My plans with Jeremy went to shit as they took off the following day without me.
Not to worry as a girl staying in my hostel from France, Valentine, was heading to Samara and asked if I want to go too.
That night, we tried to see the leatherback turtles come into shore to nest and lay their eggs. It costs $30, which gets you only a chance to see them. If they do not come (as it is nature and she decides where and when things happen) , they allow you to come back again free of charge. We were leaving the next day and they never came that night, so we lost $30, but we had a fun game of poker - Valentine, Alok, Rajin and myself.
We left at 6 am using the local public transit, transferring twice, and arriving in Samara about 6 hours later. Taking the local bus is the way to go. Shuttles cost about $40, whereas we spent about $3 total. Mind you, you have to keep an eye on your stuff and it's a little hot when the bus stops moving.
We got to Samara before lunch where we ran into a fellow on the street named Brian. He hustles the backpackers getting off the buses downtown when his rooms are not full. I am so glad we decided to take a chance on this guy. I wish I had enough time to tell you some of the stories this guy has. He is originally from the east coast, but travelled and lived all throughout Canada, Europe, Africa and eventually landed on the Queen Charlotte islands with the Haida tribes. Some of the stories are not G rated, so I will save that for some individual emails.
We have since had a Bulgarian named Boyan, and three Americans, Rachel, Tony and Mike, take up shop. Boyan is from Montreal, but is setting up his business here as it is based online, so he can work from anywhere in the world as long as there is internet - amazing. We have gone out a couple times in town and had lots of fun. Cooking meals together with the fresh fish and fruits and vegetables delivered almost everyday.
Oh! Let me tell you about Alain that is also staying with us. He and his wife are from Quebec (rural Quebec). He no longer works in construction as he had 4 herniated discs in his back. They are down here for a month or so. Alain looks like Bubbles, but with a skullet (see Wikipedia) and a fanny pack. Nice, simple guy. Since he has back pain, Brian hooked him up with some of the local herb to take care of the pain. We enjoyed the peace pipe together a couple times and just shot the shit.
This morning, Boyan and I met up with a couple girls who are on their work breaks. They study monkeys as part of their phD in the interior and get to let loose on the beach every 2-3 weeks. We took suzuki 4wd down the road about 30 minutes out of town where there is a hidden driveway and a hidden waterfall back in the dry country. See the pics on Facebook if you want. This blog sucks for downloading photos.
I am heading back to San Jose this weekend to meet up with Dave from my rugby club in MTL and eventually Massi, Marvin's cousin in Turrialba, a little to the east. Let's hope the Turrialba volcano settles down a little before I get there.
ciao
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Road Trip!
I have been in Tamarindo only two days, but what crazy town. It's a little party town along the west coast that attracts a lot of beginner surfers - I think Tim may have been here a couple years ago. One main strip with lots of juice bars and beach bums and tonnes of hostels with people from all over, but I have met many Argentines where I am staying.
I meant to rent a board today and get a lesson from a fellow named Mark, who I rode the bus with yesterday to get here. That didn't workout as a new mate of mine, Jeremy, and I were up late indulging in las cervezas and let's just say were in no shape to do any sort of physical activity today.
Jeremy is a contractor from Victoria, BC. He and a friend are travelling around CR until the end of the month. So, the three of us are renting a car and driving two other girls they know up to the Nicaraguan border in the northwest where they are travelling and then we are off. To where? Well, we haven't thought that far ahead yet. But the car is rented and we are outta here tomorrow for a TICO ROAD TRIP!
Hope all is well with everyone back home ;)
I meant to rent a board today and get a lesson from a fellow named Mark, who I rode the bus with yesterday to get here. That didn't workout as a new mate of mine, Jeremy, and I were up late indulging in las cervezas and let's just say were in no shape to do any sort of physical activity today.
Jeremy is a contractor from Victoria, BC. He and a friend are travelling around CR until the end of the month. So, the three of us are renting a car and driving two other girls they know up to the Nicaraguan border in the northwest where they are travelling and then we are off. To where? Well, we haven't thought that far ahead yet. But the car is rented and we are outta here tomorrow for a TICO ROAD TRIP!
Hope all is well with everyone back home ;)
Saturday, January 16, 2010
We landed on the moon!
Well not really...
I landed in Liberia, Costa Rica about an hour ago. I just got dropped off at my hostel and fgured things out before hitting an internet cafe. The hostel didn´t seem to have my reservation (as I figured might happen), but there was tons of room, so no biggie. They have WIFI, but my iphone is not connecting to it... Hopefully not a sign of things to come.
