One Way United

Well, after a really bad day, we did what anybody would do in our situation.  We put the past behind us and kept on living it up.  In Costa Rica, they say pura vida (pure life) which is a phrase like ¨life is good¨ or ¨live it up¨ or ¨hakinah matahtah¨ or something.  So. for the next few days we lived the pura vida.  First, Amanda and I went rafting down class 4 rapids.  There were a few times rafting when I really feared the raft was going to tip over.  One time, in the middle of one of these rapids, we were unable to pick up enough speed and we got stuck as water poured into our boat and we lost one guy.  He survived.  There was another huge rapids in which a little kid that was in our raft fell out and went down the rapids between rocks and such.  That was probably the scariest moment of the afternoon.  But, don´t worry people.  We went with a big tour and there were people in rescue kayaks floating down with everybody and at least 6 or 7 rafts, and we had helmets.  Overall though, it was pretty intense.

The next day we took a bus out of San Jose to a breathing, living Volcano…Vulcan Arenal.  We hitchhiked to this beautiful waterfall.  Somehow people from L.A. kept giving us rides.  The waterfall was pretty huge and there was a large pool at the bottom where you could kind of swim.  Amanda and I tried swimming to the waterfall but the waves were so strong that I think it was impossible to actually swim there.  After getting back to our hostel we went on a tour of the volcano.  This young guy named Jeremy took us on a little nature walk where we got to see exotic birds, and different kinds of plants and trees.  One tree had a vine reaching toward the ground because the tree was so big it needed more soil.  I climbed up the vine about 20 feet for a photo-op (I like making my mom cringe )  We when got to the viewpoint where we could see the volcano, it was very interesting.  This was my first time at a volcano that was active ALL THE TIME.  We watched several eruptions as we sat there and watched as lava streamed down its slopes.  The volcano also made strange sounds that sounded like drum beats.  In the distance we could hear the the cries of the howler monkey.  The atmosphere was really surreal.  I could have sat there forever just watching the volcano and listening to the song of the volcano and the jungle.  But, we had to move on to some natural hot springs.  Darn.  The hot springs were not touristic at all which was really nice.  We had the place pretty much to ourselves.  The temperature was perfect…hot but not too hot.  There was a small little water fall that we could slide down into a pool below.  My favorite part of the hotsprings, however, was a small underwater cave that led to another secluded pool.  When Jeremy told me about the cave, he didn´t say that there was a whole other pool on the other side.  I was curious about it and submerged myself, felt around, and discovered an air pocket.  I thought it was just a place in the cave where the water didn´t rise to.  But, instead, I got to the other side and found a huge pool.  As you can tell, I really liked it.  Anyway, after that we went back to another viewpoint of the volcano so we could watch it at night.  That volcano at night is simply amazing as you can´t see the volcano itself but the lava glows bright red.  We watched several small explosions and were able to see the lava as it zoomed down the slopes.

Today, we did yet another tour.  First, we went by horse to a waterfall viewpoint.  This was Amanda´s first time riding a horse in a long time and Adam´s second.  My horseback riding experience pretty much consists of my 5 day trip to the ruins of Choquekiraw.  My horse was absolutely insane.  He loved to sprint and would keep passing the horses in front even though I was doing everything I could to make the horse slow down!  A few times I was really worried I was going to fall off as the horse sprinted down hills without much regard for its rider.  I was actually relieved to get off my horse so I could zipline hundreds of feet above the jungle floors.  Yep…the horse was that crazy.  The ziplines were quite a rush and don´t worry, 100% safe.  There were a total of 10 ziplines and a few of them were almost a kilometer long.  On several of them you could not see the next platform at the end of the line.  The guides would clip you in and then WHOOOOSSSHHHH…we would be zipping through the canopy at lightning speeds.  The scenery was terrific with towering waterfalls, green jungle trees, and at some points open plains but generally I was too focused on not dying to notice.  Although, I have to admit, I still was more scared of my posessed horse who seemed intent on scaring the crap out of me.  Luckily, we didn´t take horses back.  After ziplining they took us to this tiny indian village and then to a butterfly farm.  Then, we arrived back at the hostel still alive and unscathed….somehow. 

