Right, so I know we haven't blogged in at least 2 minutes and I'm sure you've been waiting with baited breath for the next post.
Margaret now has a Skype account...the screen name is Margaretbyrne2...which means that we can call people back home! So, if you have an account through Skype and you want us to be able to get in touch with you for free, email your screen name to one of us. (If you don't want us to talk to you, just don't bother sending an email and we'll NEVER KNOW.)
Lots of love to all of you!
xoxo
gwen
ps-Margaret would like me to update you on my personal experience...well, ...well...that's a bit funny, I was about to write a lengthy narrative describing my innermost feelings, but, alas, she has just informed me that she is hungry and that means it's dinnertime. I'll have to catch up with ya later. Cheers!
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Read Me. If you have too much free time.
Apologies for the delay in posting! We have about four towns and six days to update you on-- you might want to get a fresh cup of coffee or something. And also a snack.
When we moved to the new hotel in Granada, we met a group of people who were on a GAP trip. (We're not sure what GAP stands for.) One of the tour leaders had approached us at the bar one night, and chatted about very random things- completely unexpected, until she asked what it had been like for us as a couple to be traveling in CR, because her girlfriend is going to be visiting in a few weeks. She and her tour group turned out to be great, and we spent the evening chilling with them, then went to our favorite karaoke bar. (That would be the bar where the lesbo karaoke duo from long island pours free shots into your mouth.) That hotel is the current winner of the "best place ever" award.
Our last day in Granada, we hired a car to take us to Laguna de Apoyo, which is this huge beautiful lake that we had seen from a lookout point called "El Mirador" in Catarina the day before. The driver took us to a place that he liked, which was actually a resort that we got to use for free. Laguna de Apoyo is a crater lake, and is known as one of the best places in the whole country to go swimming. (Certainly better than Ometepe...) We swam in the (warm!) water, sunbathed on a boat dock, and hung out in the pool there. The water was clear blue, and a circle of beautiful mountains were all around us.
We woke up early to catch 12 hours worth of busses back across the border from Nicaragua to Costa Rica. Highlights included waiting in a trash-strewn gravel lot for 4 hours while a line of 150 people moved forward, achingly slowly, and the fact that the two girls in front of us stared at us silently like children of the corn. Once, one of them picked her mom's nose, and no one talked about it. SO WEIRD. (Right, so we were staring at them, too.) Fortunately, we had just picked up a book compiled by Wally Lamb that includes the stories of incarcerated women, detailing their abuse and trauma histories and lives in jail. This uplifting volume certainly did wonders for our spirits.
So, ten katrillion hours later, we make it to Brasilito, Costa Rica!!! We had a reservation at a place called Hotel Olitas, but didn't really know where to find it. We stopped at a little restaurant to ask directions. When the spanish-speaking man who helped us heard where we wanted to stay, he immediately dropped the spanish and the accent, and said of the Hotel Olitas owner "Excuse my french, but that guy is a crazy motherfucker."
We did not go to Hotel Olitas. We stayed across the street, in a place that had a pool, in a room that was almost big enough for both me and Gwen to stand up in at the same time. Almost. Fortunately, the room held a bunk bed, so we could put our backpacks on the top bunk, because there certainly wasn't any floor space. Also fortunately, the room had a TV, so we caught up on our "Denise Richards...It's Complicated" when it was too hot to sleep. In case you were wondering if we this show is good at all, it's not. At all.
In Brasilito, we found a nice open-air restaurant with wireless that served as an excellent office, and some of the best fried chicken, ever. We walked to Playa Conchal, which is a beach made entirely of crushed white shells, and bodysurfed in Brasilito, where the waves were better. I saw some people snorkeling on Playa Conchal, so I grabbed my goggles and went to swim out near a ridge of rocks that had recently been covered by the rising tide. I saw a few random yellow and blue striped fish, and some larger black ones, and then saw a whole school of the striped fish lined up just above the top of the rocky ridge. They were very daintily eating algae and things from the rocks- every so often a wave would come and swirl them away, but then they'd find their way back to that same spot. I had decided for some reason that paying to rent a snorkel was silly, so I'd been holding my breath and just using my goggles to see these fish. After feeling moderately hyperventilated and lightheaded, I'm splurging on the snorkel next time.
Luckily, on Playa Conchal, we also happened upon a very swanky resort with a breach in their security fence that served as a perfect doorway to plush towels, weight machines, treadmills, hot tubs, and unlimited free cocktails in the afternoon. Swanky swanky. However, it was also basically the largest collection of wealthy white people we've ever seen.
We had seen howler monkeys on our walk to Playa Conchal a few times, as well as some huge iguanas. (FYI: Howler monkeys have bright white balls. Unexpected, eh?) One day while we were inside the resort, we caught a glimpse of some monkeys just outside the fence. I'd been practicing my howler monkey howl (not so good yet) and tried to call to them, and caught the attention of two of those previously mentioned wealthy white people. Soon, about 9 people were all pointing and looking at the monkeys...but it was striking that not one single person wanted to actually leave the grounds to get a better view.
