A New Chapter....

So we have finally decided to put some roots down and nestle in so to speak.  Construction of an actual house...no, not another trailer or a modular type temporary home, but an actual real live house, is about to begin this summer.
The very first dirt was moved this weekend for a driveway, compliments of Chad's famous grader driving brother Chris! Now Chris has been driving a grader now since he was about 14 years old.  This being the reason why he is famous around these parts.  I always thought it was crazy to see this little pip-squeak teenager driving around Lodgepole in one of those yellow behemoths making more money than any 14 year old kid could dream off....this being the reason for his occasional/constant ditching out of the classroom!

Before the topsoil could be removed we had to disassemble the barbed wire fence that occupied our driveway area.  Chad was cursing his Uncle Kelvin for his good five wire fence that was quite the process to take down.  I, being a mother of a 10 month old was extremely busy and reluctantly unable to help....cause, well you know how babies can be!  But we watched and gave moral support!

This farm (it's always just been called "The Farm") located 22 km north of Drayton Valley.  It has been in the family since the 1940's when it was homesteaded by Chad's great grandpa Jack Lank.  As a homesteader, a living had to made off the land.  160 acres of forrest land was logged for the spruce trees that used to be abundant here.  Even to this day you have to search really hard to find a spruce larger than a couple feet.  We have just noticed this past summer that the evergreens are coming back.  Tiny seedlings are popping up everywhere in amongst all the poplar, aspen and willow trees that make up the forrest here now.

Leon Lank, Jack's son, was the long time resident here until 1997 when he was forced to leave his little cabin, without indoor plumbing or heating, for the Lodge after a bad fall and a broken ankle at the age of 70.  He still comes out every once in a while during the summer to check the house and go for short walks and reminisce. The old cabin is almost fallen in on itself after record snowfalls this last winter.  The roof has collapsed and it is no longer safe to go inside.  We don't plan on every demolishing it however.  It is surrounded by the largest trees on the property including an ancient maple tree so burning it is not an option.  We figure we should just let it be.

Wanting to build out here as been a dream we have had for 10 years.  We did a lot of traveling, we had a little wee one and now its about a good a time as any.  When we visited an open house about a year ago near Spruce Grove we fell in love with the design and concept of a net-zero house.  This is a house that is self sufficient in heating, cooling and powering itself.  We don't plan on being completely net-zero right away but we want to have the option to convert in the future.  Solar power is becoming increasingly more affordable!

So we met with a design team in Edmonton at Habitat Studio and Workshop and they are right now in the process of designing our very own version of this amazing home.  The one in Spruce Grove being about 6000 square feet including the basement was about twice as large as what we were looking to build.  So basically they are going to take that executive style home design and tailor it to our budget (which is kind of on the puny side! ).  

Hopefully we will see some preliminary floor plans soon and get rolling on this project!  We will be trying to blog every step of the way so that hopefully we can spread the word that building a house that is sustainable can also be beautiful and affordable!  Maybe one day this type of building will be the norm and not the exception!

  

First few days in Bali

March 27/2012
Next morning was Bali day and we were excited to get going and move on to pampering and clean clothes.  Our flight left at 11am so we were off to the airport for 9 and arrived at our gate just in time to have a bathroom break and board.  We were starving when we got there and needed some breakfast but we couldn't decide on what to get (story of our life) so we were a little on the late side.  The first flight brought us to Kuala Lumpur where we only had enough time to ride the shuttle train to our gate and off we went again.  KL airport is a massive affair conected by super quiet light trains and automatic walkways.  Super futuristic!  But when I went to the bathroom and found the regular sit down toilet I was surprised, last time I was here it was squatsville and there were instructions for me on how to use it.  This time it was the other way around!  Bummer!
Airplane food really works well for us.  Chad usually really likes the sauces and the main dishes and I relish the desserts and fruit.  We usually do a switcheroo of our trays and both of us are left with a smile on our faces....only on Asian flights I might add.  North American plane food is disgusting and neither of us are ever very happy, especially on Air Canada (where they make you pay half the time for the nastyness). 
We flew over Bali at sunset and got a beautiful view of Lembogan and the three surf breaks we hoped to see up close very soon.  We arrived at the airport and we paid our $25 visitor visa and waited for our bags thinking this was quite the slick trip not having to wait longer than a few minutes anywhere along the way.  However with all of our travels and nary a lost bag it was bound to happen.  My luggage was lost!  I was in panic mode at first thinking this to be the worst thing that could ever happen.  And then the poor guy whose wheelchair and both suitcases were also lost sat beside me.  I felt like I had actually hit the jackpot compared to what he would be going through.  I couldn't believe they would leave a wheelchair behind.  How in the world was he supposed to get around now. 
We left the airport after filling out tons of paper work and them having promised that my bag would be returned to me in two days (as the next day was Nyepi and consequently a day of silence and even the airport was closed).  They would even deliver it to the house...not bad service I'd say.  Grandma and Putu were there to meet us and take us home.  We are definitely not used to this type of travel.  Was it ever nice to have a cold drink and a ride we didn't have to haggle or pay for to take us directly to the house without asking us if we wanted to stay somewhere better or cheaper or if we wanted to go to a jewelry store first.
We arrived in the evening and spent a bit of time chatting but having been pretty tired from sitting on our arses all day  we headed up to bed.  Our room is perfect and the bed beyond comfortable compared to Thai beds that are as hard as a concrete slab.  Even extra pillows so I can rest the ole gut during my peaceful slumber! 
The next day was Nyepi (beginning of the new year) and a day of silence and no one is allowed to go out on the streets and everything is closed.  You have to be quiet and not make too much noise so as not to bring evil spirits to your home.  Your not supposed to cook either because the spirits can smell too.  Lights out when it gets dark.  We spent the day lounging in the pool and reading.  For some reason or another in all our sitting and lounging I couldn't even find time to write a single word.  By the time darkness rolled in we had to make sure no lights were visible and we hunkered down and watched a movie and had an early night.
My Grandma lives in Bali half the year and in Canada the other half of the year.  This is her retirement even though when she comes back to Canada she still has a job to go to.  My Mom manages her business when she is not there.  Now you'd think retirement would mean a lot of staying home and reading and knitting.  Not for this Grams.  She is busy everyday and has an almost constant stream of visitors that she shows around the island.  She should write a restaurant review column for the local paper and needs a badge that says "tour guide".  I think she may have missed her true calling in life when she got into the insurance bizz.  She loves travel and loves to share those experiences with others.  So she has been to each attraction here on the island no less than 10 times each and even the staff are starting to know her by name. 
Our first day out and about was a rainy one and we figured what better day than to head out to Bali Safari Park and check out the huge array of animals and shows they have out there.  Having a driver is the craziest thing.  We call him and he comes to pick us up and takes us wherever we want and waits until we are done and then takes us back home.  It is definitely something to get used to.  It feels so weird to go into a restaurant and eat dinner while he is outside waiting to drive us home.  It feels like he should be in there eating with us and sharing Balinese stories and having a cold bintang too. 
We saw lions and tigers and bears....seriously we did...in that order.  There were asian elephants and an elephant show that talked a lot about conservation and how the populations native to Sumatra are being decimated due to fighting over habitat.  They figured that maybe if people and elephants worked together....try telling that to a hungry 1 ton elephant if your standing in the way of his bananas!  But all in all a good message and one I hope that people take to heart.  We also got to see the Agung Show at the theatre they have there.  It was a full on musical and dance production of a traditional Balinese story about how a couple of goddesses came to be.  It was beautiful and moving but definitely made by a white dude.  There were elephants on stage and a flock of ducks and birds flying everywhere.  Even a jaguar and a huge yellow snake.  The front of the stage was a river and the set was incredibly detailed.  All for $39.  I think the show itself was probably worth that.
Dinner that night: The Arena.  Where Chad would like to have dinner every night: The Arena.  Surf and Turf (steak and shrimp) for cheap and super delicious!

Muay Thai Madness!

March 26/2012
I haven't had much of chance to update this little bloggity blog due to the fact that since we hit the ground in Bali we haven't had much time for anything!  But I'll start where our story left off: in Bangkok. 
Our last day in Bangkok was mainly to pick up the rest of Chad's suit and maybe outfit him with all the rest of the attire that goes along with his suit.  Now the poor thing has never had much of a fashion sense, as our friends will attest to, and really doesn't care what goes on his back or his feet for that matter.  But for some reason Bangkok and all its glory opened that little portion of brain he had hiding in the back somewhere.  We spent the afternoon shopping for ties and shoes and belts.  I can now safely say that Chad can attend any fancy shmancy event in the big city and look just as hip as anyone. 
After we were confident that our shopping was done we decided that Bangkok should not just be about clothes and purses.  We needed to experience a little Thai culture and what better way than to watch them beat the snot out of each other?  There was a big Muay Thai match being held at the Raja Stadium close to our hotel so we decided to head there.  We got dropped off right in front and the ticket sellers were on us instantly.  We were going to go with the third class seating that was up more in the stands with the locals and the gamblers with standing room only.  Those tickets went for around $30 each.  Second class was $40 had cement steps so you could sit if you didn't mind looking through people's legs.  But ring side seats! These were the cream of the crop and for a measly $60 each!  We insisted that we really only wanted the third class but they kept staring at my growing belly and said that would be no good for me, no sit, very bad.  So I asked for a discount and a free drink and agreed to the ring side seats!  So for less than the cost of a hockey game at home we got treated like Muay Thai royalty and got to see some amazing fights.
The fighters themselves ranged in weight from 81 lbs to 126 lbs.  Tiny little guys, built for speed and deadly in the ring.  There were two title matches and the place was roaring with cheers and young girls screaming for their favorite fighter.  Always red against blue and each fight always begins with the dance to honour their teacher.  Music accompanies the fight, played by a band in the stands.  After the main matches were done it was time for the kids to practice their skills in the ring.  I swear they couldn't have been more than 10 years old but I wouldn't want to meet them in an alley way!  We took a couple of photos with the fighters and we went outside for Chad to sample the street food.
Chad had a few skewers of mystery meat and I almost stepped on a rat.  I figured it was time to head back and seeing as how we hadn't had a tuk tuk ride yet I figured what better time.  We found a guy who would do it for a few bucks and we climbed in.  He asked us if we wanted to go to the "world famous Bangkok Ping Pong Show".  For some reason we didn't think this was the kind of ping pong we play back at home but more of the vaginal kind so we politely declined the offer.  Safely back in our hotel room I decided to stay in for the night.  Chad was not nearly full enough off his 6 sticks of charbroiled meat so he went off in search of a late dinner.....and he swears to this day not a free ping pong show. 

