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

The park spans from Manzanillo south down to the Panama boarder encompassing 5,013 hectares of land and 4,436 hectares of ocean. It protects 70% of the Southern Caribbean coast.

You can tell that Manzanillo area is more of a daytime area as it was pretty quiet. No one in the streets, no cars parked, nobody at the beach.

We started our walk from Maxi’s along a sand road towards the Manzanillo jungle. I guess it’s also a rainforest too. Along the way Ricky shared various tidbits about Manzanillo itself, including where the name comes from. The English translation of Manzanillo means small apple, there are also other places throughout Latin America with the same name.

I forget the name of the above fern type plant, but the fun name of it is called DontTouchMe. When you brush up against the fern like leaves they retract in order to protect themselves.When you touch 1 piece of the fern it doesn’t retract. It was fun to make them close, though we didn’t notice if they reopened any time soon.

Ricky talked about the history of Costa Rica, including how the majority of the Afro-Caribbean people are descendants of Jamaica. He talked about how the natural landscape is changing as more and more people take up residence in these tropical areas. He mentioned how there are plans for a large marina ($20M or so) for Puerto Viejo and how if it does get built that the beaches and landscape around will change for the worse. I also think that with a large marina, it will quicken the Americanization of the area. I would hate to see large resorts along the beaches of Puertu Viejo, Punta Uva, Manzanillo and such.

Ricky was really good about showing us if we keep our eyes open, we might see things people would normally pass by. Including these 2 Fruit Bats. Ricky said typically under bend palm-leaves such as the one in the photo above, there can be up to 5 fruit bats huddled next to each other.

Now in a previous post (Day 4 I believe) I showed you a photo of a large spider we came across. Well Ricky was showing us that those spiders (Orb Spiders) can be particularly harmless if you respect it. Ricky decided to have a bit of fun with a large female we found on a web.

While she walked around on my arm and hand, it seemed to irritate my mosquito bites. Her legs felt like little needles poking me as she moved around. Don’t think I’ve ever held a spider that big. I thought it was pretty brave of Robyn to have it crawl around on her, she’s scared of them. I’m got a love/hate relationship with spiders, if they don’t scare me I’m ok with them, if they pop out of nowhere, they get squished. Ricky also showed us how strong her web was. One strand  of it was able to pull and bend a fairly decent sized branch without breaking. The cool thing about these particular Orb Spiders is that their web is of a golden colour.

Ricky also explained to us why the sand was black in various areas. He used his machete and gently glided it over the surface of the black sand. The black sand clung on to the metal of the machete, when he showed us the machete with the sand, it reminded me of iron filings and magnets. He said the black sand is iron and believes it is also how the Leatherback Turtles navigate to their birth places to lay their eggs each year.

The best photo I have so far of one of Costa Rica’s hummingbirds; Rufus Hummingbird.  While I write this blog post the occasional hummingbird flies to the plants hanging on the roof, but are back lit so I can never get a good shot. Costa Rica is home to like 20 different varieties of hummers, whereas southwestern BC I think we have only 2 varieties; Ruby Throated and Anna’s.

Ricky had us also plant a coconut near the shoreline about 15 paces beside another one I think he planted with a previous group. Perhaps one day when Robyn and I go back, this same coconut will have grown into something larger. The coconut trees will bare their first fruit in 15 to 20 years.

We eventually made our way into the rainforest and within about 100 meters we saw our first sloth. A male was slowly climbing up a tree and Ricky mentioned that there was a female in a tree next to him the previous day.

We cut through some lodges and into the deeper rainforest. Within moments we saw some more Howler Monkeys including a female with a baby on her back. The group of them just moved around in the tree canopy as we stood beneath them watching.

We spotted a couple of red frogs throughout our trek through the rainforest as well. If it’s brightly coloured, remember you probably don’t want to touch it. There were also various geckos that were dashing around as well.

Ricky did a great job explaining various plant life to us as well. We got to see the massive Ironwood Trees that are home to Green Macaws and are protected by the Government, large Fig trees, a tree that’s branches can be used for a decent incense, trees whose outer bark have massive barbs on them and more. He even showed us a plant they call Snake Plant that can help stop the circulation of snake venom. The rainforest’s plant life is fascinating!

We also got to see yellow Eyelash vipers in the wild too! Good thing their yellow colour stands out, I wouldn’t have taken particular notice to this guy on a near by tree trunk.

