Christian May 28th, 2008
The bus ride from Monteverde to Manuel Antonio was interesting. We had to get off at Puntaarenas and find the bus that went to Quepos. We thought it was going to be a little easier than it was. Our bus dropped us off at one point in town and the bus that left for Quepos was in another spot. It didn’t help that our driver gave us completly wrong directions to the bus. A nice shop owner pointed us in the right direction and a guy selling watches out of a suitcase let us know that we had to buy our tickets somewhere else before the bus came. It was a little tricky, but we figured it out. After another four hours on a bus we made it to Quepos, the gateway city to Manuel Antonio. Continue Reading »
Christian May 21st, 2008
We left Puerto Viejo to go to the town of La Fortuna. We cheated a bit and took a air conditioned tourist shuttle, but it was worth every penny. They stopped to go to the bathroom, buy lunch, and still made it there in a couple of hours less than what it would have taken on buses. The town has changed a lot since I was there. There are now paved roads, a Burger king, and a huge super market. You can tell that the town is soley based on tourism by the number of tour agencies. We checked into our hostel around lunchtime. We threw our stuff in our room, disregarding the plethora of ants crawling all over the bed and headed out to find some food. We ate at a local restaurant, which was good, and then we relaxed the rest of the day, taking advantage of the cable tv.
The next day we woke up early to go to the La Fortuna Waterfall. Continue Reading »
Christian May 16th, 2008
Puerto Viejo
Getting to Puerto Viejo Costa Rica from Bocas del Toro was different from we thought it was going to be. We left on the first ferry at 7 to Changuiola. Our boat driver was officially insane, speeding through the narrow passages. We managed to hit a few submerged logs and get tangled in some plants along the way. The only good part of it was that we made it to the dock in half the time it was supposed to take. After getting off the dock, which was clearly in the middle of nowhere with no bus connections, all of us we forced to jump on tourist van which was way overpriced. The van dropped us off at a bridge that was the border between the two countries. After getting our exit stamp at the Panama border, we had had to walk over a wooden bridge with gaps in the boards that showed the river below. It felt rickety and super sketchy. The worst was when a truck would come and you would have to jump to the side on this metal platform that was rusted with holes. Once over the bridge, we had to go to immigration and find our way to the next bus to Puerto Viejo, which ended up not being all that bad. We even met a former marine that was living in San Jose and told us that he has to carry his knife around with him for protection, as he whipped it out. Great Times. Continue Reading »
Christian May 16th, 2008
We arrived around 5:30am to the little town of Almirate after a 9 hour overnight bus ride from Panama City. It was pitch dark and we had no clue where to catch the ferry. Taxi’s were waiting for the tourists to take them to the docks, so 6 tourists and all their luggage where loaded into little pick-up trucks for the 5 minute journey to the ferry. Casey got to ride inside while I got to ride in the truck bed with the luggage and one other guy. We were dropped off and told the ferry wouldn’t actually be leaving till about 7am. Finally the owner arrived and started turning on lights and getting our names and money. He also brought with him to work 2 furry puppies that we played with while we waited. Eventually, we boarded the ferry and were on our way for the 25 minutes to Bocas Town. Continue Reading »
Christian May 11th, 2008
We took the early flight that left Quito at 7 AM, which meant we had to be at the airport by 5:30. We paid our $40 each to leave the airport and were on our way. Panama City was tough to find cheap accommodation. We narrowed it down to a few budget hotels and one hostel. We ended up trying the hostel (Zuly’s) first and ended up staying there. It was definitely not the nicest or cleanest place that we had ever stayed in. They only offered dorm beds for $6.60 each if we shared one. It was pretty grungy looking, but we decided it would be okay for a couple of nights. **We later found out from a couple we met in Bocas, that they had stayed there and found worms in the mattresses of the hostel** As soon as we checked in we headed out to the city to explore.
Continue Reading »
Christian May 4th, 2008
It was a long trip to get to Canoa to say the least. We had to leave our hostel at 5:30 to catch the 5:40 bus to Quito. The bus took four hours, when we got to Quito we had to find the office for Reina del Camino to buy our tickets to Bahia de Caraquez. Luckily there was a bus at 10:30 leaving, so we got our tickets and hopped on the very shady bus. The ride was only supposed to take 8 hours but ended up taking 9 and a half. If ever taking the bus to Bahia from Quito, pay the extra 1.50 for the executive service (we didn’t and regretted it the whole way). Once we finally got to Bahia we had to walk about a half mile to the docks where we could catch a ride on a boat across the bay to San Vincente. It wasn’t a bad deal at .70. Finally we were getting close…. since it was so late the regular bus service from San Vincente to Canoa had stopped, so we shared a cab with 2 Canadian girls for $4. Luckily, they were staying at the same place we had wanted to stay at. The only room that they had was a private Bungalow with a shared bathroom for $16.70 a night. Tired, exhausted, and ready for bed we took it. Continue Reading »
Christian May 3rd, 2008
We wanted to get to Banos early enough to find a place to stay and get to walk the city a bit, so we woke up at 6am to catch the 5 hour bus ride to Banos from Tena. We were excited for Banos, since we had heard nothing but nice things about the town. We were not disappointed. We arrived around noon. You could tell it was a town based in tourism right from the start. As soon as we were off the bus we were offered tours. We bypassed the touts and checked in at our hostel which was very nice. At $13 a night, we felt like we struck a deal. It had free internet and a great rooftop terrace. The weather was sunny and we promptly headed out to explore the city and the local market. Continue Reading »