Koh Phi Phi, Phuket and Back to Bangkok

March 21, 2012
The diving and snorkeling at Koh Phi Phi was totally worth the extra Bahts!  We booked with a company called Princess Diving and went out on the early morning boat.  I had to pay this time to tag along for the snorkeling but well worth it.  There were only three other divers on the boat.  A french couple doing their advanced certification and a tattooed polish dive master just there for fun dives.  He was chad's dive buddy.  We went to the first dive spot and Chad and his crew jumped in and were down for the hour.  He said it was really clear and saw lots of different creatures including a colour changing cuttle fish that looked electrically charged!  I snorkeled for the whole hour in the shallower areas around the island.  There was a bit of a current so I definitely got a good work out!  I was scared out of my wits suddenly when there right in front of my mask was a little jelly fish the size of an apple just minding his own business and squirting around.  I am not familiar with the types of poisonous jellies so I took a video and some photos and kept a healthy distance.  After that I think I started imagining that I was getting stung even though it was probably just salt in my skin pores.  Saw tons of parrot fish and yellow angel fish (always in pairs).  Chad saw some lobsters at the bottom. 
Once the first dive was over we hightailed it over to Maya Bay where we had lunch and got to snorkel and jump off the boat.  It was awesome this time because we were on the opposite side of the bay from where all the tourists are and there was our own tiny little private beach that we swam to.  The pad thai for lunch was great too.  We got caught up in pretending we were in a movie that the boat had to yell at us to hurry it up.  Oops.  The next dive site was notorious for black tipped reef sharks and turtles.  It was quite a bit deeper and so the snorkeling was not quite as good but it was sure a different site to be able to look down and see divers and fish 30 meters below you.  The water was crystal clear!  No sharkies today however.  Can never predict when they are gonna show their fins.  They are also very timid and afraid of the bubbles that scuba divers make so as soon as they see you they take off. 
With two great dives under his belt and some wet and salty shorts we boarded the ferry off of Koh Phi Phi and set off for Phuket.  Now this town is where most of the tourists in Thailand head.  You will get every kind of tourist here from the ritzy European at a five star resort to the basic backpacker usually just passing through.  We found a hotel that was a bit further from the beach and so a much better price than we would have found right in the heart of things.  It was practically an apartment!  Even had its own kitchenette!  So I stocked up on more milk and cornflakes, pineapple, noodles and some brews for Chad and we settled right in. 
We stayed near Karon Beach which I think is the most popular one for sunbathing and swimming.  We walked down the next morning and were surprised to see 6km of rows of beach chairs with umbrellas!  More beach chairs than I ever thought existed.  And crap was it hot.  I don't think anyone could survive on that beach without an umbrella.  We grabbed a couple chairs ourselves and paid the fellow who rented them out for the day.  We baked and swam and read our books and people watched.  Boy did we people watch.  The speedos! Good lord there was a lot of package and bum cheek hanging out!  There was this Israeli dude who's nether region hairs were even making a peek out the top of his bright white ginny's.  Then there was the blonde couple in their 50's or 60's beside us that were wearing matching speedos for him and her and his boobs were almost as large as hers (I could tell because she was not going to wear a top if her life depended on it).  I knew it wasn't her first walk in the nudy park as there was not a tan line to be seen.  I thought toplessness was generally frowned upon in Thailand so I refrained from baring my bosoms!
A day sitting in the sun sure wears a girl out and so we treked 'er back up the hill to our cozy hotel to make dinner plans.  BBQ'd seafood was everywhere!  Poor little baby nurse sharks were on every menu.  I stuck with BBQ prawns and Chad had a white snapper and we ate where there wasn't a shark to be seen.  Tastey tastey and cheap cheap!  I can honestly say that so far I have not had one meal in this country that didn't taste good. 
Only a short stay in Phuket for us as we had Chad's suit to pick up in Bangkok and some last bits of shopping to do before we head to Bali.  We opted to fly this time instead of taking the night bus as my belly is in full growth force and causing a wee bit of difficulty when it comes to sitting on my butt for any length of time.  My tailbone under all that extra weight feels like it is snapping off after a couple hours!  I love flying!  You get treated like touristic gold in Asia when you fly.  Our flight was only an hour and a half but we still got served lunch and beverages and because of my pregnantness (which is now next to impossible to mistake for a beer gut) I got a nice pillow for my back and a seat near the front of the plane. 
When we got back to Bangkok we decided to take the train as far as it would go towards our hotel instead of taking a taxi from the airport.  They charge you out the hooha from the airport.  Their trains are slick and quiet and air conditioned.  We got off and took a cab the rest of the way and saved ourselves at least $10.  We are staying at the same hotel we stayed in before because it rules.  I bought myself a bag of chocolate croissants asap.  Because we flew we still had time to make it to the tailor and try on Chad's suit to see if it needed any alterations.  The jacket and pants were fancy shmancy but his pants were not even cut yet!  The guy wrote needed for the 26th instead of the 20th.  No problem he says.  Really? We thought how is this guy gonna whip up a pair of pants in one day?
We went wandering around after that and I got carried away with myself and ended up buying 5 purses.  Three cloth ones for my nieces and two knock off's for myself.  One of genuine shit quality that cost me $4 and the other that actually may last a couple years for $25.  I was quite proud of my purchases but Chad was a little peeved and actually tried to divorce me on facebook! 
Tomorrow is our last day to wander Bangkok then it is off to Bali to visit Grandmama!

Koh Phi Phi

March 18, 2012

Well I thought I would leave that horrible journey behind me and start fresh with a clean head of hair and a coconut shake in my belly and give Thailand another chance.  We checked in to our bungalow for the next two nights.  It seemed like a pretty standard grass hut type thing with a plastic covered mattress on the floor and a mosi net.  Not bad for 600baht a night (on Phi Phi this is a steal of a deal).   I had to ask for a sheet for the bed however because there was none and there he was again! My arch nemesis from the pier earlier that day.  I asked for the sheet any ways and he once again motioned me to go away and kept on smoking and watching tv.  So we slept with my sarong and chad's towel for blankets.  Hey free wifi though....which was good for finding a new place to stay.  I went to grab my swim suit out of my bag and a HUGE spider ran out and down the crack in the floor.  Then I found a delightful bunch of lizard poos in amongst my clothes and I figured what's another few bahts a night for a bit of an upgrade.
Thankfully the hotel up the hill had vacancies and was willing to give us a deal for two nights.  It is much nicer with a far lower creepy crawly to human ratio.  Plus it has a fridge so I can have cornflakes in the mornings! Yay!  I have been in the habit of having two breakfasts as one just doesn't cut it anymore. 
We went on a bit of a snorkeling tour around the islands on one of those long tail boats the other day....so did about 1000 other people.  The tour included a look at Maya Bay (the beach where the movie "The Beach" was filmed).  We opted for the afternoon one and loaded into the boat around 2.  Our first stop was a place called Monkey Beach.  There were two monkeys, we said Hi and were back on our way.  The next stop was a cove that was great for swimming.  We pull up in our boat and the driver says "OK get out".  So we do.  The water is blue beyond belief and refreshing.  Next stop snorkeling at another little cove.  We see tons of fish and lots of corral that looks a tad on the unhealthy side because of an ocean warming trend that happened a few years back when it got too hot and it killed off a bunch of corral.  It is just starting to grow back now.  Tons of sargent majors and pairs of yellow and black angel fish and these long skinny fish that stick close to the surface that I can't remember the name of.  We were in the water first and the last to get out, it was  hard to remember which boat was ours and we almost got back into the wrong one, except for I noticed that the red headed irish chap was not aboard so this must be the wrong one.  If you have a ginger on your tour he/she is the easiest to keep tabs on because thier red hair and sunburned skin practically glow with all the greens and blues of the ocean.  With this tour we were promised lunch.  It consisted of a little wee sandwich with some mayo and cabbage and tomato and cucumber on it.  Not half bad, especially after a snorkel.  We were smart and also brought a pack of our standard issue tube of oreo cookies, of which we inhaled.  Next we got to spend an hour at Maya Bay which I mentioned was the site of a major motion picture and was what sparked the insane influx of tourists to the island.  It really was an extremely beautiful beach despite the 500 people traipsing around.  I have never seen so many bikini clad girls posing in promiscuous positions while their boyfriends take pictures.  Who are these pictures for? Are they going to display their thonged up bums on facebook? eh probably.  We got a few lovely belly shots ourselves.  Back to the boat it was time to head to a prime turtle and shark watching location.  However no turtles or sharks were seen this time round.  Lots of fish and corral though.  With sunset fast approaching we headed out to open sea between the islands to watch the sun go down.  We weren't really sure what was going on when the boat stopped mid ocean, but the driver was kind enough to say "you watch sunset now".  Ah I see we all thought....how romantic.  Chad had enough of this sunset bologna and without even saying anything put his snorkel gear back on and jumped out of the boat!  In the middle of the main boat lanes and nothing to see but black ocean!  I was wondering if I would be a widow and our child would be fatherless.  He was swept out by the current right towards the rocks within only a few minutes and I had a near panic attack when we lost sight of him completely.  The sun going down and my husband nowhere to be seen the ginger irish guy says "oh he's in your bad books now I bet?"  ya, no kidding.  The driver didn't seem concerned so I tried to hide my anxiousness.  By the time the sun was completely gone Chad still hadn't returned but at least I could see the tip of his snorkel and the flapping of his fins as he struggled to make it back to the boat without getting hit by the 10 other longtails and sailboats heading into harbour.  Our driver started up the boat again and was about to head in as well.  I pointed frantically to Chad swimming kilometers away and he let out a giggle and headed in his direction.  We picked him up near the rocks because there was no way he was going anywhere in that current.  I swore I would never speak to him again, plus he ruined my romantic sunset!  Boys!
Chad has yet to earn my forgiveness for scaring me silly and it is not helping that he has won 7 out of 8 rounds of monopoly cards.  The rest of the time on Ko Phi Phi has been delightfully lazy and food filled.  There is no end to the delicious food.  Fried rice and Pad Thai are especially plentiful and cheap.  I am officially addicted to coconut shakes and the fruit is ridiculously fresh and mouth watering.  Every single night on this island is a party and if I was in any other state other than pregnant and barred from booze I would be dancing up a storm and pounding back the vodka, red bull buckets with the best of them.  There are fireworks and fire shows and pounding club music heard on every corner of the island (how the people who live here handle it i have no idea).  The government tried at one point after the tsunami destroyed almost all the infrastructure to limit the amount of people to visit the island and keep it more natural and marine park like but the business owners said "no way jose we need those bahts!"  Ear plugs are a necessity if you wish to get any sleep at all.   Chad had to buy a bucket last night just for the sake of it.  It included for the low price of 140baht one mickey of whiskey, one medicine bottle of uncarbonated thai Red Bull and one can of coke.  Mix it all together in a little bucket of ice and call 'er good.  Well that is just what Chad did.  Today however was a total write off for him due to hangover belly.  We played monopoly cards until midnight and he beat me every time despite his drunken-ness.  I thought the Red Bull would have caused some sort of erratic behavior due to Chad having ADHD as it is and never having consumed one at home.  He pulled off some cat like dance moves and passed out promptly at 1am.
Today I had most of the day to myself so I spent it sunning and eating!  Best time ever really.  Tomorrow we are up early for Chad to dive and I am tagging along for a snorkel and then it is time to say goodbye to Phi Phi and hello to Phuket!

