Empty clothes rail
Showing posts with label Wildlife. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Wildlife. Show all posts
Sunday, 11 September 2011
Costa Rica: Cahuita
(Post by Colin)
Dear friends,
I am sitting in a Cafe in Banos, Ecuador writing this final blog post for Costa Rica.. I just ate a delicious omelet for breakfast. I noticed another table being served what looked like a croissant and asked for one - but they clearly do not call it a croissant.. so not sure if I will get one or not.. :-)
So this blog post should be really really easy to write, Wanna no why? Well... in Cahuita we did almost nothing.. Let me explain.. Cahuita is a sleepy seaside village on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. Most of the population here comes from the Caribbean originally and indeed it does feel like we are on a Caribbean Island. Glorious sunshine, pristine beaches, reggae music and people moving very very slowly perhaps as a result of the herb which can be smelt almost everywhere... Here are some pics of the village:
This part of Costa Rica - the Caribbean coast - is apparently less visited than the others because it has a reputation for being dangerous. What it is - is completely unspoilt.. We did not feel any danger at all. It was very relaxed. So relaxed in fact that we spent the 5 or so days here doing very little. Here we enjoyed the warmest weather in Costa Rica, between the hours of 12-4pm you'd best stay indoors because the sun was so hot. We hardly moved but to walk in the national park nearby, swim in the sea, share some conversation with the locals, eat some more Caribbean influenced meals and see more wildlife than we had seen so far.. Our daily activity happened before 12pm and after 4pm.
We stayed in a place called Cabinas Jenny. We chose this because it was right near the sea but still in the village and it had a balcony with a hammock and only $30 per night. Jenny, the proprietor was a Canadian lady in her fifties who had been living in the village for 20 years..
On our first night we took a walk to check out some other places to stay just to see what the quality was like and confirm that we had made a good choice. We checked out many places and we saw some better ones but the price/quality ratio was just not equitable so we stayed put. We ended up eating and dancing to live music in a bar by the Playa Negro named the Reggae Bar.. Great fun !
That night when we had a hard time sleeping because although so quiet in the day - this village seemed to awaken at night and we could hear the thumping reggae and reggaeton beats for most of the night. I mean it seemed that most people actually where nocturnal here. The village was empty in the day and then busy at night. We also had to deal with very unwanted and sneaky guests at night - mosquitoes. These little buggers didn't make any noise, and would bite through denim. When they could not bite you in the usual places they would get very creative. Kizzy had two interesting bites on the upper lip. We bought a mosquito spray called Off, and part of our daily ritual was to spray ourselves with this awful stuff. Between that, an uncomfortable mosquito net, a nightly killing ritual ( i.e me ninja like slapping them with a magazine !) and an unstable ceiling fan that on high speed made us feel we were taking off as our weapons of choice, we still could not avoid their bites. We heard that these fellas hunt in groups, so often we would get up to 5 bites in one place. Not a nice sight!
Sometime during the period we took a walk in the national park which is jungle bordered by the beach and the sea. It is unspoilt paradise.. This park was the first park on our travels that did not have a fixed entry fee. In keeping with the laid back vibe it was a donation only park..
I say unspoilt but actually some parts are destroyed.. The area was once well know for its amazing coral reefs and its variety of fish. Snorkeling was once amazing here. We were told not to bother by some who had done it they said there is almost nothing left and the coral is destroyed. This is as a result of humans and also nature - namely hurricanes.
The jungle walk we took was amazing - we saw several tribes of monkeys really close to us, some cool crabs, several racoons and birds, lizards, spiders and butterflies. Here is a selection...
We really enjoyed Cahuita. We would have liked to see other places like Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo but we decided to leave those for another time and stay put. This is definitely a part of Costa Rica that we would very much like to explore more of, but we had to move back to Alajuela and give ourselves a bit of time to get things sorted for Ecuador. We had yet to book a place for our first night in Quito. We went back and stayed in the same place we started out in in Alajuelo - Casa Tago with Constanza & Humberto. We were welcomed back like family and spent a couple of nights there before flying to Ecuador.
Ok - so I am stealing from Kizzy's blog style a little here ;-) - but it seems in keeping with the final blog post for Costa Rica to have a final thoughts section - so here we go..
Final Thoughts..
Ok so I am wary of too much generalisation particularly as we only spent 16 days in Costa Rica. But for what ist worth hear our my impressions..
