Our computer crashed last night )-:

It started raining last night.  It was one of those tropical rains that POURS.   It is the nicest rain, though.  It's not like back home when it rains, it come straight down.  Not one drop of rain on the front porch or in the house and it is wide open.  It just rains really hard and then stops.

We went into town and rented bikes today.  It makes going to town a  lot faster and easier.  

We had grabbed a couple of things from the grocery store so we brought them back to the house and then took a ride to Cocles.   The beaches are gorgeous there and the rainforest is beautiful, too.

This is on the road to our house.

We will be riding along on our bikes and suddenly I will see something so beautiful it takes my breath - this was one of them.

I've been in Costa Rica 3 days and I haven't gotten into trouble ONCE!   I am SOOO proud of myself!

We left San Jose and took an Interbus to Puerto Viejo yesterday.   We are finally here!  When we got our bags packed and went outside to wait for the bus there were literally HUNDREDS of people on the street waiting for the city bus - we have never been in San Jose on a weekday so we hadn't seen it before.   There were people as far as you could see for blocks.

The bus ride here takes 4 1/2 hours but it is a beautiful ride through the mountains, some secondary rainforests and several small towns.  The bus only stopped once so I didn't get any photos of the ride.  We met a really nice young couple on the bus from Canada - they were spending a little time here then backpacking to Nicaragua and Guatemala with 20 other people.  I wish I had done things like that when I was younger!

We were both a little nervous when we arrived about the house we had rented.   It was VERY cheap and we have learned through the years that pictures on the Internet can be misleading (that's another blog!).  We were pleasantly surprised -it is very small but clean and cozy.   We can lie in the hammock on our front porch and listen to the ocean.   The ocean is right in our front yard but the jungle is so dense that you can barely see it.   Here are some pictures of the house.

Notice the showerhead - it's what the gringos call a suicide shower - it is the only hot water in the house - that is the electrical wiring right above it.   They used to make me nervous but I'm used to them now.

Front yard - the beach is right in front of the trees but you can barely see it.

I've never liked having a window over my sink but now I have changed my mind.   I love this one!

Dinner being prepared.  I have to write a post about the food here - this was one of the best dinners I have made in ages and it was simple and CHEAP!  

 

John checking his emails.

 

John lounging in the hammock after dinner.   Note to self:  we can't both lie in the hammock at the same time - it is just not strong enough.

The only thing about where we are is that the sand is volcanic sand and it is almost black- right past town it turns white.

Puerto Viejo

Today we are going into town to rent bikes from a Columbian man we met.  John negotiated a very good price with him.   He has a son that lives in the Hamptons on Long Island - small world!   The price the Columbian is giving us is about $200 cheaper than the Americans down the road wanted to charge us!!

Packed for a month!!!

We spent the day in San Jose.   Have I mentioned that I am not a big fan of San Jose?   It is the heartbeat of Costa Rica – it really is.      About 30% of the population of Costa Rica is here.   You can find anything you might need here.   It is in the Central Valley so the temperatures are spring-like year round.   That is about the end of the pros.    It is crime-ridden, dirty, ugly, and I can go on and on.   If you see anything beautiful in San Jose – there will be bars, cages, or barb-wire around it.   Photographers bring your editing software because you can’t get a nice shot of ANYTHING here without something ugly in it.   Like I said in my first post – people only stay in San Jose because they have to.   Our room at Casa 69 - $35 a night!

Fresh bromeliads everywhere!!!

Pura Vida means “Pure Life” and it is the greeting Costa Ricans (Ticos) use like we use Hello/Goodbye in the states.

We walked to the grocery store (super Mercado) this morning and saw raw sewage running out of a house and into a storm drain in the street.   It was disgusting.   John said “don’t get bent out of shape over sewage”!  We bought stuff for a sandwich – tomatoes, avocado, fresh basil, a loaf of crusty bread – it was absolutely delicious!   You can buy homegrown EVERYTHING here year round.  The bread was heavenly – the selection was great and the loaf John chose was fresh out of the oven! (don't you love how i discuss raw sewage and food in the same paragraph?).

All American fast food restaurants are here as exhibited the debris strewn everywhere…..  

Everything here is open air and that is one of the things I love about Costa Rica.  We have windows here but in Puerto Viejo over 50% of the house will be screens.   There are no air conditioners.  You definitely don’t need them in San Jose – it is a little warmer in Puerto Viejo during the day but the nights are perfect  -  between 60-65 degrees.

