That's right, we went crazy.
After Panama City, we went to Santa Catalina Panama, and I had one of the best dives of my life. Then we went up into the mountains to Boquete and enjoyed two nights of cool air.
Day 1 Border 1 We blasted from Boquete through David and to the Panama/Costa Rica border. Driving in Panama is a pleasure. It was a clam crossing and we were done in just under an hour. We drove up the Pacific coast of Costa Rica and into Liberia. It was about 10 hours on the road. We spent the night in a cheap backpackers haunt, then hit to road the next morning.
Day 2 Boder 2 From Liberia to Leon, Nicaragua. The border between Costa Rica and Nicaragua was not as horrific as when we were headed south, but it was still long and unpleasant. The Costa Rica side was fine, there was a small wait for migration, but nothing to long. We got through the fumugation on the Nica side by ourselves, then thankfully spotted Charlie. Charlie is the man who helped us get through the first time. Unlike the kids who hang around and yell and bang on the car, Charlie is calm and efficient. Dave yelled out the window as soon as he saw Charlie. Withouth Charlie it would have been a different story. After the border we headed straight for Leon. We ended up taking the old highway from the Managua area to Leon. The result was a much bumpier and slower ride. We spent 7 hours on the road, and decided to check out Leon for two nights, just to get a rest.
Day 3 wasn't much of a rest. Leon was hot and dusty and just not restful. It does have beautiful old churches and a fantastic art gallery full of work by artists from Central and South America. The gallery was the highlight and for me it is reason enough to go to Leon if you are in Nicaragua.
Day 4 Borders 3 and 4. This was the roughest day. We set out from Leon on a highway that was underconstruction, so two and half hours of dust and bumps, then exited Nicaragua without much effort. Getting into Honduras was a little more work and a lot more money. It costs 40 usd to bring a car in, plus a few dollars per person. After about an hour at the border, we were in Honduras. This stretch of Honduras is notorious for police check points, but we were ready. We bought a new saftey triangle and a fire extinguisher and watched for where speeds were reduced. We were nearly out of Honduras (about a 3 hour drive in all) and through 4 or 5 checkpoints without being pulled over when we got flagged down.
We showed them the triangle, the extinguisher, we chatted it up, then they said we ran a stop sign and wouldn't give Dave's lisence back to us even though we kept saying there isn't a stop sign visible from the road. It was off the road and totally blocked by trees. In the end they got 20 usd and we continued towards El Salvador. It was frustrating because it was so obvisouly a shake-down. Crossing into El Salvador involved waiting around in the heat for a while, but it only took an hour and we chatted it up with some truckers while we waited. We pulled into Alegria around 6pm. Making it a 9 hour travel day. At the end of the day we were rewarded with pupusas, cool mountain air, and friendly conversations.
The only downside was around midnight when we awoke to ''The Gambler'' being blasted in the plaza across from the hotel. Music and singing continued off and on until after 3am. Dave went to the van and retrieved earplugs which helped. Then this morning around 730 we awoke to a drum and brass band marching in the streets. Ends up one of the guys we talked to at dinner is a bit of the town crazy, and this is not an uncommon occurance. This morning we were told people don't try to stop him forcefully because he gets violent when he binges. We still haven't figured out the reason for the marching band.
Pictures from Panama coming soon, as soon as we get wi-fi.
We are headed back to Suchitoto tomorrow. After that we really don't know what we'll do. Probably going back to Playa Mizata for a day or two to clean out the van and collect ourselves. We're kinda waiting to see what the deal is with travelling between Mexico and the U.S.
Showing posts with label Costa Rica. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Costa Rica. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Pura Vida en Costa Rica
After leaving San Juan del Sur Nicaragua, we headed south on CA 1 and crossed into Costa Rica.
