I am sitting at the airport in Miami waiting for my flight to Boston. I am one day late...
I spend my last couple days in Costa Rica surfing in Tamarindo and around (Playa Negra). And i would definitely go back the fourth day if I had known that I won't get on the plane the day I was supposed to. This is what happened.
I arrived to the airport 1.5 hours before my flight. I was little surprised that there were no people in the line but I didn't complain. Until I got to the counter and the stuff member from American Airlines told me that the counter was closed and he can't let any more people on the plane. First I thought he has to be joking but unfortunately he wasn't. He just offered me another flight the next day. So I left the airport with my family, helped my cousin to pack for Boston where she was going to visit me (and where she will be welcoming me since her flight is at the end earlier than mine).
The next day I got to the airport 2.5 hours before my flight. I get to the counter, same guy welcomes me and guess what. He is telling me that the flight is overbooked again (same case as at my first attempt) and if I stay 2 more days they will pay for my hotel. I couldn't believe my ears and the fact that he didn't remember how I was already yelling at him the day before. After all he gave me my boarding pass this time with no seat reservation but at least I was in.
I thought there can't be more surprises on the way but they have just announced that we are missing 3 crew members. So my flight to Boston is delayed. Freaking AA.
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Saturday, September 1, 2007
I am a surfer!
Ok, maybe I shouldn't call myself a surfer. But I did surf. And I loved it!
Although the surf board is damn heavy and much longer than snowboard, the fact I do snowboard helped me a bit. I was told it's not worth starting with surfing if I only have one day because anyway I am just gonna spend it on the beach practicing standing up. But no. After 15 minutes on the beach me and my instructor were off to the water. And let me tell you, the conditions were not optimal at all - after lots of rain the water was kind of muddy and the waves were huge! But I wanted to do it anyway. And I think I did ok. At the end of the day I was able to hit the wave, stand on the board and float. The feeling was amazing. Almost like by snowboarding but more powerful because it's not only you who is moving but the whole ocean is moving with you.
Now I know where I am gonna spend my last days in Costa Rica.
Although the surf board is damn heavy and much longer than snowboard, the fact I do snowboard helped me a bit. I was told it's not worth starting with surfing if I only have one day because anyway I am just gonna spend it on the beach practicing standing up. But no. After 15 minutes on the beach me and my instructor were off to the water. And let me tell you, the conditions were not optimal at all - after lots of rain the water was kind of muddy and the waves were huge! But I wanted to do it anyway. And I think I did ok. At the end of the day I was able to hit the wave, stand on the board and float. The feeling was amazing. Almost like by snowboarding but more powerful because it's not only you who is moving but the whole ocean is moving with you.
Now I know where I am gonna spend my last days in Costa Rica.
On the way to Tamarindo
In the morning I wasn't sure if I ever get out of my cousin´s place in Liberia again. That all because I was tried to be rubbed again the night before. But this time pretty brutally. While we were running home from a pizza place (it was pouring again) somebody grabbed me from behind, holded me by my neck, pulled my hair back and tried to take my purse. I have no idea where that yelling I produced at that moment came from but it surely scared the guy. We were so shocked with my cousin that we just ran home and swore we never go out again.
But of course I did. And here I am, in the middle of nowhere, waiting for the bus to 'Playa Tamarindo'. Just had two beers (Imperial made in Costa Rica) with a crazy girl I met on the bus who was talking about all her sexual experiences, first with guys then with girls. She really wanted me to stay overnight in Tamarindo so we could hang out more. And I could also stay at her place...was she interested? ;)
In any case, I said, no, muchas gracias and continued to Tamarindo on my own.
But of course I did. And here I am, in the middle of nowhere, waiting for the bus to 'Playa Tamarindo'. Just had two beers (Imperial made in Costa Rica) with a crazy girl I met on the bus who was talking about all her sexual experiences, first with guys then with girls. She really wanted me to stay overnight in Tamarindo so we could hang out more. And I could also stay at her place...was she interested? ;)
In any case, I said, no, muchas gracias and continued to Tamarindo on my own.
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Tortuga Verde
Tortuguero comes from the word Tortuga - turtle. It's beeing said that when Columbus first reached this coast he reported in his diary that this place only has hundreds of turtles but not nice beaches.
August is a high season for nesting of one of the four species of turtles here, Green Turtle. After the hundreds of tourists walking on the beach every night watching the turtles got out of the hands, new program for saving turtles was started in 2004. There are so called spotters guarding the beach where the turtles are nesting and they only allow certain amount of people there every night. And only accompanied with a local guide. I had that opportunity to be in one of those groups.
Watching a 300kg heavy turtle slowly returning to the sea after she laid 80 to 120 eggs (size of a ping-pong ball) was amazing. Watching her actually laying the eggs was amazing even more. And strange at the same time. It was like someone is giving a birth while 50 people are watching it closely. I wouldn't like that.
We left the beach right before the turtle has her only couple minutes to spend with her babies because once she returns to the water she will never see them again.
And where were the male turtles at this point? Racing with a 100km/h speed somewhere in the sea. As our guide told us, males are not stupid, they won't come out of the water because they know there are lots of predators waiting for them. Let's just leave the females deal with that, right? (I didn't mean to sound feministic)
August is a high season for nesting of one of the four species of turtles here, Green Turtle. After the hundreds of tourists walking on the beach every night watching the turtles got out of the hands, new program for saving turtles was started in 2004. There are so called spotters guarding the beach where the turtles are nesting and they only allow certain amount of people there every night. And only accompanied with a local guide. I had that opportunity to be in one of those groups.
