Hello again,

 I hope everyone is doing well. It is hard to believe that 11 weeks have already gone by! Jim and I spent the first 10 weeks traveling through Central America and now we are in Brazil. After my last update we were leaving Tegucigalpa, Honduras and heading to Nicaragua and then onto Costa Rica and Panama. We have seen a lot of beautiful places and done a lot of fun things since then. Here are the highlights and hope all of you find my update worthwhile!

We headed to Nicaragua and wow were we ever so pleasantly surprised. Initially we had planned on passing through Nicaragua, but what a beautiful country, friendly people and the political unrest we have all heard about seemed to be very separate from the daily lives of the people living there. We decided to stay for a while . . .

Granada, was the first city we stopped in, at one time the capital of Nicaragua, it still preserved a great deal of its charm and the streets were lined with the old and colorful Spanish Colonial Architecture. This alone was enough to make us want to explore the city further. The eruption of a nearby Volcano had also created 364 small islands, Las Isletas, just off the coast of the city. Many wealthy Nicaraguans and others own their own islands and have since built beautiful houses on them and yes, buying an island definitely crossed our minds, but we will have to wait until after the trip since we are still over budget!

                              Jim hanging with the native monkeys!

After Granada, we headed to Isla Ometepe, two islands connected by two volcanoes on either side. We arrived in Altagracia by ferry where we stayed at a charming Hospedaje, Hotel Castillo, which is worth mentioning b/c it is still my favorite. A great restaurant, super friendly staff and it was only $10 per night! Overall, my highlight in Ometepe was definitely our hike to the cascada (waterfall) in San Ramon, but definitely not the drive there. The roads here were, of course, under construction and the chicken buses, impossible to bear. Luckily, we met a nice tour guide who spoke enough English and we spent the next couple of days touring the island with him in his four-wheel drive otherwise, we probably would have been on the next boat out of there.

From Isla Ometepe, we headed to San Juan Del Sur on a ferry that I thought for sure was not going to make it. Just another possible disaster in Central America that we had to overlook - a ferry made of splintered wood in the middle of Lake Nicaragua with no life vests whatsoever. Anyhow, my first impression of San Juan Del Sur was why the fuss? But, once we headed to the mountain peaks overlooking the bay we could see the Costa Rica and Nicaraguan coastline for miles and it was spectacular. And my gosh, if there was ever a beautiful beach I want to remember it was Majagual. Totally unspoiled white, soft sand and perfect waves.

We were headed to Costa Rica next and we were planning to spend the biggest chunk of our 10 weeks here. I had been talking this up to Jim for quite sometime since I have been there before. Unfortunately, we hit a small snag at our first stop, Playa Del Coco, and I spent 5 days in the hotel room throwing back benadryl and pain killers for an itchy skin rash on my shins we think I got in Nicaragua trekking through the bushes. Sorry, no pictures of that:) Four days later we met Jessica and Mike in Playa Tamarindo, also on the Pacific Coast, and these were our first (and only) visitors (so far . . . hm hm) so we were super excited. We spent the next 3 days lounging at the beach and cooking up some great meals (thanks to Mike for sharing his secrets). Playa Tamarindo is easily considered one of the biggest draws to Costa Rica. Jim took up surfing here since the waves are perfect for learning or doing whatever. The sunsets are absolutely insane too.

We all headed to Playa Nosora together and Mike left the next day for the daily grind, but Jess was hanging around for more. Playa Nosora . . . what a beauty, I can see why there are many ex-pats that live there. The beaches are long and beautiful, decorated with white-capped waves and a hazy mist, and backed by hills with incredibly green vegetation. It is quite an out of the way place, but well worth the effort. Our scenic drive on ATV´s was one of my favorites. We crossed three rivers, one was via a suspension bridge that was more like slabs of wood hung by some cable. At this point I was only along for the ride, so it was up to Jess and Jim to get the ATV´s across. All I am going to say is that they are brave souls and . . . . they were successful! On the way in the sun was setting over the hills and palm trees and on our way out the fireflies were lighting up the open fields of tall grass.

