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  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    1
    Day 26

    The Journey Home Begins

    October 30, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Sun 29 Oct: The day we didn't want to come has arrived, time to say goodbye to the beautiful Caribbean sea (I've fallen in love) and head to the bustle of San José to start our journey home. I couldn't decide whether to set my alarm last night to get up for sunrise or not, decided not to as sleep is going to be in short supply the next few days as we travel home, however I woke up at 5.15am so it obviously was meant to be, so grab the camera and headed to the beach. Got an alright sunrise this morning, and after wondering along the beach decided to walk further along the road checking the trees for sloths - didn't find any, but did see some nice birds . Got back to the room to find Doug had also gone out for a final morning wander. Once he was back, and after breakfast we went for one last final swim, it was certainly hard walking out of that water for the last time. Got on the road about 9 am, it was meant to be only a 3.5 hr drive but we know how that can increase, and in the end I think it was about 4.5 hrs. Had got a room near the airport, so after off loading our bags, took our car back which was only about a km away, so nice and easy to walk back. Just down the road was a Walmart, so we went there looking for food, and they had a cafeteria so ended up getting a meal for a reasonable price. It was then back to do final packing of bags, cleaning boots, booking an Uber for 2.45 am a nd getting into bed at 9 pm for some sleep before our 2.30 alarm.

    Mon 30 Oct: I struggled to sleep and to soon it was time to get up. 2.45 am Uber, 5 minutes to the airport, 10 minute panic trying to find our USA ESTA, 6.10 am flight to Guatemala City taking 1 hr 15, 1 hour to transit then back on same plane for a 4 hr 40 min flight to Los Angeles. Doug got called just before boarding in Guatemala for a random bag and body search. Doug said the girl who got searched before him got 2 of her 4 bags of coffee taken from her because it was deemed as too much for 1 person also a newly purchased unopened bottle of water because for some reason they don't allow that on board - what a rip, I would have been fuming, luckily Doug got through with no issues, our one bag of coffee and one tin of drinking chocolate obviously acceptable. Must say San Jose Airport is the best, once you get through security, there is numerous shops selling the popular Costa Rican coffee and chocolate brand, Britt, and so there was many stands with free chocolate covered nuts and fruit samples, and also coffee samples - we made sure we sampled them all many times over. As they say at airports time doesn't mean anything so chocolate at 4 am is 👌. A 7.5 hour wait in LAX, before our 8.55 pm flight to Auckland. We were worried about only having two hours to clear customs and get to domestic terminal for our 8.35 am flight to Tauranga, but made it with plenty of time, and we had luck on our side because the first Tauranga flight was canceled for fog but ours was all go. It was then into the greeting arms of Fiona, and happily meeting my grand-doggy Oden. We all piled into her little yellow car for our final leg back to Powdrell Road and Home, arriving 37 hours after getting up in San Jose to start the journey home. Had a lovely welcome present from the kids, a "paint by numbers" painting of them and three of my most wonderful and sadly missed dogs, Jess, Stormy and Thunder plus a box of KGB Black Russians, which we sampled at lunch - fish and chips at Whk wharf - a great reminder of the beauty of NZ. So now it's the start of our NZ life again and the end of Fiind Penguins. It's been great to keep a record of our trip for us and I've enjoyed I've been able to share it with all of you too.    Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    1
    Day 24