From Ko Tao to Ko Phi Phi

March 17, 2012
Happy Saint Paddy's Day!  There is an Irish bar in town here on Ko Phi Phi that will most likely be full to bursting tonight and Chad saved his new green t-shirt to wear today! He had to buy two new t-shirts because the ones he brought (3 in total) are falling apart or are white and so now covered in yellow stains from sunscreen so look super ugg. 
The journey from Ko Tao to Ko Phi Phi was one of the most interesting and trying experiences ever!  We took a scooter, boat, tuk tuk, van, another van and then another boat over the course of 18 hours.  I am no longer in the state of mind or body to handle that kind of travel so I have sworn off long transports until such time as I can at least sit comfortably without my ass falling asleep or getting cramps in my legs.  I am definitely feeling these 20 extra baby pounds.
We had to check out of our sweet hotel room on Ko Tao at 11am so we stored our bags and spent the day at the beach.  I was so surprised when I went paddling out to check out the reef that it was teaming with fish and other creatures despite the millions of boats ripping around.  I snorkeled around and took a few photos of some sea urchins, parrot fish, angel fish and lots of baby fish that are much more colourful and brighter than their parents.  Chad met an English army feller who swam out really far with him, so far I lost sight of them for a while.  Chad still needs to learn a healthy fear of the ocean.
We showered off by the pool and decided to go for a massage before embarking on our journey.  We opted for the traditional Thai massage and for 10$ each we got pampered for an hour.  Poor Chad got stripped down to his gonchies because his shorts were still too wet.  He wasn't wearing his nicest pair...in fact they are faded brown with holes and parts tend to flail out with too much motions and these massage parlors are not in the least bit private.  I got to remain fully clothed however and was fawned over by two masseuses because of my inability to lay on my back and the fact that my belly friend was putting on a show for the ladies.  He was dancing up a storm in there causing a lot of belly touching and giggles. 
It was time to catch the boat and an old man with a scooter and a side car came to pick us up.  Barreling down the road in a side car was a bit on the scary side but we made it to the boat with plenty of time as the old guy parted the crowds with his scooter contraption and pretty much budded us to the front of the line.  We sat and waited for an hour while the crew sat on the boat and starred at us smoking cigarette after cigarette until finally they decided that maybe they could start loading the bags.  Finally after a generous amount of time they decided that it was time to go and we had to hurry hurry hurry to get on and find our spots.  This place makes no sense to me.  We found our sleeping "stalls" #'s 73 and 74.  They were approximately 24 inches by 6 feet.  Chad was placed next to another stinky dreadlocked viking and me beside a yellow toothed german with quite the ample bum.  Next to her an extremely loud swede who had story after story of all of her travels through South East Asia and just kept naming off all these places that I couldn't even pronounce that everyone had to visit.  We were provided with mats on the floor and a little pillow thing that I have no doubt has never been washed.  I felt like a refugee tucked into the hull of a boat.  Thankfully we headed out once everyone was loaded and some people didn't even get spots but had to be stowed on deck with only a bamboo mat to sleep on.  The crossing took 8 hours and I slept through most of it despite my back killing me and having to switch from side to side constantly and butt checking the girl beside me.  I am sure Chad didn't have much better of a time as dreadhead girls' golden stink coils (her hair) kept whacking him in the face every time she turned around. 
When we arrived to the mainland it was 4:30am and the tuk tuk driver herded us into a shelter like cattle and wouldn't let us out for some unknown reason.  Had to keep the tourists together or they would stray off I guess.  Once he loaded us into the tuk tuk he made us sit in there while he went off for a bit of a vist and a cigarette with his buddies.  Effing awesome.  I had to pee so bad I made everyone get out again so I could steal off back to the boat.  Chad figured he probably should go too but of course right at that moment so did the tuk tuk driver.  I told the guy to wait but he was rude and impatient where as five minutes before he was not in any hurry at all. Chad had to jump in as the driver started driving before he was even fully inside.  All this hurry and he dropped us off at this tourist office where we had to sit for another hour and a half while the driver of the minibus who was going to take us to Krabi was just getting out of bed and had to shower and change and start the van and pretty much tinker around until he was good and ready.  There were signs advertising noodle soups and toast but the lady at the desk was looking too sleepy and said no she wasn't gonna make anything for us.  Finally at precisely 7am we were allowed to board the minibus.  We were on our way again but of course the driver had to stop at the 7-11 and get some candy and coke for the road.  We drove for two hours and ended up in Krabi at yet another tourist office where we had to wait yet again for another hour while the owners asked us how long we were staying in Ko Phi Phi and if they could sell us return tickets or plane tickets or any sort of tickets....hell they'd sell their first born if you wanted.  We missed the first ferry due to all this waiting and stopping and had to take the next one.  Finally another van came and got us and took us to their ferry terminal where they had real food and AC!  Jesus! I was starting to hate everyone and everything!  The ferry took another two hours with no AC and a decrepit fan to cool a 100 people.  When we arrived to Ko Phi Phi we were bombarded with hawkers saying "boat, boat!" and "where you go?".  I found a representative for our accommodation that I booked the day before but when I told him we were here and needed to be shown the way he looked at me and smiled like an idiot and motioned me to go away.  Moron.  So we found the place ourselves after asking for directions 10 times.  Not caring how disgusting the place was we showered and pretty much passed out until hunger brought us back to life.  Yep, worst trip ever in the history of backpacking.  Soon to come: Ko Phi Phi.