We like Costa Rica. Beautiful scenery - mountains, lakes, beaches, 5 star tourism and all in between. This is a country that is very much geared up for tourism. It is not cheap for longer term travellers but for our friends in London - very cheap.. There is no need to book a full on tour type itinerary to travel here as it is very easy to play it by ear and sort things out when you are here. There is so much to do in each location. I would actually rent a car if I was to come here again. Despite what the guide books said about the driving being terrible - outside of the main cities which is where you want to be there is hardly a car on the road.. We did not see the whole country - 16 days is not enough to do that if you also want to relax and not be on the move constantly. Maybe possible with a car. We did not see the Pacific coast side at all. Apparently this is where most of the 5 star resorts are and where most people go..
The people of Costa Rica are very well summed up by their catch phrase "Pura Vida", literally meaning Pure Life but I translate it something like "whatever". They are very relaxed and don't seem to care one way or the other about most things. Not a fiery people at all. This makes them easy to get along with - but not overly accommodating in general. They pay no more attention to you as a tourist than to anyone else.. As a tourist you don't feel like you stand out - in fact people pay no attention to you at all.
For Picasa Pics please click here
That's all folks.. Next up - Quito, Ecuador..
Lots of Love,
Colin & Kizzy
Dear friends,
I am sitting in a Cafe in Banos, Ecuador writing this final blog post for Costa Rica.. I just ate a delicious omelet for breakfast. I noticed another table being served what looked like a croissant and asked for one - but they clearly do not call it a croissant.. so not sure if I will get one or not.. :-)
So this blog post should be really really easy to write, Wanna no why? Well... in Cahuita we did almost nothing.. Let me explain.. Cahuita is a sleepy seaside village on the Caribbean side of Costa Rica. Most of the population here comes from the Caribbean originally and indeed it does feel like we are on a Caribbean Island. Glorious sunshine, pristine beaches, reggae music and people moving very very slowly perhaps as a result of the herb which can be smelt almost everywhere... Here are some pics of the village:
 |
| A typical house.. |
 |
| Man selling juice.. |
 |
| Village street |
We stayed in a place called Cabinas Jenny. We chose this because it was right near the sea but still in the village and it had a balcony with a hammock and only $30 per night. Jenny, the proprietor was a Canadian lady in her fifties who had been living in the village for 20 years..
 |
| Sign for Cabinas Jenny |
 |
| Kizzy chilling in our hammock |
 |
| Col chilling in the hammock |
 |
| View from our balcony.. |
 |
| The band's equipment |
 |
| Barbecue starting at 7pm |
 |
| The party kicked-off |
That night when we had a hard time sleeping because although so quiet in the day - this village seemed to awaken at night and we could hear the thumping reggae and reggaeton beats for most of the night. I mean it seemed that most people actually where nocturnal here. The village was empty in the day and then busy at night. We also had to deal with very unwanted and sneaky guests at night - mosquitoes. These little buggers didn't make any noise, and would bite through denim. When they could not bite you in the usual places they would get very creative. Kizzy had two interesting bites on the upper lip. We bought a mosquito spray called Off, and part of our daily ritual was to spray ourselves with this awful stuff. Between that, an uncomfortable mosquito net, a nightly killing ritual ( i.e me ninja like slapping them with a magazine !) and an unstable ceiling fan that on high speed made us feel we were taking off as our weapons of choice, we still could not avoid their bites. We heard that these fellas hunt in groups, so often we would get up to 5 bites in one place. Not a nice sight!
Sometime during the period we took a walk in the national park which is jungle bordered by the beach and the sea. It is unspoilt paradise.. This park was the first park on our travels that did not have a fixed entry fee. In keeping with the laid back vibe it was a donation only park..
I say unspoilt but actually some parts are destroyed.. The area was once well know for its amazing coral reefs and its variety of fish. Snorkeling was once amazing here. We were told not to bother by some who had done it they said there is almost nothing left and the coral is destroyed. This is as a result of humans and also nature - namely hurricanes.
The jungle walk we took was amazing - we saw several tribes of monkeys really close to us, some cool crabs, several racoons and birds, lizards, spiders and butterflies. Here is a selection...