There is only one border crossing for vehicular traffic, which makes things pretty chaotic. The Nicaraguan side of the border was horrible. We had to pay a guy to help us, because we couldn't even find the people we needed. At every other border there is a line and a door or window or desk under an awning, but in this case you just walk around and look for a policeman and then walk around and look for a customs official. After you have found one helping someone else you have to get them to come with you when he is done. Then you go and stand in a line in a building with power that switches off every 5 minutes or so, for immigration. Finding the roaming officials required a seasoned pro. Additionally all the buses, trucks, and personal vehicles are in the same area, adding to the chaos.
The Costa Rica side was quiet and everyone was friendly and in a designated place.
Parque National Rinconcito Viejo
We headed up to Parque Nacional Rinconcito Viejo. We stayed at the Rinconcito lodge near the entrance, it was quiet and not dry or windy, a very nice change from Nicaragua.
The next day we drove the 10 minutes into the park. With the exception of the park ranger, no one else was there. We took a great hike through secondary growth forest to some oak forest where there were some aguas thermales. You could smell them way before you got there, up close the sulfur was so strong it made my nose itch. We decided to pass on taking those waters.
Instead we stopped at a small waterfall on the way back to the ranger station.
The water was pins and needles cold, but it felt great to drop the core temp. We enjoyed the cold water, clear air, and the sounds of a band of howler monkeys making their ways through the trees.
We liked the park so much, we decided to spend the night there and to pass the remainder of the afternoon reading and playing cards. After paying the camping fee, we were attacked by biting gnats. They were vicious little creatures. I'll take mosquitos any day, but please not these things. The bite was so forceful it created a tiny blood blister. And they itched! Boy-howdy did they itch and swell!
The good news was that they didn't bite through clothing, so we changed into loose-fitting long shirts and pants and put on socks. Then put deet based repellant on our hands, necks, ears, and edges of our faces. Of course we didn't think we needed to put repellant on our ears actually, wouldn't it be enough to put it on our necks? No. Dave and I both got bitten on the ears, then put on repellant. I also received four bites to the face, prompting the ONLY time I have ever put repellant on my face. The good news was at dusk they all disappeared, and the mosquitos were hardly noticeable.
What was noticeable was this guy, known to Ticos as a pizote, aka coatimundi.
He busted into a food bag we had set on the top of the car, eating the bread we had planned to use for sandwiches the next day! Then he stalked the campground hoping we would let down our guard again, but we knew his little tricks.
It was an uneventful night, minus the multiple ticks Dave had to pull. We each had two ticks attached and found more crawling on our clothes. I am pathetic when it comes to pulling ticks. Ticks gross me out, big time. Cockroaches are fine, snakes are fine, spiders are no worries, scorpions I don't want to be on close terms with but they don't give me the creeps. Ticks are another story. I can't hardly pull them off Louiedog, let alone pull one off of me! But that's why I travel with Dave. He takes it all in stride, sticks a hot lighter on its butt and gives it a tug. My hero.
**Just to give credit where credit is due, Mom and Liza are my heroines. Mom has helped me out more than once when I had a tick trying to make a meal of me or one of my pets, and without Liza, Louie would have had to stop going to Elk because he always picks up ticks there. Also, once Liza rushed home when I thought I had a tick between my toes. Ends up it was just a scab. But she still rushed home after I called her totally disgusted and freaking out just a little. **
In the morning we got up, my feet were attacked by more gnats when I walked to the bathroom without socks, Dave made his coffee and we were on the road fleeing from a lovely park and some horrid insects!
We spent the next afternoon and evening in Heredia. It is about 10 minutes from the airport. The San Jose airport isn't really in San Jose, but 30 minutes outside of it. We bought Acerito, hung out at the mall. I was reminded that malls are the same in Malaysia, Thailand, Costa Rica, Texas, California, Mexico... But the mall had free wifi and we had a new computer. Plus in Costa Rica where everything costs as much if not more than it does in the USA, sitting in the food court using free wifi is a very economical way to pass your time.
On the way to the mall, we saw a sign that might explain why some people like to visit Costa Rica.
I think the only worse name would be Esposas de Comprar.