We left Brasilito on Wednesday morning to head to Samara, which is another coastal town. We stayed in this cute little hut about 5 feet away from the beach, which got less cute when we realized that about a million ants also lived there with us. The ocean was crazy warm, and the beach was home to lots of cute little crabs that would pop in and out of their holes. We also saw so many iguanas- the biggest of which was eating a banana peel in an old fire pit. The second night we were there, we stayed in the absolute nicest place we've been in so far. We had to call around from Brasilito to find a place that would allow Gwen to receive a call on Friday morning for a grad school interview, and this was the only place that would let us use their phone! The beds were made with crisp sheets, the towels were folded into flowers, and bright red (real!) flowers were strewn all over the room and bathroom. They also had free boogie boards and laundry, so we boogied and laundered to our heart's content.
Also, just a note, if you ever think that eating a WHOLE ENTIRE pineapple for lunch, as well as a chicken empanada, is a good idea, it is. A great one.
That night, we were discussing dinner plans at the hotel when two other kids who were staying there started chatting with us, and suggested that we all make dinner together. They had just gone on a charter fishing tour and had a blackfin tuna to eat...so of course we said yes. That dinner was epically delicious- the best part was the fresh spicy tuna sashimi. The conversation was pretty funny with these two frat boys from the University of Michigan, who were on a "first initial of your first name" basis with each other. Ben and Dylan, aka B and D, turned out to be excellent chefs, and provided us with the inside scoop on their frat's initiation policies.
And now, at this very moment, we're waiting for a bus that will take us to a bus, that will take us to a ferry, that will take us to another bus, that will deposit us in Montezuma, which is supposed to be an amazingly beautiful place, with an inspiringly creative community. All of that travel wouldn't look very necessary if you were to consult a map- we're just going about 70 kms down the Pacific coast- but the only passable roads take you in a huge circle.
Ok, well, now we're IN Montezuma and finally posting this novel of an entry. We ended up spending the night in the port town of Puntarenas last night, and taking a ferry early this morning. The lonely planet guide says that the town of Puntarenas is low on places you'd like to take your mother...and I'm pretty sure this might be one place that no one's mom should go, unless she really likes rooms that get rented by the hour. The first place we checked out had condoms available at the reception desk- we opted for the $12 room guarded by an elderly couple, both of whom told us to watch our backs. So we went out for pizza, and came right home (to read aloud. really. it was too sketchy to leave our room! so now we're halfway through "The Secret Life of Bees.")
Montezuma is full of very nice sweaty people who all do very complicated macrame projects by the side of the road, and sell their finished products at tables in front of their work stations. Right now, we're sitting at a hippie dippie organic coffee shop- the exact kind of place that's hard to avoid in noho- but it's the only place with wireless. It is, however, inspiringly creative. I just got back from a walk on the beach where I found this beautiful and smooth driftwood that I'm going to craft into wind chimes. Or maybe some macrame.
From Montezuma, we will try to head to Mal Pais and/or Santa Theresa, which are similar surfer towns, and then to Quepos, where we've rented a house for the month and already have one visitor scheduled! Anyone want to come hang out with us on the beach with Catherine??
Lots and lots of love to every single one of you. After you just read this and know all about what Gwen and I have been up to- or even know MORE than you'd like to- we would like to hear from YOU!
xoxoxoxoxo margaret and gwen
When we moved to the new hotel in Granada, we met a group of people who were on a GAP trip. (We're not sure what GAP stands for.) One of the tour leaders had approached us at the bar one night, and chatted about very random things- completely unexpected, until she asked what it had been like for us as a couple to be traveling in CR, because her girlfriend is going to be visiting in a few weeks. She and her tour group turned out to be great, and we spent the evening chilling with them, then went to our favorite karaoke bar. (That would be the bar where the lesbo karaoke duo from long island pours free shots into your mouth.) That hotel is the current winner of the "best place ever" award.
Our last day in Granada, we hired a car to take us to Laguna de Apoyo, which is this huge beautiful lake that we had seen from a lookout point called "El Mirador" in Catarina the day before. The driver took us to a place that he liked, which was actually a resort that we got to use for free. Laguna de Apoyo is a crater lake, and is known as one of the best places in the whole country to go swimming. (Certainly better than Ometepe...) We swam in the (warm!) water, sunbathed on a boat dock, and hung out in the pool there. The water was clear blue, and a circle of beautiful mountains were all around us.
We woke up early to catch 12 hours worth of busses back across the border from Nicaragua to Costa Rica. Highlights included waiting in a trash-strewn gravel lot for 4 hours while a line of 150 people moved forward, achingly slowly, and the fact that the two girls in front of us stared at us silently like children of the corn. Once, one of them picked her mom's nose, and no one talked about it. SO WEIRD. (Right, so we were staring at them, too.) Fortunately, we had just picked up a book compiled by Wally Lamb that includes the stories of incarcerated women, detailing their abuse and trauma histories and lives in jail. This uplifting volume certainly did wonders for our spirits.
So, ten katrillion hours later, we make it to Brasilito, Costa Rica!!! We had a reservation at a place called Hotel Olitas, but didn't really know where to find it. We stopped at a little restaurant to ask directions. When the spanish-speaking man who helped us heard where we wanted to stay, he immediately dropped the spanish and the accent, and said of the Hotel Olitas owner "Excuse my french, but that guy is a crazy motherfucker."
We did not go to Hotel Olitas. We stayed across the street, in a place that had a pool, in a room that was almost big enough for both me and Gwen to stand up in at the same time. Almost. Fortunately, the room held a bunk bed, so we could put our backpacks on the top bunk, because there certainly wasn't any floor space. Also fortunately, the room had a TV, so we caught up on our "Denise Richards...It's Complicated" when it was too hot to sleep. In case you were wondering if we this show is good at all, it's not. At all.
