La Fortuna and Monteverde with Canadians

The bus ride North to La Fortuna was long and held more than its fair share of sharp curves, as most of the mountain roads do. We happened to met a great couple from Prince George on the bus and enjoyed visiting with them as we went. When we arrived in La Fortuna we parted ways in the rain and headed out looking for a hostel. Not sure were to stay we ran into a fellow Calgarian named Ryan at the entrance of his hostel and could tell we would get along well, so we decided to stay there. With the cost being higher than we hoped we decided to brave the dorm life. The beds were very comfortable but it was an adjustment to sleep in the same room as 6 others again. Thankfully they were all good people and we enjoyed sharing travel stories with one another each night before falling sleep. Our first day was disheartening, our expectations for La Fortuna were high with Volcan Arenal on our doorstep and the promise of many fun activities all around. However, the realization that everything blew our backpackers budget hit hard. Travis consoled me with a gelato and a walk around the beautiful town square followed by an outdoor body weight workout in the rain before taking a dip in our cold hostel pool. With a smile on my face again, I was able to remember that just being in a place like this is an activity in itself. The next day Ryan joined us for a 7 km hike up hill, in the pouring rain, to a waterfall. It was awesome getting to know him and learning that he had been to my parents business before, it made the world seem so small! The waterfall was incredible, I had never seen one with such water volume and power before. We decided to strip down to our underwear and go in, it was cold, the bottom rocky and the strength of the current emense, I loved it! I realize more and more on this journey that I care less about my appearance and what others may think and more about enjoying the moment. The third day it also was overcast and rainy so we sadly never did see the Arenal volcano. 

Climbing into a shuttle we headed for Monteverde. Transferring to a shuttle boat to cross a lake we spotted our friends from Prince George! With neither of us having booked a place to stay we agreed to find somewhere together. Thankfully, the first place Travis had in mind had room for all of us. We met a couple from Quebec staying there as well and the 6 of us instantly hit it off. We decided to go see the hanging bridges and hummingbirds right away. The birds made us think about my Grandpa, he loved his hummingbirds. We took a video to show my Grandma when we go home, I know she will also appreciate how many there were buzzing around the nectar. Travis and I had a lot of fun together walking and running along the bridges in the rain, again it made me so grateful for this time together. We went for supper with our friends from Quebec and visited late with our Prince George friends, building very cool connections. However, in the morning both couples moved on and we stayed another day making plans for Nicaragua.

                              

                          

                            

  

San Jose Revisited for Protein Powder

Not everything, scratch that, many things in life don't turn out as we had planned. But even through the challenges of change, I am beginning to find joy in the goodness around me, more than ever before. We arrived in San Jose at a bus stop which ended up being a 45 minute walk away from our hostel. With daylight and a cool breeze on our side we decided to save a few colones and walk. Talking away as we walked, out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of a persons barefoot on the ground and jumped to the side. To our astonishment there were people curled up inside extremely narrow cardboard boxes all along the street with just their feet sticking out. It was difficult to swallow as we looked back and realized we had walked by others already without noticing. The next block we walked in silence. This short journey through the harsh reality of poverty served to solidify our decision to not take a taxi as we made our way across downtown to our hostel, Kaps Place. Even though our feet were sore under the weight of our packs, our hearts were filled with gratitude. When we arrived at our hostel the outside of the building was very unassuming but upon entering we discovered the cutest hostel yet where each day we could play ping pong and enjoy a delicious breakfast. 

Our main reason for coming to San Jose was to meet up with our lovely friends Marcia and Fernando. However their family came down with a terrible flu and we were unable to get together. Through our understanding and disappointment, Travis and I still enjoyed a day out at the large mall. First we walked across downtown for an hour through the thickest crowds of people we have ever encountered with loud music blaring from the stores and the constant changing smells of food, garbage, sweat and waste until we found our bus. At first when we arrived at the fancy mall, as nice as CrossIron Mills in Alberta, we felt a sense of comfort and belonging. With Christmas decorations everywhere and English Christmas music playing we felt at home. But the longer we wandered around, the more we felt like we didn't belong there. Remembering the simple life we have been living, the people in boxes and now the stark contrast of the exuberant amounts of consumerism before our eyes, it made us not want the buy anything and suddenly we felt out of place. However, we did thoroughly enjoy a DQ blizzard and happily bought some protein powder from GNC to help supplement our rice filled diet. 

