Honduras

Honduras:

The border crossing into Honduras was pretty easy as the bus conductor took all our passports and did the dirty work himself - all we had to do was sit around and wait. We saw money changers, vendors, bicycle taxis and stray dogs while waiting as well as young kids begging for money. The journey there should have taken 12 hrs although an accident caused us to queue for 2 hrs before we were dropped off in a dark little town called La Guama. We departed the Tica bus with the words of warning from the bus conductor -  “watch out, bad chicos”. It was slightly unnerving walking with our valuable luggage trying to find a taxi as it was dark and we’ve been warned that Honduras can be a dangerous place, especially after dark. Our moods fell after chatting to some of the locals to discover that there were no buses, no taxis and no hotels – we were screwed! In a final bid to try and get help we walked over to the police van which was parked where another accident had occurred and in my best broken Spanish asked for help. We were really lucky as Pablos, the town’s English speaking mayor, came to our rescue and asked the police to drop us off at D&D Breweries – thanks Pablos! So it was that we travelled in the back of a police van on day one in Honduras – brilliant!

D&D Breweries (Los Naranjos): D&D stands for Dale and Dog and is a small micro brewery with pool, bar, wifi and good western food. Located amidst lush green trees and a well kept garden in which I sat sipping beer and spotting many of the various species of birds. Lago de Yojoa is the largest lake in Honduras and it is beautiful with sections of marsh and water lilies, with water birds, tilapia and bass all around. I was of course very interested in trying to catch a few of the fish. One of the locals rented out small rowing boats very cheaply (50 Lempira) so fairly soon we were paddling down a river and towards the lake. We met a friendly Canadian guy called Jason back at the breweries who joined us on the boat – I felt slightly smug as he did most of the rowing while I tried to catch one of the elusive bass! The lake’s fish population remained the same that day as we returned back to the brewery empty handed. At least it was a very scenic paddle and I could drown my sorrows with either a freshly brewed draught of pale, apricot, strawberry, amber or porter ale.

The surrounding countryside was ideal for hiking as it had tree-lined mountains, streams and coffee, banana and sugarcane plantations. We went hiking a few times and really enjoyed our green surroundings and the strong, almost jasmine-smelling, coffee plant blossoms. A few snarling dogs from the local houses had us on edge and my hands full of rocks but at least they never attacked which was a good thing as most of them look pretty scruffy. Dogs can be a constant threat as you never know what they might do or worst case if they have rabies. I felt pretty bad seeing so many hungry, sick or homeless dogs scavenging for scraps of food but unfortunately they have been a constant while travelling through South and Central America.

The local transport around Central America are old yellow US school buses which are nicknamed “chicken buses” by travelers for obvious reasons. Travelling on them provided constant entertainment as we watched people getting creative with what they loaded on them. It could be anything from fruit, flour and clothes to machetes, TVs, plastic toys and even live animals! The local guys put my few spikes to shame with their shiny rock-hard gelled hair – it must cost them a fortune in hair product! Any screaming kid simply had a boob shoved into their mouths (no raised eyebrows) while vendors climbed onboard to try and sell their wares at most stops. Travelling on a chicken bus sure was an experience! 

We boarded one of these for a visit to the Pulhapanzak waterfalls one day with Jason tagging along. After seeing Iguazu Falls it is difficult to be impressed by waterfalls but on that day we were. It wasn’t so much the waterfalls itself but rather the hike behind the falls that was an absolutely brilliant experience. We first had to slip and slide our way along a muddy path and from there swim up a few holes to reach the crashing water. The only way we could navigate was by holding hands, whilst looking down and breathing through our mouths while the water crashed down on our back and heads. Most of the time I couldn’t see anything because of the falling water but I shuffled along to finally enter the space behind the falls.  Jason and I crawled up a small entrance to a dark cave, after which we had to take the same route back out of the waterfall. A high cliff jump into a too shallow pool (my feet touched rock on both jumps!) rounded off a nice experience even though it would have seriously failed all UK health and safety regulations!

Copan Ruinas: To get to Copan we had to board another chicken bus to San Pedro Sula where we took a comfy Hedman Alas coach. The chicken bus driver that day must have thought that he was Schumacher as he raced around like a madman and we were relieved to be alive after all the hectic swaying, braking and hooting. The final means of transport that day was a small moto-taxi in Copan to our hostel Iguana Azul. I was amazed not only by the fact that our little driver managed to get our large bags into the small taxi but also that he managed to get us up the steep hills. Between Gillian and I, we have 6 heavy bags for all our clothing, camping gear and my fishing tackle and at one point the poor little taxi had to try a second time to get up this very steep hill as it skidded back a bit the first time! Luckily we made it to our destination after an eventful day and settled in for the night. Copan Ruinas is a small but pretty town with lots of charm. The locals were very friendly and there were ample good restaurants and cafes or street vendors selling local food such as rice and beans (mashed black), tortillas, meat and salad. The streets are cobbled stones and as the town is built on a hill, we had a nice view over the surrounding countryside.