In Brasilito, we found a nice open-air restaurant with wireless that served as an excellent office, and some of the best fried chicken, ever. We walked to Playa Conchal, which is a beach made entirely of crushed white shells, and bodysurfed in Brasilito, where the waves were better. I saw some people snorkeling on Playa Conchal, so I grabbed my goggles and went to swim out near a ridge of rocks that had recently been covered by the rising tide. I saw a few random yellow and blue striped fish, and some larger black ones, and then saw a whole school of the striped fish lined up just above the top of the rocky ridge. They were very daintily eating algae and things from the rocks- every so often a wave would come and swirl them away, but then they'd find their way back to that same spot. I had decided for some reason that paying to rent a snorkel was silly, so I'd been holding my breath and just using my goggles to see these fish. After feeling moderately hyperventilated and lightheaded, I'm splurging on the snorkel next time.
Luckily, on Playa Conchal, we also happened upon a very swanky resort with a breach in their security fence that served as a perfect doorway to plush towels, weight machines, treadmills, hot tubs, and unlimited free cocktails in the afternoon. Swanky swanky. However, it was also basically the largest collection of wealthy white people we've ever seen.
We had seen howler monkeys on our walk to Playa Conchal a few times, as well as some huge iguanas. (FYI: Howler monkeys have bright white balls. Unexpected, eh?) One day while we were inside the resort, we caught a glimpse of some monkeys just outside the fence. I'd been practicing my howler monkey howl (not so good yet) and tried to call to them, and caught the attention of two of those previously mentioned wealthy white people. Soon, about 9 people were all pointing and looking at the monkeys...but it was striking that not one single person wanted to actually leave the grounds to get a better view.
We left Brasilito on Wednesday morning to head to Samara, which is another coastal town. We stayed in this cute little hut about 5 feet away from the beach, which got less cute when we realized that about a million ants also lived there with us. The ocean was crazy warm, and the beach was home to lots of cute little crabs that would pop in and out of their holes. We also saw so many iguanas- the biggest of which was eating a banana peel in an old fire pit. The second night we were there, we stayed in the absolute nicest place we've been in so far. We had to call around from Brasilito to find a place that would allow Gwen to receive a call on Friday morning for a grad school interview, and this was the only place that would let us use their phone! The beds were made with crisp sheets, the towels were folded into flowers, and bright red (real!) flowers were strewn all over the room and bathroom. They also had free boogie boards and laundry, so we boogied and laundered to our heart's content.
Also, just a note, if you ever think that eating a WHOLE ENTIRE pineapple for lunch, as well as a chicken empanada, is a good idea, it is. A great one.
That night, we were discussing dinner plans at the hotel when two other kids who were staying there started chatting with us, and suggested that we all make dinner together. They had just gone on a charter fishing tour and had a blackfin tuna to eat...so of course we said yes. That dinner was epically delicious- the best part was the fresh spicy tuna sashimi. The conversation was pretty funny with these two frat boys from the University of Michigan, who were on a "first initial of your first name" basis with each other. Ben and Dylan, aka B and D, turned out to be excellent chefs, and provided us with the inside scoop on their frat's initiation policies.
And now, at this very moment, we're waiting for a bus that will take us to a bus, that will take us to a ferry, that will take us to another bus, that will deposit us in Montezuma, which is supposed to be an amazingly beautiful place, with an inspiringly creative community. All of that travel wouldn't look very necessary if you were to consult a map- we're just going about 70 kms down the Pacific coast- but the only passable roads take you in a huge circle.
Ok, well, now we're IN Montezuma and finally posting this novel of an entry. We ended up spending the night in the port town of Puntarenas last night, and taking a ferry early this morning. The lonely planet guide says that the town of Puntarenas is low on places you'd like to take your mother...and I'm pretty sure this might be one place that no one's mom should go, unless she really likes rooms that get rented by the hour. The first place we checked out had condoms available at the reception desk- we opted for the $12 room guarded by an elderly couple, both of whom told us to watch our backs. So we went out for pizza, and came right home (to read aloud. really. it was too sketchy to leave our room! so now we're halfway through "The Secret Life of Bees.")
Montezuma is full of very nice sweaty people who all do very complicated macrame projects by the side of the road, and sell their finished products at tables in front of their work stations. Right now, we're sitting at a hippie dippie organic coffee shop- the exact kind of place that's hard to avoid in noho- but it's the only place with wireless. It is, however, inspiringly creative. I just got back from a walk on the beach where I found this beautiful and smooth driftwood that I'm going to craft into wind chimes. Or maybe some macrame.
From Montezuma, we will try to head to Mal Pais and/or Santa Theresa, which are similar surfer towns, and then to Quepos, where we've rented a house for the month and already have one visitor scheduled! Anyone want to come hang out with us on the beach with Catherine??
Lots and lots of love to every single one of you. After you just read this and know all about what Gwen and I have been up to- or even know MORE than you'd like to- we would like to hear from YOU!
xoxoxoxoxo margaret and gwen
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Pictures!
Just a quick update to let you know I've made a Picasa album to put some of our trip pictures in. Right now, it just has pictures from La Fortuna, Arenal volcano, and Monteverde cloud forest, but we'll keep adding to it.