    Jaguar Rescue Centre

    October 28, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    Sat 28th Oct: This morning we headed south 18 kms to Puerto Viejo, first stopping in the town for the farmers market, however this wasn't very big so we decided we would try and make the 9.30 am tour at the nearby Jaguar Rescue Centre rather than the 11.30 am. The name is a bit misleading because sadly there's no jaguars. The center was started in 2008 by two biologists an Italian and a Spanish, who met here, fell in love, moved here and ended up having their house full of injured and abandoned animals, with the first animal supposedly a jaguar, but it was actually an Ocelot, however the locals started calling them the jaguar people and it stuck. Anyway, they have set up a wonderful and very worthwhile center, apart from two vets all the other staff are volunteers from all around the world. There are strict rules, and most of the rehabilitating animals are kept away from human contact apart from the vets and biologists so they can be released back into the wild, however there are some animals that for various reasons can not be released so they are the permanent residents that the public can view. These included 3 macaws, 2 brown boobies, 3 spider monkeys, a caiman, turtles, an Ocelot, a Margay, 2 sloths, a whitetail deer. A great informative 2 hours was spent there. We then carried on a little further south to the end of the road at Manzanillo. We stopped here to check out the beach, and just along a bit was an abandoned, now graffiti boat, which we had fun photographing with the crashing waves on it. Enjoyed a nice long swim, thinking how are we ever going cope with Ohope water temperatures after these 29°C waters. Sadly we called it a day and headed back to Cahuita, stopping at a supermarket to get some supplies for what turned out to be lunch/dinner. We had guacamole and corn chips and blue cheese and crackers along with a local beer for Doug and some Smirnoffs for me.Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    1
    Day 23

    Cahuita National Park

    October 27, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 28 °C

    Fri 27 Oct: Since we had to get up early for our snorkeling this morning I thought I would get up for sunrise, therefore I was out of bed at 5.20 am, but I was not early enough, and it was very cloudy also which didn't help. So just went for a stroll down the beach which was still very enjoyable. It was then back to tip Doug out of bed, breakfast and walk down to the National Park entrance for our 10 minute boat trip out to the reef just of Punta Cahuita. Beautiful reef with a real assortment of fish. It was just the two of us and it was wonderful, not as crystal clear as Mexico but still very good. All to soon we had to board the boat to move a few minutes to another spot. A bit shallower but not quite as good a reef. Had big schools of fish. Once finish here we were meant to be dropped of at the beach at Punta Cahuita, but Doug asked if we could go back to the first snorkeling spot so he could do a bit of video, so we got another 20 minutes there, so in total just under 2 hours - well worth it. Once on the beach, there is a trail heading around the Peninsula, right 2.4 kms takes as back to Cahuita town, left 5.7 kms takes you to the southern entry. We went left not really intending to go all the way just to Puerto Vargas but when we got there we heard Howler monkeys so we went looking for them and ended up walking all the way. We did find them once we had turned around and was walking back. Actually had a successful animal spotting day, sloths, white-faced and howler monkeys, woodpeckers, raccoons, lots of lizards and crabs. It was about 3.30pm when we finally exited the park back in Cahuita, a very enjoyable day. Back at our accomodation, we dropped of our bag and headed across for a swim before enjoying a relaxing eveningRead more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    1
    Day 22

    Cahuita

    October 26, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 27 °C

    Thu 26 Oct: After yesterday we treated ourselves to a blob day. Both had good sleeps until the rooster and dogs woke us up. After dozing for a bit longer we got up and checked out the beach which was about 100 m down the road. Beautiful, again not Playa del Carmen beautiful as it is a black beach, but certainly a nice relaxing feeling about it. We then went for a walk to the main area of town, 1.4 kms away to find a supermarket to buy some cereal for breakfast. Its a very small town with mainly restaurants down the main street. Did find a small supermarket to get our breakfast stuff. Heading back we went down a road to check out the beach down there and found the entrance to the marine side of the National Park. Talking to a guy, he told us could only do snorkeling in the park with a guide, which he was. We decided to book him for tomorrow at 7 am, best time he reckons as its a lot calmer. We then walked back, had breakfast, lazed around reading, went for a swim, more lazing, then I walked back into town for more of a look while Doug did an hour long ocean swim (he doesn't believe in building up to things). It started raining about 4 pm, while we sat under the veranda of our room. Eventually we started thinking what to do for dinner - eat out or cook something as we had a little kitchen. We decide we would cook so walked down to the supermarket and got pasta, sausages, sauce and can of vegetables, and since we were saving money by cooking ourselves got a can each of Raspberry Smirnoff Ice, and some Costa Rican pastry things for dessert - still worked out about half what it would have costed just for a main meal each at a Restaurant, and Doug volunteered for cooking duty so even better 🙂.Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    1
    Day 21

