our luggage into the secured storage area we were put back on the bus and our drive to the launching port started. Ricky (of Exploradores Outdoors) went over the safety rules and regulations etc that we needed to know. How to use the equipment, how to sit in (well technically on) the raft as well as the various instructions that would be called out to us by our raft’s guide.

Robyn and myself got paired up with a couple from England as well as two girls from the US. Our guide was a big fellow by the name of William.

Along the way, Ricky pointed out that the local cows (especially the bulls) were going to be part of the festivities back in San Jose the next day. Kind of like the Running of the Bulls over in Spain but with some other cool events like Cow Football.  The road was windy and bumpy and took probably about 30 minutes to get to the launch point. The view along the way was impressive and beautiful. The above photo is the first glimpse of the Rio Pacuare and our destination.

When we got to the launch point, we geared up with our life-vest, helmet and paddled. Here we met our raft guide William. Here is where our rafting adventures began.

Now I don’t have any photos of the beginning stretch as we were a bit nervous as this is both the first time Robyn and I have ever gone white water rafting. It was pretty cool, even if I was placed at the front it was a lot of work to follow William’s instructions. We went through Class 2 to Class 4 rapids for about 2 hours. If you’re trying to figure out how the Classes for rapids work, a Class 6 rapid is technically a Waterfall. William says they don’t let tourists do Class 5, but he loves them himself. Class 4 rapids are pretty large and would get me and Chris (the other guy on our raft) drenched. It was awesome!

At one point we were going through (what I think was a Class IV) and got stuck against another raft up on a couple of large rocks. Our raft went actually a bit under the other one, and poor Robyn was pinned underneath it.  William was able to maneuver our raft out from underneath the other and we continued down the river; “GET DOWN” he would yell, when we were about to hit some Class IV action.

At one point another raft completely flipped over. This means that EVERYONE in that raft fell out and had to be rescued by either another raft or the river kayaks that followed along with us. Robyn found out that William had to report the flipped raft to the owners of Exploradores Outdoors, which I would assume would be for legality reasons. Our raft was awesome, we didn’t flip and no one fell out (on purpose). We OWNED (or is that PWNED ) the Rio Pacuare!

We eventually made it to the area were everyone disembarked their raft for lunch. All of the raft guides prepped lunch for the large group of about 60 people as well as the kayakers that were our safety guides. The food was good, but was good quickly. We rested for a while before heading back to our raft to tackle the last section of the Rio Pacuare.

The last section of the river had a couple more Class IV but a lot of shallow areas as well since the river was at a record low. William did an awesome job instructing us as well as steering us in the right direction. After all, he didn’t want us to go in for a swim and have to be rescued.

I took our Robyn’s Optio W10 camera on this section of the river. People are always impressed when we bring out that camera as they don’t typically see waterproof cameras I suppose. The further down the river we got, the more the camera fogged up and I missed some REALLY beautiful areas of the river, including a canyon section that had an old wooded foot bridge spanning across it, some tunnels as well as some stunning waterfalls. That section reminded me of parts of Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

Photos of Robyn and I enjoying ourselves on the raft. William is the big guy at the back of the raft. I had to hold on to the camera and paddle while making sure I didn’t fall out while taking photos. I only took photos after or before any of the rapids as I had to concentrate on instructions given to us, as well as make sure the camera didn’t fall into the water. Yes, I look pretty funny in the helmet.

The last photo was when the camera began to fog up, which was a bit of a downer because with the canyon coming up the shots I took were kind of unrecognizable. Not sure why the camera fogged up, but after I put it away for a while and took it back out later the fog in the camera itself was gone. At least we have the memory of the stunning beauty the river holds, right?

When we got back to the rafting centre, we had showers, changed into dry clothes and boarded a bus back to San Jose for our last night in Costa Rica. White Water Rafting was definitely the best way to end an awesome adventure together. We’re looking forward to rafting more at home and we will definitely go again in Costa Rica.

Photos Taken So Far: 938

Next To Come: Our Accommodation: Banana Azul

Day 8

Alright, the last couple days of our Costa Rica trip were fairly busy so on Day 8 but we were booked to do a Sea and River Kayak trip at Punta Uva. This trip was to replace the snorkeling trip we did not get to do due to the size of the waves, but in the end it was very enjoyable.

We were picked up at the Banana Azul and headed into Punta Uva with 4 other people (2 Americans and a couple from Romania). Once we got to Punta Uva and the Kayaks were unloaded we got into them and floated around a bit as our guide helped the other people learn to paddle. Robyn and I took level 1 kayaking at Deep Cove in 2008 so we were pretty comfortable on the water.

Normally they start off with a ocean kayak to view the caves along the shoreline but due to the rough sea we went straight into the river. Right off the bat our guide, Frederico, pointed out a 3-toed sloth climbing up in the tree. A little bit after that he spotted a river turtle and jumped right in to grab it! The sucker was fairly large and heavy!

Yea that is me trying to kiss him without him scratching me with his claws or biting me. After we was passed around a bit I put him back into the water and he swam away.

We paddled down the river, went under the road bridge and kept on paddling. Frederico pointed out the various plant life to us, but most of it we saw when Ricky guided us for the Manzanillo trip.

One of the animals Robyn has been dying to see on our trip were the Toucans. I briefly saw one fly over us when we were in Manzanillo but Robyn’s luck was about to turn.

I know these are not the greatest photos of Toucans, but with a point and shoot camera that has a 3x optical zoom (38mm-114mm), you cannot really get to close to things, especially when they are back-lit by the sun and overcast skies. Robyn was ecstatic, in fact, I think we saw at least 5 of them flying around landing in the trees around us. Robyn was grinning ear to ear the rest of the trip!