Playa Guiones
The next day we picked up Robbie, Dave's friend from way back, and Ele, Robbie's girlfriend. Then drove 6 hours to Playa Guiones on the Nicoya Peninsula. You might look at a map and wonder why it took 6 hours, but if you were to look at what Ticos know to be CA1 you would understand. Most county roads in the states are better than CA1 is in Costa Rica. No shoulder, not even a gravel shoulder in most places and never a paved shoulder, no dividing line, no passing lanes, nothing. By far the worst condition for CA1 in all of Central America. Because Costa Rica is a more prosperous country than the other ones we have been through, there is a noticeable increase in the amount of cars on the road. Costa Rica is also very hilly, some might even say mountainous although I wouldn't. To top it off, even if they wanted to widen the ''highway'' to meet demand, politically it might be difficult because everything is built right up to the edge of it, meaning thousands of businesses would have to be moved to accommodate even the adding of a shoulder.
We arrived to Playa Guiones to spend a week relaxing and enjoying being in a house. We rented a great little house. New construction (everything around there is) and it even had a little pool!
Dave and I were so excited to get out of the car for more than a day or two. I was thrilled to have a kitchen. I made, and we ate, three big batches of cookies in the week we were there!
The first day we were there we got stuck. Shortly before getting stuck we saw this giant pissed-off bull.
Thankfully we were a few minutes delayed while Robbie and Ele took a picture, otherwise instead of meeting him, and the two cowboys wearily escorting him on long ropes, in a big riverbed crossing we would have had to share a small dirt road.
That evening Robbie had a little run-in with his surfboard. Not wanting to risk infection or a scar he sought medical attention. Being that it was after hours he had to go to the local redcross, they didn't quite appreciate his concerns and only did a little alcohol swab followed by a plain old bandaid. He made it out alright though, considering the medic traded services for a cocacola.
The Playa Guiones/ Nosara area is a total surf scene. Ticos, gringos, and other Central Americans flock there. It was dry, a little greener than Nicaragua, but not that windy.
We had a much needed rest, which included lots of pina coladas, reading, and cribbage. I tried surfing a little more. Ele taught us a new card game, Scopa Scientifico.
I wouldn't recommend Playa Guiones unless you a) like to surf and don't mind sharing the line up b) you are going to a yoga retreat at what appeared to be a first rate yoga center across the street from the house we rented or c) are taking a rest stop and want a nice quiet place to cook, sleep, read, and swim in a small but lovely pool. The beach was salt and pepper sand with no shade and poor swimming and the town is all new and a scene for wealthy Ticos and gringo surfers. The upside is that with the down economy and the off season coming up, you can get a good deal on rentals like the one we had.
Headed to Panama!
After a week of homecookin' and rest we were on the road again. This time we headed to the Caribbean coast. Unfortunately we had to go back through central Costa Rica, but the highway to Puerto Limon is much nicer than CA1. It was still a long drive with hours spent behind a few semitrucks that insisted on going under 20 coming down the mountains. It was a pretty drive through forested volcano peaks and dropping down to the antithisis of the Pacific coast. The Caribbean is green, lush, and humid.
We spent the night in the small town of Siquirres. Nothing remarkable, but a clean room only cost 15 usd, and that is something to smile about.
The next day we were at the Sixola/ Changuinola border ready to cross into Panama. The crossing is mainly used for bananas headed into Panama for export to Europe or the Pacific coast of North America. It is a one lane train trelis bridge high above the Sixola river.
Traffic crosses by taking turns in about half hour increments, or whoever gets there first. There was no one directing traffic when it was our turn to cross. We peered to the end of the bridge and proceeded cautiously. The main hazard was the pedestrians walking across. There is no seperate place for pedestrians for about 20 yards, so everyone is on the bridge together.
We had heard it is a quiet and easy crossing. I can see this being true on a normal day. But this was not a normal day. It was Maundy Thursday. In addition to the banana trucks and the normal trickle of tourist vans, there were lots of Ticos heading to Bocas del Toro for Semana Santa.