We eventually reached a point that over looks the ocean with some partially secluded beaches. Here we rested for a few moments and took photos. Then made our way back to Maxi’s to meet up with our van.

Just before we got back to Maxi’s a local pointed out some green parakeets in the tree beside us. It was neat to see parakeets in the wild.

When we got back to Banana Azul we had a yummy lunch and then jumped into ocean to slowly watch the sunset for the last day of 2009.

Robyn and I would like to wish everyone a very Happy New Year 2010!

Photos Taken So Far: 642

Next To Come: Who knows, it’s an unplanned day! Perhaps Punta Uva

Even though today is Day 6 here in Puerto Viejo, I did not have time to work on a post for Day 5 as it was pretty busy. We first caught a Taxi from the Banana Azul into Puerto Viejo though that wasn’t our intended destination. We originally were going to take the taxi all the way to the Jaguar Rescue Centre which is south of Puerto Viejo, closer to Punta Uva.

Did I mention I am writing this post from the comfort of our hammock? If only we had a bigger place in the West End, I would so set myself up in a hammock. Anyway, I’ll have to get Robyn to take a photo of me blogging from a hammock later. Just a little warning, this post might be fairly long too as we did lots during the day.

Robyn had a good idea and wanted to rent a scooter for the day. We asked the driver to stop off at the scooter rental place. Before we headed out we only took about $40 US with us, as well as whatever amount of Colones we had at the time (I think roughly 5,000). When we inquired about the scooter rental, it would be a $500 deposit (though they don’t actually charge your card, they just make an imprint) but also $42 for the rental for the day. Well this would have been great and all, except that the Jaguar Rescue Centre charges $10 per person (it’s worth it though). So scooter aside, we had to find another taxi to take us to our intended destination.

We got to the Jaguar Rescue Centre just in time for a little guided tour. What does Robyn notice about our guide? She is carrying a baby 3-toed sloth at her waist.

After a brief introduction about the Jaguar Rescue Centre, which by the way is not government funded. Thus our little tour began. First we stopped off at the Red Squirrel enclosure. Here they nurse the squirrels back to health and release them when ready. I don’t have any photos of them, though I do have a photo of the squirrels for the Day 6 post.

Next was on to the small cat enclosures. Currently in their centre they have a cat related to the Ocelot (I think it is called the Margay cat). There was also a Jaguarundi, which looked similar to a black house cat.

Near the small cat area was an enclosure for a black and white owl. They were waiting for the new feathers to come in before releasing him back into the wild.

We back-tracked an enclosure or two to where 3 female Howler Monkeys were being kept. They are slowly trying to reintroduce these 3 howlers back into nearby resident Howler groups.

Next came the part that Robyn was looking forward to; the sloths. Our guide had a baby 3-toed sloth around her waist to keep it warm as it was orphaned. She also brought out a 2-toed sloth and showed us how they differ from one another. The 2-toed sloth is considered the more evolved of the two species. Did you know that 2-toed sloths have ears? I sure didn’t.

According to our guide, we were not allowed to hold the sloths as they are very sensitive to the environment around them. We also learned that they have a 4-chamber stomach which takes 20 days to digest food. Imaging being able to eat something one day, and have it finally digested 20 days later? They can also slow their heart rate down to almost nothing to help conserve energy when there isn’t much food available too.

Bring on the monkeys! There were 2 baby howler monkeys that we were shown next. They are free to roam around and you can play with them too. Robyn got to play with one baby (that bit her finger) but it didn’t seem to want to play for very long.

I went down on one knee to take a photo of one, but it decided I wasn’t as interesting as my leg was.

We were then shown the snakes. Costa Rica does have numerous snakes but there are a few that stand out. Fer De Lance, Bushmaster and the Eye Lash Viper. Granted there are many other snakes but these 3 are (in my opinion) are the most interesting because they can be the most dangerous in the world. We learned that baby snakes are more deadly than their grown ups. Baby snakes are unable to control the release of venom, whereas the adult snakes can decide how much venom to inject during a strike.

The above photo is of a small Eye Lash Viper. Remember now, snakes don’t have eyelids, but this snake has eyelashes to help while it’s moving around on the ground. Actually, we saw some today (Day 6) in the jungle on our tour, but I’ll show those photos later.

This guy is a Fer De Lance the most dangerous snake (next to the Bushmaster) in Costa Rica. It’s hard to shoot with a wide-angle lens through glass but I think the photo turned out pretty good.