We eventually got to a point where we got out of the kayaks and onto the ground. We walked in the rainforest for about an hour while Frederico pointed out more critters and various plants whilst reminding us to be careful of snakes.

He pulled off a Termite’s nest and explained it to us, but we also got to eat some termites too. The after taste of a termite is like chocolate. You can also smash them in your hand and apply the mush to your skin as a insect repellent, this could have been handy if we didn’t bring our Deep Woods Off. Typically they nests are attached to trees but I guess with this particular nest they have pulled it off to show other tours and just place it back on the tree.

Frederico was great fun and managed to capture this tiny frog. He didn’t say what sort of frog it was, but as you can see from the photo it is really small. I’m surprised he was able to catch the guy jumping around in the wet clay soil. Robyn’s little Pentax Optio W10 did a good job on its Macro setting, it even captured the colour on his back legs.

The fruit (above left photo) is Bread Fruit. Supposedly they grow to super massive sizes but taste like bread (hence the name). The photo next to it is of the muddy, clay-ish type soil we had to trek through in our sandals throughout this section of rain forest.

We stopped off at a bend in the river, turned around and headed back towards the kayaks. Frederico pointed out some interesting aspects of the rainforest we did not notice before such as Bullet Ants. I couldn’t get a decent photo of them but they were roughly the size of my pinky finger, the length of my entire pinky finger that is! They called them Bullet Ants because if they bite you the pain is like being shot supposedly. The other thing he pointed out to us was the Cannon Ball trees. They grow cannon ball like fruit (similar to coconuts) that are rock hard and can kill you if they land on your head. Two things we avoided regularly after that.

Along the river we also saw some more sloths, a gigantic lizard that scurried himself into a large hole along the river bank as well as a heron of sorts.

We made it back to the beach of Punta Uva where we went in to the ocean for a swim as Frederico and his assistant loaded up the kayaks and spread out some snacks for us. The snacks consisted of fresh pineapple, watermelon and some cookies. We both LOVE the fresh pineapple and watermelon!

Now it was for the hike portion of the trip. Not a grueling hike, but a walk through the rainforest towards the point that over looks both sections of Punta Uva and the ocean.

The walk up to the point was pretty sketchy as the early morning rain made things really slippery. The soil is of clay; sticky and slick. Some sections can be a bit hazardous to your health as if you were to slip you would probably fall off and down the side of the point. Not a good way to end an excellent excursion!

Along the way we came across some more of the Centipedes that Robyn and I saw on our Manzanillo trip. When we picked them up they just laid there like they were dead. When I put mine back he rolled off the log and into a large hole like a tire. I wonder what it would feel like to have these guys crawling around on you!

We made it to the point but the photos I took didn’t do the view justice so I won’t be sharing any of those photos. We turned around and headed back down to the Punta Uva beach on an easier route.

The sun was setting at this point. We got back to the Banana Azul and went for a late night swim. The skies were clear, the stars were out and the water was warm. A great way to end a great day with some excellent critter viewings.

We also decided that the Top 5 Animals to see in Costa Rica (at least the Caribbean side) are:

• Toucan
• Sloth
• Monkey (either Howler or White-Face Capuchin)
• Dart Frog
• Turtle (River or Leatherback)

We can check all of those off on our list. Well we didn’t see a leatherback turtle but we did see wild river turtles. We also saw eye-lashed vipers in the wild too, so you can add that to the list if you miss one of the above if you ever visit Costa Rica.

If you are in Costa Rica I would highly recommend checking out Exploradores Outdoors for Caribbean Tours. Their staff is friendly, funny, knowledgeable and their tours are highly enjoyable making them well worth the price (which isn’t bad either!).

Photos Taken So Far: 890

Next To Come: River Rafting the Rio Pacuare

After all, a man from New Jersey said to us the other day, “You don’t experience the true Costa Rica until you’ve used a bicycle”.

Polar Bear Swim 2010 / Punta Uva

Robyn and I (as well as our friend Jenny) partook in the annual Polar Bear Swim back in 2009. This time though, we still took part in the Polar Bear Swim for 2010 but it was in 25-28 degree Celsius water with a tropical rainforest bordering it.

All those people who went swimming in the frigid waters of English Bay in Vancouver, our thoughts were with you as we splashed around in the Caribbean waters.

After the trek on the road dodging cars, trucks, people and potholes, we eventually found the turn off for Punta Uva. The above photo is the first glimpse we got of this special swimming area while locking up our trusty bicycles. Why is it special? Well white sand beaches, crystal clear waters and not as rough seas. It’s the safest place to have a swim in the area.

The area itself is just paradise, though we opted to move a bit further north along the beach to where less people were stationed. We set our stuff down near a log and jumped into the water.

In the second photo, it looks like Ursula Andress (aka Honey Ryder – Bond Girl) is adjusting her bikini bottoms before heading back into the water. Note my excellent physique

After playing around in the water for a while we packed up our stuff and headed back to where we locked up our bikes. We walked up the access road and noticed the amount of cars parked there. It seems that some people would be stuck there all day as people parked their cars in front of other people’s cars. Good luck trying to get a spot to park if you’re arriving before noon on a day like today. I recommend bicycling to Punta Uva, or even catching the local Tika bus as it stops right outside one of the access roads to the beach.

Along the road back to Puerto Viejo there is a large long beach called Punta Chiquita (photos above). It reminds me of Tofino when it has large waves. Here surfers strut their skill in front of sunbathers.

We peddled on back to Puerto Viejo where we took a stroll among the vendors. When we got back to Banana Azul we went out for another swim at our section of Playa Negra. Yea, we pretty much spent most of the day in the water.

Photos Taken So Far: 684

Next To Come: Sea and River Kayak Adventure near Punta Uva