Liberia is kind of a commuter town, with lots of people coming and going. My hostel is just around the corner from the bus terminal actually. Staying here tonight and tomorrow night then taking a bus to the west coast - only about an hour or so ride - to find a nice cabin on the beach to stay in.
Adios muchachos!
I landed in Liberia, Costa Rica about an hour ago. I just got dropped off at my hostel and fgured things out before hitting an internet cafe. The hostel didn´t seem to have my reservation (as I figured might happen), but there was tons of room, so no biggie. They have WIFI, but my iphone is not connecting to it... Hopefully not a sign of things to come.
Liberia is kind of a commuter town, with lots of people coming and going. My hostel is just around the corner from the bus terminal actually. Staying here tonight and tomorrow night then taking a bus to the west coast - only about an hour or so ride - to find a nice cabin on the beach to stay in.
Adios muchachos!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Ignition
Well, since I spent the month of December doing nothing productive - unless you consider binge drinking, eating, watching TV and sleeping, productive - I have had a crazy last two weeks between transferring licences, cancelling bills, paying outstanding tickets, packing, saying bye to the mates and fam and all the rest.
Time to fire up the flux capacitors (yes, I have 2!) and ignite the flame.
I depart for T.O. tomorrow to pickup my Brazilian visa and hang with the gf for a coulpe days before setting off for the promise land(s).
First stop: Liberia, Costa Rica, January 16 via Miami
Will update as soon as I can.
Until then... Godspeed
Time to fire up the flux capacitors (yes, I have 2!) and ignite the flame.
I depart for T.O. tomorrow to pickup my Brazilian visa and hang with the gf for a coulpe days before setting off for the promise land(s).
First stop: Liberia, Costa Rica, January 16 via Miami
Will update as soon as I can.
Until then... Godspeed
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Cuba, November 28 - December 5, 2009
I figured I would use my recent trip to Cuba with my girlfriend, Sara, as a good ice-breaker with this new blog of mine.
We left Toronto November 28 at around 6pm, landing 3 hours later in Varadero, Cuba. The first two days were spent lying on the beach - with my stomach covered due to a bar accident at a rugby party. We went snorkelling and I found a sea turtle skull buried in the sand. Much to my dismay, part of it broke off when I lifted it from the water, but what a find.
On Wednesday we rented a scooter just down the street from our hotel, La Puntarenas, which is the first hotel along the Varadero penninsula. The goal of renting the scooter was to make our way all the way down the coast until we got to the last resort hotel, called Barcelo Marina Palace, where my friend Tim was staying with his girlfriend. Telecommunications in Cuba, being a socialist country, are not very 'modern', if you will. We had no outgoing telephone access for 3 days, so our pervious messages for Tim never arrived. Once at the Barcelo, we proceeded to scour the beach and buffet areas in the hopes of finding a lanky white bald guy. As luck would have it, there were many lanky pasty white guys on the beach. Our efforts eventually proved fruitless, so we returned to the other end of the penninsula, roughly 30km down the road.
Upon returning to our hotel, we inquired about the local bus services from Varadero to Havana. We were not interested in the organized tours offered at the resorts. The hotel said the busline Viazul leaves at 830 am everyday. The bus actually left at 8am everyday, which we found out when we showed up and saw the bus pulling out - DAMMIT!
We bought our tickets anyway for the next day and walked back along Varadero beach and spent the rest of the day lounging on the beach with our friends, Guy and Steph, from Brampton, ON.
Friday morning, bright and early, we arrived at the station and boarded the bus destined for Havana. WOW, what a city! There are really two countries: Varadero(and the resort towns); And then there is Havana. Havana, although rather dirty and filled with people, is very safe. There are police officers on almost every corner. The crime rate is the lowest in central America. Upon stepping off the bus, were flustered by all the people surrounding us offering taxi tours, cheap cheap`` and all sorts of crap. We decided to walk along Avenue de le Missiones towards the centre of Old Havana. We were getting a little frustrated with our 'map', given to us by a tourist office in Varadero, which had some missing info, but whatever. We met a local Cuban couple, Maria and Eduardo, walking down the street and they offered to help us find our way through the city. Maria took me to the bank, while Eduardo showed Sara where to go on the map and drew us up an itinerary. After a couple Mojitos, we ended up buying a box of cigars from Eduardo. His commission on this sale: A food coupon for a bag of rice, beans, and diapers for his 9 month-old boy, Roberto. These people were so nice and we really enjoyed talking with them about life in Canada and life in Cuba.
