Jalan-jalan

Nicoya Peninsular, Costa Rica

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 22:10:34 +0100

Nicoya Peninsular, Costa Rica

a small day, Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:04:05 +0000

a small day, Santa Teresa, Costa Rica

20/12/2011 Behind the Falls, Montezuma, Costa Rica

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:00:05 +0000

20/12/2011 Behind the Falls, Montezuma, Costa Rica

20/12/2011 Montezuma Waterfalls, Costa Rica `The Jump´This is me...

Sat, 14 Jan 2012 06:00:05 +0000

20/12/2011 Montezuma Waterfalls, Costa Rica `The Jump´
This is me jumping the second waterfall at Montezuma, definately my highest ever free jump at 42ft….

20/12/2011 Montezuma Waterfalls, Nicoya Peninsular, Costa...

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 18:00:05 +0000

20/12/2011 Montezuma Waterfalls, Nicoya Peninsular, Costa Rica
These stunning waterfalls are an hour away by quad and were a needed rest from the beach life. Theres 3 waterfalls, this one being the highest and two smaller ones above it. Its a hike to the second and third one but worth it for the jump back down

Pelicans, Playa Santa Teresaa common sight on the beach and in...

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:00:06 +0000

Pelicans, Playa Santa Teresa
a common sight on the beach and in the water

16/12/2011 Our Xmas Aprtment at Don Jonslittle sneaky bit of...

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 06:00:05 +0000

16/12/2011 Our Xmas Aprtment at Don Jons
little sneaky bit of luxury for 10 days over the festive season!

This makes me excited….

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 03:02:46 +0000

This makes me excited….

10/12/2011 Mal Pais, last stop on the quad for the day…

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 18:00:05 +0000

10/12/2011 Mal Pais, last stop on the quad for the day…

10/12/2011 The end of the road?

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:00:05 +0000

10/12/2011 The end of the road?

river crossing, dirt track driving quad-biking

Thu, 12 Jan 2012 06:00:05 +0000

10/12/2011
10days in one place gave us itchy feet so we rented a quad. We set off towards Playa Hermosa to see what the waves were like, it felt good to be moving, wind in our hair, flying over the bumpy gravel tracks. We headed towards Hermosa and then up a steep hill where we got an incredible view of a a-frame breaking somewhere in the distance. Further down the track we were off-roading, realizing why there were no buses or cars that headed in this direction. Completely impassible unless you´re a 4x4. Its just dirt, dirt and more dirt, the beach to your left, forest and mangroves to your right. You could hear the waves and the sounds of the jungle while youre driving. I sware a Puma was chasing us. At Manzanillo we took the quad for a trip down the ebach and then headed inland.

For the next hour the one thing that struck me was how empty the ´roads´were. We took the gravel tracks round the windy roads and up and down mountains with no clue where we were heading. We kept going, passing thick valleys of forests and fields filled with huge white cows. We assumed we were heading back across the middle of the peninsular and because i don´t think i have ever met anyone with as little sense of direction as Jess and I we were wrong. We were content on our little path until we hit a river. We figured this had to be the end of the road for us and we would have to turn back.

No. There was another couple at the end of this dirt track facing the river, assessing how deep it was and how do-able it was to drive the quad across. They were like, lets do it. and that was that we were going for it too. They zoomed accross, the quad roaring through the river as it got deeper. Then it was my time to drive.The thought that we could just lose the quad and consequently the rest fo our holiday money had my pulse raised but in the end we just raced it through and had a adrenaline burst on the other side when we made it.

After that I ifgured that would be our only challenge on this trip but oh no wait, river number two approaching. There was no river test this time we just went for it as it was smaller than the last. but deeper, towards the other side of the river, the water was splashing up over the front fo the quad and i thought it was a goner but it impressed me and made it through river number two. The adrenaline rush continued

…until we reached river number three. Which was three times the size fo the first one we cross and with no indication of how deep it was. That was me done for the day, I wasn´t going to push it. We went back, stopping for a Pilsen in the most empty bar you´ll ever come across before Jess drove us back to Santa Teresa after a full filled day quad bike river crossing!