Watching a 300kg heavy turtle slowly returning to the sea after she laid 80 to 120 eggs (size of a ping-pong ball) was amazing. Watching her actually laying the eggs was amazing even more. And strange at the same time. It was like someone is giving a birth while 50 people are watching it closely. I wouldn't like that.
We left the beach right before the turtle has her only couple minutes to spend with her babies because once she returns to the water she will never see them again.
And where were the male turtles at this point? Racing with a 100km/h speed somewhere in the sea. As our guide told us, males are not stupid, they won't come out of the water because they know there are lots of predators waiting for them. Let's just leave the females deal with that, right? (I didn't mean to sound feministic)
Roberto continues
After all, Roberto wasn't such a bad guide. He was just sometimes confusing people with his English. But despite of that he took me and one English guy (William) on a great canoe tour throught the Tortuguero National Park canals. And although we were supposed to meet at 6am and he was knocking on my door at 5.30am I totally enjoyed this adventure. We got to see spider monkeys, caimans, basilisk lizards, lots of different species of birds and spiders and hear howler monkeys and toucans.
After the canoying trip I only had one hour to eat some empanadas con pollo because I was going for another adventure, hike from San Francisco to Tortuguero Mountain. Here again, we (William, his English friend and me) could appreciate Roberto's English communication skills. He told us to wear closed shoes because supposedly there were snakes in that forest. But while hiking ona very very steep and muddy hill the only animal we saw was a red frog (very cool though!) that is poisoning but only when you touch it (which you usually don't). With our shoes totally covered in mud we asked Roberto, where are the snakes. And he said, there are none here. So, he probably wanted us to get ready for the mud, not for the snakes. Unfortunately, because my hiking shoes were stolen I had to rent rubber boots in the village (for 1USD). But those two poor English guys...But to give Roberto some credit, on the top of that muddy hill we were rewarded with a beautiful view on the Tortuguero village, the canals and Caribian Sea.
While waiting for a water taxi on the way back we met 3 Ticos (people from Costa Rica), friends of Roberto. I wasn't really sure what their native language was (in this part of Costa Ricamany people speak English) because they had troubles to put one sentence together, in Spanish as well as in English. But they were funny characters. Talking about Bush and Fidel Castro.
Too bad our boat arrived before one of the guys could prove us that he really owns a passport. We only saw him walking from one side of the road to another to his house where he went look for it.
After the canoying trip I only had one hour to eat some empanadas con pollo because I was going for another adventure, hike from San Francisco to Tortuguero Mountain. Here again, we (William, his English friend and me) could appreciate Roberto's English communication skills. He told us to wear closed shoes because supposedly there were snakes in that forest. But while hiking ona very very steep and muddy hill the only animal we saw was a red frog (very cool though!) that is poisoning but only when you touch it (which you usually don't). With our shoes totally covered in mud we asked Roberto, where are the snakes. And he said, there are none here. So, he probably wanted us to get ready for the mud, not for the snakes. Unfortunately, because my hiking shoes were stolen I had to rent rubber boots in the village (for 1USD). But those two poor English guys...But to give Roberto some credit, on the top of that muddy hill we were rewarded with a beautiful view on the Tortuguero village, the canals and Caribian Sea.
While waiting for a water taxi on the way back we met 3 Ticos (people from Costa Rica), friends of Roberto. I wasn't really sure what their native language was (in this part of Costa Ricamany people speak English) because they had troubles to put one sentence together, in Spanish as well as in English. But they were funny characters. Talking about Bush and Fidel Castro.
Too bad our boat arrived before one of the guys could prove us that he really owns a passport. We only saw him walking from one side of the road to another to his house where he went look for it.
No money? No problem!
Roberto crossed my way sooner than I wanted but thanks to this 'coincidence' I had a chance to meet this really cool Jamaican/Nicaraguyan guy who at one point sounded like a broken gramophone but what he kept repeating was: 'Don´t have money? No problem. I don´t need money! I am happy!'.
So after all it was true about Tortuguero. People are really calm and happy here (not sure if it's not the marihuana but whatever) which after San Jose makes it a really nice place to be. People here wake up early in the morning, some of them work as guides on the canoe tours, others work in one of the 50 lodges spread along the canal. They don´t have much, but they have enough. Enough to be happy. Towards the evening they just hang around the village, lay in their hammocks, have beer and dance salsa or just listen to reage in one of the two 'discotheques'. Who wouldn't want life like this?
Again. Pura Vida!
So after all it was true about Tortuguero. People are really calm and happy here (not sure if it's not the marihuana but whatever) which after San Jose makes it a really nice place to be. People here wake up early in the morning, some of them work as guides on the canoe tours, others work in one of the 50 lodges spread along the canal. They don´t have much, but they have enough. Enough to be happy. Towards the evening they just hang around the village, lay in their hammocks, have beer and dance salsa or just listen to reage in one of the two 'discotheques'. Who wouldn't want life like this?
Again. Pura Vida!
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Budda Bar
One of my favourite bars in Bratislava, Slovakia is Budha Bar. I was looking for this type of bar in Boston but with no luck. And here I am in Tortuguero, sitting in a bar just like mine from back home, eating avocado salad, drinking papaya fresco and listening to a great chill-out electronic music with a bit of reggae. The only difference with the bar in Bratislava is that now, I am sitting in a beach chair and watching how the light changes on the canal.
Pura Vida!
Pura Vida!
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