We really enjoyed Cahuita. We would have liked to see other places like Puerto Viejo and Manzanillo but we decided to leave those for another time and stay put. This is definitely a part of Costa Rica that we would very much like to explore more of, but we had to move back to Alajuela and give ourselves a bit of time to get things sorted for Ecuador. We had yet to book a place for our first night in Quito. We went back and stayed in the same place we started out in in Alajuelo - Casa Tago with Constanza & Humberto. We were welcomed back like family and spent a couple of nights there before flying to Ecuador.
 |
| Us with Constanza and Huberto |
Ok - so I am stealing from Kizzy's blog style a little here ;-) - but it seems in keeping with the final blog post for Costa Rica to have a final thoughts section - so here we go..
Final Thoughts..
Ok so I am wary of too much generalisation particularly as we only spent 16 days in Costa Rica. But for what ist worth hear our my impressions..
We like Costa Rica. Beautiful scenery - mountains, lakes, beaches, 5 star tourism and all in between. This is a country that is very much geared up for tourism. It is not cheap for longer term travellers but for our friends in London - very cheap.. There is no need to book a full on tour type itinerary to travel here as it is very easy to play it by ear and sort things out when you are here. There is so much to do in each location. I would actually rent a car if I was to come here again. Despite what the guide books said about the driving being terrible - outside of the main cities which is where you want to be there is hardly a car on the road.. We did not see the whole country - 16 days is not enough to do that if you also want to relax and not be on the move constantly. Maybe possible with a car. We did not see the Pacific coast side at all. Apparently this is where most of the 5 star resorts are and where most people go..
The people of Costa Rica are very well summed up by their catch phrase "Pura Vida", literally meaning Pure Life but I translate it something like "whatever". They are very relaxed and don't seem to care one way or the other about most things. Not a fiery people at all. This makes them easy to get along with - but not overly accommodating in general. They pay no more attention to you as a tourist than to anyone else.. As a tourist you don't feel like you stand out - in fact people pay no attention to you at all.
For Picasa Pics please click here
That's all folks.. Next up - Quito, Ecuador..
Lots of Love,
Colin & Kizzy
Friday, 9 September 2011
Costa Rica: Tortuguero
[posted by Kizzy]
We had three beautiful days in Tortuguero. It's a small place, not much happening. The most action you get around the little port where everyday tourists arrive and go! It must be funny for the 'Tico's to watch us as we arrive with our funny clothes, big bags and our wary looks. We must make for funny animals.
We made the jeep-boat arrangement with our hotel in Monte Verde. It was straight forward. We had our transfer to the port of La Pavona (north of Cariari), and there we waited for the boat transfer to Tortuguero. As luck would have it, the tide was low and our original transfer had problems, so we had to wait an additional hour before it arrived. When it finally did, there were circa 60 people waiting, the average per boat is 30 people. So we had to hustle. You should have seen us with the rest of the people, charging to the water before the boat docked and pushing our bodies onto the boat to secure our seats. Most of us were soaking wet from waist down. Well, another boat arrived and all 60 were able to board that day. So it's a bit of a hit and miss if you do make it to Tortuguero on the day that you want.
The journey was blissful and trouble free, as we traveled some of the guides accompanying other travelers on the boat would point out to wildlife beautifully camouflaged in the green of the forest.
Life in Tortuguero is simple and revolves mainly around tourism and a bit of fishing! Tortuguero is one of the most remote places in Costa Rica and is only accessible by boat or plane. There are no cars here, none and no cashpoints. You have one main street from which all business happens, and on one side you have the river and the other you have the sea.
If you walk along the beach you realise that Tortuguero is bigger than it seems.
We stayed in Casa Marbella and it was really nice but a bit pricey I'm sure. Their accommodation was better than the standard we have experienced in Costa Rica and generally they were really helpful in getting us to Tortuguero. But it's a small island and there isn't much in terms of competition so everyone kinda offers a unique service.
One of the things, that struck as a standard amongst all the lodges is the beautiful bed arrangements they do with the towels.
People generally come here to see the turtles and experience the Amazon forest through the canals! During our stay we did a night tour to see the turtles laying their eggsvisited the Tortuguero National Park.
Our favourite was the canoeing experience. Casa Marbella had a canoe available for those who wished to venture into the National Park on their own. It took us a while to get our rhythm right and once we did it was great!
And we ventured carefully, following the river to spot wildlife. Our vocabulary here is limited and we struggle to name the many species we saw but we know this much, they're amazing.
We paddled for about four hours and having been first timers we missed some essential rules. We paddled from 1130-1400 when the sun is at his strongest and we were wearing shorts.
From this you can deduct that we got badly burnt, well Col mostly. He kept applying sun lotion to his body but the damage was unavoidable. The sun was out and it was going to get us. We returned to the lodge, thirsty, very tired and very sore!