Copan Ruins:  The last time we saw ruins was in Machu Picchu many months ago so we were pretty excited to see some more. After a short walk out of town we reached the ticket office and to our surprise bumped into Larry and Fred. They are two friends from Canada travelling through Central America on motorbikes who also stayed at D&D Breweries. It was nice seeing two friendly faces again and the four of us took off to see the ruins without a guide which was a little like the blind leading the blind! We’ve heard rumors about seeing scarlet macaws in the wild but always failed to do so due to them being caught and sold on the pet trade. It was a very special treat when we happened upon 20 squawking macaws at the entrance to the ruins!

 We were all very impressed with the size and brilliant colors of these birds and took many photos. Just as impressive were the ruins that were sprawled out in the jungle and occupying a vast area. The Hieroglyphic Staircase was spectacular to say the least even with the large canvass protecting it. I had to wonder how such a large civilization of 200,000 people could just simply disappear and was surprised by the simple answer. There were just too many of them causing a shortage of food and overgrazing of the land. That of course caused floods and sickness and ultimately people left for greener pastures.

Finca El Cisne: We read online about this trip and all the reviews were really good. The trip consisted of an overnight stay on a cardamom/cocoa/coffee farm and incorporated a horse ride. Finca El Cisne was situated in amongst rolling green hills and forest covered mountains. It was a beautiful area and I would have loved to stay there longer. Carlos with his cheeky and sometimes slightly sarcastic sense of humor was the owner and tour guide. He is a very nice guy and made our trip very memorable with his vast knowledge of plants, animals and agriculture. While driving to his farm I noticed the typical dress for the men: Gumboots (Wellies), jeans, tucked-in collared shirt with large buckled belt, cowboy hat and always a machete in hand. What I also found very interesting is that they use these to mow their lawn! We stayed for the night in his guest house while two local ladies cooked us typical Honduran meals. After settling in, Carlos showed us his corn, beans, yuca and cocoa plantations while sharing a few interesting facts. He made me taste a tiny unsuspecting chili (for South Africa!) which burnt my mouth for a long time after. I was dreading my trip to the toilet the next day…

Next up was horse riding and after putting on some cowboy hats I was sitting on my feisty horse, Cleopatra. There were 9 of us that day so a slightly big group to control. I’ve been very disappointed previously with horse riding trips as you never get to gallop but on this occasion we were in luck. Even though we mostly kept together in a group, we could take the horses for a gallop whenever we felt like it. Cleopatra was a lovely horse and I galloped quite a few times that day which was really nice. Along the way we stopped at the tilapia pools where we rested the horses and got to drink some coconut water from coconuts Carlos knocked from the palm trees. Unfortunately we had a slight incident that day: while galloping one of the Belgium guys steered his horse too close to some bamboo plants. One of the dried bamboo shoots cut deep into his arm causing him to bleed badly so we had to skip the cardamom plantations and make our way straight back to camp. Fortunately Carlos’ sister is a doctor so the injured Belgium was stitched up and we all sat down to a nice lunch of typical local food.

After a post lunch rest, it was time to learn more about cocoa plants. Carlos showed us a few trees while we sample a few beans which tasted really sweet on the outside. Pods are usually green and when they turn yellow it is time for harvesting. The beans are first fermented and then left outside to dry.   The beans then need to be roasted before they are ready for making chocolate. Next up was a short visit to the coffee production plant to see how they process coffee. We knew most of the processing details already due to our visit to Britt Coffee in Costa Rica. Most of their beans are exported while still green to America and European countries. That way the coffee stays fresh and the client can blend and roast the coffee as required. Whilst doing our tour Carlos heard a wild toucan and pointed it out to us. They make a funny sound, almost like a frog, and I managed to spot one far up in the trees. It is always much nicer seeing the birds in the wild instead of captivity.

At the end of the day it was time for a soak in the hot water springs. I’ve never seen a hot waterfall before as it fell into a small river below and mixed with the cold water. We had to search for spots where the water mixed to a comfortable degree as the main waterfall was boiling! It was a nice way to end the day especially with the prospect of a delicious dinner after. And dinner that night did indeed meet our expectations as we tried many various local specialties - some common and some with a twist. I kept hammering poor Carlos with questions and tried my best to pronounce the names. The next morning I did the same with our breakfast which also consisted of many different dishes. Carlos didn’t mind answering all my questions and was a brilliant host. I could easily have stayed longer and would have loved to hike up the mountain and walk along the crest looking down into the valleys. Unfortunately we just didn’t have the time and had to make our way back to Copan. I can highly recommend the Finca El Cisne tour to anyone!

Macaw Mountain: We settled back into our room in the Iguana Azul hostel in Copan and met up with Jason since it was our last day in Copan. We took a bumpy ride in a moto-taxi up the hill to the Macaw Mountain bird sanctuary. It is a charitable organization run by an American guy who started off small but then expanded due to demand. Polly, a crazy moon walking, talking, head bobbing parrot met us at the reception and showed us in. It is an interactive place as you can walk through some of the large cages as well there being an exhibition area where the birds are out of their cages. I tried scratching a few little heads but thought better when I saw their beaks coming my way. 