The paperwork on the car was the fastest and easiest yet, on both sides. The Costa Ricans issued us an extension/ re-entry pass and the Panamanians, were gracious and quick. Immigration was another issue. Neither side is equipped to handle mass amounts of people. We had the unfortunate luck of being behind TWO tourist busses on the Tico side. One group going in and the other heading out. On both sides of this border the incoming and outgoing are all lumped together. The Tico line seemed long, but it moved quickly because all they did was stamp your passport and take the form you had filled out. The Panama side was another story. We waited in line, in the sun, next to the fumugation station, which was used on every vehicle that came through it, for THREE HOURS! Well we waited for two and a half, Robbie and Ele were in the line the first half hour we were dealing with the car. Because of the waiting in the hot sun and being sprayed with a mix of chemicals the FDA and EPA most likely strictly limit human exposure to, this was the WORST border crossing.
Once across we headed 15 minutes down the road to Chinguanola to get the ferry to Islas Bocas del Toros...
There is only one border crossing for vehicular traffic, which makes things pretty chaotic. The Nicaraguan side of the border was horrible. We had to pay a guy to help us, because we couldn't even find the people we needed. At every other border there is a line and a door or window or desk under an awning, but in this case you just walk around and look for a policeman and then walk around and look for a customs official. After you have found one helping someone else you have to get them to come with you when he is done. Then you go and stand in a line in a building with power that switches off every 5 minutes or so, for immigration. Finding the roaming officials required a seasoned pro. Additionally all the buses, trucks, and personal vehicles are in the same area, adding to the chaos.
The Costa Rica side was quiet and everyone was friendly and in a designated place.
Parque National Rinconcito Viejo
We headed up to Parque Nacional Rinconcito Viejo. We stayed at the Rinconcito lodge near the entrance, it was quiet and not dry or windy, a very nice change from Nicaragua.
The next day we drove the 10 minutes into the park. With the exception of the park ranger, no one else was there. We took a great hike through secondary growth forest to some oak forest where there were some aguas thermales. You could smell them way before you got there, up close the sulfur was so strong it made my nose itch. We decided to pass on taking those waters.
Instead we stopped at a small waterfall on the way back to the ranger station.
The water was pins and needles cold, but it felt great to drop the core temp. We enjoyed the cold water, clear air, and the sounds of a band of howler monkeys making their ways through the trees.
We liked the park so much, we decided to spend the night there and to pass the remainder of the afternoon reading and playing cards. After paying the camping fee, we were attacked by biting gnats. They were vicious little creatures. I'll take mosquitos any day, but please not these things. The bite was so forceful it created a tiny blood blister. And they itched! Boy-howdy did they itch and swell!
The good news was that they didn't bite through clothing, so we changed into loose-fitting long shirts and pants and put on socks. Then put deet based repellant on our hands, necks, ears, and edges of our faces. Of course we didn't think we needed to put repellant on our ears actually, wouldn't it be enough to put it on our necks? No. Dave and I both got bitten on the ears, then put on repellant. I also received four bites to the face, prompting the ONLY time I have ever put repellant on my face. The good news was at dusk they all disappeared, and the mosquitos were hardly noticeable.
What was noticeable was this guy, known to Ticos as a pizote, aka coatimundi.
He busted into a food bag we had set on the top of the car, eating the bread we had planned to use for sandwiches the next day! Then he stalked the campground hoping we would let down our guard again, but we knew his little tricks.
It was an uneventful night, minus the multiple ticks Dave had to pull. We each had two ticks attached and found more crawling on our clothes. I am pathetic when it comes to pulling ticks. Ticks gross me out, big time. Cockroaches are fine, snakes are fine, spiders are no worries, scorpions I don't want to be on close terms with but they don't give me the creeps. Ticks are another story. I can't hardly pull them off Louiedog, let alone pull one off of me! But that's why I travel with Dave. He takes it all in stride, sticks a hot lighter on its butt and gives it a tug. My hero.
