Category: International Travel

We rented a house near Playa (beach Hermosa) on the Northern Pacific Coast of Costa Rica and spent 5 wonderful days enjoying the private pool and some downtime. It felt like we were home. The house was a 4 bedroom beautiful home is owned by a family in Dallas. We had Internet, american TV and even a Dallas phone number. It was truly amazing and was one of those things that we wanted to try out, renting a home during our travels. Today we moved to the Nicoya Peninsula near Montezuma.

There are two national parks that really drew us to the Caribbean coast.  And back again now that school is over.  The first is Cahuita. This national park is rarely visited, Luckily for us, the manager at our hotel, Pierre from Montreal, loves to hike and photograph every day, and invites his guests to go along.  He is a learned naturalist and can spot animals at amazing distances, and more can tell the monkeys are coming this way, keep your cameras handy.

The white faced monkeys were so much fun to watch, you could be entertained by them all day long.  The colorful lizards, snakes and spiders all seem so exotic, next to the pounding surf only 50 feet away.  It was a great day, the kind of day where it takes you 4 hours to walk 3 km and you make new friends and great memories

Our hotel highly recommended a visit to the local rescue center.  The story is 2 retired zookeepers from Madrid would find sick animals on their doorstep, so one thing led to another . . . .   The government gives no assistance so public support pays the bills.  It was fun to do, they had 20 to 30 animals, all with a story, birds with broken wings or broken beaks, abandoned exotic pets that can no longer live in the wild, monkeys that were disowned by their original pack and the previous rescue monkeys have made their own “pack” in the nearby jungle and accept the new chimps.

Of course it all makes for great photography, since you can hear toucans, but so hard to photograph them, you can spend time in the chimps because they need to be held,  or see a 2 or 3 toed sloth close up, in the wild they are 50 feet above your head in a blob of brown, and the best of all is the red-eyed tree frog which is nocturnal but they wake them for the tourists.  I have wanted this picture for years, and now I can truly say I am in Costa Rica.

Pura Vida. 

Our family gave us each a bike to use as transport on this island with virtually no cars.

David and I biked to the far end of town for lunch, and after, Dave hopped on his mountain bike and headed toward the street.  Mountain bike, right, no problem!  Unfortunately, his foot came off the metal, serrated pedal as it went over a curb and the pedal back-lashed into his shin and cut upwards.  The result was a “v” formation 2.5 inches on one side and 2 inches on the other.

A cab helped us to the urgencia and luckily for us they take the person gushing the most blood first.  Of course, the nurse flopped over the skin to scrub away dirt, and you could see the bone.  It made both our stomachs flip, but poor David did not have any numbing solution.  O M G !   They did numb before the stitches, and the nurse told us they charge by the stitch, so dollar signs are dancing in my head.  When we got to the cashier window and the total bill was $10 plus another $6 for the antibiotics we decided we did not have to submit it to insurance after all, and David gets to bring home a souvenir from Panama.

Stitches need to be removed in 7 days, which was the day we were traveling to Costa Rica.  We checked with our new hotel and they informed us that there was a clinic in our new location.  We moved onward to CR and went to the clinic that afternoon.  The doctor told us that the stitches were not ready to be removed and to come back on Wednesday.  We did just that and they were removed.  Doc said that it is healing nicely but no swimming for a week and make sure David does not bump his shin.  If he does he is likely to have the injury reopen which will require surgery.

A component of immersion Spanish was having a host family.  Ours was the Morales Campbell family, Papa, Momma and two kids.  Their names were so hard for us to pronounce, we simply called them momma and papa.  They were great, ever helpful about where to go and with homework when we could not understand the instructions.

The family provided a bed, board and a bike to ride to school.  We had our own room and shared a bath with another student from Switzerland.  We contracted to have two meals a day, and it was standard Panama fare: lots of beans and rice, Johnny cakes with coconut milk, plantains, fried green bananas, and ox tails.  We just could not get ourselves to eat oxtails, although the family pops them into their mouth, mmmmmmmm.   Karen has lost 6 pounds so far.

Momma and papa celebrate their 20th anniversary in a couple months and the oldest daughter goes to university in February.  So, as a thank you gift, we volunteered to take a family photo.  It worked out great, so great in fact, they called their sisters and family over to see the results, and we photographed 5 additional families before we left.  There are no photographers on the island, we could be rich, what a niche.