We saw many birds including the large scarlet macaws, parrots, pygmy owls, falcons, and of course my favorite, the toucans. I really loved interacting with the birds and couldn’t help myself from taking too many pictures. After lunch was served with a view over the small river and I felt slightly evil having the roast chicken in a bird sanctuary although it was prepared by the infamous Twisted Tanya and tasted really good. She has a well known restaurant in town where we went with Fred and Larry on their last night in town.

Summary: Even though we only stayed in two places in Honduras we really enjoyed the country. Most of the locals were really friendly and greeted us with smiles as we walked around town. There was a large selection of food ranging from ladies standing in the streets grilling strips of meat served with rice, beans and tacos, to fancy restaurants. Internet was available in most places we stayed. The landscape was lush and green with mountains and lakes making it a beautiful country all in all. I really liked the country as it has so much going for it. Seeing many foreign people settling there made a lot of sense as not only do you have the beauty but you can also set up a business without all the red tape. I can really recommend a visit to this country.

More added extras:

·         Chilitepes: Very small but very hot chilies which I sampled at Carlos’ farm. I like spicy but they took it to new levels!

·         Pacaya: It looks almost like asparagus and is typically cooked with eggs in the morning.

·         Majonchos: These are square profiled bananas! They have a slightly citrusy taste and are very nice to eat.

·         Malanja: A root which was prepared for us as fritters with a sweet ginger sauce – delicious!

·         Chipilin flowers: We had them mixed with cheese in a corn tortilla with tomato salsa and mashed beans with cream on top.

·         Rijoa: Tasted like mashed sweetcorn. They were made by mixing montuca and anchota, wrapped in banana leaves and barbequed on a fire. We had them served either plain or with chicken topped off with a dollop of cream.

·         Rianitos: Our favorite! Mashed majonchos (square banana) fritters with mashed black beans on the inside. It was a delicious sweet and salty combination.

·         Yuca plants: Not only do they use the roots of the plants for eating, they also use it for shade when planting cocoa plants.

·         Banana plants and cocoa plants are planted together for pollination purposes.

·         Beans are planted together with corn as they put nitrogen back into the ground which is good for the corn.

·         Living fences: Instead of using wood for making fences, the locals plant trees in a row. These they constantly trim and use the cuttings to plant new trees, aka fences.

·         Coffee grows best in the shade and it is labeled as such in supermarkets to differentiate from the newer plants that have been developed to grow in the sun. To create shade they have to grow more trees which is a good thing especially with deforestation issues.

·         Cocoa beans: The beans are usually purple and white inside. The whiter the bean the better the quality. 

  

·         It seems that there is no love lost between most Central America countries and Costa Rica as according to Carlos they are the “Switzerland” of Central America and don’t always play ball when it comes to making joint decisions.  

Complete photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=343715&id=749927742&l=35737ae993

Nicaragua

Nicaragua:

Even though Nicaragua should have started off as highlight for me, it actually ended up being the opposite. In the early hours before leaving Costa Rica I picked up a bug which was determined to expel any liquid from my body through any orifice possible.  From La Fortuna we shared a shuttle with a few Germans and made our way north towards Nicaragua – a much better option than taking 3 public buses! Along the way our driver stopped for 15 minutes at a restaurant next to a small river which had trees filled with armies of iguanas sunbathing in the morning sun. Passport control was at a quick stop at a small house and from there we boarded a boat which was part taxi and part wildlife spotting. The river was called Rio Frio (Cold River) and everyone, except me, thoroughly enjoyed the picturesque trip up the river spotting wildlife including howler monkeys, caimans and birds while I stood dry retching over the side of the boat. I felt like death but it was still a nice experience travelling up the river through forest while seeing all the wildlife.

San Carlos: Once through passport control we were going to take a taxi to reach our hotel but because it was such a small town a young lad helped me carry my luggage as I was pretty weak by then. For the rest of the day Gillian explored the town while I remained horizontal. By the next morning, even though it felt like Mike Tyson punched me in the kidneys, the nausea stopped and I could brave wander a few meters from a toilet. San Carlos is a small town situated where Rio Frio, Rio San Jaun and Lago de Nicaragua meet. There wasn’t much happening there apart from being one of the main shipping towns but at least it had one decent restaurant. At the top end of town was a small museum which was the only place there worth visiting and unsurprisingly I was again the only South African to sign the visitors book. Travelling through Central and South America I have hardly met any South Africans and in many places I’ve been the first that many people have met! 

Our hotel was very basic and Nicaragua being a poor country showed its true colors when there was a power cut and we were told that there was only running water early mornings and in the evenings. During daytime we had to flush the toilet with water that stood in large plastic containers inside the shower! We booked a boat from San Carlos to El Castillo on our second day. One thing that made me smile was watching the vendors at the dock. These guys would have put Gadgetman to shame with the amount of electronics, sunglasses, watches, etc, strapped to their bodies!  I bought a pair of “real” Ray Bans off one of them for about 3 dollars.