10/12/2011 searching for some different breaks, Playa Hermosa,...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:50:21 +0000

10/12/2011 searching for some different breaks, Playa Hermosa, Costa Rica

Our path to surf, Santa Teresa, Costa RicaThis image is...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:43:00 +0000

Our path to surf, Santa Teresa, Costa Rica
This image is ingrained in my mind because we walked this this track at least 3 times a day for 3 weeks. It was our path to the beach, to the sea and to the waves

A view of my winter….One of my favourite photos because it...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:04:26 +0000

A view of my winter….
One of my favourite photos because it almost sums up all of my winter trips….just a load of bikinis drying in the sun, behind the tropical plants after a day in the water

03/12/2011 Monkey, Santa Teresa, Costa RicaWe heard them before...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 22:04:19 +0000

03/12/2011 Monkey, Santa Teresa, Costa Rica
We heard them before we saw them. Howler monkeys are common sights (and sounds) in Costa Rica. They sound more like a Wild Boar than a cute fluffy thing!

03/12/2011 Monkey spotting at Playa Cabinas, Santa Teresa

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:44:18 +0000

03/12/2011 Monkey spotting at Playa Cabinas, Santa Teresa

Night-time bike ride with no breaks

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:44:12 +0000

02/12/2011
We wanted a little explore so we hired some bicycles with cool paint jobs but no breaks- to stop them you have to cycle backwards. We had plans to meet a freind the other end of Mal Pais but for some reason we thought it would be a good idea to go at night. If anyones been to Santa Teresa or infact a big chunk of Costa Rica you,ll know the roads, well, aernt roads. They are dirt tracks, dusty, bumpy, uneven dirt tracks. So we´re zooming along, frantically trying to cycle backwards going down hills whilst avoiding traffic which, quite frankly, couldnt care less about you being on a bike with no helmet or brakes. We got past the crossroads and ended up in the pitch black, with no clue of where we were going, convinced every car that drove past us was going to stop and kidnapp us so we made a 180 and headed back to our place, thinking maybe next time we try it in the daylight…

Lunch! (and the most consumed food stuff of my trip so far)I am...

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:44:05 +0000

Lunch! (and the most consumed food stuff of my trip so far)
I am literally living off the cheap Avocados here, along with lime and garlic for the best guacamole ever!

Mission: find somewhere to live for a month

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 18:41:32 +0000

01/12/2011
6am and we were walking along the beach (in the wrong direction) to check the place ou. After a pancake breakfast we heading in the other direction for a solid 2 miles in the rising sun, which apparently is hotter between 9am and 12pm than it is in the afternoon, to check out some places. A few hostles and house viewing later we found Playa Cabinas which was perfect for what we needed. Two double bed, en-suite, hammock, beer fridge and a stroll to the waves for a happy $12.50 each

Costa Rica: The journey there

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 17:55:40 +0000

30/11/2011
Vernon picked us up from our Hotel in Manhattan (after 2 hours sleep) at 330am and dropped us at JFK. Being sleep deprived meant it took us about 15 minutes to try and work out how to print our fricking boarding pass! Our effort was rewarded when the lovely! Jet Blue lady let us check in our boards for free!

Flight to Orlando- horrendous. Just could not sleep and was hating the stuffy aeroplane air. We smashed a huge slice of pizza at the unsuitable hour of 9am and boarded our final flight to San Jose. Still no sleep but a sick view of the blue beneathe us. In San Jose our boards had been opened and checked.

Stepping out the airport was exactly how i expected; first you´re hit by about 20 middle aged men shouting ´taxi, taxi, taxi´at you, second you´re hit by the pressing heat. After spending the appropriate amount of time standing around looking like a tourist with the Lonely Planet we just gave in and told the taxi driver to drop us at the Coco-Cola bus stop. Fair-play to him he stuck to his word and after we battled the Sna Jose Traffic we got to the bus station and hopped on our bus.

The bus journey was not fun. For the single fact that I had had no sleep for about 3days. The scenery was green and hilly and huts lined the roads but all I wanted was to get there. We cheered up considerably when we saw the sea becuase that meant we could get off the bus and on the ferry.

Two empanadas later we were on board the Ferry with a local beer in can finally realizing we were on holiday…for the next four months. The ferry journey was relaxing and the sunset beautiful as we inched ourway towards the Nicoya Peninsular. Unfortunately we had another 2.5hours of bumpy bus to go. Fortunately the first place we stopped had a room so that was us checked in for the night!