    From the Pacific to the Caribbean

    October 25, 2023 in Costa Rica

    Wed 25 Oct: We were up early, had breakfast and was on our way to Niuyaca Waterfall just after 7 am. From the parking lot we had a hot and sweaty 3.3 km walk to the falls, oh how we were looking forward to a swim when we got there. First we went and viewed the upper fall, enjoying the lovely spray, then took the track down to the river and the lower fall. Again a lot of spray to cool us down and just as well because there was no way you were able to swim, don't know if it was just from the heavy rain all last night but it was a large and strong flow coming down. So after photos we started heading back, but a sighting of an agouti soon made us get the cameras out again. About half way we heard this bird making a lot of noise. I eventually found it high up in the tree, and got very excited because it was a Toucan, tried to get some photos but difficult at that distance, after about 10 minutes it flew off. We then got back on the road about 11 am to start heading across the island to Cahuita. Google said it was 327 km and would take 6 hrs 38 mins. Costa Rica does not do straight roads - very up and down, twisty turny and not very wide, and also most of it in the clouds or rain so extremely slow going, especially because you normally get stuck behind very slow trucks, and if you are lucky to get passed one there is another one just ahead. Our eta was about 6 pm - our accomodation's check-in was only until 8 pm so we were felt okay about this and stopped for about 40 minutes for lunch at Cartago. Carrying on the rain was consistent and so was the slowness. Got onto the main highway down the coast, about 40 kms to go and we thought it would be smooth sailing, and due to arrive at 7.30pm. Then we stopped, and waited, and crawled along - not even sure if it was from an accident or roadworks. Finally got moving again, and 8 pm found a shop to try and ring the accommodation, but there was no answer. Eventually arrived 8.45 pm, 9 hrs 45 from leaving the waterfall, what a long hard drive. Doug went in and got the owner out of bed, and luckily we could get our room. Both exhausted it was a quick shower and into bed.Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    Day 20

    Biesanz Beach

    October 24, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

    Tue 24 Oct: What to do today? We found a good waterfall further south that looked worth a visit, but instead of driving an hour there and a hour back today, it made more sense to take that route tomorrow when we head across to the east and the Caribbean coastline, so we decided to just have a bit of a chill out day, so spent the morning finally getting my backlog of Find Penguins footprints posted. My premium subscription has finished, and I decided it wasn't worth renewing for only 10 days, so now limited to only 10 photos and 1 video per footprint. Around midday we caught the bus to go a couple of kms down the road. It's a shame the road doesn't really allow walking along it. Stopped at a Falafel restaurant I had read good reviews about for lunch. Mediterranean food would be my all time favorite. We ordered the Sawrarma Platter with a side of Falafel balls, and it was so yummy, we were soon looking at what to have for dinner so we could come back. Maybe our smoothies made it so enjoyable too - mine was blackberry and strawberry with vodka and Doug had Banana and Coconut with rum. Delicious 😋. Leaving the restaurant full and happy we walked 2 kms down to Biesanz Beach. I think we have been spoiled by the beaches in Mexico, it was nice but the water isn't very clear, although slightly cooler than what we had in Mexico which was nicer. We enjoyed a good swim and explore, spotting some Bare-throated tiger heron birds, a young sleeping sloth, and finally some howler monkeys. We were surprised at how small they were considering the loud noises they make. We were then hoping to spend some time on the beach reading filling in time so we could head back to the Falafel restaurant for dinner, however the weather put paid to that plan, because in came the rain. We quickly hightail up the road before it got to heavy, to catch the bus back to the hostel. Then sat under the verandah while it poured down with thunder and lightning. Ended up driving back to the Falafel restaurant for round two, however without the alcoholic smoothies this time.Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    Day 19