The album is available here: http://picasaweb.google.com/margaretbyrne2
Today we took a bus trip to the town of Catarina, which was beautiful, cute, and great. One of our best days so far, I'd say. A little moto-taxi took us to "El Mirador," which is where you can look out on a crater lake in the middle of an old volcano. We walked around town and bought some presents for some people...the area is famous for its handmade pottery and pretty things. We stopped in to one artist's studio, and his wife showed us these beautiful plates she was painting. They use large handmade platters that have been whitewashed (or something), and her husband draws these picasso-esque people, and cats, and fish, and guitars, and then she and her son fill them in with beautiful bright colors. We had already spent all of our money by the time we got there, but -DAD- I got her email address, because I think you'd love the pieces.
We got back in town to make dinner and learn that water had been shut off for the day in the whole entire city for some reason, so we're happy we were out having lots of fun. Tomorrow the plan is to go to Lake Apoyo, another beautiful spot where we can swim and hike, and then on Saturday we're headed back in to Costa Rica!
The album is available here: http://picasaweb.google.com/margaretbyrne2
Today we took a bus trip to the town of Catarina, which was beautiful, cute, and great. One of our best days so far, I'd say. A little moto-taxi took us to "El Mirador," which is where you can look out on a crater lake in the middle of an old volcano. We walked around town and bought some presents for some people...the area is famous for its handmade pottery and pretty things. We stopped in to one artist's studio, and his wife showed us these beautiful plates she was painting. They use large handmade platters that have been whitewashed (or something), and her husband draws these picasso-esque people, and cats, and fish, and guitars, and then she and her son fill them in with beautiful bright colors. We had already spent all of our money by the time we got there, but -DAD- I got her email address, because I think you'd love the pieces.
We got back in town to make dinner and learn that water had been shut off for the day in the whole entire city for some reason, so we're happy we were out having lots of fun. Tomorrow the plan is to go to Lake Apoyo, another beautiful spot where we can swim and hike, and then on Saturday we're headed back in to Costa Rica!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Ohhh-metepe to Granada
Hello to all! Gwen and I just finished eating dinner, and are now working on a rum and coke, which seemed like the perfect time to also work on our blog. We were at the beach in San Juan del Sur until Sunday the 18th. The town was less touristy and more surfer-y than anywhere we'd been before. The beach wasn't crowded, and sometimes suffered from windstorms that covered everyone with sand, but the water was great, and the ocean was gorgeous. If you can imagine an open crescent, with cliffs on the very edges, San Juan del Sur was in the middle of the curve...so our view from the beach included mountains, cliffs, and ocean. One day, we walked along the bottom edge of the cliff to see what lay on the other side. We found small tide pools, local fishermen, and a lot of direct sunlight and crazy wind.
One night, we went out to a bar that had an open mic night, so we ate our dinners and had some beers to the sounds of locals singing Johnny Cash songs. The town was really nice to walk around, and we spent most of our time walking and hanging out at the beach!
Early Sunday morning, we boarded a bus that took us to the ferry to Ometepe Island. (Remember, if you will, the excitement surrounding this Island in my last post...) The ferry ride was beautiful. We could see both volcanoes grow bigger and bigger in the distance. Then we landed on the island, and things quickly went downhill. Long story short: An extremely hot day coupled with a series of less-than-helpful encounters (one of which was with someone who seemed to spit/drool uncontrollably), and an excess of donkey shit (and donkeys) everywhere we went (including the "beach") led our first (and last) night in Ometepe. Before we ate dinner, we were discussing what to do the next day- the island apparently has cool petroglyphs and nicer beaches Even after eating a dinner that looked like barf and finding lizards and bugs in our room and bed, we were prepared to wake up in the morning with improved attitudes. At some point between 2 and 3am, we both surpassed our tolerance for the creepy and crawly and watched movies on HBO until 6 in the morning, when we finally got on a ferry.
These are probably very common experiences for lots of people, and we've heard from other travelers that they had a great time in Ometepe, and under different circumstances I'm sure we would have had a very different experience there.
So- Monday morning we headed to Granada, which is a beautiful colonial city in Nicaragua. We arrived early enough in the day to check out a number of hostels before deciding on the Bearded Monkey, which offered us a one-of-a kind loft room that was accessible only by a ladder. Our first day there, we ate a huge and delicious breakfast and walked around the city for a few hours. Gwen says that the city feels somewhat like a European city, similar architecture and layout. It's the oldest colonial city in all of Central America. In contrast to our experience in Ometepe this place is wonderful, plenty to do and see, and it has a great feel to it. The streets are cobblestone in some places and there is an attention to detail that I haven't seen in many other places, sidewalks that are tiled and brilliant colors on buildings. There is also a lot of trash....everywhere. It feels like you can either notice the trash, or notice how pretty everything is, but the two exist in tandem all over the city. Similarly, you can admire beautiful art being sold in the marketplace and be wowed by child street performers dancing for money in the evening, or notice how many children are unsupervised and asking you for food/money. It feels unfair to say "I can't afford that" or "no I don't have any more money" when someone tells you how much a piece of art costs or asks you for money so they can eat, but it also feels like you could spend your whole day walking around giving out money to everyone who asks and still not solve any problems. Last night a guy asked us for money so he could buy milk for his kids. We didn't have much money on us and had given to several people throughout the day...we watched him ask other people for money with the same story, then we watched him go across the street and buy himself an ice cream. At first we were both a little surprised...one of us, more than the other, had been really worried about him and concerned that his children would go hungry if we didn't give him what would have amounted to about 50 cents. That interaction made me aware of the fact that he, just like everyone else, has the right to spend his money on anything he wants to spend it on, and that this man's need for money is a symptom of a larger problem that has much more to do with the country's history and government- and those are problems that we as outsiders don't understand and can't fix.