Now I don’t have a photo of their resident Bushmaster as it was hidden pretty good in a dark area of its tank but none of these snakes I would really want to run into in the wild unexpectedly.

Another display that the Jaguar Rescue Centre has showcase the skeleton remains of an ocelot, 2-toed sloth, toucan as well as a bushmaster. There are also various snake carcasses on display in jars.

They are also working on a new area for the cayman they are taking care of also. The Jaguar Rescue Centre helps educate the local people on the importance of the various animal life especially snakes. Just because a snake is poisonous doesn’t mean you should kill it. They snakes in Costa Rica (as well as in the rest of the world) help keep the rat/mice population in check.

While I was checking out the 2 cayman the centre had, Robyn was talking to a lady from Chicago named Nancy. She was headed back to Manzanillo and Robyn thought it would be a fun idea to tag along. We decided on taking the bus as you can flag it down at anytime it passes by. Lucky for us, it was to come within 10 minutes. Did I mention that if you don’t speak any Spanish you might have hard time trying to figure things out as simple as bus fare? I think we go the idea that it was 500 colonies to Manzanillo, but somehow we took forever to get it right, even then I ended up only paying 500 colones for the both of us.

We arrived in Manzanillo about 20 minutes later. A large amount of people seem to ride bicycles from Puerto Viejo to Manzanillo, but we have heard it can take upward to 4 and half hours to do so. The bus costs you $1 US, a bike might cost you as low as $5 for the day, which option would you take?

Manzanillo is a great place to go for a swim, or have a bite. Don’t expect to be served quickly, actually most people say you can wait up to an hour (or more) throughout all of Costa Rica at various restaurants.

We stopped off at Maxi’s which is right where the bus drops you off before it continues on south. We decide on Yuka Fries and to share the Beefeater dish. Both were so delicious and filling. The Beefeater dish (above) consisted of crushes fried plantains, rice, a small cabbage salad and the mouth watering beef. The staff at Maxi’s was great, though we don’t think anyone there spoke any English. We did eventually pay for our meal at the Cashier area too. Our meal was roughly 6,000 Colones which is roughly $13 US. It seems on that particular day, the Red Snapper was the dish to get as it looked like everyone else was eating it.

So why does someone go to Manzanillo? I would have to say it would be the beach. The white sand and crystal clear water is popular among many people as many people were dotted up and down the beach. The beach itself is similar to that of  Punta Cana, Dominican Republic but not nearly as built up as Punta Cana is. Robyn and I wonder if this is what Punta Cana could have looked like before the large resorts started popping up.

After some relaxing on the beach and Robyn taking a swim in the water, we eventually found someone would could drive us back to the Banana Azul.

It was a great but long day. Yes, we did manage to go for a swim in the ocean when we got back to our accommodation.

Photos Taken So Far: 430

Next To Come: Guided Rainforest Tour of Manzanillo

Parque Nacional Cahuita at just 1067 hectares and  is one of the more frequently visited national parks in Costa Rica. Primarily made up of Coconut Palms and Sea Grapes, it also includes a swampy area at Punta Cahuita. Granted we never made it that far to see the swampy area with Mango tress, but later this week we will be doing a snorkeling and hiking tour of the Cahuita park in more detail.

Our adventure started at Playa Negra in front of the Banana Azul and headed north up the beach to the Rio Prezeoso (aka Sloth River). Here we had to ford the river to get to Cahuita Park. Even though it rained the night before, the water of the river only came up just above our knees, but Robyn was able to find a sand bank that made fording a lot easier.

We walked a bit further down the beach, unsure of the exact location of the ocean side trail. Eventually we came up to an area where we could definitely see a trail. The trail is somewhat marked along the jungle entrance. It seems the numbers (that we noticed) started at 99 and went towards 0 the closer you got to the main area of the park (or at least Playa Vargas).

If you have never been to a tropical jungle but have been to the Vancouver Aquarium’s Tropical rain forest section, it feels like that, the heat and humid anyway. Though getting onto the jungle path (which is not marked, nor is it traveled a lot) was nice as the sun was out in full power. The jungle canopy provided adequate protection from the suns strong rays shading us for the majority of our trek.

Along the the trail Robyn did point out a few critters.