The bus ride home was slow, traffic was heavy as there was a marathon going through downtown. As I watched some people struggling mightily in their effort to run the race with terrible running form, I felt grateful for Travis' knowledge; knowing I have a coach for any event I pursue. Anyways, the bus had not moved for 10 minutes so we decided to join the locals and walk the rest of the way. Travis was in front of me as we rounded the front of the bus, he didn't realize the bus was in the middle of traffic. I watched as he stepped out and Instantly jumped back just before getting hit by a car. Both of our hearts were racing from the very close call for the next hour as we walked to Kaps Place and I thanked God for his protection. On our third day we spent more time researching and planning our next move north and visiting with other travellers which is always helpful. 

  

                     

Costa Rican Honeymoon and Rainymood

Confidently, we traveled to the Costa Rican boarder on the locals bus and crossed quickly without a problem. We thought about our nervousness during our first boarder crossing with a shuttle guide and how far we have come in our willingness to brave potential obsticals on our own. Not wanting to travel more than 4 hours we stopped at a small bus town and paid way too much for a not so nice motel room, but at least it had A/C. In the morning we crowded on the local bus again and headed up the Pacific coast to a small town called Uvita. The heat was stifling when we arrived, it must have been in the high 30s. Drowning in our own sweat under the weight of our packs, we walked 1 km uphill to the cabina we booked just out of town. When we finally reached our destination we were rewarded with a perfect oasis. This brand new little cabin was owned by a lovely Italian couple and was cozy as can be with the much needed A/C. Each morning they served us a cute breakfast and at night a romantic pasta supper by candle light where we could watch the fireflies dance in the grass around us. For three days we felt like we were on our honeymoon, it was wonderful! One day we walked 5 km to the national park beach where we played in the waves as we watched the tide go out until there was a sand bar we could walk across, a sand bridge to an island. From an aerial view this long stretch of sand strongly resembles a whale tail. After our day of walking in the heat we decided to hitchhike back and were picked up by a kind local couple. On our last day we met up with our friends from Switzerland, who we did the hike with at Lost and Found hostel in Panama. It was so great to see them again! In the heat (what else) we walked 1 km to a beautiful waterfall where we swam and played in its refreshingly cool waters. After a couple hours it was time for Travis and I to head to our next destination up the coast.

We arrived in Quepos hungry and in the pouring rain just before dark. Spotting a Subway we decided to splurge and order some familiar food and I downed a foot long pizza sub, it was delicious! Shortly after filling up, we found the hostel we had booked and this time we were met with disappointment. It wasn't very nice, bearable would be the best word to describe it.  We tried to leave only to discover that since we had booked 3 nights online they wouldn't give us our money back. The town was nothing special either but we found happiness in the familiar surroundings of a fantastic gym! We went each day and enjoyed a watered down protein shake after our workouts. Thankfully the bus ride to the beach at Manuel Antonio was short and cheap so we could go there each day as well. Even in the rain we happily playing frisbee with a guy from our hostel and jumping in the dark blue waves. After 3 days of making the best of a rather poor predicament, we climbed on another bus and headed for the big bad city of San Jose, pleased to be moving on.

 

Panama City Day 2 .... Boquete Week 2

After San Blas we were able to spend the day with our new friend Manuel in Panama City who we met  while staying in Bocas Del Toro. Manuel is an engineer from Tijuana Mexico but works in Panama City. He was kind enough to tour us around, showing us the monuments of the founders of the Panama Canal, as well as the historic remains of Panama Viejo, the city destroyed by Captain Morgan. Taking the extremely over crowded bus around the city was comical, as Travis stood taller and bigger than everyone on it. After supper we said asta luego and climbed on the overnight bus once again. Thankfully this time we were in the very front so the motion sickness did not rear its ugly head. Over the next six days we enjoyed the comforts of beautiful Boquete once again. Our days were spent going to the local gym, eating healthly food, researching Costa Rica and relishing in our clean clothes. On our last day we watched a parade celebrating Panamas independence from Spain. It consisted primarily of students in marching bands from all over Panama. When the Boquete students went by we knew the beat by heart, as we had been hearing them practice for a couple hours each day in the school yard across from our hostel. I will miss the sound of the drums and trumpets as we cross the boarder to Costa Rica. Oh yes, I also snuck in a little Black Friday, small town shopping, new gym shoes!