**Just to give credit where credit is due, Mom and Liza are my heroines. Mom has helped me out more than once when I had a tick trying to make a meal of me or one of my pets, and without Liza, Louie would have had to stop going to Elk because he always picks up ticks there. Also, once Liza rushed home when I thought I had a tick between my toes. Ends up it was just a scab. But she still rushed home after I called her totally disgusted and freaking out just a little. **
In the morning we got up, my feet were attacked by more gnats when I walked to the bathroom without socks, Dave made his coffee and we were on the road fleeing from a lovely park and some horrid insects!
We spent the next afternoon and evening in Heredia. It is about 10 minutes from the airport. The San Jose airport isn't really in San Jose, but 30 minutes outside of it. We bought Acerito, hung out at the mall. I was reminded that malls are the same in Malaysia, Thailand, Costa Rica, Texas, California, Mexico... But the mall had free wifi and we had a new computer. Plus in Costa Rica where everything costs as much if not more than it does in the USA, sitting in the food court using free wifi is a very economical way to pass your time.
On the way to the mall, we saw a sign that might explain why some people like to visit Costa Rica.
I think the only worse name would be Esposas de Comprar.Playa Guiones
The next day we picked up Robbie, Dave's friend from way back, and Ele, Robbie's girlfriend. Then drove 6 hours to Playa Guiones on the Nicoya Peninsula. You might look at a map and wonder why it took 6 hours, but if you were to look at what Ticos know to be CA1 you would understand. Most county roads in the states are better than CA1 is in Costa Rica. No shoulder, not even a gravel shoulder in most places and never a paved shoulder, no dividing line, no passing lanes, nothing. By far the worst condition for CA1 in all of Central America. Because Costa Rica is a more prosperous country than the other ones we have been through, there is a noticeable increase in the amount of cars on the road. Costa Rica is also very hilly, some might even say mountainous although I wouldn't. To top it off, even if they wanted to widen the ''highway'' to meet demand, politically it might be difficult because everything is built right up to the edge of it, meaning thousands of businesses would have to be moved to accommodate even the adding of a shoulder.
We arrived to Playa Guiones to spend a week relaxing and enjoying being in a house. We rented a great little house. New construction (everything around there is) and it even had a little pool!
Dave and I were so excited to get out of the car for more than a day or two. I was thrilled to have a kitchen. I made, and we ate, three big batches of cookies in the week we were there!
The first day we were there we got stuck. Shortly before getting stuck we saw this giant pissed-off bull.
Thankfully we were a few minutes delayed while Robbie and Ele took a picture, otherwise instead of meeting him, and the two cowboys wearily escorting him on long ropes, in a big riverbed crossing we would have had to share a small dirt road.
That evening Robbie had a little run-in with his surfboard. Not wanting to risk infection or a scar he sought medical attention. Being that it was after hours he had to go to the local redcross, they didn't quite appreciate his concerns and only did a little alcohol swab followed by a plain old bandaid. He made it out alright though, considering the medic traded services for a cocacola.
The Playa Guiones/ Nosara area is a total surf scene. Ticos, gringos, and other Central Americans flock there. It was dry, a little greener than Nicaragua, but not that windy.
We had a much needed rest, which included lots of pina coladas, reading, and cribbage. I tried surfing a little more. Ele taught us a new card game, Scopa Scientifico.
I wouldn't recommend Playa Guiones unless you a) like to surf and don't mind sharing the line up b) you are going to a yoga retreat at what appeared to be a first rate yoga center across the street from the house we rented or c) are taking a rest stop and want a nice quiet place to cook, sleep, read, and swim in a small but lovely pool. The beach was salt and pepper sand with no shade and poor swimming and the town is all new and a scene for wealthy Ticos and gringo surfers. The upside is that with the down economy and the off season coming up, you can get a good deal on rentals like the one we had.
Headed to Panama!