Ko Samui and Ko Tao

We got out of Bangkok with Chad's suit in the skillful hands of a Thai tailor with the oldest pug dog for a pet.  Little guy mooshed all his eye boogers into my backpack! After we finished with this crazy suit business we had some hours to kill so we did some pavement pounding on Sukumvit Road.  A much more city-fied skyscraper type area with Louis Vouton stores and overpriced fashiony things.  To escape the blazing heat, that is always worse in the concrete jungle, we ducked into a crazy 6 level mall.  Each level had a fashion theme from different countries.  I especially liked the Japanese level!  No good deals in this establishment however.  With a night bus to catch we headed back to Kho San Road for one last little look about.  I opted to try out the fish spa that I had heard so much about.  3$ got me 15 minutes of foot cleaning by tiny little sucker fish wiggling between my toes and up my legs.  Ya....frickin gross!  It took me a minute to get used to the tickling but once I calmed down enough to keep still it was actually quite enjoyable.  My skin was soft and I swear the hairs on my legs were shorter too!
We booked a bus/boat ticket to Ko Samui to do some beach sitting and relaxing.  The journey was long and hot and horrible.  We got picked up at our hotel and had to walk to the main bus stop...hot and sticky business with a pack on.  Once we reached our bus we were pleasantly surprised to see brightly painted coach buses...not minibuses!  However our joy turned to woe as we boarded and smelled the rank stench of the bus bathroom wafting through the aisles.  Every time someone opened the door....wham! It was so gross!  I made myself a peppermint gum mustache to wear under my nose to battle the smell.  A friend warned us that bus rides would be shitty because of drugged up, drunk or hungover westerners and people with especially stinky dreadlocks.  Amazingly this bus ride was well equipped with all mentioned above.  Loud mouth Seattle girl wouldn't shut it until way after midnight!  We finally reached what we thought was the boat station but was in fact just a place for us to wait for two hours for yet another bus to come take us to the ferry station.  We finally reached the ferry and plunked down for a 2 hour crossing....also hot and sticky despite the advertised "air conditioned!" area for passengers.
Ko Samui is a resort island and we were prepared to spend a little more to have a bit of pampering (we are on holiday, this is no backpacker trip!).  We opted for a taxi instead of the tuk tuk truck and chose a secluded bungalow instead of the bustling town on the beach.  We arrived to the Jungle Club and were so thankful for some peace and quiet and the company of a cute little jack russel named Lilly with a penchant for flip flops.  The food was great too!  A delicious bananna mango shake to greet me and I plunked my sweaty behind in the pool for the rest of the day!  I forgot to apply sunscreen to my lower legs due to sand being stuck to me and now am suffering from red sausage legs that are burnt to a crisp and swollen...curses!
Beach acticities: 1) I brought with me the last book of a series of four and was extremely excited to not have anything to do for the next few days so that I could finally conclude what was going to happen to the Lannisters and the Starks of Westeros.  However as I was nearing the end of the last book I couldn't help but notice that there was no way it was going to finish in the 50 pages that were left.  So I snuck a peek to the back and was dismayed to find......"to be continued!" WHATTT! This is an outrage!  You can't write a book series of four books and then at the end say "oh ya I forgot to put the last book in so you will just have to wait."  2) swimming in the ocean and then getting too scared I will be pulled out to sea so I stay in the shallows and get wacked around by waves and get sand in my suit. 3) sending Chad to find me non-alcoholic beverages and popscicles.  4) saying no thank you to beach vendors trying to sell really crappy souvenirs and "henna" tattoos * I made the mistake of getting one done in Bali 6 years ago and it was actually black hair dye and made my skin break out into a horrible rash and I would still have the scars if I didn't cover it up by a real tattoo.
Anyways.  We are on a strict 8:30 bedtime it seems.  With me not being able to drink my face off I just can't seem to find a reason to go out and watch everyone else do it.  Poor Chad has been by my preggo side the whole time and I feel that he may crack and take off to find a whiskey bucket very soon.
We left Ko Samui after two nights and took the boat to Ko Tao.  That is where we are right now.  We bypassed the famous full moon party island of Ko Phangan and headed straight for the Thai diving mecca....and so did all the full mooners!  The boat was full to bursting of anxious dive students who have finally got over their full moon hangovers after 3 days since the big event.  If we would have known we would have went some where else first and let the crowds pass through.  But alas we are short on time and so are "stuck" in a very expensive room that was about the only thing left in town and diving with half the backpackers of Thailand population.  Fun for partying sake (of which I can't partake) but not so great for crowds.  Our room cost us $60 a night but is 5 star quality, so i'm not complaining.  If we were on another long trip we could never do this.  The first dive shop we went to tried to put us in a concrete box with a fan and a bed in a construction yard full of leering dudes and roosters...we said no way jose and so here we are at Ban's Dive Resort in the classiest room I've ever laid my pack in!
Chad did two dives today and I tagged along on the boat to see if I could get in a bit of snorkeling.  He hasn't dove in 9 months so he was a little nervous but luckily he was paired with an English former dive master who helped him remember his acronyms....Bruce WIllis Makes Horrible Films (or something of that sort).  He took some video with  his fancy dancy new camera I got him for his 30th birthday and we have yet to review it.  He saw some eels, angel fish and a grouper that looked like it could eat him.  The dive spots we went to were too deep for me to see anything from the surface so I just paddled around the boat and hung out with a salty cat whose home is the Ban Dive Boat.  He keeps it mouse and rat free and gets to eat left over tuna sandwiches, what a life!  It actually truly sucks being pregnant! I can't scuba dive, I can't jump off the boat and I can't even drink rum from a snorkel! But then the little neno gives me a couple nudges in the ole ribs and it makes it all worth it.
Well I am ready to go for dinner but it seems that hubby has taken a liking to his new English friend Jon and has not returned to the hotel yet.  It seems that Chad and English fellows get along quite well because they both seem to have a healthy appetite for beer and curry.  Generally speaking that is.  So it might be instant noodles for me whilst I enjoy the AC in our room....could this be Chad's whiskey bucket night?

How naps ruin the world.

We're still here in Bangkok, in large part because  of our inability to stay awake. Timing is everything when you're traveling. We strolled into town cool as can be. It honestly felt like we hadn't missed a beat. Like our time at home was basically long enough to grab some clean underwear and grab a new toothbrush. But I guess a lot more has happened than that. Most notably, Kristi's got a human growing inside of her. We made it! So, that's changed quite a few things and altered the way we might have done things otherwise. ie; visiting little nooks and crannies of countries where the risk of malaria is higher. This trip is shorter than our last one so we're not as careful with the penny pinching as we probably should be.
Soon after arriving in Bangkok we quickly formulated one of the best plans we've actually ever made, as far as travel plans go. We're the worst decision makers ever. We were to rest up that night, wake up, do a little wandering around, a little shopping, a lot of eating, get measured up to have a suit made, check out a muay thai match at one of the legendary boxing stadiums, wake up the next day, check out some more stuff and then head south for Koh Phangan, just in time for the world famous full moon party.
Now, what actually happened was a lot less choreographed and the reason I'm writing this from the same guesthouse we arrived at a few days ago. Napping. Napping turns me into a miserable human being, at best. But for some strange reason when you're backpacking it becomes necessary, especially when plowing through different time zones. We got back to the guesthouse at around three or so and then researched the best place to check out some muay thai. We ended up falling asleep and waking up at like 9:30. This set off a chain of horrific events. We were too late to catch the match, too late to book tickets outta here and getting measured for a suit would now set us back an entire extra day. They need a day with measurements and then fit you with a mock up the next day and build it while you are away. This also left us with just one day before the full moon party. It take from 6pm until 11am to get down there by bus and boat. It also left us smack in the middle of All Saint's Day. That means no liquor sales. This would not have been a problem on the bus ride but I'm wandering around Bangkok in the heat and humidity with no hope of touching a lager to my lips for 24 hours. It's uncalled for.
With a gross amount of sleep under our belts and wide awake at the wee hours of the morning and no real interest in wandering around the city, we tried to sleep our way seamlessly into the next day. With such a good wifi connection, this is a rarity to us in our travels, and this handy dandy little Spanish laptop, I killed most of the night researching tailors. I read for hours and hours the pros and cons and ins and outs of getting a suit made in Bangkok. After realizing how much crap goes into making a suit and all the decisions you have to make I wasn't sure I even wanted one anymore.  People talked about suits as though they were pieces of space equipment that could one day save our planet. All I wanted was a nice suit at a decent price and to not be ripped off and have the thing fall apart as soon as I got it back home. It seemed in order for me to get this, I'd have to spend a little more than the $150 every odd person was quoting me for a cashmere two piece suit with two shirts and two ties.
I went back to sleep more frustrated than ever. We woke up in the morning with a decision to make. Stay, yet another, night in Bangkok so I could have a suit made or pack up and head south in time for the full moon party and whiskey buckets. Kristi didn't care either way. She's a little touchy about not being able to booze it up with me, especially in this heat. I decided I wouldn't just toss out my hours and hours of research and the chance to have a custom tailored suit at a ridiculously low price, just so I could go get covered in body paint and drown myself in said whiskey buckets. Fuck I'm getting old.
I made my final decision on the tailor and we hopped in a cab. Thirty five minutes later I was standing in down town Bangkok in my underwear with an older Thai gentleman's fingers fluttering ever so eloquently around my man parts. Forty five minutes after that we were off again. Kristi was feeling light headed from the heat so we ducked into one of the thousands of air conditioned 7/11's to cool off.  We hopped into two or three different taxi's and were quickly told to exit. The traffic was too bad where we were going they told us. With a bride of an extra 95 bahts, we were on our way again. It took us just as long to get out of the down town as it would have to drive from one side of Edmonton to the other. The downtown is massive. Edmonton or Calgary's downtown could be plunked neatly into one tiny corner of Bangkok's up and coming neighbourhoods. The size of the billboards are as big as the buildings we have at home.
But the food. My god, the food! I should have been born Asian. The only thing about this heat is that it takes away my ability to shovel food down my gullet. Curry and stirfrys and soups and fruits and things on sticks. I could simply sit around all day eating and drinking. It sort of feels as though that's all we've done anyway.
I'll be glad to get out of Bangkok. Eight or 9 million people, or whatever it is, is too many.

9 months later.....on our way to Thailand and Bali!

March 4, 2012

It has been about 9 months since we got back from Colombia.  And so here we are again on the travelers trail but this time we are on the other side of the world.  The side where everyone is about a foot shorter than me and I don't even have to try to learn their language as they would rather they get to practice their English!  I love Asia!  Ever since we got back from Bali 6 years ago I planned to return.  So finally, with only a few months until we welcome our first baby, we decided to take one last backpacking trip sans child.  We have 29 days to see the sights of Thailand and Bali.

We just arrived in Bangkok a few hours ago and its 2am here.  We are starving and tired and hot and jet lagged.  Thankfully there is a 7-11 on every block and so we loaded up on our travel staples of pringles and oreo cookies and hunkered down in our awesome hotel.  Yes we splurged a little and opted for a hotel room with AC and a pool (a whole 23$ a night! OMG!).  I was not in the mood to get over my jet lag in a dorm room sharing a gross stinky hairy drained bathroom with a bunch of drunken hippies....well not just yet anyways. 

We plan on hitting the beach somewhere in the next few days.  Got a lot of planning to do to squeeze in as much as we can before we are off to visit Grandma in Bali for our last 10 days.  Chad wants to do some diving so we may be headed to Ko Tao for that.  We shall see.  But for now I am in desperate need of sleep as our Pre-Born was never so active in its life as it was all the way here.  It actually kept me awake with all his/her kung-fu moves on the plane.  Glad to know he/she is having a great time already!