El Castillo: The long narrow boat we boarded was filled to the brim with people and some had to stand. What made matters worse were the vendors forcing their way on selling anything from bread, agua con leche and chicken with plantain chips. I do actually love these entrepreneurial vendors as it is so interesting seeing all the ingenious ideas that they have come up with. Our boat was the “slow” one stopping all along the way at the most random of places. Many times we had to wonder just where the hell these people wander off to! El Castillo was a brilliant little village packed with lots of charm. The people there were very religious and even though poor, seemed to be happy. There was a happy vibe in the little town which made it a really nice place to visit.

Our rustic wooden hostel was built on stilts over the water and had a deck with swinging chairs overlooking the rapids in the river. It has to be one of my favorite accommodations so far.  There was a “fiesta” while we were staying, which meant many baseball teams came from all around to compete followed by a party in town after. One of the bars played ear drum bursting music which rattled our wooden cabin till the early hours of the morning even though the party was “called off” due to an old lady passing away on the same day. We of course had to see the baseball teams playing and while there noted all the muddy horses tied up all around the field belonging to the various locals coming from afar.

By the time I had fully recovered from my stomach bug, Gillian came down with something else so I booked a fishing/canoeing trip with one of the locals.  He took me down the main river to a little side stream where we dug for bait worms. It was nice paddling over the calm water in a dug-out canoe while listening to the birds chattering in the forest. However, the fishing was not great and the elusive prehistoric looking gaspar fish avoided my bait. I only managed to catch 6 small tilapia while sitting under a large tree filled with noisy howler monkeys who kept dropping fruit into the water next to us. I sat there wondering when one was going to fall on my head! What did manage to fall on my head, after the skies turned dark, was buckets and buckets of rain. I was fooled by the clear skies of earlier and was thoroughly soaked to the skin on my journey back to town. My guide had to bail water out of the boat as there was so much of it ironically coming from above!

Apart from watching baseball, visiting the historic fort, lazing on the wooden deck of our hotel and my canoeing trip there was not much else to do although we made an effort to try the infamous river prawns. I’ve seen large prawns in my life but nothing prepared me for the size of those bad boys. They were humungous and looked more like crayfish - although the long thin arms confirmed them to be prawns. Garlic butter complimented them well and a cold beer rounded off a memorable culinary experience. The warm smiles from the friendly locals saying “hola” as we walked past, together with a nice vibe made our time in El Castillo very memorable.

Ometepe Island: We left El Castillo on the 7am slow boat stopping off at yet again many random places. On that occasion one of the locals even had a box of tweeting chicks in it! From San Carlos we booked the 2pm boat to Ometepe which was another 10 hours making it a very long day as we only reached the island at 12:30am. We boarded a rusty rattling minibus with a smiling old man with his large glasses in the back with us, one lad driving and another riding shotgun, guarding the baggage tied to a rack on the roof. The bad road to Altagracia only slightly prepared us for what was still to come during our stay. No amount of banging on the doors or hooting of the horn could wake the staff up at the recommended Hotel Central so we had to look for accommodation elsewhere. Luckily we found a place in Hotel Castillo where we based ourselves for the next 3 nights.

Ometepe is an island created by two cloud covered volcanoes. In order to get around I rented a chopper-style motorbike off one of the locals which came complete with paperwork and a dented petrol tank. We took off that afternoon for Moyogalpa which is also the largest town on the island. Along the way a policeman stopped us and asked for my license which I had left back at the hotel. The owner’s paperwork was kept while I returned to obtain mine, after which we all lived happily ever after. Even though the stretch of road between the two towns was tarmac it was still an experience driving along dodging pigs, cows, mules, dogs, chickens, goats, horses, kids, rocks and unmarked speed bumps. There wasn’t much to see in Moyogulpa although we ate some of the best food we had had in ages in an English/Canadian couple’s coffee shop. Gillian had a roasted vegetable and grilled cheese salad while I had a steak and caramelized onion sandwich on granary bread, accompanied by a fresh starfruit and grapefruit juice. It was such a nice change after having to eat gallo pinto pretty much every day!

The next day we headed off to climb partway up the Maderas volcano to the waterfall and to see the petroglyphs. We were warned about the bad roads in the south of the island but I really wasn’t prepared for what lay ahead. The dirt roads opened up a very big can of worms for me as I had to navigate not only pigs, cows, mules, dogs, chickens, goats, horses, kids, rocks and unmarked speed bumps but much more. The “roads” were abominable to say the least with large loose rocks, potholes, drainage culverts and loose gravel. To add to this I had to handle a low chopper-style road bike with smooth tires, Gillian on the back and only a front brake that worked. The engine ran at high revs which made crawling along even trickier and I must have aged by at least 5 years after we bumped and skidded our way along the bad roads.

It was very hot as we hiked the 3km up to the waterfall and we were slightly disappointed when we finally got there. The waterfall was very small but at least the hike through the forest made up for it. We also managed to spot one of the few elusive green parrots flying about far away as well as a brightly colored snake. One bird which was very common though was the blue magpie. They looked a bit like small peacocks with crowns on their heads and they make funny pew-pew sounds which would have fitted any Star Wars zap gun. On the drive back we stopped to see 8 petroglyphs and again we weren’t overly impressed which made our very nerve wrecking trip that day debatable. For the rest of our stay in Altagracia we caught up with our blogs while relaxing in hammocks, playing cards and drinking cold beers. We felt like we did our good deed by supporting a local woman who barbequed meat outdoors and served it with plantain chips, gallo pinto and a cabbage salad.

