Travel Blog
We set up our travel blog to keep a journal of our holidays and travels, it is easy to forget details. As we Travel around the world we want to visit as many countries as possible following the sun. Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas are all on our list to explore more
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Potrero: To The Lonely Sea And The Sky
We’re sitting in the balmy breeze beneath the swaying palm trees on Sunday evening when we first hear news of the eruption, some seven days after the event. It seems that Turrialba, one of Costa Rica’s more active volcanoes, experienced its most violent eruption since 2011 last Monday and deposited significant amounts of volcanic ash over areas which we have travelled through since then – yet we only learn of it now! Not sure how we missed that. Choosing our location for this last full week of our Costa Rica tour hasn’t been completely straightforward; the northern Pacific coast has a fairly high number of over developed resorts, which we…
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Lakes & Mountains Of The Central Highlands
Two things which are a regular aspect of our travel but haven’t yet featured in Costa Rica, each come into play on our journey from Cartago to Atenas: a train journey, and a hire car. The rail service here is extremely limited, with just two short lines heading out of San Jose in different directions, one of which is, handily, to Cartago. Once the transport of fruit started to switch from rail to road, the railways steadily fell into disrepair and each time an earthquake wreaked havoc, another section was abandoned. Some modest investment has recently enabled purchase of old stock from Spain and new stock from China (not Derby,…
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Cartago: In The Shadow Of Irazu
Our arrangements for the journey from Tortuguero to our next base are a bit on the sketchy side. The instructions are to be down at the riverside at 8.30am and ask for Kendall, who will take us in his boat to the nearest point where the road meets the river, at La Pavona one hour’s ride away, where we are to ask for a man named Robert, who will drive us to San Jose. After that we have to find the bus to Cartago. At precisely 8.30 a man in a blue polo shirt approaches us saying “La Pavona?”. He isn’t Kendall but he knows which is our boat. Later,…
- Central America, History, Independent travel, Photography, Transport, Travel Blog, Walking, Wildlife
Tortuguero: Beyond Roads
Two of Cahuita’s most colourful characters are downtown on our last night in the village, firstly the “Latin Hendrix” who is again strumming his guitar and wisecracking in Luisa restaurant, seemingly amusing himself as much as anyone else, like all good performers. Our other new friend Boa, meanwhile, is in Coco’s Bar and has obviously had more than enough booze already, his normally darting eyes unfocussed and his walk decidedly unsteady. We chat for a while, kind of, until a waiter tells Boa that it’s time for him to go home, and by his actions it’s clear that Boa is intending to ride his motor bike home despite being too…
- Central America, History, Independent travel, Photography, Travel Blog, Walking, Wildlife, World food
Spiders, Snakes & Reggae: Tales Of The Caribbean
Cahuita village sits neatly on a small rounded headland jutting out into the Caribbean from the lush green jungle, with two very different beaches either side of its centre, Playa Negra and Playa Blanca. As the names would suggest, one consists of black volcanic sand, the other the pristine white sand of tropical paradise, the latter inside the national park. In between the two, rocky deposits of dead coral form a natural barrier. After a couple of false starts we find some properly tasty Caribbean food, our enjoyment of which is enhanced by the live music of a local character nicknamed the “Latin Hendrix”. We’d actually read about this guy…
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Eastwards To The Caribbean
The time has come to move on and bid farewell to La Fortuna and its imposing, looming volcano, and farewell to all of the great things that the Arenal area has to offer. Our week in La Fortuna has been so full of experiences and activity that we’ve barely mentioned how settled we’ve felt here. This town may be a popular destination for visitors to Costa Rica, but for us it’s been just the right blend of plenty of options without being over cooked. Recommendation wise, our favourite restaurants have been Snapper’s House with its fabulous seafood, a sumptuous family run Peruvian restaurant named Chifa La Familia Feliz, and a…
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Adventures & Adrenaline In La Fortuna
We’ve had some pretty amazing adrenaline adventures before – whitewater rafting, tombstone dives, even a bobsleigh run – and now La Fortuna goes into our history as a place where we have matched or even surpassed those thrills. Ever thought of coming down a mountain via zip wire? Nor had we, until the temptation was just too strong…. It’s on the Monday that whoever is in charge of La Fortuna weather throws a few switches and changes a few dials. Heavy cloud cover replaces bright sunshine, regular bouts of torrential rain flood the soakaways and send everyone running for shelter, and the imposing Arenal volcano disappears from view completely. The…
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La Fortuna: Lava Flows And Laughter
With mountains and volcanoes meaning a lack of decent roads, transport options from Monteverde to the Arenal region are limited, with the road option being long and laborious. Most travellers therefore take the route known locally as “jeep boat jeep”, although these days due to its popularity the “jeep” bits are by minibus. A 90-minute ride along unmade roads which are really nothing more than farm tracks brings us to a muddy slope at the edge of Lake Arenal, where large white egrets hunt for fish and swallows swoop overhead. There is a regular stream of minibuses depositing travellers here, bringing enough people to fill several of the little boats,…
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Ending The Year
Well, happy new year to everyone, let’s hope it’s a good one. Given that you read our site, then it’s safe to assume you’re interested in travel; our best wish for all people interested in travel is that we are now nearing the time when we can get out and see the world again. For those who are hesitating to make a decision, we have travelled as much as possible during these last two difficult years and we haven’t felt any more unsafe whilst travelling than we have back home. We haven’t mentioned in our posts that we BOTH caught COVID (thankfully only very mild symptoms) – and we caught…
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Into The Cloud Forest: From The Sea To The Sky
Bidding farewell to Reymar is like saying goodbye to a friend, he has been one of the most helpful and sociable hosts we have ever had on our travels. As we pull out of Quepos bus station, we are very conscious of leaving the lovely high temperatures behind as we head towards the colder air of the mountains and cloud forests. The bus journey from Quepos to Monteverde is a bit less comfortable than the earlier journey from San Jose, in fact it borders on gruelling by the end of the long day. First it’s three and a half hours along the Pacific coast to Puntarenas where, after a bit…
