Archive for August, 2010
Posted on August 20, 2010 by jason
Isla Tortuga is about an hour by boat from Montezuma and a great day trip. It’s a tiny island with a white sand beach lined with palm trees. We made the trip, did some snorkeling and generally lounged on the sand for most of the day.
It’s a really beautiful place and the water temperature is perfect for soaking in the sheltered cove all day. If that’s not your thing, you can make friends with a wild beach hog of some sort.
The snorkeling was pretty good, but the sea was a bit angry that day. Bode didn’t quite get in the groove. We did spot plenty of fish, and he enjoyed feeding them some bread from the boat.
The ride home was more adventurous, as the afternoon storm rolled in and the ocean got really rough. Then the rain started dumping down. We were flying in the boat to get home quickly before things got really bad and the rain drops were stinging like crazy. We were soaked, cold and thoroughly beaten by the time we got back to the beach at Montezuma.
Because we always seem to get on a boat with an engine problem, we had to do a boat transfer before beaching and walking home in the rain. Still, not a bad way to spend an afternoon.
Posted on August 19, 2010 by jason
Montezuma is at the end of a dirt road at the very tip of the Nicoya peninsula. It’s a one-road jam-band kind of town with a few bars, restaurants, and camping at the end.
It’s the kind of place that people go to hang out and listen to reggae all day after meditating or doing yoga. Maybe do some juggling while your friend swings from the trapeze hanging from a tree over the street. Stick around long enough and you’ll be making and selling jewelry on the sidewalk or just endlessly hula-hooping around town.
Apparently there’s some good surfing here, but we didn’t see it. I got the impression that surfing might not be a mellow enough activity for this crowd.
The beaches are decent, there’s a nearby little waterfall, and there are monkeys and iguanas everywhere. There is absolutely no one on the beach. They are, uh, busy meditating while hula hooping.
Don’t get me wrong, we like the place. We came just to check it out and ended up staying five days.
Posted on August 18, 2010 by angela
We hit the beaches near Quepos and Manual Antonio with the whole gang. Because it is the rainy season, there are daily storms and we’ve been getting wet daily. It’s still pretty easy to wait for the few hours of sunshine and go have lots of fun.
We said goodbye to Dan and Doug, who headed out early for the Osa Peninsula, while we left with Bree and Ray for the Nicoya Peninsula. After one more great monkey encounter, we headed out towards Puntarenas and the ferry. On the way, we stopped to check out the crocodiles. About 50 feet away were some very trusting deer.
Although Dan’s brother Ed had called that morning to verify the ferry times, they managed to lose a ferry and we had to wait around Puntarenas. Bree and Ray got to experience sitting around a slightly seedy port town for a few hours – good vacation memories. Of course, we all managed just fine, but it put us on southern Nicoya in the dark. Not the best place to bend the driving at night rule.
Most of the roads at the end of the peninsula are dirt and mud, but we eventually made it to the tiny bohemian town of Montezuma. We found a great place a block off the beach, but hidden under the jungle canopy.
Also, We just had an article about our little adventure published in South Africa. If you found us after reading the Volkswagen of South Africa magazine, then welcome!
Everyone else can read the article here or here (link on the lower right.) Apologies for the Queen’s English!
And, if anyone can suggest a good (sane) driving route from, say, Cape Town to Casablanca – we’re, um, interested.
We just had an article about our adventure
published in South Africa. Apologies for the Queen’s English! you can read it here:
http://bodeswell.org/wp-content/uploads/press/VolkswagenSA_Winter2010.pdf
……or
here:
http://www.vw.co.za/magazine/
(link
on the right)
)
Posted on August 16, 2010 by angela
We pulled out of the driveway one year ago, August 15th, 2009.
Two hundred and seventy blog posts ago.
We had wanted to put together a thoughtful and poignant one-year wrap-up post, reflecting on everything we have learned, how our lives have changed for the better, how we’ve grown closer as a family and met so many friends along the way.
Something like my friend and fellow traveler Sarah did here for her blog. Sadly, I didn’t even realize Eat, Pray, Love was a movie (another benefit of traveling – no US media influence.) Anyway, I guess that blows our big movie deal 
Despite our intentions, we’re simply too exhausted to undertake such a huge mind-bending exercise right now. Maybe we’ll write it later.
When writing publicly about your life, I think there’s a natural tendency to try to live a better one.
-jdg
So, this week we’re doing our best to truly relax in Costa Rica and get caught up on all of those other silly things that seem to come up when you finally have 24-hour access to the internet.
We also want to take this opportunity to thank everyone who has helped us along the way, to those who have given us advice or encouragement or other support, and to the folks reading our blog. Although it’s a big effort, we enjoy it and we hope you enjoy it too.
Pretty soon we’ll be putting Red Beard on a ship to South America where our journey continues. A year ago we thought we would be there and back by now. So much for making plans.
Posted on August 13, 2010 by angela
It rained all night in Quepos and was still raining when we woke up late and lounged around the casita. Anna’s house is up a steep hill and her back deck sits at tree level. What you can see at this level is truly amazing. There are all sorts of birds hopping between the trees and iguanas slithering on the rocks below.
The coffee is strong and good and none of us seem to be in any hurry to get to the beach.
Ed had loaned us his iPhone in case we needed anything and it starts to ring. We thought we might need to ask Bode how to answer it, but Bree finally managed. It was our morning Monkey Call.