    Manuel Antonio National Park

    October 23, 2023, North Pacific Ocean

    Mon 23 Oct: Discovered last night when we arrived that the Manuel Antonio NP is closed on Tuesdays, so we made a quick decision to book a guide for a tour for today. Pick up was 7.30 am. So after a noisy night of sleep. The hostel is right on the main road which was very busy, and also the room has no glass in the window so only curtains to block the sound, not ideal. Anyway we had our breakfast, Doug having the tradition Costa Rican breakfast of rice and beans with scrambled eggs, and I had granola and yogurt, we were soon heading the 5 kms south to the national park entrance where we met our guide Sergio. Costa Rica have made rules to try and be more environmentally friendly, which is great and in theory I totally agreed with but they need a bit of commonsense enforcing them. For example, there is no single-use plastic bottles allowed in the National Parks. Great, but both Doug and I have been refilling plastic waterbottles brought over 6 months ago, but we had to ditch those, therefore making more waste! Not surprising, there was a store next to the entry selling reusable water bottles, so we had to spend NZ$12 to buy one of those to empty our water into for today. Also not allowed any food into the park. Luckily we weren't organized and only had a muesli bar anyway, which we quickly ate. There was a Cafe inside that you could buy food at. We did see a monkey with a bag of chips which he was very protective about and definitely didn't want to share with his mates, so it is good to try and minimize the opportunities for the animals to gain human food. Anyway back to the tour, certainly worth paying for a guide, we would never have seen the animals we did without him. Saw 4 different sloths, both the 2 toed and 3 toed, a red legged grasshopper, two of the three basilisk lizards species - one of which can run on water and the other can change colour. Bat's, white faced monkeys, humming birds, white tailed deer, a carnivorous flower, a caiman, a tiny baby snake, red land crabs and iguanas, so a pretty good tally for a 2 hour, 2 km walk. Once we got to the beach, Sergio left us, and we then spent the next few hours swimming and exploring some of the other tracks, although didn't see anymore animals apart from the white face monkeys including the potato chip eater. We got out of the park about 2.45 pm feeling quite hungry so we caught the bus back to the small town of Quepos 1 km past our hostel. Again finding no really cheap options, eg hamburgers about NZ$18 each, and most dishes starting around $25 to 30. With our hungry getting to us, we finally decided on a large pizza and 1.5 litre of Pepsi for NZ$32 and sat overlooking the water to have that, which was very good. We then found some pastries to take back for supper, and then carefully walked the km back up the hill to our hostel - it is quite a narrow,windy, hilly road with no footpath or side verge. Back at the hostel we enjoyed a lovely swim in the pool before showers and a relaxing night.Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    Day 18

    Costa Rica Pacific Coast

    October 22, 2023 in Costa Rica

    Sun 22 Oct: Today we are moving on from the Cloud Forest to Manuel Antonio on the Pacific Coastline. First we were considering going back to Curi Cancha to see if we could spot more birds, but in the end decided on going to the Butterfly Garden. This was again guided by a volunteer guy from Canada who was there for 10 weeks. Already since he arrived only 4 weeks ago his knowledge and presentation was very good. Really enjoyed walking through the enclosures photographing and learning about some of the different butterflies. And as a bonus when walking between 2 of the enclosures we spotted a real cool looking bird. There were also scorpions, tarantulas, stick insects, cockroaches and the enormous Hercules beetles - well dead ones but still amazing to see. So a pretty cool few hours spent there before we started heading south. We stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch, and after that a brief stop when we first hit the sea at Caldera. I thought it was the Pacific Ocean but looking at the map it was the Gulf of Nicoya. Next stop was at the "crocodile bridge" near Tarcoles, where we saw five crocodiles. And of course with all these tourists stopping there was an array of souvenir shops and restaurants, which we had a quick look in. Then we carried onto our hostel at Manuel Antonio, arriving at 5 pm. When we went to pay for our 3 nights, we found our wallet empty of cash. After travelling for 14.5 months and not having any unsavory issues, with only 10 days to go, some time after lunch someone must have got my wallet pocketed the money and put it back, taking a mixture of US and local currency, probably less than US$200 but still annoying and we can't understand when, only way was Doug must have left the car unlocked at one of our two stops. At least they left the wallet and the Wise Card, and didn't take tablet or anything else. And then after discovering that, when walking up to our room I put my hand on the handrail and felt an intense sting - my introduction to a bullet ant, apparently an insect with one of the most painful stings around, which I can attested too. After getting our bags up to our room, we then were considering what to do for dinner when it started pouring with rain, neither of us were keen to go out so a bag of corn chips had to suffice for our dinner.Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    1
    Day 17