We learned to have a furnished house with utilities is about $400/month.  A beach house is $500, so we are dreaming about going back to school and living there for 6 months, to really get this Spanish thing down.  That is until we get to Costa Rica and then we love it here too.  We have met several expats who all exclaim it is so easy to get citizenship.  One fella, from Alaska, (and school) bought a beach house for $130,000 and plans to spend 6 months a year there.  He also is a retired fed, who worked for BLM at the same office building with people I know.  Small world.

Nov 3 was Panama Independence day. Our papa, a volunteer fireman, is also the town tuba player and he stands out in a crowd.  Of course, we had to go to the parade and cheer everyone on, the little girls in local costumes are always so cute.

Habla ya Is “I speak” in Spanish.  Unfortunately, neither of us did that…speak Spanish thing.  So with some trepidation, we began an immersion Spanish experience.  Oh la la.  We really lucked out and we were the only two people in our class, so basically it was  private lessons.  We spent two very short weeks in school, 4 hours every morning, and the afternoons with extracurricular activities like taking the water taxi to another island for lunch or biking down to the beach for a swim.  And evenings doing HOMEWORK!  Only three pages a night, but it pushed us to a new level every day.  After all 0 to 4 is a 400% increase, but not so far in the big picture.

The teacher encouraged us thru all the standard phrases, hello, where are you from, etc.  and we finally made it to sentences.  Short, need based (necessito el bano, el banko, el medico) but definitely useful words.   So we’re done with school now and on our very own. But we are determined to continue on and use it, even if there is English spoken.  The people are happy to correct our stuttering and hesitant pronunciation and are good natured at our self depreciated response.

It will be true, Habla ya.

After mating at sea, the female sea turtle return to the beach where they were hatched to nest.  The female turtle hauls herself onto the beach, nearly always at night, and finds suitable sand on which to create a nest.  Using her hind flippers. She digs a hole 18 inches deep.  After the hole is dug, the female deposits around 50 eggs.  She refills the nest with sand, smoothing the surface until it is undetectable.  The whole process takes 30 to 60 minutes.  She then returns to the ocean leaving the hatchlings to mature.  Approximately 60 days later hatchlings break free from the sand and by instinct head toward the light usually the ocean.  The season for green turtles is mid July to mid October.

The turtle spotters do not let visitors on the beach for the egg laying process, but once it is finished we were welcome to come along on the turtles return trip to the sea.  I was shocked by how fast an animal that large could move.  Our turtle, was a good 3 feet long and 250 pounds.  They do not allow photographs so we snitched one from the internet. David and I were lucky. The eggs deposited in August became hatchlings in October.  One little fella ran to the light and ended up in our restaurant.  Perhaps he wanted some ice cream for his birth day.  Luckily he was not turtle soup, the owners picked him up and set him right back on the beach and off he ran to the water.  When we walked the beach we would see tracks of mommas and hundreds of babies, even one that seemed to say ADIOS, before he went into the sea (as all good Spanish turtles would!)

Located inside the wonderful Parque Nacional Tortuguero in Limon province, the tiny town of Tortuguero is truly a magical destination. The most important turtle nesting site on the entire western half of the Caribbean for the Green Sea Turtle, Tortuguero sits along a network of narrow canals. To get to Tortuguero you have to either use a plane or a boat, we chose the 3 hour boat ride. Part of the beautiful Tortuguero experience, a boat ride leads you up through the Canal de Tortuguero and through some stunning patches of rainforests towering over swamps. A spectacular trip, one can spot egrets and numerous other birds flying overhead in these lowlands. Here nature dominates as there are hardly any human settlements to speak of.

 

Great Singapore slings and chilli crabs.

One last beach stop in Phuket, then off to Bangkok for one night.  Departing Thailand on March 1 for Singapore.

What happens when you drive each other up a tree?  You spend the weekend in a tree house.  Before you ask, yes we did (both).

Coming from the west, there is a natural love for the words “national park” so we look for them everywhere.   They never disappoint.   This land has been set aside as a large rain-forest area (now in dry season) for wild elephants and tigers to roam. . .   We saw lizards and monkeys and heard lots of bird calls during our visit to the lake.  And, of course, more chances to kayak.