Taganga and Bogota

May 13, 2011
Right now we are hunkered down in Bogota and waiting patiently for Sunday to come so we can begin the journey home!  We have been away for almost 5 months and are definitely ready to be among the familiar again.
Last week we spent 5 days in Taganga.  Tangana is a teeny tiny little town near Santa Marta.  It is famous for diving and the starting point for the Lost City Trek.  We were interested in the diving for sure but being that everyday was an average 36degrees we opted out of the trekking tours.  We took a bus from Cartagena and 5 hours later they dropped us off at our hotel.  Now that we were a mere week from heading home we shelled out a whopping $35 a night for a private room with bathroom at one of the nicer hotels...this one was even called a B&B!  It had a pool too which was a life saver in that heat.  I have never been that hot in my life.  During the day a bathing suit and sarong was the standard uniform.  The streets were mostly just dirt and rock and I don't blame them...who the hell would want to pave a street when you can barely breathe when you just walk for 5 minutes. 
Chad signed up to do his advanced course in scuba diving.  He really wanted to do it in Utila but having infected ears prevented that.  It is just as cheap if not cheaper in Colombia to do your dive courses.  I did two fun dives on his first day and was amazed by the number of fish I was seeing!  The water is not as clear and is quite a bit colder but the angel fish were bigger than I have ever seen and the barracuda were as long as I was.  At one point I saw 3 eels, two angel fish and a barracuda and I couldn't decide where to look.  We also came across an octopus having a snack on some type of crustacean.  I didn't even know it was an octopus because he hid his body inside this tube corral.  The divemasters in Colombia are not as hesitant to interact with the wildlife as they are in Utila.  My divemaster was grabbing scorpion fish by the tail and picking up porcupine fish in his bare hands and scaring the crap out of lizard fish just to make them move.  Entertaining for me yet probably no so great for the fish. 
Chad's first two dives were the deep dive at 30m and navigation.  He got to see what its like to feel the effects of narcosis that happens at those depths.  His instructor asked him to do a few simple math problems and he said his brain felt like mush and couldn't even add 4 plus 4.  His next two dives were the drift dive and buoyency perfection.  For the drift dive he had to swim against a current and make their way back to the boat using currents.  That day they were super strong and they tried to swim against it but were getting nowhere.  When they started to head back some how Chad's bouyency got messed up and he ended up floating to the surface.  When he tried to submerge again he couldn't find his instructor.  Oops.  So he just had a little relax at the surface and waited for him to come up.  He still passed!  Our last day in Taganga we signed up for the night dive.  It was amazing!  We each are given a flash light and told to follow the leader.  It wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be.  Not at all actually.  We saw lobsters that were going about their business, this weird prehistoric looking flat bug thing and all the fish we saw during the day that were busy swimming around sleeping peacefully on the corral.  At the end of the dive we all turned off out lights and swirled our hands around so we could see the bioluminesence of the plankton!  When we came to the surface we noted that two of our group members were not the same group members we came down with.  They also noted this and asked us "who are you?" in which we replied "we are us, who the hell are you?".  Unbeknownst to us two of our group had to surface because one was low on air and two divers from another boat some how ended up with us.  Very odd indeed.  They were just as confused as we were.
Many of our sailing trip friends came to Tanganga as well so we had lots of fun eating and drinking and complaining about the heat!  We actually had the best steak dinner we have had on this trip at a restaurant there.  But alas time to say goodbye.  We decided to fly to Bogota instead of taking the bus because of bad road reports and an aversion to 20 hour bus rides.  It was the exact same price and took 19 hours less!
So here we are.  I am wearing a sweater and my scarf and socks! I hadn't even looked at my sweater since Mexico.  Bogota is at 2400m and is cold and rainy.  We actually have blankets on the bed...crazy I know!  We arrived yesterday and after a quick nap we went out in search of food! We found a nice place and sat down.  I thought I orderd chicken but a big honking steak came out slathered in mushrooms!  It was the best mistake ever.  Our hostel here is shit but for some reason all the good ones require reservations, who knew.  Today we went out for a bit but it started to pour so we had to retreat to a bar for beers.  A bar called Public Beer House that has three of its own brew.  I even drank a dark ale!  I was so impressed with myself.  We did a little shopping too and after rewarded our good haggling skills with a chorrizo and a potato on a stick and a chicken empanada.  Back at the hostel we are too cold to leave our sleeping bags so I think we will call it a night.

From Panama City to Cartagena via the San Blas Islands....pure paradise.

May 8, 2011
We haven't written in while because we are running out of time and are trying to pack in a lot of stuff!  But I will try to start where i left off...
We booked the overnight bus to Panama City as it was an 18 hour ride.  We left SJ at 11pm and got woken up at 4am to get off the bus and stand in line at the immigration office.  The office however didn't open until 6am.  Two hours of sitting on the ground half asleep for no reason.  They wouldn't let us back on the bus.  Finally the office opened at 6:30am!!  One little stupid stamp and off we went to another line!!  9:00am and we were finally through the border.  5 hours of stupid lists and calling our names and not even once looking through our bags.  To get into Panama you are supposed to have a ticket out of the country.  We lacked that of course because we are taking a boat out of the country.  We told the officer that and he shrugged and stamped away.  I think because it says Canada on the front of my passport he didn't really think i was going to try to live in panama illegally. 
We arrived in Panama City around 3pm and took a taxi to a hostel called Luna's Castle.  This place is amazing.  It is a converted colonial mansion.  There are rooms tucked away in every corner and art covers the walls everywhere.  There is even a theatre room with makeshift movie couches going up to the ceiling.  We watched a few movies in there and had a grand time.  We met lots of other Canadians here.  One being an army med student from Toronto who never seems to be sober.  The first morning we saw him he was chowing down on a stack of pancakes (pancakes being free at our hostel).  He unfortunately went to a strip club the night before and being quite drunk let a Colombian stripper sit on his lap.  She pick pocketed him and left him broke.  He managed to still have his passport but all of his cards and cash were now gone.  There is even a warning sign at the hostel stating in bold letters "If the girl flirting with you is too good looking to be talking to you she is probably Colombian and on the clock!"
We spent about 4 days around PC exploring the old town or Casco Viejo it is called.  It is falling apart in some areas. The ruins of old buildings mixed with bold colours and liveliness of the people is amazing to look at and take pictures of.  The presidential palace and the national theatre are both in this area.  We went out for pizza the first night we were there and ended up in the "Red Zone" or the zone where whiteys are not accepted readily.  We had no clue and no body bothered us at all.
We booked a sailing trip to Cartagena, Colombia on a catamaran called Buon Vento or Good Wind in Italian.  The captain was this greasy old salty italian fella whose English was less than great.  He sold us with the italian chef on board and promises of pristine islands and what not.  $450 each it was a bit steep but only 100 more than a flight so we signed up!  While we were signing up we met 5 of the other passengers.  The captain was really insisting on us having our passports in Puerto Lindo the next day but we still had some sights to see in PC.  He suggested that we find this fellow named Mor who was also staying at the hostel and give him our money and our passports.  We figured he must be a crew member but when we met him the next morning he stated that he was just another passenger and was wondering why the hell the captain was telling him to come two days early and to carry that much money and two Canadian passports of people he didn't even know.  Mor is from Israel and worked in security and said "ahh Canadian passports? they are worth a lot of money you know."  he seemed nice enough.  hahah.  we being the trusting canadians gave him our passports but no money.
While in Panama City is an apparent must that you have to visit the Panama Canal.  We teemed up with our shipmates Dave, Sarah and Sarah from England and went on our merry way.  Dave being fluent in spanish after having a spanish girlfriend for three years navigated our journey.  First thing however we needed to stop at the mall for a rain coat and a Panama hat.  Chicken busing it around the city for 25cents a ride is the way to go!  We arrived at the Miraflores Locks.  We paid $5 to go up to the observation deck and watch as some big ships were heading through.  Super interesting but mostly the kind of thing our Dad's would appreciate we all thought.  After hiding in a bus shelter for an hour from the downpour the bus finally showed up and off we went home. 
To get to our launch point for the sailing trip we had to get to a tiny town called Puerto Lindo.  Its so tiny its not even on any maps.  We took a taxi and two buses.  On the last bus (chicken in type) we had to squeeze ourselves and our bags into the back.  Finding there a lad from saskatchewan.  Odd place to find a saskatchewanee but there he was and he and chad chatted it up for the hour or so ride where we were squashed in.  The naked baby in front of me was blowing snot bubbles out of her nose and her umbilical hernia was bulging out like a belly wiener.  She was adorable.
 We got dropped off at our hostel called Wunderbar.  Owned by a German couple who have a little daughter with a crazy mullet haircut and a rather rough way with the animals.  She has many pets but her favourite and the brunt of most of her tough love was a baby sloth named Lazy.  He was adorable and clung to a teddy bear most of the time or hung out upside down in a tree in the yard.  We got to hold him and feed him mango.  There were also two little green birds that she would grab and stick on her shirt and then wheel around in her power wheels and yell "beep beep!" before she ran over your toes.  We went on a walk to town to obtain provisions for the boat.  Provisions being booze...and lots of it.
Next morning we met Eduardo and Nicky the Italians who run Buon Vento.  We boarded the boat and were shown to our cabin with even our own bathroom.  The others however were not as lucky.  There were four bedrooms and one small berth at the front of the boat.  Eduardo totally overbooked the trip and crammed three people per bed for the people who were not couples.  He even put Mor the Israeli guy in with two girls from France and Switzerland.  We were lucky and so were the Irish couple because we got our own rooms.  Nicky and Eduardo slept in the kitchen. 
The first day we sailed for 6 hours until we came to the San Blas Islands.  It was a bit rough and almost everybody was sea sick.  Chad and I were lucky that time.    We anchored right beside a village of the Kuna people who literally live in shacks made of sticks, yet they wear western clothing and really like coca-cola.  They paddled across in their ramshackle old canoe came aboard the ship after we had dinner and brought some of their items for sale.  For an added commercial effect they had to of course bring their little two year old to charm us into forking over some cash.  American cash at that.  I bought two purses for my nieces and lots of the other girls bought ankle bracelets that they have to put on you in a certain way by wrapping it around and tying each stand so that it makes a pattern.  Some of the boys swam to shore and went about collecting and breaking open coconuts.  The Kuna however were not so happy with this as this is the only thing that grows on the island so they would rather that you bought one from them for a dollar and they will break it open for you. 
Next morning we had some breakfast and after a quick swim we motored a ways out and the captain let us all get out and snorkel.  In this area there was a wreck and it looked rather recent.  It must have hit the reef and then sunk because it was hanging on the side of the corral wall.  Saw lots of cool fish.  After only another hours sail we were at our next stop.  This stop was in front of an amazing little beach with a corral reef just to the left of us.  It was absolute perfection.  The water was crystal clear and full of fish.  I even saw pairs of squid changing colours as I got closer.  We spent hours snorkeling and usually I get cold eventually and have to get out of the water but the water was so warm that I didn't even feel like I was in the water.  Our chef Nicky was out today too with his spear gun.  He trapped two huge lobsters and a big crab, our dinner for that night.  Once again eating illegally fished lobster!  No one seems to care that they are disappearing as fast as we are eating them.  Esther from Switzerland mentioned this but it was to deaf ears.  You can never waste a lobster so we made sure every last piece if meat was gone.  The food on this trip was great but the portion sizes lacked and Chad was starving the whole time! 
That night we took the dinghy to the island and made a huge fire on the beach.  The Irish couple brought out their drum and best singing voices and we practiced our hippy skills: hoolah hooping and rope and ball swinging.  Super fun.  We got to swim back to the boat in the dark!  The glowing plankton was so beautiful as it lit up around your moving hands and feet.  Next morning I woke up and we were in a whole new spot!  This was were we were guaranteed to see rays and sharks.  The captain took us on the dinghy to the starting point up current a ways.  There was a huge piece of pipeline actually stuck in the corral and the sharks like to hide behind it.  He let us out in some very shallow water and said to just let the current take you back to the boat.  So off we float.  Within about 5 minutes I saw my first shark ever!  It was a relatively small nurse shark but so unreal to see.  They have big fins and these little whiskers on their snouts.  I got one blurry picture.  Chad had fins on so he could stay close to where the sharks were without getting pushed by the current.  He saw 3 sharks, nurse and reef.  One he said was about 6 feet long.  As we drifted further down we saw tons of rays nestled in the sand.  One got spooked and shook off its sand and sped away.  The english sarah's had to share a snorkel which was bull shit and blonde sarah almost put her foot down on the ray's tail because she couldn't see that it was below her.  Once we got back to the boat it was time for brunch and then to ready ourselves for 30 hours for the open sea crossing. 
The crossing itself was uneventful until we were joined by probably about 6 dolphins!  They stayed at the front of the boat and dove in and out of the water taking a look at us.  They stayed with us for a good 10 minutes or so.  It actually helped some of our seasickness to have something to focus on other than how miserable it is to be sick.  Brown haired english sarah was the sickest and yacked off the side of the boat a few times.  The rest of us were a little green around the gills as well.  Not Chad though....show off!  I spent most of the time in my cabin sleeping and listening to music.  Reading or writing or anything that involved using your eyes was impossible.  Usually the crossing takes two days but the captain was eager to get there so he had sails and motor on the whole time which usually doesn't happen.  We heard of one boat whose engine broke on the crossing and because the winds are blowing right into us they had to tack the whole way.  It took them 10 days!!  I couldn't imagine.  I would die!! 
Once we arrived in Cartagena the captain took us to his friend's restaurant for pizza and told us how to obtain cocaine easily and safely while in Colombia!  yeesh!