The photo of the spider was a bit alarming actually. Robyn was bush-whacking with the “walking” stick and we came across a large spider web. I looked around for the owner and found this massive spider just hanging out above his creation. The photo doesn’t really do this guy justice, but he was larger than Robyn’s Pentax Optio W10 camera. I was a bit more cautious on trying to get the camera close enough to him for a better photo. From that point onward I was a bit skittish on any spider web we came across or if something touched my head I would kind of freak out thinking a spider like that just fell on me. Don’t get me wrong, I like spiders, just the really big ones creep me out.

I also think there were spider holes (barrows) dotted all along the path too. The ones closer (and smaller) were for crabs, but the ones along path were softball size or larger, in fact my foot fell through a few of them freaking me out even more. I could have sworn at one point I saw a tarantula scurry from one hole to another. Could have been my imagination though, but I would have hated my foot meeting one close up.

The above two photos show (somewhat) what the jungle looks like. Of course that is me with my “walking” stick. Yes I use that in quotes because it was recommended I carry one in case we got into some…trouble.

Occasionally I come across something weird, but the above photo certainly a tad bit creepy.  We think it could be a cat’s skull (though Robyn thinks it might also be a monkey skull), but if anyone else out there is good at animal anatomy and can identify who the skull could belong to, the weird part is that the entire skeleton was there. Not all together mind you but all near the skull. In fact the spinal cord was still intact. I find it a bit odd how the bones are bleached, but with the amount of insects near by I’m sure they would do an excellent job stripping the flesh from the bone etc.

Alright now one of the reasons we wanted to head into Cahuita was to see the 2 species of monkeys that call the park home; Howler and White-Face Capuchins.

Robyn first spotted the Howler Monkeys in the canopy. The first group we came across was pretty vocal about our presence but eventually they seemed to have decided we weren’t too much of a threat. Yes, they were throwing things at us, but it wasn’t their feces. They just moved among the branches trying to get a better look at us, while we tried to get a better look at them.

This is one of the White-Faced Capuchin monkeys we saw. The are we saw them in was very dense and the lighting was pretty bad (for the camera anyway) The other white-faced capuchin that was out of frame actually had a baby wrapped around her back. These guys are fairly friendly and inquisitive as they would come closer to us than the Howler monkeys would.

As for the trail itself, at some points it lead back to the beach and when it did at times it was a bit difficult to find the section between the foliage to get back on the path. The good thing about the trail itself though is it never leaves the ocean’s edge by more than about 100m. You can always hear if not see the ocean. I don’t think I would want to go too deep into the jungle, especially since we’ve been into it for 2 hours or so.

We eventually saw some signs of civilization and we were excited. It seemed like we would never get to where we wanted to be but there was a bit of a twist. Were we ended up, was pretty much the beginning of the main section of Cahuita park itself, Playa Vargas. From here we would have another 7Km (after walking about 10km) to get over to Playa Blanca. The good thing is, we didnt have to pay the $8-10US entrance fee into the park. We decided to take the gravel road out and look for a ride back to Puerto Viejo.

Though as we were getting closer to the gate, we noticed a group of people looking up in the trees. Of course, after Robyn kept her eye out for a sloth in the canopy along the trail we took, we eventually found one near to where people would be. Robyn said it was like when her and her friend Kathleen went to a place in Australia to see wild Koalas, only to eventually see one back at the parking lot.

I used Lightroom to try and lighting up the photo so you can actually see this 3-toed sloth. He (or she) was just hanging out on a tree right next to the road. I think it’s a neat tidbit about how slow sloths move, they grow algae on their fur. You can sort of see that in the above photos.

Yup, that’s right we spent 4.5hours or so, only to get to one of the entrances to the park itself. Well at least we got to see some pretty cool animals, including the 3 that Robyn was really wanting to see; Howler Monkey, White-Faced Capuchin and the Sloth.

We stopped off at what Lonely Planet called an oasis, Boca Chica, for some Fanta and massive amounts of water. The funny thing about this place was, is they too have resident Howler Monkeys. A large group of them just hanging out in a near by tree.

We eventually caught the bus back to Puerto Viejo to end out long and tiring trek through the jungle of Cahuita park. The good thing is that the bus only cost us about $1US each, where as cab from Cahuita to Puerto Viejo could have cost us from $15 to $20US (more than our ticket from San Jose to Puerto Viejo!)

We have booked our snorkeling trip for Saturday which will take us to the reefs just off of Cahuita Park, and then a 2 hour hike within the park itself with a guide. I will be bringing my Canon XSi with us on that, as being with a guide deters would-be thieves.