We decided on the lake tour because it got us deep into the park’s heart.   The karst stones here remind people of the Halong Bay in Vietnam.  Our last stop on this trip  is so similar to our first stop.   We have come full circle.  Though far from seeing it all, we certainly have covered most of the highlights of Thailand and SE Asia for that matter.

 

 

Thailand’s sun-drenched jewel in the South Andaman Sea, Koh Lipe has recently risen to the top of intrepid beach lovers’ A-list of island paradises.  We will spend 4 days on this island in the middle of the sea on the Thailand/Malaysia border.

This island is on National Geographic Best of the World 2012!  The water is so clear you can snorkel right off the beach, and we certainly did.  The island contains zero cars.  There are some dirt paths for scooters, and if you order a taxi, you are transported stylishly in a golf cart or a long boat.

We spent one day snorkeling some of the smaller islands nearby.  It was the best snorkeling in Thailand, and that is saying something wonderful.  The following days we moved blissfully from beach to beach, once we tired of one, we caught the long tail taxi around the next corner.

Sun, sand, fish, wonderful relaxing shaded beach chairs or mats.  One day runs into the next, and we learn the beauty of island time.  We will be back.

 

We move further south and west on the Andaman Sea to the island of Koh Lanta.  The western part of the island was devastated by the 2004 Tsunami and has since been rebuilt with fabulous resorts and long white sand beaches.

For a change from Thai food, we found an authentic Greek Restaurant where we enjoyed Moussaka and Tzatziki with Pita Bread.  We also found a seafood place where you pick the fish and they cook it to your specifications . . .   Sea bass filleted in garlic and pepper and the best part:  baked potatoes and corn on the cob.  I thought I had died and gone to heaven to have such a normal meal.

We rented motor bikes ($8/per day) and checked out the entire island.  Instead riding horses bare back on the beach you can opt for an elephant.  We visited Mu Ko Lanta National Park with white sand beaches.   The monkeys wait for you to turn your back only to steal your snacks or whatever else you may have.  We stopped several times just to check out new beaches, the pictures attest to the fact that each beach was nicer than the one before.  We met another American couple who are renting a house here for a month; it was great to run into other people who are living overseas for extended periods of time.  We compared notes, picked up a couple of new hints.

We were day trippers via speed boat to Koh Rok, where there was great snorkeling in a national park and saw amazing sea life.  The best snorkeling yet, the pictures speak for themselves.  OK, I’ll tell the truth, we stuck a couple of Oreo cookies in our pockets, who knew the fish liked double stuffed.

Our favorite travel company is G Adventures.  They are always reliable, always a good value for dollar.  In our original planning, we looked at hooking into some short excursions, taking a vacation if you will. It was a highlight.  We sailed from Koh Phi Phi north to Phuket Island for four days.

Magic Amadeus is a 38 foot sailing catamaran, with four cabins and a husband and wife crew.  It turned out there were only 3 guests for our slot, David and Karen and Richard from Manitoba.  We had all the room you could hope for, effectively a private yacht for our bidding and a captain keen on showing us all his hidden places and Em who prepared 3 great meals each day. We did everything . . .   We went fishing off the back of the boat, caught tuna, and enjoyed sushi and hour later.  We slept one night in the Maya Bay, used in the filming of “The Beach” with Leonardo DeCaprio.  Along the way,  we swam or snorkeled right off the back of the boat.  Or kayaked, we circumnavigated an island, one afternoon.  Or go ashore to buy ice cream, (some parts of our sailors life resemble our normal life).

We could go on and on and probably will if you give us half a chance.  One night, we had dinner out and another, a pub night, the dingy would take us ashore or back to the boat for a quick 5 minute ride.  Upon returning to the boat, we tucked in for the night.

It was magical, and peaceful, and filled with something to do all at the same time.  Dave and I keep thinking, can we find three other couples and we just charter our own boat next time . . .   Let us know if you are up for it.

WOW!

This some kind of incredible, and we are just getting started.  Our next window of travel (3 weeks) takes us thru Thailand’s southern islands.  Moving from one sandy beach and gorgeous sunset to another.  The water is bathtub warm, the sand is like baby powder, the food is even better after a long day of swimming and goofing around.

I have a new appreciation for my eyes.  A camera just cannot capture this place in its color, contour, and the interaction of sun and reflection.  We will try, but remember to put a wow after some of these pictures, we certainly did.