After spending one night in Monkey hostel, we found a great, beautiful, clean, awesome hotel that lets us use their kitchen and charges $14 a night. It's on a beautiful street that has reduced street traffic, and every so often we hear a horse and buggy go clop-clopping by. As we walk out on the street, we can see this bright yellow church that abuts the town square, where there are lots of people selling handmade crafts and food. We love it!
This afternoon we went on a quest to find a swimming pool. We read in a guide book that the city had a public pool, but when we walked there and asked, we got jumbled directions from a number of people that led us to a hotel that had a pool with a $9 entrance fee. No thanks. Genius gringas that we are, we walked in to another hotel that was rumored to have a pool, and found the cement pit that once held water, but the hotel was under construction and we therefore didn't get to go swimming today. But we did get to have a cocktail, update our blog, and think of all of you. Tomorrow we're going to explore the nearby town of Catarina, which has an artist's market and beautiful lake, and is supposed to be smaller and cleaner than Granada. We have some beautiful pictures to show you of the town, and of a crazy sunset in San Juan del Sur, but you all already know how inept we are at this photo-posting thing.
And now, a few shout-outs:
Happy Belated Birthday to Jesse, Norma, and Noah!!
Sending lots of warm thoughts your way,
Gwen and Margaret
One night, we went out to a bar that had an open mic night, so we ate our dinners and had some beers to the sounds of locals singing Johnny Cash songs. The town was really nice to walk around, and we spent most of our time walking and hanging out at the beach!
Early Sunday morning, we boarded a bus that took us to the ferry to Ometepe Island. (Remember, if you will, the excitement surrounding this Island in my last post...) The ferry ride was beautiful. We could see both volcanoes grow bigger and bigger in the distance. Then we landed on the island, and things quickly went downhill. Long story short: An extremely hot day coupled with a series of less-than-helpful encounters (one of which was with someone who seemed to spit/drool uncontrollably), and an excess of donkey shit (and donkeys) everywhere we went (including the "beach") led our first (and last) night in Ometepe. Before we ate dinner, we were discussing what to do the next day- the island apparently has cool petroglyphs and nicer beaches Even after eating a dinner that looked like barf and finding lizards and bugs in our room and bed, we were prepared to wake up in the morning with improved attitudes. At some point between 2 and 3am, we both surpassed our tolerance for the creepy and crawly and watched movies on HBO until 6 in the morning, when we finally got on a ferry.
These are probably very common experiences for lots of people, and we've heard from other travelers that they had a great time in Ometepe, and under different circumstances I'm sure we would have had a very different experience there.
So- Monday morning we headed to Granada, which is a beautiful colonial city in Nicaragua. We arrived early enough in the day to check out a number of hostels before deciding on the Bearded Monkey, which offered us a one-of-a kind loft room that was accessible only by a ladder. Our first day there, we ate a huge and delicious breakfast and walked around the city for a few hours. Gwen says that the city feels somewhat like a European city, similar architecture and layout. It's the oldest colonial city in all of Central America. In contrast to our experience in Ometepe this place is wonderful, plenty to do and see, and it has a great feel to it. The streets are cobblestone in some places and there is an attention to detail that I haven't seen in many other places, sidewalks that are tiled and brilliant colors on buildings. There is also a lot of trash....everywhere. It feels like you can either notice the trash, or notice how pretty everything is, but the two exist in tandem all over the city. Similarly, you can admire beautiful art being sold in the marketplace and be wowed by child street performers dancing for money in the evening, or notice how many children are unsupervised and asking you for food/money. It feels unfair to say "I can't afford that" or "no I don't have any more money" when someone tells you how much a piece of art costs or asks you for money so they can eat, but it also feels like you could spend your whole day walking around giving out money to everyone who asks and still not solve any problems. Last night a guy asked us for money so he could buy milk for his kids. We didn't have much money on us and had given to several people throughout the day...we watched him ask other people for money with the same story, then we watched him go across the street and buy himself an ice cream. At first we were both a little surprised...one of us, more than the other, had been really worried about him and concerned that his children would go hungry if we didn't give him what would have amounted to about 50 cents. That interaction made me aware of the fact that he, just like everyone else, has the right to spend his money on anything he wants to spend it on, and that this man's need for money is a symptom of a larger problem that has much more to do with the country's history and government- and those are problems that we as outsiders don't understand and can't fix.
After spending one night in Monkey hostel, we found a great, beautiful, clean, awesome hotel that lets us use their kitchen and charges $14 a night. It's on a beautiful street that has reduced street traffic, and every so often we hear a horse and buggy go clop-clopping by. As we walk out on the street, we can see this bright yellow church that abuts the town square, where there are lots of people selling handmade crafts and food. We love it!