Next stop: Quepos and Manuel Antonio National Park. Mode of transportation: cab, bus, ferry, cab. I think we left at 9AM and arrived at 10PM our longest travel day ever and unfortunately Jess was stuck in the middle of it, but she is always such a good sport so it didn´t phase her a bit. The place was breathtaking and the people friendly as ever. We saw a ton of wildlife and canopied through the forest. We stopped for a drink at Bar Tutu - the place definitely fit the name . . . Jim was ecstatic that we could watch the OU game from Costa Rica too and the view that was to die for.

Jess headed out after Quepos and Jim and I headed to the mountains to Arenal and Monteverde. The weather was excellent so we had a great view of volcan Arenal and the surrounding area. Usually it is hit or miss with the weather here so it was definitely a hit. We also spent an evening at the Hot Springs where we watched the lava flow from the volcano which is a good thing . . . I suppose. A Greater Fishing Bat circled us at least 100 times so we were able to get a few good pic´s for you. . . .

Monteverde is known for its cloudforest and what a cloudy forest it is. . . we also saw a Side-Striped Palm Pitviper, one of Costa Rica´s poisonus snakes! I was shaken, but not stirred, since I still managed to snap a couple photos. Jim and I decided to head back to Playa Tamarindo, for some R&R, yes even as world travelers we need some! We shopped and watched enough American football to tied Jim over through our trek to Tortuguero too see the turtles.

We were going to Tortuguero to take one of the famous nighttime turtle tours and visit the national park. We did see many Green Turtle´s walk up the beach, lay their eggs and then return to the ocean but, unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures, but I did finally get a good picture of a Howler monkey for you!

Our final stop in Costa Rica was Peninsula De Osa and if there is any place in this world that I could bring back for all of you it would be this one. We flew into Puerto Jiminez and jumped in the back of a paddy-wagon for a 2 hour ride over a bumpy road to Carate. Then it was another 3.5km walk along the beach to our campsite, but as soon as we stepped onto the beach I was floored and it wasn´t by the weight of my backpack (although at this point I could definitely shed a few). We spent the next couple of nights camping right along the ocean and trekking through the rainforest along the coast. We saw a ton of wildlife, monkeys around just about every bend, herds of White-Faced Caoti´s, Scarlet Macaw´s. . . . This place was remote and well worth the trek to get there and I cannot wait to come back! Oh, I don´t want to leave this fun fact out for you, just when we thought we are in the clear or maybe that there is actually somewhere in Central America that doesn´t have at least 100 different species of biting bugs, we are attacked by the infamous Sandflies and we were itching for days. . . .

We were off to Bocas Del Toro, Panama, itching ofcourse, and the journey to get there included a ferry, 4 chicken buses, a border crossing, and another ferry and we arrived in Bocas by sundown! Bocas is an island on the Carribean side and the ocean was full mangrove trees and small islands with amazing beaches you could only visit by boat. We hiked, snorkeled, and took our last bike ride (the bums just cannot handle the pain) and discovered a great Italian restaurant and wine bar we enjoyed every night.

Our final stop befor heading to South America was Panama City. It was such a vibrant city with great views and of course the Panama Canal. Our first day, we headed straight for the Miraflores Locks, and ate lunch overlooking the ships pass through. It was really cool just to be there. Panama City is packed with fun stuff to do and we visited the cities National Park, Metropole, which offered great mirador (panoramic view) of the city and walked along the Causeway which connects three of Panama City´s islands just off the coast. Both provided a great view of the ships lined up to go through the canal and the Bridge of Americas. This is also where the trip started to take a turn and the jogging shorts and tennies weren´t going to cut it anymore. Needless to say, they had some good shopping and we managed to squeeze in a couple of movies at the cinema too.

Overall thoughts on Central America, incredibly beautiful beaches, hiking and snorkeling, and the only part of the world I know of that you can travel from the Caribbean Coast to the Pacific Coast in under an hour! The downside was definitely the bad bugs, but it was well worth the sacrifice. Pura Vida!!!

Until next time,

Caryn