Saying hasta luego to Santa Teresa, CR

April 21, 2011
The day before yesterday our friend Donaji came to stay with us.  She is from Mexico.  We met her in Leon,  Nicaragua when we were with the big group of people.  She is 30 but I thought she was 24.  She is on a long trip as well, probably for a year.  She is only a couple months into her trip and now she is booking a flight to Bangkok soon.  Her English is so good and our Spanish is so bad.  I was thinking of trying to speak lots of spanish with her but so far it is just easier to speak in english with a couple spanish words and phrases thrown in for good measure.
The first day she was here we decided just to have a beach day.  So we went out surfing with our two boards at low tide and caught lots of little waves and had a blast.  Chad went out and caught some pretty nice ones!  He is getting better every day and starting to like it more and more.  We came home for lunch and then it was back to the beach.  Chad of course went back out surfing but since Doni has done a lot of yoga and knows quite a bit about it we decided to have our own little yoga session of our own.  So at sunset we faced the sun and did an hours worth of bendy, stretchy, mantra filled yoga!  I was impressed with her teaching skills! She could probably start her own class.  It was the first time that I had really done yoga properly and not on a DVD.  To top off the evening I made a pretty good tasting coconut chicken curry.
Today we rented a quad again to go to the Cabo Blanco Nature Reserve.  Because of Semana Santa we couldn't even get a good price with a spanish speaker in our group.  We only rented one and the three of us piled onto it with Chad driving and me on one side and Doni on the other.  We tried to get one for 7am so we could get to the park early to see all the monkeys and other animals when they are most active.  But of course the surfer guys who run the hotel up the road are neither friendly or helpful in the morning.  So we had to wait until 8am to leave.  We got to the park at 9am to start the 5km hike through the jungle to the beach.  We spent a good three hours wandering the jungle and saw all kind of cool animals.  We saw howler monkeys, white faced monkeys, quatti, mapaches and lots of lizards.  We reached the beach in 3 hours and made some sandwiches and hit the water.  Little did we know lurking in the water were poisonous sea cucumbers or pepino de mar.  Doni got a back sting right on her arm.  She flew out of the water after that.  The water was murky so we didn't know what it was at first but we asked Alonzo, our local Costa Rican friend, and he said it was a sea cucumber that just floats past.  The walk back was grueling because we ran out of water and it was mostly uphill.  I don't think I have ever sweat that much.  The quad ride home was nice and refreshing.
April 22, 2011
Having returned the quad without filling the gas tank due to no gas stations being open the shop owner wouldn't give Doni her passport back!  Luckily with a little help from her friend also vacationing for the weekend he used a little Mexican persuasion to give it back the next day.  Mario is Doni's friend from school in Mexico and he was there in Santa Teresa on vacation with his friend Alonzo who is from Costa Rica.  We had a great weekend with them!  We drank beer and rums on the beach listening to blasting mariachi and latin dance music from his jeep.  We got a bit tipsy but after some chicken and rice (of course!) and a wee siesta we were up for the electronic music beach party down the road!  The music was a little ravey for me but we still had a good time. 
Next morning we packed up the house and our surf boards and hitched a ride with Mario back to San Jose where he works and lives.  Doni, Chad and me piled into the back seat with all our stuff strapped and stuffed into any available corner we could find.  It was a long drive back to the city because of all the vacationers traffic.  We stopped in Punta Arenas for some dinner and an ice cream before hitting the road again.  Whilst we were in said town Chad was repeatedly heckled by a crazy woman who fell in love with him.  She actually meowed at him.  She told Mario why she loved him so much but he was actually embarrassed to repeat it!  Its all in the eyes i think.  His colouring is so brown he looks like a local until you see his eyes....so I have to beat the ladies off with a stick! 
When we finally got to San Jose I thought we might just head to the Ticabus station and hit the road to Panama city that night but with all the Semana Santa traffic the tickets were sold out for two more days!  Not really knowing what to do we were lucky enough that Mario is so generous and a great host!  He let us stay with him for three nights until the bus came.  When we got to his apartment we were in awe!  He lives in a really nice complex with a pool and a gym and gardens gallor.  He has a great view of a pond and fountain from him balcony.  We revelled in the luxuries of a backpacker break.  The first day in SJ we hung out at the pool and just had a relax day.  That night however, being monday night, was Salsa night at a club that Mario knew.  We met another one of Doni's friends from Mexico and Alonso there.  The food was absolutely amazing and the salsa was frickin awesome.  Not knowing how to salsa, chad and i stood back and took it all in.
The next day we took the bus into the city and went for a walk around downtown and went to the museum.  We ended it with some of the best chop suey I've ever had!  SJ has a great Chinese food scene!  We had to catch the bus to Panama City that night and Mario was again nice enough to drop us off.  We left our surf boards with him to hopefully sell but who knows maybe we'll be back soon!

Life by the Sea

April 19, 2011
Happy Birthday Adrienne! We are missing yet another birthday. Our dearest friend "Aids" is turning 25 today!
The countdown is on to the end of this trip. A little less than one month left. We decided to head straight for San Jose and get on the bus to Panama City instead of going ot Quepos to see the park. We figure that Costa Rica is definately a place that we will visit again. Its super easy to rent a car and a house and hunker down with a big group for a couple weeks. The language barrier is virtually non-existent. I do miss speaking spanish but my frustration and stress level is at an all time low!
A couple days ago we rented a scooter so we could get out of town for the day. I picked it up in the morning and we left after breakfast to see the sights. We took the back road, "forbidden" to scooters! I can see why but Chad being the master scootsman got us up and down the steep bumpy windy trails with only a couple times that I had to bail and walk up the hill. This way was so much more scenic and beautiful and we got to see a lot of the Costa Rican countryside. First we went through jungle and dry creek beds and then through rolling hills with floppy eared cows staring at us and big bright yellow flowered trees dotting the landscape. Each cow had her very own white crane looking bird to pick the bugs off her! I need one of those to keep the mosquitos off me.
On our journey we stopped at some little beaches off the side of the road and found some nice snorkel spots. Being high tide however it was a bit wavey for me. We saw a massive turtle swimming around this one spot. We got into Montezuma for a bit of lunch and some shopping! Chad was kind enough to volunteer to go get gas in the next town so that i could shop in peace. I didn't really find anything because its all so expensive, geared to tourists who are only staying a week or two. I did find some earrings and a headband from the hippies who make and sell their wares along the roadside.
On the way back we stopped at a beach and went for a swim but the current and waves were huge. We then realized why there was a rope to hold on to. Finally got to snorkel around a bit because the water was so clear but all i saw were little fish and the bottom covered in tiny shells instead of sand. The ride back brought us to a little fishing village where they head out for fishing trips and "secret beach"...well its not really that secret but you have to walk on a little trail through the jungle to get there so i guess it is "slightly secret beach".
After this busy day and evening we decided to go out for dinner for a change. We went to an Argentinina BBQ...of course. They had a big open fire BBQ pit in the floor and were grilling up tons of meat! Chad was salivating about it before we even got there. Chad got an entire 1/2 chicken and I got the ribs. There was so much meat on our plates that I took most of it home and we had it for dinner again the next night. It was called La Pierdas, their slogan: its the shit!
Yesterday we went out fishing with a group of six. We set it up with Ryan, the dude who did Dave's tattoo a week ago. He found us a boat and with a change of plan about 6 times we finally got to go out. We went from 3 until sunset and caught 4 jack fish of some sort. Apparently they are not really good to eat so they sent most of them back to the sea. We were really trying to get yellow fin tuna! They were jumping around us like crazy but we didn't even get one nibble. I think the dolphins were herding them away from us! A huge pod of dolphins hung out by the boat for a while and I tried to get some video of them. Some got fairly close! I was actually more excited to see the dolphins then catch tuna! We ended up heading back to shore with no tuna in tow. Another boat caught four of them so they gave Ryan a nice big filet. He neglected to share any with us and took Chad's fish he caught aswell so we said fairwell to our shortlived friendship with tattoo Ryan. His girlfriend on the other hand was lovely and I really liked her and wonder how she can be with a weiner like him!
We had to ride our bikes back from the fishing village in the dark and by the time we got home we were tired, dusty, sweaty and sunburned. In no mood to cook. But alas the pizza place down the road was closed and so instead we made steak, potatoes, salad and garlic butter shrimp. Our kitchen window is always open and the smell of our food always wofts down to the neighbours behind the tree and plants. The other day with I was sauteing up some garlic...which we do for almost every meal...I heard one of them say "Oh, garlic again!". We also have a nightly visitor that I have named Betty. She is a pitbull mix who loves to come over to have some leftovers and belly rubs. She is so sweet. I don't even know where she lives or who she belongs to but she has a collar so I guess I can't take her home. I offered to take one of the scooter rental guy's German Shepard puppies off his hands because they are so rambunctious, but he sais his children would cry, and I didn't want to make his children cry.
The AC still doesn't work here and I doubt it will ever be fixed. We didn't get a BBQ like they promised and our landlady is a first rate beeotch. But other than that staying in a house has been lovely. But I am definately ready to hit the road again. Once Semana Santa is over....we're outta here!