Granada: The minibus taxi dropped us off again at the port from where we took the 12pm boat to Granada. It was a bit windy and the water choppy so we weren’t sure what to expect especially after a Chinese girl told us many people threw up on the way in because of the big waves! One doesn’t always associate lakes with huge sea-like waves but Lagoa de Nicaragua is a very large freshwater lake and accounts for a large proportion of Nicaragua! We arrived in Granada all blurry eyed around 4:30am and took a taxi to the Oasis Hostel where we booked in. The hostel was pretty good with kitchen, wifi, free PCs with internet and it even had a small swimming pool. We changed to a dorm after a nap as the private room was a bit expensive.

Granada itself was a funny city with a few colorful colonial Spanish buildings and the streets were busy with some very poor people. Walking towards the market the streets were lined with vendors selling pirate DVD’s, watches, sunglasses, fruit and juices. The food market was very interesting with the maze of little walkways. There was even more on offer in the market and I could see anything from large bags filled with rice, beans and corn to chunks of unrefrigerated meat. One thing I noted is that Nicaragua seems to have a love affair with plastic bags. Pretty much anything gets put in a plastic bag and women selling cold drinks in a plastic bag with straw was very common to see on the streets. I bought one only to discover it was beetroot juice!

A thought that might have crossed some people’s minds especially after visiting Costa Rica might be “where are all the caimans, giant toads and turtles?” I discovered the answer to that question while visiting the souvenir shops in the main square of Granada. Well, they are caught, killed, cut open with innards taken out, sewn up and dried and displayed in all various positions and sold for next to nothing. The turtles had it easiest as they just stared into nothingness while the caimans were posing holding small drums or small wooden bowls – always with a permanent death grimace on their faces. The toads were posed in sexual positions and I could only question the sanity of whoever massacred these poor animals.

Lago de Apoyo: We stayed for 3 days in a hostel called Paradiso which is located on the edge of Lago de Apoyo. Paradiso was linked with the Oasis hostel in Granada and offered cheap transfers between the two. I had a nice view of the lake while lying in a sun lounger sipping a cold beer. The water was nice and warm for swimming in and had different layers of colors: brown in the shallows, green slightly deeper and finally it changed to a deep blue. Mountains surrounded the lake and I can see why the Lonely Planet suggested it as one of the must see things in Nicaragua.

Apart from chilling out you could go swimming, kayaking, hiking, bird watching or simply eat and drink. We went kayaking one day and Gillian managed to tip, not once but twice, probably the most stable kayak I’ve ever paddled. Other than that I found it funny that even though I’ve never seen the point of bird watching I ended up actively looking for the beautiful mot mots with the large camera and zoom lens. These pretty birds are various colors of blue and green and have long tails which are bare until the tip of flared black feathers. They swing these tails from side to side like a pendulum to either attract females or let predators know that they have been spotted. Another tiny animal that amused me was the small geckos that kept us company pretty much everywhere we went. They made very funny chicken-like clucking sounds, especially during the evenings, and sure have had many people guessing as to what it could be.

From Lago de Apoyo we took a taxi to Managua where we stayed near the Tica Bus station in budget accommodation for the night and left for Honduras the next morning at 5am. I have slightly mixed feelings about the country but in general we found the people in Nicaragua very friendly, especially in the smaller places. El Castillo was my favorite place as even though it was small it had a lot of charm. Granada didn’t impress me that much as it was just another city stuffed with way too many people.  Getting harassed by vendors had me saying “no gracias” like a parrot or stuck record but I guess that is all part of the experience. In general it was a nice country and also a hell of a lot cheaper than Costa Rica which was a good thing for our budget. 

Complete photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=336093&id=749927742&l=8d2bae27ad

Costa Rica

Costa Rica:

San Jose: Having been to San Jose I can second the general opinion that it is not a nice city, with muggings common at night in down town. We had an enjoyable stay in Aldea hostel which is fairly new.  The staff there were very friendly and helped us book a few trips out of the city. Two eventful things happened while we stayed there: A massive car crash happened right outside our hostel while we were busy cooking dinner. We watched the whole scene through the windows – luckily no one was hurt even though the cars were pretty smashed up. The other thing that happened was that a girl had her bag stolen right outside the hostel one night while waiting for her taxi. It was slightly disturbing especially as it happened so close to us. If you ever travel through San Jose, use it only as a gateway to get to other places things.

Coffee Tour: When I lived in the UK, I bought a lot of Costa Rican coffee and therefore could not resist a coffee tour. Britt Coffee is located in the Heredia province of Costa Rica (there are 7 regions in total). The slightly higher altitude gives rise to a cooler climate and that together with all the mineral deposits coming from the volcanoes makes for good coffee. I didn’t have overly high expectations of the coffee tour but have to admit that I was very pleasantly surprised. Our guides were actors as well who kept bantering with each other and even staged a small show dressed up in funny costumes while acting out the history of coffee. It was a great day out as we learnt about the history of coffee as well as the manufacturing process. 

