We’re at the end of week three in a month or more long road trip, our last before returning to Canada from Costa Rica, where we’ve lived now for almost a year.
It’s hard to believe it’s almost over and as the clock ticks, there are moments where I feel nostalgic and others when I just [...]
Archive for the ‘travel’ Category
Hotel Hopping
Posted in Costa Rica, travel, tagged cloud forest, Costa Rica, Lands in Love, Monteverde, Palmeras Hotel, Playa Carrillo, Samara, Selvatura, Tamarindo on May 26, 2009 | 6 Comments »
On the road: part three
Posted in Nicaragua, travel, tagged artesan market, Granada, Laguna de Apoyo, national park, Nicaragua, scam, Volcan Masaya on March 26, 2009 | 3 Comments »
The boy was still quite weak from whatever stomach bug he caught before arriving in Nicaragua. We needed him to save energy for the grand finale of the trip: a night tour to Volcan Masaya and the smoking Santiago crater.
Since walking around town was out of the question, we decided to spend part of the day at [...]
On the road: part two
Posted in Costa Rica, Nicaragua, kids, travel, tagged Costa Rica, Granada, Hotel con Corozon, Nicaragua, wind turbines on March 21, 2009 | 6 Comments »
Nicaragua and Costa Rica are starkly contrasting countries, as much for their respective landscapes as for their inhabitants, history and culture.
While Costa Rica is a well-developed paradise for sun-seekers, it is mostly bland in local colour. Nicaragua, meantime, offers a less developed tourist infrastructure but is teeming with native culture and unexplored adventure opportunities.
Despite its [...]
On the road again
Posted in Costa Rica, travel, tagged Costa Rica, driving, fees, Granada, Liberia, Penas Blancas border crossing on March 19, 2009 | Leave a Comment »
Three days. Hundreds of kilometres. Two border crossings. Two minor swindles. Two incredible cities. Two sick kids. One gem of a hotel. One incredible smoldering volcano. Swimming in one spectacular crater lake and one positive close encounter with Nicaraguan policia.
Phew. That was fun, I think.
In truth, our trip to Granada was amazing despite a few bumps [...]
A day at the beach
Posted in Costa Rica, Self discovery, travel, tagged beach lifestyle, Costa Rica, crazy, crime, dengue, drugs, marijuana on February 25, 2009 | 2 Comments »
Welcome to dysfunction junction, where the abnormal and the aberrant meet.
It’s also known as beach life, where motivation goes to die and inspiration is sparked with a spliff.
On the continuum of Costa Rican weirdness, the beach is at one extreme. And I’ve learned that I’m not, at the extreme of weirdness, I mean. Just resting comfortably somewhere between [...]
The better half breaks his silence
Posted in Costa Rica, kids, travel on February 10, 2009 | 3 Comments »
All right…
I have heard enough times in the past few weeks “I love reading the blog…but there hasn’t been anything for a while…” that it has given me some spark to sit down and rattle off some clever and insightful words.
This might be easier said than done, as the “I” in this edition isn’t the [...]
A shakedown with a smile
Posted in Costa Rica, travel, tagged bribery, corruption, Costa Rica, Pura Vida, traffic cops on December 10, 2008 | 5 Comments »
There are two things that are proving inevitable in Costa Rica — sunburn and corruption.
The first can be soothed but there is little that can be done to quell the fury of being shaken down by the cops.
In the four months we’ve lived in this Central American country we’ve heard countless tales from other expats about the chronic [...]
Goodbye Casa Roach
Posted in Costa Rica, Self discovery, travel, tagged Calgary, Central America, Costa Rica, drug cartel, earthquake, santo domingo on November 30, 2008 | 4 Comments »
After four months living outside San Jose, the seedy capital of Costa Rica in a typical Tico home in a typical Tico community we’re ready to say goodbye.
It has been a wild ride here, full of interesting people, times and experiences. Not quite what we had imagined for our life in this tropical destination in Central America, but [...]
Earthquake rocks Casa Roach
Posted in Costa Rica, travel, tagged Costa Rica, earthquake, OVSICORI, Panama, Richter Scale on November 19, 2008 | 4 Comments »
The bed in Casa Roach rocked last night but it had nothing to do with getting frisky.
It was an earthquake.
It happened just after midnight, as I was just drifting off to sleep. A wind and rain storm, combined with the usual racket of blaring car horns and a mind unable to be quieted had left me [...]
It ain’t easy being green
Posted in Costa Rica, travel, tagged Costa Rica, gringo, public transportation, taxes, tico, used car on November 2, 2008 | 5 Comments »
The search for a beach house has been put on hold as we undertake another, equally difficult hunt for a vehicle.
For three months we have relied on public transportation and taxis to ferry us around and it hasn’t been a hardship, financial or otherwise. Bus service is stupid cheap here, as little as 50 cents [...]