We made our way down to her deck at the main house where they have a Monkey Bridge. It’s basically just ropes between trees to keep them off the electrical wires. The monkeys learn quick and its a monkey highway at certain times of the day.
We all sat on the back deck and watched one monkey stare at us from a tree. After the kids tired of the occasional monkey siting they went back inside to play. We lingered outside talking with Dan and his family. There was a huge blue-headed iguana coming down for some fruit. Ed cut up some bananas and set them out on the railing. Eventually there were monkeys checking us out from every tree.
Once the first monkey finally had the courage to go for the banana, it was Grand Monkey Central. Soon there were 30 monkeys clamoring for the banana pieces and they were coming from all over. Some from the rope, others jumping from trees. Some would go on the roof and look at us upside down over the edge. The males would try to grab 2 pieces and we’d stand up to scare them away from the second and get a scary Monkey Shine face. As soon as we would run out of bananas, Ed would provide us with more. Dan’s sisters sat inside, accustomed to the monkeys but amused by our group so excited to see them.
The whole thing was unreal, and definitely another highlight of the trip for me. I am a bit over the top with my love of monkeys, though. Once, I convinced Jason to take a 4 hour round trip train to see a town in Thailand that had been taken over with the primates. Go Monkey!
Posted on August 11, 2010 by angela
We picked up our friends Breean and Ray at the San Jose airport and headed to the coast. After making a few wrong turns and a quick stop for lunch, we continued through the mountains. Red Beard was straining a little carrying 6 passengers and all their stuff. Ray and Bree packed incredibly light, but they also brought us a box full of Trader Joe’s goodies. Looking forward to some curry soon!
A long downhill drive got the brakes hot and mushy again, so we pulled over to let them cool. Smoke was coming from the front wheels. Ray, Bree and Doug took the delay in stride… they’ve heard the stories. Every time we get a visitor we seem to have car trouble. We had to bleed the bubbles out of the brake lines, but within about 20 minutes we were on the road again.
If you’re homesick, there’s nothing at all that you are missing…
-Bree
We made it to Quepos and Manuel Antonio where another friend of ours, Dan, was staying. He’s got 2 sisters in the area, and we had all been invited to stay in Anna’s guest house. The guest house was sweet and the main house was even sweeter.
It was an incredible day, and we felt so lucky to have so many friends around. And no one complained (much) about being crammed into the bus…
Posted on August 10, 2010 by jason
We would have loved to linger around the lake a bit longer, but we had to get rolling to make our way over to San Jose to pick up some more friends. On the way, we drove around the lake and checked out the big Volcano.
Volcan Arenal is a giant perfectly-shaped cone like the kind you would draw as a kid… including the lava and smoke. It’s currently active and spits smoke and ash right out the top on a fairly continuous basis. The one difficulty we’ve discovered with watching volcanoes is that the tops are almost always covered in clouds. We lucked out today and had a few hours of clear skies and could see the top, but the clouds rolled in not long after.
There is a national park here and although there is no camping inside, there is actually a place to camp right outside the entrance. We went by to check it out and it was a mosquito-infested swamp… and then it started pouring down raining. Too bad. We hear that on a clear night you can sit and watch the lava shoot out the top and stream down the sides. We later heard that the lava flow shifted to the other side, so no biggie .
We made it as far as La Fortuna and ran into our buddies Jesse and Kyle. It’s looking like the timing is still about right so that we can share a container bound for Colombia… we’ll have to wait and see.
As with most volcanoes, hot springs abound all around them. Here, they mostly seem to be the fancy variety. Most have an over-priced daily fee. We had a good recommendation for one that required reservations, but we’re not very good about making reservations. Since we were in a hurry, we settled for a cheesy water park near town, which actually seemed to be the perfect choice for everyone.
On the way down to San Jose we checked a few other camping options. One place in the mountains had a sign out front that said ‘camping’ and we pulled in and it was awesome. The problem was that they had no interest in letting us camp there. First, they said “sorry, but there is no electricity at the campground so there’s no camping.” We persisted that it wasn’t a problem and they said they would call the owner. Way too much time passed and it was clear they didn’t give a flip about us, so we left. It looked like they were converting the place into an upscale resort and the old camping sign out front hadn’t been removed yet.
Anyway, we finally found our camping spot in of all places, next to the San Jose airport. They have what is called “the only RV park in Costa Rica” in the town of Belen just 2 km away. Not quite a destination, but they had hot showers and wi-fi. There was even another Westy there. I was hopeful a third would show up, but no luck.
We met a few folks and they all wanted to have a look at the bus. Some were amazed that all four of us were going to sleep in our little camper (Doug hasn’t complained yet.) They would look at us, look at the bus, then turn around and look at their giant RV and stare in wonder.
The next day we met the owner of the green Westy. He was from Venezuela and he was actually staying in one of the RV’s there. His bus was immaculate, but didn’t look like it moved much. He was torn about recommending we visit Venezuela – he’s not planning on going back, but things are a little different for citizens.
Also, we were interviewed for the Brazilian magazine Fusca & Cia a few months back and it just hit the newsstands. We had totally forgotten about it until someone sent us a photo along with a generous invitation to come visit in Argentina. If anyone out there actually has a copy of the magazine, please save it for us!
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