Photos Taken So Far: 309

Next to Come: Perhaps renting a Scooter and heading down south to look for more beaches

I know in the previous post I mentioned I would try and get photos of the town of Puerto Viejo, but I didn’t seem to get the camera out enough when we got into town.

Our day started at breakfast here at the Banana Azul. Robyn and I had some pretty delicious crepes with some fresh fruit. Nothing like having bananas and pineapple from their place of origin, right?

After breakfast we headed over to Playa Negra, the 5 minute walk from the breakfast table isn’t a bad thing.

It is pretty cool to have untouched jungle meet the ocean’s edge. There was a couple who were kind enough to give us a warning, they mentioned not to walk very far down the beach with my camera (Canon XSi) as there has been reports of people hiding in the bushes with machetes who will rob unsuspecting tourists of their possessions. This urked me, but we decided to put my dSLR back in the safe at the hotel, and bring out Robyn’s Pentax Optio W10.

If you are a seasoned travel photographer who does bring along their dSLR camera do you have any advice for me? I dislike not having the ability to use my camera to capture this beautiful country. I have heard of just bringing it out of the bag when you need it and put it away. Don’t flash it around to draw unnecessary attention to it. Which I thought I was doing. Oh well.

After putting the camera away (and picking up the Optio W10) we headed south towards the town of Puerto Viejo. The beach is called Playa Negra and is the of the black sand variety. Also because of this black sand, you don’t get to see the water’s clear colour like you would if you were in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic. The water is just as warm (if not warmer though).

The closer we got to town the more busier the area became. We did notice that some spots the sand was white, not black. We also noticed a lot of dead coral. I guess when people come in contact with the beach, they inadvertently killed the coral that was near the shoreline.

We meandered into town and walked along the main street. Puerto Vijeo isn’t very big as it has 1 main street with a bunch of smaller side streets that sort of interconnect. It makes me think of a Caribbean version of Tofino actually. There are vendor stalls along the main road and the great thing is they don’t pester you to come see their wares. There are some also pretty cool artisans too, well from the brief look through some of the stalls. Did I mention because there are no resorts here, there none of the annoying hawkers on the beaches?

There are a bunch of restaurants, cafes and other little shops dotted throughout Puerto Viejo. We haven’t been to any restaurants as of yet, but we do have a few we are going to try out before we leave. We did stop off at the local grocery store. I’m getting used to how many Colones we get for US Dollars. We just picked up some small stuff to bring back to our hotel room. It can get pretty expensive if you eat out all the time. So we thought if we bought lunch food, ate our included breakfast here at the Banana Azul we could treat ourselves to dinner out.

After we got back to the hotel from our little adventure out to the town, we decided it was time for a swim. The water was a bit colder than it was the previous day, but that could have been due to the rain I saw off in the distance earlier. It wasn’t cold like it is back home, but it was a few degrees colder than the day before.

Robyn’s Pentax Optix W10 has it purpose amongst the camera gear. It’s great because it can be submerged into water up to 30 feet and is also dust proof. We bring it into the ocean every chance we get, I’m still trying to get the perfect wave photo, but it’s not always the quickest at taking a photo.

Photos Taken So Far: 262

Next To Come: Tuesday 29th – Nothing Planned

** Update:

We would just like to say Happy Birthday to my Dad as Tuesday the 29th is his birthday!

Day 1

We started out day fairly early as our flight down to Phoenix Arizona was to leave at 7:44am. Once arriving at YVR we checked in and arrived at Security. Robyn unfortunately had to be “searched” as we believe her bra’s under-wire triggered the metal detector. While being wanded by a CSTSA agent, the wand beeped around her ankles too. Yes, weird. I also had to open the laptop so it could be swabbed, as well as open up my camera backpack. I heard that my big lenses show up as large black holes under X-Ray. Anyway, this didn’t start our trip out on a positive. Did I mention in the news there was some guy who thought it would be a good idea to strap a bomb to himself in Detroit? Well, it put YVR under more of a security lock down and we were told we would have a “personal search” done.

We get to our Gate and noticed EVERYONE is getting a pat-down by CSTSA agents. I was ok with this, but poor Robyn had to get violated twice. Not violated in the cavity search sort of way, but being patted down isn’t fun for everyone. If it is, you’re weird!