There are two sides to living in a socialist country like Cuba. The country is 100% literate. 100%. Many western countries don`t even come close to that! Every child is guaranteed a high level of education and every person has access to a hospital bed. Life expectancy in Cuba runs around 76 years, I believe. The drawbacks, however, include an embargo on travel and trade. Neither Sara or I had any idea that Cubans were unable to travel abroad. In Canada, you can simply apply for a passport and travel wherever you want in the world. Cubans do not have this luxury. Eduardo told me that they will come to see Canada after the next revolution - which will be shortly after Fidel passes away, as the masses are not happy with the way Fidel`s brother, Raul Castro, is running the show. This made us think of the strange hotel employee we saw earlier in the week who was on the roof all day long scoping out the horizon along the ocean. His job is to look for Cubans trying to flee the island and get to miami - about 90 miles north.
Cuba, was an amazing trip. Even though we were on the resort, we made sure that we got at least a little taste of the real Cuba. I would highly recommend people seeing Cuba. It will be interesting to see how the next 20 years in that country`s history turn out.
Marc out.
We left Toronto November 28 at around 6pm, landing 3 hours later in Varadero, Cuba. The first two days were spent lying on the beach - with my stomach covered due to a bar accident at a rugby party. We went snorkelling and I found a sea turtle skull buried in the sand. Much to my dismay, part of it broke off when I lifted it from the water, but what a find.
On Wednesday we rented a scooter just down the street from our hotel, La Puntarenas, which is the first hotel along the Varadero penninsula. The goal of renting the scooter was to make our way all the way down the coast until we got to the last resort hotel, called Barcelo Marina Palace, where my friend Tim was staying with his girlfriend. Telecommunications in Cuba, being a socialist country, are not very 'modern', if you will. We had no outgoing telephone access for 3 days, so our pervious messages for Tim never arrived. Once at the Barcelo, we proceeded to scour the beach and buffet areas in the hopes of finding a lanky white bald guy. As luck would have it, there were many lanky pasty white guys on the beach. Our efforts eventually proved fruitless, so we returned to the other end of the penninsula, roughly 30km down the road.
Upon returning to our hotel, we inquired about the local bus services from Varadero to Havana. We were not interested in the organized tours offered at the resorts. The hotel said the busline Viazul leaves at 830 am everyday. The bus actually left at 8am everyday, which we found out when we showed up and saw the bus pulling out - DAMMIT!
We bought our tickets anyway for the next day and walked back along Varadero beach and spent the rest of the day lounging on the beach with our friends, Guy and Steph, from Brampton, ON.
Friday morning, bright and early, we arrived at the station and boarded the bus destined for Havana. WOW, what a city! There are really two countries: Varadero(and the resort towns); And then there is Havana. Havana, although rather dirty and filled with people, is very safe. There are police officers on almost every corner. The crime rate is the lowest in central America. Upon stepping off the bus, were flustered by all the people surrounding us offering taxi tours, cheap cheap`` and all sorts of crap. We decided to walk along Avenue de le Missiones towards the centre of Old Havana. We were getting a little frustrated with our 'map', given to us by a tourist office in Varadero, which had some missing info, but whatever. We met a local Cuban couple, Maria and Eduardo, walking down the street and they offered to help us find our way through the city. Maria took me to the bank, while Eduardo showed Sara where to go on the map and drew us up an itinerary. After a couple Mojitos, we ended up buying a box of cigars from Eduardo. His commission on this sale: A food coupon for a bag of rice, beans, and diapers for his 9 month-old boy, Roberto. These people were so nice and we really enjoyed talking with them about life in Canada and life in Cuba.
There are two sides to living in a socialist country like Cuba. The country is 100% literate. 100%. Many western countries don`t even come close to that! Every child is guaranteed a high level of education and every person has access to a hospital bed. Life expectancy in Cuba runs around 76 years, I believe. The drawbacks, however, include an embargo on travel and trade. Neither Sara or I had any idea that Cubans were unable to travel abroad. In Canada, you can simply apply for a passport and travel wherever you want in the world. Cubans do not have this luxury. Eduardo told me that they will come to see Canada after the next revolution - which will be shortly after Fidel passes away, as the masses are not happy with the way Fidel`s brother, Raul Castro, is running the show. This made us think of the strange hotel employee we saw earlier in the week who was on the roof all day long scoping out the horizon along the ocean. His job is to look for Cubans trying to flee the island and get to miami - about 90 miles north.
Cuba, was an amazing trip. Even though we were on the resort, we made sure that we got at least a little taste of the real Cuba. I would highly recommend people seeing Cuba. It will be interesting to see how the next 20 years in that country`s history turn out.
Marc out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