Tonight we are going to attempt to take a bus north toward the Nicaraguan border.  Love to all of course!

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Just kidding. I only wanted your attention. I love to travel and discover new lands and cultures. Already I have budding plans for future trips over the rest of this great Earth and all continents (that will all happen well in the future I can assure you). Traveling like this has been one of the grandest experiences of my life. I would definitely recommend that everyone at some point in their life should get out and explore the world around them at least a little bit. Despite the wonders this planet has to offer though, I know a good many people never really go anywhere. They might say things like “I can’t get time off work” or “I don’t have the cash” or any number of excuses, which may or may not be valid. But I think a lot of the time people don’t go anywhere because they’re afraid something bad might happen to them.

It is true: if you travel for any length of time eventually you are going to run into some misfortune. It may not be serious but it will be frustrating at the very least. We’ve had all sorts of things happen to us over the months. We got lost in a huge city. We had a cab driver rip us off. We’ve lost various belongings. We’ve gotten really sick in really inconvenient places. And there’s something about being a really long way from home that tends to magnify even the slightest of problems. But so far we’ve been very fortunate in that nothing incredibly terrible has happened…until recently.

Bocas del Toro was an awesome place. A bit crowded and touristy at time, but how can you turn down snorkeling in the Caribbean? We did and saw lots of cool stuff including a 1 meter long baracuda! After spending lots of time playing cards and chilling out we set out to say goodbye to Panama and make our way to Costa Rica. Taking a couple taxis, one of which had this guy zooming down these winding roads at around 70 mph that you should really only be doing 35 on. This is rather common of cab drivers down here but he also might have been showing off his new car since he’d only had it for four days. We crossed the border to Costa Rica and made it into Puerto Viejo.

Take every image you’ve ever had of the Caribbean and you’ve got this town. Beautiful beaches, open bars with sand floors, fantastic drinks and food; this place had it all. We were all set to just kick back and enjoy everything there was to offer out here. The restaurant we ate at had daquris 2 for $4 at happy hour. We asked the waitress when happy hour was and she replied “All day”. Tell me that’s not cool. So we ate and enjoyed a drink and played some Pinochle (yes, we know we’re odd). Then we headed out to the beach to catch some surf. We marveled at the beauty around us, and we found a nice semi-empty beach with some good waves. We got into our suits to head out wave jumping. The water was the absolute perfect temperature, comfortable the entire time even as the sun was setting. We rode waves, laughed, and got way too much salt in our mouths. And then…it started.

This next point I freely admit was all my fault as I was being a bit of a bonehead. While wave jumping at some point I got turned around and hit by a rogue wave I wasn’t ready for. I was drug under, remained there for several seconds, and in the chaos of it all the riptide pulled my glasses off (reason I hate wearing glasses #175). I grabbed frantically for them but the slipped just out of my fingers. Jordan and I searched for them in the surf, which is useless when the waves are pounding on you relentlessly. I knew it was a lost cause right away and we headed back to where our stuff was. In the end though, it turns out I got off easy. We arrived to fine some hooligans had made of with some of our stuff. Jordan lost his camera and Amanda lost a bag with her journal, glasses, sunglasses, her book Elantris (which she was only 100 pages away from finishing), and her camera as well. We searched and came up with nothing. We walked to the police station in the dark, defeated, me going very carefully as I am functionally blind with out my specs. The police were nice of course, but we all new the odds of anything coming out of this were slim to none. So we went back to the first bar to take advantage of all day happy hour. We decided to play some cards to unwind only to realize, the final insult, that both the regular cards and the pinochle deck were in Amanda’s stolen bag! I tell you we were pretty pathetic. Of coarse we were all aggravated to various degrees. I feel especially bad for Amanda who in her few short weeks here has had more regular stressful occurances then Jordan and I have seen in our first six months! She has been taking it very well I think and will enjoy the rest of her stay here I’m sure. We were all able to laugh and get on with life.