    Curi Cancha

    October 21, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ 🌧 20 °C

    Sat 21 Oct: Today we decided to go to the Curi Cancha Reserve to see if we could spot some of Costa Rica 650+ bird species. Apparently Curi Cancha is home to at least 200 of them. However when we got there found out you needed photo I.D. to enter and I didn't have any on me, so wasted about half an hour having to go back to our accomodation to get it. Finally at 10.30 we entered. First saw hummingbirds. These are just so tiny and so fast, near on impossible to photograph. Next saw turkey vultures. Was really enjoying the relaxed walk around trying to spot and photograph birds and butterflies such as the enormous blue morpho butterfly, until it started raining about midday and unfortunately didn't stop. Very few birds were spotted after that, although we did continue along our trails hoping. About 1.30 we gave up and went for a little drive further down the road which got extremely steep so turned around and went back into town for some lunch and more looking around the shops before heading back to our room for 1.5 hrs for a relax, before heading out at 5.30 pm for our night tour. Our night tour was such good value. 80% of Costa Rica's animals are nocturnal, so you really need to go out at night. The tour lasted two hours, and there was a total of 7 of us on it. We saw a rhinoceros or long-horned katydid, Mexican Porcupine, a sloth awake busy grooming himself - he certainly needs more of that, what a scruffy looking animal (they sleep for about 20 hours a day so lucky to see him awake), an orange kneed tarantula, a sleeping hummingbird in its nest - they need their rest with going to over 2000 plants a day to get nectar, a Toucan, and two vipers, so a very successful and enjoyable night. Our cameras struggled to focus in the poor light but get some good shots through the guides monocle.Read more

  • TravelerMexico and Costa Rica
    Day 16

    Monteverde

    October 20, 2023 in Costa Rica ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Fri 20 Oct: Wonderful hostel we are staying in at Monteverde. Nice room with own bathroom, and breakfast of pancakes and fruit or eggs and toast included all for US$18/night - we like these sort of prices. We were told the weather is generally fine in the morning and then rain in the afternoon in Costa Rica at the moment, so we headed out to have a look at Santa Elena Cloud Forest Reserve. It was raining when we started but in the forest it wasn't very heavy. Beautiful forest, but we didn't see any animals or views due to the weather. Did get some quite loud thunder halfway around. Took it quite slowly, covering about 5 kms in 2 hrs 15. We then headed into the small town centre to find some lunch. Prices were quite expensive, but finally found some chicken and chips and I tried a Enyacuado de Pollo (like a Costa Rican coquette made with yuca) for a reasonable price. After that we went for a walk to see a ficus tree that has formed a bridge. Wow what an amazing root system they have. On the way, we stopped in at a local artist shop, and his wife has put alot of his paintings onto texiles - cushion covers, chairs, umbrellas, exercise leggings and crop tops, and t-shirts. I really liked the t-shirts and on the way back decided to get one, something a bit unique, and also support his art as he was very passionate about it. It was then back into town and looking around the souvenir shops. Both found shirts we really liked but not in our sizes - drats. Got some crackers cheese, salami, tomato and pate to take back for a little snacky dinner.Read more

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