It has been rumored that coffee was discovered by an Ethiopian goat herder who saw that his goats became hyperactive when eating particular red berries. Arabs were the first to start drinking coffee and soon started trading it with other countries. Coffee first came to Costa Rica in 1750. The berries change colour from green (unripe), to red (ripe) and finally to black (over ripe). There are 3 layers to remove before reaching the actual beans – only 25% of the actual berries is used!  Workers harvest the berries with woven baskets tied around their waste which when full weigh 25lbs. Years ago the Costa Rican Government parceled up land and allocated it to families.  This means that today, many locals have their own small plots for growing coffee. After harvesting they deliver their coffee berries to a plant, such as Britt Coffee, which is supplied by over 1,000 individual growers.

To start the beans are weighed and dropped into a tank filled with water. Good beans sink to the bottom whereas the poorer floating berries are sold to instant coffee producers. The first process is crushing the berries to remove the outer skin. The slimy whitish beans then go into large containers which are filled with water where natural fermentation takes place – a little like fermenting wine. The fermentation process helps to remove the 2^nd layer after which the beans are left outside, on large flat concrete bases, to dry. Workers have to rake the beans every hour for a week to ensure the beans reach the optimum humidity level of 11.5% – any higher can cause fungi to grow on it. The beans can then be stored in a neutral environment as they absorb other smells, for up to a year. After storage the last parchment layer is removed to reveal a green coffee bean. These beans are then roasted at a temperature of 300C to the desired color and taste – caramelizing the natural sugars turns the beans brown. 

The longer beans are roasted, the darker they become and more natural oils are released - Espresso for example is the darkest bean with the strongest flavour. Another interesting fact is that after the Costa Rican government ruled that ALL of the best coffee must be exported, sugar sales have increased dramatically.  The reason for this is that good coffee tastes nice hot and cold without sugar whereas bad coffee tastes bitter, hence the high sugar sales! For creating froth you don’t need an expensive coffee machine only a French Coffee Press (cafetiere).  Pour chilled semi-skimmed milk into the press and pump the handle up and down fast about 30 times. This creates lovely foam which you simply heat up in the microwave.  No $5,000 coffee machine required!

Tortuguero National Park: The day after the coffee tour, we were picked up at our hostel at 5:45 for a day trip to the park. On our way we drove up into the mountains through a cloud forest - water condenses at around 1,200m forming a cloud, hence then name. The weather up there was not good – cold, windy and rainy but luckily the weather back down at sea level was much better. Along the way we passed many pineapple and banana plantations and stopped at one for some photos. I bought a coconut (with straw) off a local who also displayed a large beetle gnawing on a sugar cane.  We continue to be amazed by the random things we see along the way.

 Most of the trip consisted of a boat ride along a series of canals through the forest. We saw many species of wildlife, including white herons (who have yellow worm like feet to attract small fish), tiger herons, Jesus Christ lizards (so called because they can run on water!), caimans, crocodiles, howler monkeys, white faced monkeys, black river turtles, anhingas, snowy egrets, northern jacanas, montezuma oropendol and we even saw a nocturnal two-toed sloth next to the road! Our guide, Thomas, also pointed out a very well camouflaged owl sitting on a branch. He was very passionate about his job and mentioned a few interesting facts such as:

·        -- > Whales were actually wolves and have evolved over thousands of years into swimming creatures. The funny lumps on their bodies are patches of “skin” and may even contain hair.

·         --> White Faced Monkeys are the only predators in Costa Rica who decide what they are going to hunt together in a pack.

·         --> The leaves on trees are NOT green. We only perceive it as green because of this is the part of the light spectrum they emit.

·         --> Matter cannot be created only redistributed so where do all the bananas come from? Millions get exported but nothing comes back to replace them. The answer is carbon! Plants absorb carbon from the atmosphere to create the fruit – hence why you can grow plants using hydroponics!

·         --> Road-kill only happens outside National Parks. You will never see a dead animal next to the road inside the park.  Reason: the animals only move around outside the park because they are forced to do so by humans.

·         --> Animals that eat leaves move a lot slower than animals that eat grass because they are harder to digest and provide less energy.

Gillian became sick after our day trip and ended up visiting the hospital as her coughing became worse and she had a fever. I can only praise the Costa Rican health services as they were professional and very efficient. She was diagnosed with lower airway infection and ordered to bed which meant that we ended up staying in San Jose for 7 nights. Travelling around Costa Rica can be a bit tricky especially if you want to do various National Parks, and so with Gillian still recovering, we decided to rent a car.  Unfortunately we discovered that quoted prices on the internet are only half the story – the neglect to include the mandatory taxes and insurance (we were quoted $350 and paid $470). Nevertheless, we were pretty screwed without one so had to bite the bullet. In hindsight, I definitely would have gone for a jeep rather than our economy car as some of the potholes we encountered were almost as big as our little car!