Watching the turtles at night was an interesting experience - a waiting game! All it's done not to disturb them, and so as we come uninvited into their territory, many steps are taken to ensure that we are as invisible as possible - so no cameras, flash or lights. We were literally invisible, even to ourselves. There was one other clear advantage, we could see the Milky Way so clearly, it was surreal!
On this trek we were accompanied by a Dutch family of 5. Tamas, the father is originally from Hungary and also lived for a time in Stockholm. He has 3 great kids, 2 boys and a girl. The girl, Nina, is passionate about animals and wants to be a veterinary. They were an amazing family and had so much to share with us. Even the younger one, Luca, who did not speak English, kept passing on messages in Dutch for his family to translate in English for us!
So there we are, on the beach and it's really really dark. We're waiting for the guide to tell us when to move. It was Nina, Tama's daughter, who first spotted a turtle making her way inland from the sea. We were really excited and all trying very hard to see - a blury shadow moving slowly across the sand. The moment finally came when the guide called us, and it did not last very long and it was uneventful, but we saw this massive turtle covering her eggs. And we watched for a few minutes. And then we all followed her as she made her return to the sea. It is beautiful, to see nature working as it should, even if you only get a small glimpse of it. We felt fortunate to be there.
Roberto, our guide, said it was not a good season. He was hopeful we'd see more - at the very least the turtle laying the eggs - and at the end of the tour he looked terribly disappointed with the whole event. Together with Tama's family we spent a bit of time cheering him up and making him feel better. It was endearing to see how much he cared. We have no pictures to show you of the turtles - we had to be invisible.
Not sure about the order of things but at some point we visited the National Park with a guide. It worked well because that day it happened to be the National Park Day across the whole of Costa Rica and entry to the parks was free - a saving of $10. In the morning we traveled the park through the canals with a group and tour guide and in the afternoon we went by foot on our own.
The general advice to visiting the National Park on foot is that you have to wear rubber boots to enter the park - of course we didn't think much of it - but it was really hot that day. We borrowed a pair each from Casa Marbella and off we went. We saw people in the park on their flip-flops and the only other pair of people also wearing boots was another Brit couple.
The walk was entertaining, mainly for the monkeys we saw. So many that for a minute we believed they were following us.
The Tortuguero National Park was the most rewarding park up until now in terms of wildlife spotting. As we walked along the trail (sendero in Spanish), we saw these exit points towards the beach indicating where the turtles laid their eggs.
There were lots of lizards, amazing flora and a couple of birds. The surprise that we were not expecting were the sounds of the forest. It is actually very loud as the animals and many insects go about their business.
Col and I had many walks along the beautiful beach side, which apparently is not recommended that you swim on. You would not see locals swimming, but you would definitely see tourists. The water is so warm and inviting, it's easy to see why tourists would just ignore the advice.
We enjoyed our time in Tortuguero, if anything it was the first place where we saw 'real' wildlife. One of the mornings I watched two men returning from the sea with their day's dinner: two massive fishes. The kids in town just run around bare feet. We saw lots of stray dogs, but they're looked after by the islanders. Gina who was manning the reception in Casa Marbella, would bring her children to spend the day whilst she was working. You'd see them around most times under the watchful eye of their mum. Life seemed simple enough. There was a Caribbean feel in the island, every now and then you could smell a spliff.
We had many good dinners at the Miss Miriam's restaurant, consistently good in comparison to other places here. Not to be mean but just have a look...
After three days we said our goodbyes and took the boat to the port of
Moin, just outside of Limon, where we took a transfer to Cahuita - a two hour journey by boat with a stop in between.
For Picasa photos please click here
A few thoughts..
During our stay in Tortuguero we had the pleasure to skype with Matt and Ceri and finally meet Alice. She was very cheery throughout the conversation and totally stole the show. We had some technical problems and the sound was not working, so we used the Skype messenger and exchanged smiles over the video. It was great to see you guys, thank you very much.
We had three beautiful days in Tortuguero. It's a small place, not much happening. The most action you get around the little port where everyday tourists arrive and go! It must be funny for the 'Tico's to watch us as we arrive with our funny clothes, big bags and our wary looks. We must make for funny animals.
 |
| The village port |
 |
| The main dock in La Pavona |
 |
| Capturing the wildlife |
 |
| Female Jesus Christ Lizard |
 |
| Local fishermen |
We stayed in Casa Marbella and it was really nice but a bit pricey I'm sure. Their accommodation was better than the standard we have experienced in Costa Rica and generally they were really helpful in getting us to Tortuguero. But it's a small island and there isn't much in terms of competition so everyone kinda offers a unique service.