 

   

 

  

      

 

    

Finding ourselves in San Blas Islands

After a terrible sleep due to the heat, noise and light in our room, we drug ourselves out of bed at 5am to catch our 2 hour jeep ride to the San Blas Islands. The last half hour on the bumpy, windy road brought on the feeling of motion sickness once again. When we finally arrived at the "port", a 5 foot tall local Kuna man loaded us into his little, rickety boat with a small motor and we began our journey to one of the 378 islands that comprise the San Blas Archipelago. As we made our way into the Carribean sea, passing little Islands with palm trees and small wooden homes along the way, the terrible sleep and jeep ride became distant memories. After about 30 minutes we arrived at Robinson Island, our home for the next three nights. Our hut was the closest to the ocean, in fact you could see it through our stick walls. Our foam mattress in the middle of the hut was too big for the frame and therefore it was shaped like a banana, which would come in handy as when we asked for our sheets we were informed that they didn't have any pillows. As we made our bed and dropped our limited gear on the sandy floor of our hut, we both looked at each other simultaneously. The reason being that we had both noticed the overwhelming odor of urine. After some investgating we determined it was from the dogs outside our hut which was a relief, although still very undesirable. The smell did dissipate at night, so we tried to avoid our hut during the daytime. 

Right away we found our French friends from the night bus and quickly began to enjoy our new surroundings with them. The water was perfect! Clear, blue and offering a cool alternative to the hot sun. The last day however, we could not go in the water as a few times per week, the Kuna people emptied their garbage into the ocean and the sight of dirty diapers floating around wasn't too appealing. We were served 3 basic meals a day, consisting of rice and fish or crab which were adequate but uninspired. With no outside technology and virtually nothing to do but play in the water or read a book, Travis and I found ourselves in many deep conversations. We reflected on our last year, our heartaches and challenges, the loss of Travis' dad and how that has greatly affected him and therefore impacted us. We discussed our trip so far, how parts of it have just felt like a good holiday without depth or growth. As a result of our very deep, very real, uninterrupted conversations, we gained a new focus, set some goals and grounded ourselves in our purpose. This trip wasn't just about adventure but more so about us, growing as a couple and as individuals, establishing habits and building traits now for when we return home. 

While at San Blas we took two snorkelling trips to two different islands. One to a ship wreck where Travis, my hero, had to rescued me, literally. I knew the current looked strong but having never faced a open water current before and being confident in my swimming abilities, I underestimated its power. Floating along I enjoyed the view of the sunken ship and all of the pretty fish everywhere. As I snorkelled along to the back of the ship I failed to notice that Travis decided to stay back after assessing that the current was too strong for his swimming ability. When I finally popped my head out of the water to see where I was, the feelings of shock and panic were immediate. I was much farther out than I thought and was alone. Quickly I tried to swim against the current, at first I made headway, then suddently realized I was very tired and not moving. Scared, I cried out for Travis and in what seemed like an instant, he was by my side. At first he tried to pull me against the current but it was too strong, he then instructed me to swim over the ship to the other side, thankfully the current was much weaker over there. Once on the other side of the ship, I was exhausted and so I rolled onto my back and Travis grabbed my legs and pushed me towards land. After this ordeal I was fearful of snorkelling, but Travis insisted and I remembered that when I used to ride horses, if you get bucked off you need to get right back on. So after resting and formulating a plan we headed back out, this time staying on the low current side of the ship together. The next day we snorkelled around a small island, with no current and lots of starfish to admire. We both have a new respect for open water and the danger is poses, but because we pushed ourselves to 'get back in the saddle', we are still able to enjoy the beauty of the water. 

Of course, any post would be lacking if I failed to mention the interesting people we met. Our time at Robinson island was no different as we enjoyed meeting other travellers staying there as well, including a couple of fantastic girls with similar personalities to Travis. Their stories and joking made meal times extra enjoyable. However, after being covered in sand for 3 days it was time to return to the mainland, with a new focus and respect for the ocean.