Quepos: After the vast distances we covered in South America, Central America seems very small. We drove from San Jose to Quepos in under 3 hours and settled into a small hotel in town. The town was fairly Americanized with many tourist souvenir shops. I’ve never seen so many deep sea fishing charters in one town – all advertising the catch and release of blue and black marlin, sailfish, dorado and many more. Since Gillian was still not very well, I aided her recovery by giving her a day off and booked a fishing trip for me the next day. Quepos is a mecca for deep sea fishing and there are two optionson offer: inshore fishing for rooster fish, red snapper and snook or deep sea fishing for sailfish, dorado, tuna and if you’re lucky, blue or black marlin! I decided to splash out and booked a boat for the day.

Deep sea fishing: The boat had a captain and a very energetic helper who tended the rods. Generally, flashers and teasers would be more thought of in connection with strippers, although the terms are also also used with respect to fishing. Extended on either side of our boat were 2 down riggers, each with a teaser (squid-like rubber lure) and baited with a small fish or lure on the hook end. The next two rods were situated on either side of the boat (on the lower deck) while the last was bang in the middle mounted in the rod holder in the top. Last but not least was a flasher (rectangular shiny piece of metal) that spins around in the water and reflects the sunlight which attracts fish. That gave us a total of 5 rods all baited with either small fish or lures. Our captain maintained a steady pace and thus began the waiting game.

When a fish strikes all hell breaks loose on the boat amidst loud and frantic shouting. Both captain and mate drop anything they might be doing and scurry towards the rods with outstretched arms as if sleepwalking, only very much faster. After spotting the jerking rod they would grab it and set the hook by which time I would have position myself in the swivel chair on the back of the boat. We had quite a few strikes which we lost before actually hooking into a sailfish. Having an acrobatic sailfish on the other end of your line is a pure adrenaline rush to say the least. I was amazed by the power of the fish as it leapt out of the water while viciously shaking its head trying to dislocate the hook. Luckily for me it never happened and soon I was able to pose with my first but hopefully not last sailfish! For the rest of the day I was more emotional than a pregnant woman as I switched between happy and very sad when I lost a very large dorado and a few more sailfish. I did however finish the day a very happy customer with a smile as big as the sailfish I caught!

Manuel Antonio National Park: This is Costa Rica’s 2^nd smallest national park with beautiful beaches and it is home to cheeky white faced monkeys and raccoons. We rented a very poor guide that day and felt pretty much ripped off after a very short and dull tour. A large part of the park we hiked ourselves and managed to see a white nosed coati, sloths, agouties and few birds. Most of the park and trails were however closed off due to a hurricane that destroyed most of the trails 6 months earlier. The fun part was back on the beach where the white faced monkeys came down from the trees to terrorize the tourists. 

There was a whole troop of them constantly scouting for unsuspecting sunbathers and quickly jumping down to steal their food. They were a constant source of entertainment as they went about their monkey business. Not to be outdone were the raccoons. They were even bolder with their theft and raided people’s bags with no care in the world! It was very funny watching the startled tourists trying to shoo off the naughty blighters.  Manuel Antonio was a very nice park to visit and definitely worth a visit. The iconic beaches and cheeky thieving wildlife made it a memorable visit for us.

Monteverde Cloud Forest: From Quepos we drove north past Jaco and over a river containing lots of large crocodiles and onwards towards Monteverde. We took the turn off onto the dirt road leading to Monteverde and discovered that our little car was definitely not up to it – we rattled along for a little bit but soon decided to turn back and give Monteverde a miss. Back on the smooth tarmac road we set off for our revised destination which was a small town called Arenal. Due to the lack of sign posts, we took a wrong turn and after asking for directions discovered that we were yet again on another dirt road to Monteverde! That time we decided to continue and after shaking along and dodging numerous potholes we finally reached the village. We stayed in Eddy’s Cabinas which was lovely and as the owner also owned the barber shop downstairs, it was time for a quick and very cheap haircut.

Monteverde itself is a beautiful little village perched up in the mountains, overlooking the cloud forest - a very vivid rainbow stretching across the town made it even more picturesque! Tourism is big in Monteverde and there are quite a few activities on offer such as zip-lining, hiking, a coffee tour or a visit to the sloth or bat sanctuary or Frog Pond/Butterfly show. On our first evening we booked a night hike as Gillian was eager to see a tarantula. The company we did the hike with had a few bird and animal feeders positioned outside their hut and we soon saw raccoons, white-faced coatis, hummingbirds and a kinkajou who kept stealing the bananas meant for the birds. As it was very windy that night we didn’t see too many animals although Gillian got to see her tarantula. The two we saw were orange and black in colour and are apparently kept as pets by many people. Unfortunately many die as people don’t feed them the correct food.

Twitchers: One of the main things to do in Monteverde is to try and spot a quetzal – a very elusive and colorful bird. Twitchers come from all over the world to try and catch a glimpse of this bird so we headed off early the next morning to try our luck. Bird watchers amused me as they walked about, as if in a trance, with opened mouths and some with a zoom lens the size of the Hubble telescope. We decided not to chance another bad guide so did the hike on our own. There were many groups with guides anyway and the funny thing was that Gillian spotted a quetzal that a guide failed to spot, even after she tried to point it out to him! I quickly zoomed in and took a picture and after that the quetzal promptly flew off followed by an entourage of over excited gawking twitchers and guide, all falling over each other – it was hilarious to watch!