One of the things, that struck as a standard amongst all the lodges is the beautiful bed arrangements they do with the towels.
 |
| An elephant? |
 |
| Two swans? |
Our favourite was the canoeing experience. Casa Marbella had a canoe available for those who wished to venture into the National Park on their own. It took us a while to get our rhythm right and once we did it was great!
 |
| Our view |
 |
| Our route |
 |
| A cayman |
We paddled for about four hours and having been first timers we missed some essential rules. We paddled from 1130-1400 when the sun is at his strongest and we were wearing shorts.
From this you can deduct that we got badly burnt, well Col mostly. He kept applying sun lotion to his body but the damage was unavoidable. The sun was out and it was going to get us. We returned to the lodge, thirsty, very tired and very sore!
 |
| Ouch! |
 |
| Sun burnt knees |
On this trek we were accompanied by a Dutch family of 5. Tamas, the father is originally from Hungary and also lived for a time in Stockholm. He has 3 great kids, 2 boys and a girl. The girl, Nina, is passionate about animals and wants to be a veterinary. They were an amazing family and had so much to share with us. Even the younger one, Luca, who did not speak English, kept passing on messages in Dutch for his family to translate in English for us!
So there we are, on the beach and it's really really dark. We're waiting for the guide to tell us when to move. It was Nina, Tama's daughter, who first spotted a turtle making her way inland from the sea. We were really excited and all trying very hard to see - a blury shadow moving slowly across the sand. The moment finally came when the guide called us, and it did not last very long and it was uneventful, but we saw this massive turtle covering her eggs. And we watched for a few minutes. And then we all followed her as she made her return to the sea. It is beautiful, to see nature working as it should, even if you only get a small glimpse of it. We felt fortunate to be there.
Roberto, our guide, said it was not a good season. He was hopeful we'd see more - at the very least the turtle laying the eggs - and at the end of the tour he looked terribly disappointed with the whole event. Together with Tama's family we spent a bit of time cheering him up and making him feel better. It was endearing to see how much he cared. We have no pictures to show you of the turtles - we had to be invisible.
Not sure about the order of things but at some point we visited the National Park with a guide. It worked well because that day it happened to be the National Park Day across the whole of Costa Rica and entry to the parks was free - a saving of $10. In the morning we traveled the park through the canals with a group and tour guide and in the afternoon we went by foot on our own.
 |
| A lizzie, one of many we saw |
 |
| Us with the group in the canoe |
 |
| Our route |
The walk was entertaining, mainly for the monkeys we saw. So many that for a minute we believed they were following us.
The Tortuguero National Park was the most rewarding park up until now in terms of wildlife spotting. As we walked along the trail (sendero in Spanish), we saw these exit points towards the beach indicating where the turtles laid their eggs.
 |
| One of the exit points |
 |
| Turtle nests |
Col and I had many walks along the beautiful beach side, which apparently is not recommended that you swim on. You would not see locals swimming, but you would definitely see tourists. The water is so warm and inviting, it's easy to see why tourists would just ignore the advice.
We enjoyed our time in Tortuguero, if anything it was the first place where we saw 'real' wildlife. One of the mornings I watched two men returning from the sea with their day's dinner: two massive fishes. The kids in town just run around bare feet. We saw lots of stray dogs, but they're looked after by the islanders. Gina who was manning the reception in Casa Marbella, would bring her children to spend the day whilst she was working. You'd see them around most times under the watchful eye of their mum. Life seemed simple enough. There was a Caribbean feel in the island, every now and then you could smell a spliff.
 |
| Local graffiti |
 |
| A local restaurant |
 |
| Local Church |
 |
| The menu |
 |
| A local delicacy, plantain or in Spanish 'platano' |
 |
| Arroz y Frijoles (Rice and beans) |
 |
| Digging in! |
 |
| En route to Cahuita |
 |
| The canal |
 |
| Flamingos |
For Picasa photos please click here
A few thoughts..
During our stay in Tortuguero we had the pleasure to skype with Matt and Ceri and finally meet Alice. She was very cheery throughout the conversation and totally stole the show. We had some technical problems and the sound was not working, so we used the Skype messenger and exchanged smiles over the video. It was great to see you guys, thank you very much.
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