This afternoon we went on a quest to find a swimming pool. We read in a guide book that the city had a public pool, but when we walked there and asked, we got jumbled directions from a number of people that led us to a hotel that had a pool with a $9 entrance fee. No thanks. Genius gringas that we are, we walked in to another hotel that was rumored to have a pool, and found the cement pit that once held water, but the hotel was under construction and we therefore didn't get to go swimming today. But we did get to have a cocktail, update our blog, and think of all of you. Tomorrow we're going to explore the nearby town of Catarina, which has an artist's market and beautiful lake, and is supposed to be smaller and cleaner than Granada. We have some beautiful pictures to show you of the town, and of a crazy sunset in San Juan del Sur, but you all already know how inept we are at this photo-posting thing.
And now, a few shout-outs:
Happy Belated Birthday to Jesse, Norma, and Noah!!
Sending lots of warm thoughts your way,
Gwen and Margaret
Friday, January 16, 2009
Monteverde to Nicaragua
[First- An explanation of the pictures- These actually were supposed to go to a different post, but we don't feel like fixing it right now. The first picture is right before we went ziplining- so fun! The bridge was in the Monteverde cloud forest, about 150 feet up off the ground. We saw monkeys about two minutes after we took this picture! The third picture is Arenal volcano. This picture was taken from the van on the way to our volcano tour, but we had a very similar view from the town of La Fortuna.]
It´s been an interesting experience so far...as we have stayed at a lot of hostels and things we mostly meet other tourists from Europe and North America...doesn´t exactly make you feel like you´re having a REAL experience here. About four days ago, Gwen started talking about wanting to volunteer to help people who were affected by the earthquake. We had basically spent our days sightseeing and having fun, ignoring the fact that the news every night brought the death toll higher and showed increasing destruction from mudslides. Even mentioning this idea to other travelers and hostel owners, in hopes of getting a contact or entry point into the efforts, we were met with confusion as to why we would do that on our vacation. I looked online for an opportunity to travel to the Alajuela area, but then a friendly bartender in Monteverde told us that most of the area was closed because of the danger of aftershocks- he asked us very nicely not to try to go there. We had already made a small financial donation to a group of kids who had been fundraising and collecting food at the supermarket, so as we shopped for dinner on our last night in Monteverde, the 14th, we asked if we could help them in any way... About five minutes later, Gwen and I were wearing bright orange T-shirts that said "Soy un conquistador de la comunidad," (Roughly translated, we are people who fight for the community!) and we were bagging groceries while soliciting donations from both tourists and locals. Gwen's experience at Big Y came in Very handy...I mostly did the asking for money part, which I know how to do! After about half an hour of this, we helped load food into a van, and walked over to a community center to do an inventory of all of the donations they'd received that day. During the walk, we got a chance to speak with the woman who ran the children's program that had been responsible for the bright orange tshirts and volunteers who we'd given money to earlier that week. She was, in a word, amazing. She began the program several years ago with a grant from the Monteverde Institute and got kids involved in hopes of addressing problems related to child abuse. The program was a huge success (55 volunteers age 3 through 18 presently) and they do everything from working in the Cloud Forest Preserve to fixing roads to helping others in the country. Three years ago, she (Dulce is her name) helped 8 high school-aged girls achieve their goal of making it to Wisconsin...of all places...for a soccer tournament. Since then, the program has gained tremendous support and involvement from parents and children in the community. Dulce mentioned that the program has been good for everyone...for the poor kids, she told us, the program gets them out of their homes and helps them feel better about themselves, while for the wealthier ones it provides a bit of perspective. Kids travel from miles away on foot to participate in these service events and Dulce buys them a taxi ride home after dark when the events are over. Funding was cut a few years ago, but Dulce didn´t have the heart to tell them so she just kept the program going. So, anyway, we spent an evening with her and some kids loading a truck, soliciting donations at the supermarcado, and sorting through piles of clothes. It was a fantastic opportunity to re-learn the vocabulary for various clothing items! :) One of the funnier moments was when we were trying to come up with a polite way to inventory a "sexy santa nightie" that someone had donated. A mom whose kids had come in to help threw it at Gwen, and said "es un regalo para ti!" (It's a present for you!) That night was one of the best we've had so far. It's been nice to have this time here before we move on to Quepos, as it's given us a chance to experience several possibilities of how we can spend our time here.
Jeez. We're talkative. The next morning, we woke up so very early to take a series of buses to Nicaragua. The day before, we spent awhile trying to figure out the best travel plan, which was complicated by the fact that we were intentionally misled by people who wanted us to take a taxi instead, making the bus sound nearly impossible, and certainly very expensive. But! We found a very nice guy who helped explain the bus schedule along the Pan-American highway. We took a total of three buses to get to Nicaragua, where we stood in line for two hours because the computer was down. Once we finally made it through the border, we were accosted by two kids who insisted that there was NO way to take a bus to our final destination. Fortunately, we had been chatting with enough people in the line to know that this was probably not true....we also remembered our lesson from the day before: fact check.
After taking our fourth bus, on which there was inexplicably someone who was carrying a box of dogs, and a taxi, which already had a man and a woman and a baby who may have been fresh from the hospital, we made it to our final destination, San Juan del Sur. Of course, we immediately found an inexpensive, clean, safe place to stay, bought beers, and then jumped directly into the ocean. It is beautiful here, and fewer people speak English, so it's nice to HAVE to practice Spanish. We have already found a favorite "soda" (local restaurant) and made friends with the locals who ate breakfast and dinner there with us today. Being at the beach, particularly after so much traveling, makes it feel like we are actually on vacation.