Once on the plane we are delayed 15 minutes as it seems we need to de-ice. Good thing it’s not snowing in Vancouver right? We eventually take off into the clouds and this is what we are presented with…

Not a total inversion of clouds, but it definitely was cool to see Vancouver surrounded by fog. Who says you can’t take cool photos from an airplane’s window!

Because of our delay in departure, we arrived in Phoenix within 4 hours or so but with enough time to dehydrate and get over to our departing gate for our connecting flight. We would have liked to have at least some lunch, but we quickly grabbed some sandwiches from Starbucks for the 5 or so hour flight ahead of us.

Yes, that above photo is us leaving the Phoenix Airport. We do have an 8 hour layover on our way back to Vancouver, which sounds like it might suck.

After 5 or so hours we finally arrive in San Jose, Costa Rica. Now I’m not much of a traveler but my first impressions of San Jose are a bit… low. I am sure San Jose has its moments, but I guess after various holiday festivities, it has left the city pretty dirty. I’ve never seen so much garbage in the streets. Drivers are crazy down there too and I don’t think I could handle driving through the city. Granted we did arrive at night, but our driver was great. He took us to our first night accommodation: Casa 69.

Ok so the photo I took might not look like the photo they have on their website, but I didn’t do any photography trickery now did I have any daylight through the window. The room was good though, the bed was comfy, the bathroom was nice, there was even a good sized safe on the wall that would easily have fit all my camera gear.

Day 2 (also my 30th Birthday)

Casa 69 is a wonderful place to stay if you are in San Jose. Kurt, the owner, is extremely helpful and friendly. The included breakfast was filling too, and I got my first taste of Costa Rica’s coffee. If you’re looking for a place to stay a day or more, I would recommend staying at this B&B. Located in the heart of San Jose, it is close to a lot of things. We will be staying another night on our way back from Puerto Viejo.

Under the recommendation of Kurt we took the locals (Tica) bus from San Jose to Puerto Viejo. When I read about the buses in Lonely Planet’s book, they said they would be old American converted school buses. What they really are, is regular coach buses, sans the Air Conditioning and Bathroom.  If you do take the Tica bus (costs only $& US per person) arrive a bit earlier than your departure. We missed the 10AM bus, and had to wait until 12noon for the next one.

The ride out of San Jose in the day light made up for arriving in San Jose during the night. The countryside is very beautiful.

The drive through the dense jungle forests is even more impressive. We also went through a brief downpour that lasted for roughly 10 minutes. Now if you’ve never been to a jungle like Costa Rica’s, even on the bus it reminded both Robyn and I of the Vancouver Aquarium’s Tropical Exhibit, the humidity portion of it anyway.

Once we were out of the mountain area and headed for the coastline you do see a lot of the above (photos) areas. Pineapple and Plantain plantations dot the road along the way. It still surprises me that people think that Pineapples grow from trees, when really they grow from the ground. Both Dole Foods and Chiquita seems to have distribution centers here in Costa Rica.

The ride from San Jose to Puerto Viejo is a long one at roughly 4 hours 30 minutes in total, with a quick stop at Puerto Limon. Here we could dehydrate and buy some food/drink if needed.

Eventually we started driving along the Caribbean coast, which also gave us our first glimpses of the ocean. From Limon to Puerto Viejo is was about 1.5 hours. We finally arrived in Puerto Viejo, which was full of energy. We grabbed our bags, jumped into a taxi and headed back north towards our final destination of stay: Banana Azul.

Will we be here at the Banana Azul for 7 nights. We don’t have set plans, but we will play in the ocean as much as possible, check out the coastline, check out Puerto Viejo itself. We also want to check out the various jungles around us. There is a self-hike tour we can do of Cahuita which is what Banana Azul boarders onto. There is the beach in front of our place called Playa Negra, there are also many beaches south of us which we are going to check out too. We also plan on visiting Manzanillo which is to be where the most beautiful beaches hide on the Caribbean coast.

Don’t worry, I’ll be taking photos and uploading them as often as possible too. To keep an eye out of upcoming posts here by subscribing to my RSS feed, you can also follow along via my Flickr Photostream, where I am sure I will upload more photos than I put here too.

So far the photos I have taken have been through the window of moving transport. Granted they didn’t turn out so bad.

We are also on the look out for various wildlife. The birds we have seen so far are amazing (colourfu, different) and we had a Pelican fly over us while we played in the ocean last night too.

Now if I only spoke Spanish, I would feel much more comfortable!

Photos Taken So Far: 148

Next to Come: Playa Negra and the town of Puerto Viejo