After a week of homecookin' and rest we were on the road again. This time we headed to the Caribbean coast. Unfortunately we had to go back through central Costa Rica, but the highway to Puerto Limon is much nicer than CA1. It was still a long drive with hours spent behind a few semitrucks that insisted on going under 20 coming down the mountains. It was a pretty drive through forested volcano peaks and dropping down to the antithisis of the Pacific coast. The Caribbean is green, lush, and humid.
We spent the night in the small town of Siquirres. Nothing remarkable, but a clean room only cost 15 usd, and that is something to smile about.
The next day we were at the Sixola/ Changuinola border ready to cross into Panama. The crossing is mainly used for bananas headed into Panama for export to Europe or the Pacific coast of North America. It is a one lane train trelis bridge high above the Sixola river.
Traffic crosses by taking turns in about half hour increments, or whoever gets there first. There was no one directing traffic when it was our turn to cross. We peered to the end of the bridge and proceeded cautiously. The main hazard was the pedestrians walking across. There is no seperate place for pedestrians for about 20 yards, so everyone is on the bridge together.
We had heard it is a quiet and easy crossing. I can see this being true on a normal day. But this was not a normal day. It was Maundy Thursday. In addition to the banana trucks and the normal trickle of tourist vans, there were lots of Ticos heading to Bocas del Toro for Semana Santa.
The paperwork on the car was the fastest and easiest yet, on both sides. The Costa Ricans issued us an extension/ re-entry pass and the Panamanians, were gracious and quick. Immigration was another issue. Neither side is equipped to handle mass amounts of people. We had the unfortunate luck of being behind TWO tourist busses on the Tico side. One group going in and the other heading out. On both sides of this border the incoming and outgoing are all lumped together. The Tico line seemed long, but it moved quickly because all they did was stamp your passport and take the form you had filled out. The Panama side was another story. We waited in line, in the sun, next to the fumugation station, which was used on every vehicle that came through it, for THREE HOURS! Well we waited for two and a half, Robbie and Ele were in the line the first half hour we were dealing with the car. Because of the waiting in the hot sun and being sprayed with a mix of chemicals the FDA and EPA most likely strictly limit human exposure to, this was the WORST border crossing.
Once across we headed 15 minutes down the road to Chinguanola to get the ferry to Islas Bocas del Toros...
Monday, April 6, 2009
We Got Stuck!
We are in the Nosara area of the Nicoya Peninsula of Costa Rica. We've rented a house with our friends Robbie and Ele. It has been great to just be in a house for a while, and the house is quite nice, including our own little pool! And best of all, a kitchen, with an oven. You know I've been baking. The most successful cookies have been oatmeal with raisins and walnuts. The sugar here is refined differently, so the taste is a little different, but perfect for oatmeal cookies. Less good for peanut butter cookies.
Anyway, things have been very calm here. We've mainly been relaxing at the house, swimming, eating, and walking to the nearby beach. But one day we decided to drive to some beaches a little further away.
Good idea? Not so much.
We went down a road that we thought was headed to a beach, but it ended in a dry riverbed. When we tried to turn around, the rear passenger side wheel got stuck. Really stuck. Robbie and Dave worked for a half hour to try and dig us out, but it was a fail. Ele was sent up the road to try and find help. She found better help than we imagined...
Two dump trucks and a backhoe were headed our way, and said they would pull us out.
Here's what happened once we got the chain hooked to the van.
Anyway, things have been very calm here. We've mainly been relaxing at the house, swimming, eating, and walking to the nearby beach. But one day we decided to drive to some beaches a little further away.
Good idea? Not so much.
We went down a road that we thought was headed to a beach, but it ended in a dry riverbed. When we tried to turn around, the rear passenger side wheel got stuck. Really stuck. Robbie and Dave worked for a half hour to try and dig us out, but it was a fail. Ele was sent up the road to try and find help. She found better help than we imagined...
Two dump trucks and a backhoe were headed our way, and said they would pull us out.
Here's what happened once we got the chain hooked to the van.
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