The plan right now is to head to Ometepe Island on Sunday. The island is in the running to be named one of the New 7 wonders of the world --who knew they were choosing more?? The island itself is made up of two connected volcanoes, and apparently has beautiful beaches and cheap accommodations. We'll let you know how it goes!!!
Before we sign off, here is an official invitation to come and visit us in Quepos during the month of February. If we were better at posting pictures, I would post some, because we have this cute little white clapboard house with an extra bedroom, just for YOU.
signing off- Gwen and Margaret
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Cloud Forest
We´re in Nicaragua now, arrived yesterday after taking 4 local buses and a taxi to the town of San Juan Del Sur. Margaret will probably blog later today or tomorrow and give you the full update, but I wanted to get this post out from the other day....we lost internet midway through posting.
January 14
This is my first post and I don't have much time, so I'll just give you a quick update and attempt to attach a few pictures. We arrived in Monteverde the day before yesterday, via a van that brought us to Lake Arenal, where we got a on a boat, which dropped us off at another van. The second van took us up to our hostel here near the Monteverde Reserve. The ride to Monteverde was on a road that is closed during the rainy season because of the steep incline and many potholes- we had a beautiful view of mountains all around us. We spent the afternoon exploring this small, tourist-filled town and visiting with some of the other travelers at the hostel. Yesterday, we woke up at 6ish and took "the bus" which is a school bus (in essence and function) to the Monteverde Reserve. On the way we picked up kids and took them to school. Several aspects of this journey, including the parents a the bus stops and the politics of who sits with who, made me question for a moment if we were on the correct bus. BUT, all was well and we were among the first people of the day to walk through the forest, so we saw many birds and monkeys that we might not have been able to see later in the day when things got more crowded. It was really an amazing place. When you get to the top, and in some places before then, you are really IN THE CLOUDS...and there is a constant mist blows around you.
In the afternoon we went on a zip line tour, known as the biggest/best in the area----we figured if you're gonna go for it, you should GO for it. We met some really funny people on the trip and got to do 10+ zip lines, to repel from a board high off the ground, and to do a "tarzan swing" (imagine small scale bungee jumping). The tarzan swing was awesome, as were the views from the zip lines, which are hundreds of feet above the trees. Tomorrow we are off to Nicaragua...more to come soon. Love to everyone! --Gwen
January 14
This is my first post and I don't have much time, so I'll just give you a quick update and attempt to attach a few pictures. We arrived in Monteverde the day before yesterday, via a van that brought us to Lake Arenal, where we got a on a boat, which dropped us off at another van. The second van took us up to our hostel here near the Monteverde Reserve. The ride to Monteverde was on a road that is closed during the rainy season because of the steep incline and many potholes- we had a beautiful view of mountains all around us. We spent the afternoon exploring this small, tourist-filled town and visiting with some of the other travelers at the hostel. Yesterday, we woke up at 6ish and took "the bus" which is a school bus (in essence and function) to the Monteverde Reserve. On the way we picked up kids and took them to school. Several aspects of this journey, including the parents a the bus stops and the politics of who sits with who, made me question for a moment if we were on the correct bus. BUT, all was well and we were among the first people of the day to walk through the forest, so we saw many birds and monkeys that we might not have been able to see later in the day when things got more crowded. It was really an amazing place. When you get to the top, and in some places before then, you are really IN THE CLOUDS...and there is a constant mist blows around you.
In the afternoon we went on a zip line tour, known as the biggest/best in the area----we figured if you're gonna go for it, you should GO for it. We met some really funny people on the trip and got to do 10+ zip lines, to repel from a board high off the ground, and to do a "tarzan swing" (imagine small scale bungee jumping). The tarzan swing was awesome, as were the views from the zip lines, which are hundreds of feet above the trees. Tomorrow we are off to Nicaragua...more to come soon. Love to everyone! --Gwen
Sunday, January 11, 2009
off to the cloud forest
A quick update, if you´re interested. :-)
We leave tomorrow morning for a jeep-boat-jeep ride across Lake Arenal, to settle in Monteverde for a few days. We have a hostel with free wireless internet and breakfast there, so it should be nice! While we´re in Monteverde, we´ll do a ¨canopy tour¨(AKA ziplining through the jungle) and hopefully explore the hanging bridges. This afternoon we´re going back to the waterfall/swimming hole, and then making dinner at home together. Our hotel has comfy couches and I´m going to settle in and have an evening at the office. I feel like we´ve hit a bit of a groove here, but we´re off tomorrow morning!
lots of love to all. everybody. every single one of you.
We leave tomorrow morning for a jeep-boat-jeep ride across Lake Arenal, to settle in Monteverde for a few days. We have a hostel with free wireless internet and breakfast there, so it should be nice! While we´re in Monteverde, we´ll do a ¨canopy tour¨(AKA ziplining through the jungle) and hopefully explore the hanging bridges. This afternoon we´re going back to the waterfall/swimming hole, and then making dinner at home together. Our hotel has comfy couches and I´m going to settle in and have an evening at the office. I feel like we´ve hit a bit of a groove here, but we´re off tomorrow morning!
lots of love to all. everybody. every single one of you.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
El Temblor
I woke up this morning and couldn’t remember where I was for a moment, and then began piecing together the day before, coming to the conclusion that it was a little bit like one of those times you have too much to drink and need the help of others to remember what actually happened. I’ll start from the beginning.