Sloth Sanctuary: We couldn’t resist a visit to the sloth sanctuary on our way back to town and so we stopped in too see the sloths up close. A very passionate woman told us many facts (and a few myths) about sloths which were very interesting. The sloths at the centre had been rescued and cannot be returned to the wild due to their injuries from overhead electric cables, being hit by cars or bitten by dogs. There are two welfare sanctuaries for sloths in Costa Rica. The main one were founded by our tour guide’s parents and is situated on the east coast in Cahita, where they run a volunteer programme. We really enjoyed seeing the sloths up close as they lazed about with their ever present “smiles”. They are really curious animals and one kept trying to reach for us with its long claws. Here are a few more sloth facts:

·         --> They only defecate every 7 days, therefore 30% of their bodyweight is sh*t!

·         --> Sloths live in trees and feed on the leaves. They only risk coming down to take a dump in order that they can bury their sh*t next to the tree they feed on before any rain can wash it away to fertilize the soil.

·         --> Sloths used to live alongside dinosaurs and evolved to walk on land and became huge animals. When the  American continents joined, predators came down from the north so sloths evolved back to living in trees and being much smaller.

·         --> Two and three toed sloths are actually two very different animals and according to our guide should be called Choloepus and Bradypus respectively.

Frog/Butterfly Sanctuary: A visit to this place is best at night time when the frogs are most active. Unfortunately we didn’t know that and due to Gillian’s strict Excel spreadsheet stating that we had to leave that day, we could only see them during the daytime. There were 30 different species of frogs of which our favorite was the red eyed tree frog. Apparently the large toad is the one that people lick to get high and the poison dart frog is the one Indians used to poison their arrows.

Arenal: Arenal is a very small village next to a large lake with hundreds of notice boards advertising places like the infamous German bakery as well as various hotels well in advance. We only stayed there for one night as although it is a reasonable little town, there was just not much happening there.

Cana Negro: One thing we saw a lot of in Costa Rica (but also in South America) were the funny looking cows grazing along the roads - they look a bit like the Droopy the Dog cartoon in cow form. It was nice to settle into a quiet wooden cabin at the edge of town after the very long and bumpy road where I had to constantly dodge potholes. The sleepy little town had lots of character and we even got to eat at every restaurant (a total of 3) in town. Cana Negro was good for spotting wildlife, especially birds that flew around pretty much everywhere. 

The only proper activity we did there was a fishing/bird watching tour where we saw many birds, caimans and very large tarpon which had no interest in my bait whatsoever. Also very interesting was seeing pink spoon bills for the first time! These birds also change colour, just like flamingos, due to eating small pink shrimps which are found in the river. Back on land we visited a small butterfly sanctuary which was very interesting, especially seeing the weird caterpillars. For seeing wildlife this little place is a must while in Costa Rica. 

La Fortuna: The touristy town of La Fortuna was our last stop in Costa Rica and we found that pretty much every shop sold tours, even restaurants! The backpackers where we stayed was really nice and had amenities such as internet, bar/snack bar and a swimming pool. Our first trip from there was to visit the hot springs and even though it was a bit commercial it was still great fun. There were many different pools to choose from and all varied in temperature. Three water slides also kept us entertained although with the middle slide you literally took your life in your own hand as it would easily have broken all UK health and safety rules! I went down and bruised my elbow at the bottom while Gillian bumped her head and sported a large lump for many days after. It was funny watching people going down the slide and crashing down below in a tangle of arms and legs, before surfacing with a very stunned (or pained) look on their faces! The slides turned me into a young excited boy again and I thoroughly enjoyed myself. Our evening there ended with a buffet dinner which in term of buffets had a very large variety of food and tasted pretty good. 

Seeing lava flowing down the side an active volcano was not to be as the damn volcano stopped erupting 5 months before we arrived – even though it had been active since 1968 – typical! We had to be content with hiking the Toucan Trail next to the volcano which had no toucans on it the day we were there. To cheer ourselves up we went zip lining through the forest canopy with a company called Sky Tram. Their restaurant was situated part way up a mountain and had a great view over Lake Arenal and the volcano. 

A tram(cable car) transported us all the way to the top and from there we zipped our way down through the forest canopies – brilliant! It was a nice way to end our time in Costa Rica before we returned our very muddy and battered hire car back to Alamo. Costa Rica was all about seeing wildlife and we were definitely not disappointed. Having a rental car also helped us a lot as we weren’t dependent on buses and could zip around quickly from place to place. It is a relatively small country and getting from one end to the other was fairly quick but visiting all the National Parks on the other hand would prove difficult as there are so many. With all its wildlife, sandy beaches, sport fishing and hiking I can highly recommend a visit to Costa Rica.

Complete photo album: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=333373&id=749927742&l=48c422c8f3