 

Before leaving, one last massage in the north, then off to tour Thailand’s southern islands.

David and Karen said goodbye to Carl and Julie and went further north, near the Thai-Burma border for some additional mountain trekking, but we used horses instead.  The very north is primarily agricultural, tea plantations.  We stayed at a farm stay which was right in the middle of the plantation.  The view out of our window was fantastic – so much so, we were compelled to share it.

We made arrangement to go horseback riding and should have been suspicious when we were the only two people signed up.  But no, common sense is lost when adventures are calling.  The adventure probably started when we noticed there were no reins, just a clothes line tied to ONE side, so things like commands were a joke.  The fact that the stirrups were tied with a big knot (more clothes line) the knot could rub into your shin easier that way and leave bruises.

Off we go, first one way then the other, stopping to eat grass, then running like the dickens because the guide had a large stick.  Remember there is only one rein, so if you pull (trying to stop the horse), you only drive yourself back to the other side of the road.  Four hours later, we took less than six pictures, because we could not arrange the animal to be still for more than 10 seconds.  But it was pretty; you just have to take our word for it.

We only saw one tribal lady, in town, who was laughing at us trying to control our trusty steeds.  Sometimes adventures just turn out that way.

We did try and plan some festivals during the trip.  We succeeded with the Thailand Flower Festival which is a big deal for the country.  Think the rose bowl parade, but you get to be just inches away, and the floats are made from the flowers that grow here.  Each tribe, from the different parts of the country come and highlight the flowers from their region and of course their traditional costumes.

We could fill the page with a hundred pictures, 3 hours of snapping and all the colors beckoned the shutter bug in all of us.  Severe editing only permits a quality sampling.  It was fun, and a festival atmosphere extended into the evening with traditional dance, and music on a large stage.  Sort of like a concert in the park.  All in all, a lovely way to sample a unique cultural event.

I can remember a long, long time ago, reading a book, filled with exotic places and pictures, and saw these women wear brass rings on their necks, and their name was Karen!  How exciting.   From that day I have wanted to meet the Karen people.  Mission accomplished.

The weight of the brass rings on the woman’s neck pushes down the collar bone and upper ribs, such that, the collar bone is part of the neck.  The neck ring adornment begins when a girl is 5 or 6 years old.  The extra long neck is considered a sign of great beauty and wealth, designed to attract a better husband.  This tribe migrated to Thailand approx 10 years ago, and is Burmese refugees.  Along with the long neck, there is also the big eared Karen, who stretches their ear lobe with large rings.

Chiang Mai, the largest town in Northern Thailand is the launch point for a huge variety of physical activities.  So let’s go . . .   Our Littleton friends, Julie and Carl (from the Bangkok fame) met us in Chiang Mai.   During a one day tour, we were able to go elephant riding, hike to a waterfall and finally on a raft trip down the Mae Tang river.  It was so much fun.  One of the guides explained that instead of saying Oh My God!! Thailand being a Buddhist nation, use the phrase Oh My Buddha!    OMB for short.    My government self naturally goes:  Office of Management and Budget – Oh my Buddha – no!

The other interesting thing to note is David says crap.  That’s right; you heard it here, CRAP.  Of course, Karen says Ca, so what’s the difference.  If you remember from Laos we explained Sa Wad Dee is hello or welcome.  The same word is used in Thailand but a male uses crap (really spelled krap) at the end of the phrase, and female uses ca.  Hello crap, . . . has a nice ring to it.

Karen zips through the trees having a blast while David stays on terra firma, saying he is afraid of heights.

What is it about elephants that is so charming?  Is it because they are big and gangly, or because they eat using their nose, or perhaps because they have a wonderful smile.   Not sure why, but I think they are grand, and in this trip I got to drive one. You think I jest, but how do you make an elephant go?  You tickle his ears with your toe.  It is rule number one in the elephant drivers handbook.  I tried to pinch her ear but it was not nearly as effective, she just stopped to eat greenery on the side of the trail.

Laos is the land of a million elephants, though their numbers have dwindled down to 2,500 hundred or so.  The book says an estimated thousand still roam free in the jungle.  Today, mostly used for the heavy work of hoisting tourists around, and the lumber industry has moved to machinery.