We’ve arrived!!! Just after our plane touched down in San Juan, we felt the plane shift violently from side to side, and up and down. We and our fellow passengers assumed it was some kind of mechanical glitch, but as we walked into a mostly-dark and dusty airport it became clear that something bigger had just occurred. It turns out that our welcoming committee consisted of an earthq uake that registered 6.4 on the richter scale- the strongest that the country has seen since 1997. Our taxi driver, a nice guy named Alex, said that the country just had to welcome us in a huge way.
Absolutely every single person we’ve met here so far has been incredibly nice and genuinely friendly. We chatted (en espanol, por supuesto) with the taxi driver who brought us to the bus station, and he made some recommendations of places to see. When we told him how long we’d be in the country, he said we need to be careful that we don’t come home with boyfriends. When I told him that Gwen and I were “novias,” he said, “Que Buena! Hay muchas hombres con hombres y mujeres con mujeres aqui. Es natural, no es una problema aqui- Si?” Which means- there are lots of boys with boys and girls with girls here. It’s natural, it’s not a problem here.”
We were dropped off at the bus station, and then approached by a tour operator who had just dropped off a group of people, and wanted to know where we were wanting to take the bus, in case it was where he was headed. Our original plan had been to take a bus to Ciudad Quesada, then stay at a hotel until another bus would take us to the town of La Fortuna the next morning. Instead, we took a van to La Fortuna, which was fast and cheap!!! The tour operator’s name is Alonzo, and his girlfriend, who is from La Fortuna, was also with us. We chatted during the 3.5 hour van ride- a ride made longer by the unexpected amount of traffic leaving San Juan. The earthquake had caused many businesses to close, including the bus station for awhile, so we were lucky to get this ride!
Alonzo’s girlfriend knew of a place to get a special kind of cheese- queso palmito- which is like a huge ball of delicious string cheese. She offered some to Gwen and me- it was basically the best cheese in the whole entire world.
So- we arrive in La Fortuna and check into our hotel a day early, which is no problem. Alonzo waits for us (so nice!) and takes us on a driving tour of La Fortuna, pointing out the good sodas (little restaurants), bakeries, the post office, etc, then drops us off in front of the internet café.
We realized halfway through dinner that we’d left the key to our hotel room in his van- whoops! But he’d given us his number so that we could hang out or go on trips with him later, so I called and explained the situation. He offered to come out and meet us with the key, but ended up dropping it off this morning.
We’re staying in a place called Hotel Dorothy, which is about two blocks from town. You have to cross over a little river to get to the street we’re on, which gives us a nice walk into town. The hotel is family-run and feels very safe. After sleeping in this morning, we had plans to go out to breakfast, but instead were served a free breakfast of fried plantains, eggs, beans, toast, and pineapple here in the hotel. We also get free coffee all day long. I’m on my fourth cup.
After breakfast we wandered into town to buy a watch (of all the things to forget!) and check our email at the internet café. After we paid, I turned around and saw……our friend Alonzo! He hugged each of us twice, and said that if we wanted a ride to the hot springs tonight, he’d come and get us at our hotel, since he’s going that way anyway.
I should note that absolutely none of this hugging or offering of free rides felt at all creepy. So far, we’ve been treated like good friends by almost everyone we’ve interacted with. It’s refreshing.
We had plans to explore a local swimming hole this afternoon, but Gwen just fell asleep, so we might put that off until tomorrow. This evening will probably include some Spanish karaoke, some Imperial beers, and perhaps some hot springs.
I keep asking Gwen if this feels real yet- that we’re actually here, and having this adventure we’ve been planning for so long. It’s feeling more and more real, but I can’t believe that this beautiful, fun, awesome place is our home for now. I know we’ll probably have some frustrating days or misguided plans in the future, but for now, it’s just so perfect to be here together.
Saturday, January 10th
We’ve just settled in another hostel, this one is down the street and is only making us pay $4 each per night, because we share a bed. Yesterday afternoon we walked about 10 minutes away from town where I had heard about a place where the locals go swimming. The walk itself was beautiful- green and lush and amazing. Everywhere we go in and around town, we see this huge volcano in the horizon, so we got a few views of the volcano during this walk. The highlight of the walk to the river for me was seeing about a million leafcutter ants- (Sam- you used to be obsessed with these, remember?) Once we got to the river, we wandered back and forth on the bank, trying to decide the best way to actually get in the water. I decided on the “allow a stranger to guide your sweaty legs down a steep cliff” route, while Gwen opted for the tarzan swing. She won. The water was, in a word, perfect. A waterfall led into a great swimming hole, with rocks to sit on, and so much beautiful jungle all around us.
This morning after breakfast, we wandered around town, comparison-shopping for volcano tours and hot springs tickets- we’re on our way there in a few minutes. Today’s view of the volcano is the most clear we’ve seen, so we’re excited to do the tour of the volcano today. (You’ll be able to see the pictures as soon as I figure out how to load them.)
We are, in general, very happy, very sweaty, and speaking as much broken Spanish as possible.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
You're off!
So, I don't know if we get to add comments or just to follow... (never blogged before so I don't know the etiquette...) but I just want to say I am really happy for both of you and wait with eager anticipation to follow you through your adventure. Have fun, stay safe, take good care of each other. Love and then some, Mom
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