  I will be in a secondary rainforest tomorrow and will be able to post some REAL photos!!!

Adios San Jose!!!

We've arrived!!!

Our flight to Miami left on time this morning.    A typical morning with an early flight to catch – not being able to sleep because you are afraid you will oversleep and miss the flight.   We’ve been up since 2:30 this morning.   We had a friend drop us at the airport to catch the flight; after he left we realized that we don’t have our keys and didn’t tell him what to do with them.  It took me close to a month to figure out what we needed to take with us.   A month is a long time to pack for!   The last time we flew internationally was in 2010 and we were allowed to check 2 bags each – I didn’t check with the airline before we left and they have changed the policy since then – they hit us with a $40 charge for one extra bag.  John was livid!   We have already formulated a plan to get around the charge on the way back. 

We have over 100 pounds of luggage in the cargo hold, not counting the carry-ons we brought.   There is no such thing as a Laundromat in Costa Rica (that I have ever seen).   The locals either have their own machines or they was clothes by hand on a washboard.   There are people who will do your laundry for a small fee but they rarely ever have dryers and when they do they still don’t completely dry your clothes.   It takes a long time for things to dry because of the humidity.    That is my excuse for bringing 45 pounds of clothing on this trip! 

We landed in San Jose without any problems.   I had forgotten why I loved this country so much until the plane did that huge tilt as we descended and I saw the beautiful mountains that flank the Central Valley.   I can’t wait to get to the jungle in Puerto Viejo tomorrow!!!

We don’t have Internet access in our room so I am typing up my post and going to the Internet café to post this.   I will start posting pictures tomorrow!!!

 

Okay everybody - I am having a hard time deciding how to start this blog so bear with me here!   After our first trip to Costa Rica in 2005 we fell in love with it.   We went back for 10 days in 2010 and it wasn't long enough.   We decided if we ever retired we would go for at LEAST a month.   That would give us enough time to explore the country as well as immerse ourselves in the culture a bit more (that sounds sorta nasty doesn't it?).  

John was offered early retirement last year and when we found out we booked the trip while we were still working and paid it off.  Tomorrow morning (January 26, 2013) we board our flight at 7:00AM CST and will be in San Jose, Costa Rica at 12:00PM CST.  I'm not very fond of San Jose - very few tourists are.   Tourist average 2 nights in San Jose per visit and that is only because you almost HAVE to.  It is several hours from San Jose to any of the beaches on both the Pacific and Caribbean side of the country.  The sun rises at 6:30 and sets at 6:30 every day - all year long.  You are not likely to get to San Jose before noon on any flight you take.  Unless you are very brave OR very stupid - if you rent a car it really isn't a good idea to arrive in a strange country with very bad roads and try to cross treacherous mountains in the dark.

We made the mistake of taking a bus to Puerto Viejo the last time we were there and we left on the 2:00PM bus.   There was a problem on the way - there had been a mudslide on the mountains and we had to take another route that took 2 hours longer than it was supposed to.   The driver didn't speak English so we had no idea what was wrong.   When we arrived we had a very hard time finding a cab from the bus station to the cabinas where we were staying.   Lesson learned - too hard to navigate around late at night.

The bus drivers are maniacs.   You see them whizz by on narrow, winding, curvy roads doing 90 mph.   As they pass people walking on the street look bizzare because their hair is standing up on end from the wind off the bus.   It is scary - we decided that if we ever take another bus from San Jose that we are going to sit in the back and read and never look up!

We will be staying two days at Casa 69 in San Jose before taking the Interbus (private minivan service) to Puerto Viejo on Monday morning.   We will remain in Puerto Viejo until February 28th and then we have two days that we have not made plans for before we leave.   If we get bored in Puerto Viejo we might even leave a week early and catch a bus over to the Pacific side for awhile - we are playing it by ear right now.

Our luggage is packed, passports dusted off and ready, and we are tying up the loose ends with the boat today before we leave.   It is in Pensacola Shipyard being worked on for our cruise to the Bahamas (that is our next adventure and the reason we moved here to be on the water).

I'm not taking my Canon Rebel to Costa Rica - I don't want to take a chance on getting it stolen but I am taking a decent Nikon and will post photos.   Nothing really to post photos of today but I will start posting them soon.

Leave me comments so I know that you guys are out there!!

Pura Vida!!!