Life in Ticoland

April 9, 2011
For the past few days we have been cooking and surfing and beach combing! Recipe for very relaxing good time: Wake up, make breakfast, read, go to the beach, come home, make lunch, read, draw, go to grocery store and buy more food, cook supper, sleep and repeat! The surfing here is so difficult. The rip currents are strong and the waves are massive. I like to go during low tide where you can wade in about waist deep and catch the baby waves and ride them right in to the beach. Chad is still determined to get out to the big waves and is getting closer every day.
Yesterday our friend Dave from Quebec showed up in Santa Teresa. So we put good use to the spare bedroom and now we have a house guest. He has to leave for home on monday morning so we have had a busy weekend. Tomorrow he needs to buy bus tickets, buy souveniers for his mom, get a tattoo and go to the beach. So ya very busy.
Today we rented quads and went to Montezuma. There are some waterfalls close to town that we wanted to check out. Quads are pretty pricey to rent for a day but we figured what the hell. We left town around 1:00pm. It was 17 km to the waterfalls and we ate a lot of dust on the way there. Chad found the snorkel mask to be quite useful for keeping the dirt out of his eyes while he drove us down the road like a maniac! I held on for dear life and pleaded for him to slow down but he has been deprived of four wheeled machines for months now and there was no way he was missing out on any fun. Once we got to Montezuma we headed straight for the waterfall entrance. It was a short hike to the first set of falls. There were a few places to jump into the water. Had a quick swim and then kept treking up the hill until we got to the second and third sets of falls. These were where we wanted to be! The second set of falls was a 40 foot plunge into the pool below and the third set had a rope swing and some places just to sit and hang out. There were fish in the pools and I snorkeled around looking at them but for some reason fresh water fish in murky water scare the crap out of me! There were these little purple and orange crabs everywhere! They were all over the road and in the woods and all around the falls. We made one mad and it shook its purple pincers at us. It took me a while to work up the nerve to jump the 40ft falls but after I climbed down to take video of the boys doing the jump I felt like a big weeny so up I went to give it a go. I only hesitated for about 5 seconds because any longer I would have realized how much it would hurt to hit the water from that height. When I hit the water my bum was given quite the wedgie but other than that I excaped with only a bright red welt from where I slapped the water. Chad took some video and you can here me squeal like a wee little girl as I usually do.
The next day Dave was anxious to get himself a tattoo. He got one done in Thailand on his last trip so he figured why not make a habit out of it! So we spent the day looking up designs for a forearm band. He found a maori sun that he liked and some bands of triangles and square. We had it drawn up for the tattoo artist, a guy named Ryan from Florida, and we went to the shop at 8pm. Dave's appointment was for 8 but there were still two more people ahead of him. The girl on the table was almost butt naked and was getting a radio with wings on her rib cage. It turned out great and all of the boys were very impressed....with her nakedness I think and not really the tattoo. The next girl wanted a spade sign on her finger. She took soooo long trying too decide where on her finger and how big and what colour that the artist was getting a little annoyed. She finally figured it out and the tattoo took about 2 minutes. He charged her $20 and sent her on her way. Now it was Dave's turn. The apprentice made the stencils and Ryan placed them on his forearm almost perfectly....even after a few beers! He had to free hand some of the straight lines to line up properly on the skin but it looked pretty good. The tattoo took about 2 1/2 hours until about 1am. We went through about 18 beers and the tattoo artist had his fair share....this made Dave slightly nervous. But when he was done the lines were crisp and clean and he had himself a nice tattoo! We went out for drinks after and he bought us a drink and invited us to go fishing.
I road my bike home and the boys had to walk, along the way the most annoying of all backpacker annoyances occured! A broken flip-flop!! Every backpacker goes through at least two pairs of flip-flops on a 3 to 6 month tour. Dave was not impressed as these Sanook flops were his favourite and "de bess der is in all de wurl!!" Being a gravel road all the way home we attempted to triple on the bike. This ended with us all in the ditch and a very bent basket on my bike. Along with gravel we also had to dodge the numerous crabs that come out of the woods when it rains. They are bright purple and orange and don't really have a clue where they are walking and frequently run right under the tires of a car or bike. Being barefoot dave had to dodge the live crabs and the dead ones. Safely home and now with ravenous hunger we cooked up some fried rice and the boys fell into deep conversation about beef jerkey for about an hour. This is where I took my leave and went to bed.
April 14, 2011
We have been here in Santa Teresa for 10 days and it is going by so fast. We still have so much we want to do but we keep getting stuck in the same pattern of eating and sleeping and surfing. Chad is getting better and I've spied him catching some pretty wicked waves. I however am not really trying very hard and its sad to say that I have been working harder on my tan than my surf skills.
I finally booked our plane tickets home last night. The price just seemed to be going up every day so I had to commit. We leave from Bogota on May 16th. 20 hours later we will be home. The cheapest way is always the longest way. But I truely don't mind air travel. I love waiting for the plane and I love airports! The only problem is that we only have 20 days to get from Santa Teresa to Bogota. In those 20 days we have to see Manuel Antonio National Park, take a bus from San Jose to Panama City and see the canal, take a bus to San Blas and get on a sailboat and sail to Cartagena and then catch the 20 hour bus ride to Bogota.

Santa Teresa!