We caught the bus to San Jose, a city we’d told is not that great. It’s actually rather non-descript. Not bad really, but not anything to write about. We did get to finally see Pirates of the Caribbean, after a much anticipated wait. So now I sit here updating the site with a long post and pictures at the same time (note to future employers: I am a good multi-tasker) while Jordan and Amanda are out doing some white water rafting. Ordinarily I would have gone but my funds are rather diminished now and things in Costa Rica are pretty dang expensive. So we will leave tomorrow, right after I get my new glasses hopefully. Where we’ll go hasn’t really been decided yet. But even with all these troubles I still enjoy traveling. Learning to roll with the punches is essential if you’re going to do something like this and since we’re all physically ok you learn to appreciate that.

As always our best to all our loved ones at home. Be sure to check out the photo gallery as a bunch of new pics have gone up. Later!

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Hey all! Well, we are now in the laid back paradise town of Boca del Toro.  It is unbelievable here; beautiful coral reefs, blue water, bare feet, and chill bars that have Christmas lights and play Jack Johnson.  I keep wondering how in the world I was able to end up here, its awesome!

Well, as Adam stated, Panama City was quite an adventure.  The flood was quite an adventure indeed; it was no exageration to say that the water went ankle deep.  I had a book on the floor and it actually floated to the other end of the room! Wouldn´t change a thing though, except for maybe the hotel room, that place was actually quite disgusting!  Anyway, we left Panama City for the 2nd largest city in Panama, David.  While Panama has 700,000 people, the second largest city only has 70,000; so we found it a nice change of pase to the craziness of the big city! On the way over, these border patrol (even though we weren´t crossing the border) stopped us and did an incredibly thorough drug search.  There was a dog that had to sniff out our bus, luggage, and carry-ons.  I was paranoid, what if somebody slipped something in my bag like in Brokedown Palace or something.  But, we were all clean (big sigh of relief).  And there was a nice old lady who made sure to tell us that they were checking for Drogas, as though we couldn´t figure it out when a giant German Shepard began sniffing all our belongings!

Once in David, we stayed in a nice hostel called the Purple House, and no joke, EVERYTHING was purple.  The walls, the clock, the sheets, the curtains, the nicknacks, the dishes, everything!  It was very relaxing, and I enjoyed a morning of coffee (not the instant kind!) and reading my book. 

Unfortanely, we could only spend one night in the Purple House before hopping on another bus to Bocas del Toro.  This bus ride was only about 4 hours and for the most part was absolutely beautiful.  I didn´t realize that Panama had so many highlands! We passed through mist covered mountains and got a little break from the intense heat and humidity from the lowlands.  Anyway, Bocas del Toro is a town on Isla Colon, one of the may islands in the archipelago.  After hotel shopping for a while, we stumbled on Hotel Brisas, a hotel that sits right on the water and has a huge deck with hammocks, chairs, and (to Jordan and Adams great pleasure), a giant water trampoline!  Since we arrived late, we just hung out for a while at a very chill bar drinking Sangria and beer (and playing pinochle of course), and then back to the hotel where Jordan and I stared out at all the boats in the night and relaxing in the gentle Caribbean breeze (am I making anyone jealous yet)? :O)

Today, we all rented kayaks for 4 hours and paddled around this island near Isla Colon.  It was the first time any of us have been REAL Ocean kayaking, meaning that you have to deal with currents and breaking waves.  We did fine though, although I am so feeling the burn in my arms (and when i say burn, i mean my muscles.  Although Jordan and Adam may have a different interpretation, I was the only one who decided to wear sunscreen!)  The highlight of the trip was this small deserted beach we found where we ended up just playing around in the water and looking at bright colored fishies! These beaches were gorgeous, I mean they were the whole deal, palm trees, coconuts, and all!

Well, thats all for now.  Off for some ice cream and perhaps more cards.  Tomorrow we are taking an all day tour that will take us by some dolphins and let us snorkel in some (hopefully) great reefs.  Love to all, and of course, more to follow!

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