Back from Costa Rica!!

Mitica100 · Jul 17, 2004

Rock and Roll, baby! It was phenomenal!

Very tired now, just arrived a few hours ago, but happy about the entire experience. Somewhat disappointing photographically speaking, but still ended up with some nice shots. Will post them as soon as I get back on my regular sleep schedule. :lol:

BTW, anyone going to CR, speak to me first, I have a ton of advice! Will post a short note about the experience in a day or two.

Good to be back home! :wink:

vonnagy · Jul 17, 2004

Great to have you back! CR sounds like a might awesome place.. make sure you post a little something in photo location thread about it

looking forward to your pics and good to have you back on the forum

Luminosity · Jul 17, 2004

Welcome back Miti !

Glad ya had a great time matey.

Luminosity · Jul 17, 2004

Welcome back Miti !

Glad ya had a great time matey.

oriecat · Jul 18, 2004

Welcome back! Man, it seems like just yesterday you said you were leaving. Where the heck does the time go?....

Mitica100 · Jul 18, 2004

oriecat said:
Welcome back! Man, it seems like just yesterday you said you were leaving. Where the heck does the time go?....

Yeah, no kidding!... I feel I was there for only three days. I'll go back in a jiffy if some $$ come my way. Now I know what I need to do there! :lol:

Thanks to all of you, I missed the Forum while on vacation. You made my vacation miserable!... :lol:

Really, it's good to be back, save for a trouble or two caused by our yearly event called Monsoon. I found a tree downed by the high winds in front of my house and I spent the entire morning and afternoon cutting it down into little pieces so I can dispose of it with the help of my truck. Sooo, for all of you still wanting a picture or two from CR, you might have to wait a day or two. Sorry. :cry:

Hasta La Vista, meanwhile.

terri · Jul 19, 2004

Welcome back!!

Glad to hear it was so awesome. Can't wait to see some pics.

Karalee · Jul 19, 2004

Were always glad to hear we made your vacation horrible :lol:

Cant wait to see some shots, great to have ya back mate

aggiezach · Jul 19, 2004

Welcome back! Can't wait to hear all about it!

Mitica100 · Jul 19, 2004

Ok gang, let me add a few things about Costa Rica.

Not knowing much about this place I decided to collect a lot of information from the Internet and other forums dealing with Travel in Central America. My primary concern was the driving in CR, the rules being somewhat different but not by much. Secondary concern was humidity and its effects on my gear. I searched for the traffic rules and read them, I purchased a good amount of Silica Gel packs to keep my equipment dry.

Once there, I realized my primary concern should have not been a concern at all, no one respects the traffic rules! The roads are so bad and full of pot holes that driving in zig-zag fashion is the only way to stay safe. Everyone does it.

The hotel we stayed at, the Natural Lodge at Cano Negro Wildlife Reserve was beautiful and empty. Save for a German couple we were the only people there. It was Winter in Costa Rica, also known as the Rainy Season. Vegetation was ever so green that it really hurt our eyes just by looking at it. In our room we were greeted by a huge moth, about 6 inches wingspan. Later we had a different kind of visitors, a huge female spider carrying its babies on her back, tens and tens of them. Took them out to fresh air and they left us alone. We arranged a tour of the Cano Negro lagoon and lake for the next morning as well as a trip to a local butterfly farm.

The trip to the lagoon and lake was great, despite the intermittent rain. We came face to face with a cayman, with the Kingfisher birds, with the Jesus Christ lizard that is able to walk on the water, with a few monkeys, a three toed sloth was lazying up in a tree. Fascinating!

The butterfly farm was great, we saw many butterflies of wild colors and saw also the Morpho, a gigantic butterfly with bright blue wings. Seemed unreal! Ernesto, our guide for both trips that day, took us to the heart of the little village, showing us all the little stores, the school, the soccer field. What impressed me the most was the Costa Ricans' friendliness and hospitality. They will bend backwards to make you feel welcome. Also, the lack of any piece of garbage was pretty amazing! During our entire trip I don't think I have seen any piece of trash or garbage laying on the streets, except for an empty bottle of Sprite left behind on a trail by a group of young American hikers. That was picked up and disposed of properly by our guide.

Ok, I'll be back with the next two days' experiences in my next post, sometime later or tomorrow.

PS: I uploaded a few shots in my gallery.

voodoocat · Jul 19, 2004

Sounds like you guys had a blast. Nice to have you back. Can't wait to see some photos

danalec99 · Jul 19, 2004

Welcome back!! Looks like you had a good time!

Snakes... is it very common over there??

Mitica100 · Jul 19, 2004

danalec99 said:
Welcome back!! Looks like you had a good time!

Snakes... is it very common over there??

Yessss...

Actually there are many species, few of which are venomous. The pit viper called Lance-de-Fer is considered the most lethal and can kill a person if not treated within six hours of bite. However, they don't show much outside the forests and even so, you need to look for them for some time until you find them.

Not Neve · Jul 19, 2004

Mitica, glad to hear you had a safe trip. By the time I saw that you were going, you were gone. Can't wait to see those pictures!

Mitica100 · Jul 20, 2004

Ok... Where was I? Oh yea, the Canopy Tour experience. We took off for the Arenal volcano. This baby is still active, erupted in 1968 and destroyed a small village called Tabacon. At night you can see it erupt and the lava rivers, if the clouds are gone. Before we got to it though, we stopped in La Fortuna, where we booked a Canopy Tour (Zip Lines). A Canopy Tour is basically traveling on cables from tree to tree, sometimes as high as 300-500 ft. To get to this we had to ride the horses for 45 minutes (one way). Lucky me, I got to ride a horse named Bin Laden!!! We went up and up, rain falling and all. The Canopy Tour is truly exhilarating and a real adrenaline rush. I felt like Tarzan! On the way back we encountered a heavy rain, arriving soaked back to our car. Luckily I had the cameras in a plastic bag. Driving back home (we were tired to do anything else) we talked about doing Monteverde the next morning. It was a plan!