April 4, 2011
I am so excited! We have three weeks to actually live in one place! We rented a house starting tomorrow morning until after Semana Santa is over on the 25th. Apparently things get really really busy and places fill up and have been booked for weeks so we decided to make our stay here in Santa Teresa a bit longer so we don't get caught trying to travel during that week.
We arrived here yesterday with the water taxi and then had to take another two buses to get to town. Getting around Costa Rica is way more difficult than any of the other countries we have been in. Their buses are infrequent and the roads really rough and dusty. I didn't have enough cash to pay the $2 bus fair on the way here but I didn't realize it until we were getting off the bus. I gave him all my change and he looked super pissed but he didn't chase me down the street or anything so all in all it worked out.
We checked into a dorm room at a hostel called Brunela. Our first walk through the yard we spotted a troop of monkies heading through the trees along the beach. I think they were howlers but they didn't make any noise at all this time. The rooms are really dirty and dusty but the concept is so cool. Each bunk is its own unit really with storage under the bed in locked cabinets and a built in concrete shelf beside the bed and each bed has its own fan and reading light. The fan is a must. I can't believe how hot it gets here. I am sweating buckets and have throw myself into the sea or the shower quite regularily. The walls are painted bright green with former guest artistry for decor and there are surf board storage racks in every room. There are so many iguanas living at the hostel that they are competing for roof space to sun themselves and one got into the kitchen last night and knocked over a bunch of bottle and broke them. Its kind of sad but there are two levels and it seems that all of the european, north american english speaking guests are on the top level and the spanish speaking guests are on the lower level. Each level has its own kitchen so we don't even really get to mingle. There is a serious food stealing problem here. It is most likely due to the amount of ganga being smoked and in turn is causing midnight munchie raids on the fridge and cupboards. Did I mention how excited I am to be getting our own house?
We went looking at places today with this guy who manages a bunch of properties around town. He didn't have a car so we got to ride around on a scooter. Chad drove and I tried my best not to fall off the back. I was so tempted to rent one for the whole time we are here but really its not that big and a regular bike is much cheaper and better for us and the noise level. Men seem to think the louder their ATV, motorbike, truck etc... the more attractive they seem to the ladies. This is true in most nations of the world. Although I believe the opposite. We found a place that these guys were just moving out of and it was filthy! But we looked past the grunge and saw that it would be perfect for us. They were cleaning it up this afternoon and we get to move in tomorrow morning. There are two bedrooms so we might try to find another couple to move in and help with the rent. As it is we will be paying $32 a day for a house and two bikes so it is actually pretty reasonable but it seems like so much when you have to pay for it all up front. The kitchen is basic but it will be so nice to be able to cook our own food and not have a million people trying to use the same stove and rotten food in the fridge and people stealing your food. If you are a stoner or a drunk dorm living is great.
We went surfing for a bit this afternoon. There were exactly two other people on the entire beach, which is huge. As we are not knowledgable in surf conditions we didn't realize that it was supposedly "shit" and there was no point of going out today. We went anyways and had a grand time! I caught a few baby waves and am feeling more confident in the water. Chad is getting his paddeling down and heads straight out for the big ones which scares the crap out of me. I was actually proud of myself today for knowing that the board needed to be waxed. In three weeks I think I may just be able to ride a board that isn't 14 feet tall. Our board is only 7ft2in but it looks so huge compared to the guys who surf the big waves. Havn't met any big wave girls yet. Chad is suffering from chaffed nipples lately. He forgot to wear his rash gaurd every time we've went out since we got here. He said it feels like someone just cut them right off!
It is the end of dry season here so everything is covered in dust and dried right out. Mid April its supposed to start raining. We are actually really looking forward to a good tropical storm. We had a tiny little storm on Little Corn in our tin roofed cabana. I feel like I need to get a job. I was tempted today to ask the owner of this coffee shop we went to if I could just hang out and learn how to cook vegan food and be her yoga chef. Its a tad on the hippyish side here. Only a tad however so its cool.
Everyone has a dog or two. There is a race of chocolate lab here that must have been crossed with a mastif of some kind because they are massive! One came behind me today on the beach and when I turned around there were these huge jowely jaws in front of my face with the longest pink tounge hanging out of it. It was just staring at me because I was holding a stick in which he was obviously salavating over and wanted me to throw it. All the dogs have collars but none of them ever seem to have an owner in sight. So I hucked it for him....he neglected to bring it back.
Some people may think that a backpacking around central america blog would be full of adventure and a lot more interesting stories than throwing a stick for a dog but really at the end of the day thats what I think was interesting. Other things I found interesting: a girl with a newborn baby maybe a week old dressed in only a onesie on a bus full of people, how good at riding double, triple and even quadrouple families are on bicycles (if there is a spot to rest your behind there is room for one more), you pronounce Costa Rica like Coasta not Costa....wierd.
We're talking more and more about home these days. I think it is because spring is coming and we know how much there is to do. Already made plans for May Long weekend! We are pretty much moving our packs into the boler and heading out from there. No need to move back into the house just yet! We may have to trade in our board shorts and t-shirts for jeans and sweaters however.
April 5, 2011
Moved in the house this morning!! They wanted all the money today so Chad had to rip to the bank on his bike but in the blistering heat brains are not very functional. He got out 100,000 colones and didn't realize that was only $200. I had to come and find him to see what in this world was going on. Made another trip to the bank and then paid the dude his money. We still haven't got a BBQ or a coffee maker but he keeps promising tomorrow tomorrow! so who really knows what we will end up with. The AC also doesn't work but the caretaker Eddie says that the repairman will also come tomorrow tomorrow.
There are two little geckos that live in the kitchen and they keep chirping at me. There is also a family of iguanas that live on the roof. Every once in a while they crash around and make it sound like we're being stormed with falling mangoes. I wish Xeila was here. She would appreciate the tico pace. Nice and relaxed. Chad just left to go surfing for a bit. We had to wait here for the repair guy to come who now isn't coming until tomorrow so I opted to stay and wait. When we left our hostel this morning the Swedish couple we were sharing a room with were purging their stuff before they leave tomorrow for home. They bought a surf board at the beginning of their trip and used it twice. For some reason the shop they bought it from told him that it was a beginner board which it clearly is not. Its a short and skinny board that most of the experienced guys used. He was gonna sell it for $60 or whatever anyone would give him for it. We bought it for $50 with fins and leash included. Chad just went to go try it out. We will probably only use it as a flotation device but later on before we leave we can sell it or who knows we may end up buying a board bag and keeping these boards. Trips to tofino, road trip down the coast of the US, Bali....we could probably use them quite a bit. We let the swedish couple borrow our bikes to go to the ATM at the other end of town and they were so thankful they didn't have to rent bikes for 30 min and pay out the ass. They even gave us their hiking boots! They both were going to just get rid of them cause they would never use them at home and didn't want to stuff them into their packs. How lucky were we that they both have the exact same size feet as us!

Nica to Costa Rica

April 1, 2011

We left Isla de Ometepe a bit early because we were a bit tired of having to walk a million miles to see the sights and motorbike rentals were few and far between. We met this expat at the coffee shop run by another expat while we were waiting for the bus that offered us a "volunteer" experience at his farm. Pretty much picking weeds in the veggie garden and helping fix the pig pen. We figured we have enough of that to do at home and if we did volunteer for something it would be better to help local people who actually need it. I would still love to do something in the hospitals but my spanish is not nearly good enough. We caught the chicken bus to the ferry terminal and headed back to the mainland. We arrived about 5pm and of course all the buses were done for the day so we had to hire a taxi to take us to San Juan del Sur. It was only $14 for a 45 min drive so not too bad I guess.
We stayed at a hostel right off the main beach/harbour with the absolute worst beds I have ever had to endure. They were matresses at one point I believe. Now they are flattened to about 2inches thick and placed on wooden planks. We actually stayed for 5 nights but mostly because we were determined to give San Juan del Sur a decent go. The first night we drank way to much rum with a New Yorker girl and Yuval from Israel that we were with in Leon. New York was very proud of the fact that she speaks "perfect spanish" and made it very clear on several occasions throughout the night. She really did speak very good spanish but geeze you don't need to mention it every 10 minutes. Despite my annoyance we went out dancing and had a great time together....didn't catch her name however...maybe Amanda, i don't know. When we got back to the hostal she had a very loud match of wits with a military med student from Toronto. Non of it made any sense due to the large amounts of Flor de Cana rum that was consumed. They made up the next day.
Sick in bed the entire next day in that horrible bed! Went for fish and chips and poutine for breakfast at 6pm. Then went back to bed. Feeling much refreshed the next day we did a walk about the little town. If you really want to experience SJDS you need a vehicle. The surfing beaches were at least 30min out of town to either the south or north. In our desperation to stay in Nica prices we even contemplated renting a car and camping out of it. That idea was soon crushed when people warned us that sleeping in your car was asking to get robbed, especially out on the beaches. Chad is actually wishing someone would mess with us so he can have a kungfu match and practice his best moves. I told him that if he wants to fight with someone he had better just do it at home where you can call them out properly....in english and not get shot because they all have guns. The dudes in nica like to make kissy noises at girls. I flipped one the bird the other day and then i read in the travel bible that you shouldn't show any anger towards them cause they might get violent....ooops! whatever! bring it! i'll crush you like a cookaracha!!
Our last day in SJDS we decided to try out the surf. We had to take a shuttle to Madera beach and rent a board. I caught a few little wee ones in the white water and had a blast! I can't wait to do it every day and try out the bigger waves when I'm not scared poo-less. Chad was sick still with his head cold so he only went out a couple times but he caught the bigger ones cause he has mad paddeling skills. The water was clear and blue and refreshingly chilly. It was at least 40 degrees out. There was a big rock to the north of the beach that looks just like a dorsal fin! It was a great spot. You could swim and not get crushed or rolled onto the beach like a dead fish. Met a couple from the UK in their 40's still rocking the waves.
Went for supper at a pizza place and got seated next to a group of 26 people on a surf/jesus retreat. None of them drank any booze and they prayed their little hearts out.
Next morning we were up bright and early to catch the chicken bus to Rivas to catch the big Ticabus to Punta Arenas to catch the ferry to Montezuma and catch the next bus to Santa Teresa...or so we thought. Originally we thought we'd try to get the Santa Teresa where we plan on renting a house for a few weeks. The bus driver neglected to stop in Punta Arenas and so we just sat back and relaxed all the way to San Jose, about 3 hours further than where we planned on going. ooops again. Luckily we ran into a nice feller from Lake Tahoe who suggested maybe we try out Jaco to buy a surf board and take the water taxi from their across to the Peninsula where ST is. So that is where we now find ourselves.
After arriving in San Jose we had to wait at another bus station for a couple hours until the next bus to Jaco showed up. That was a rather interesting establishment. There was a couple tag team preachers who walked the gauntlet of passengers the entire time. They were well dressed guys in their 60's. I thought the first guy might be schizophrenic or something because he was yelling at the ground and pointing at things that were not there. But then his partner got up for his turn. Then I figured it out. They weren't schizophrenic at all....they were just very into their word! Another 3 hours on the bus and we were in Jaco.
Jaco is a strip of restaurants and bars and a few high rise vacation rental condos with a nice surfing beach. Today we rented bikes and toured around a bit. Having a bike makes all the difference in the world as to what you can see. We packed a lunch and headed down the road to a bigger but less populated beach called Hermosa. Costa Rica is so much more green and lush. We road along and heard this squaking in the trees above us and saw a big group of scarlet macaw's. They are apparently pretty rare to see in many parts of Costa Rica due to trapping and habitat destruction. It made my day! Once we got to the beach we watched the surfers and decided to try some body surfing. The waves here were brutal and broke so close to the shore that it took me right off me feet and left me with my pants half off and my hair full of black sand and rocks. I'm so graceful in the water. Getting in was easy, getting out was a problem. As soon as I got close to the shore a wave would come and scoop me back out or slam me into the ground covering my in black volcanic sand and depositing me directly in front of some cool surfer folk.
We had steak at this Argentinian place that bakes their own bread. I feel like we're on vacation and not traveling here! We had to go buy our own bottle of wine at the liquor store because the restaurant was having troubles with a liquor licence. Not really thinking about price I grabbed a nice looking wine and took it to the till and gave her a 20 dollar bill hoping she had change and would ask for smaller bills as is what usually is the case. This time she asked me for more money! I was in shock at having to spend over $20 on a bottle of wine. I'm not sure what I will do when we get home....I might have to start incorporating the bartering system. I'll go to my neighborhood liquor store and cut the price in half and then work up from there until we come to a fair deal.