Rafting Pictures

Costa Rica: Pacuare White Water Rafting and a few Notes (8/23/06-9/1/06)

So I never got around to expounding on my Cliffs Notes version of my Costa Rican vacation. I did, however (and contrary to Sir Charles’ advice), spring for the professional pictures from the rafting trip and I recently received those in the mail. There are pictures from the rafting trip, then a few generic pictures from Costa Rica. Unfortunately I cannot claim having taken any of these:

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2101264329&code=24435469&mode=invite&DCMP=isc-email-AlbumInvite

A few more comments to add to my rather scanty first blog:

One of the best things I did was snorkeling in Tamarindo. On the boat trip to the snorkeling areas, but saw the first dolphins our guides had seen in a couple months. We were a very small group, so our guides we really good about pointing out all the sea life for us. I was usually the first out of the boat and in both locations I was paid off, once with a good look at mating sea turtles and the other time with a glimpse of four stingrays. I saw and handled blow fish (they feel like the rough side of Velcro), porcupine blowfish, starfish and all sorts of colorful fish.

Other than seeing lots of great places and some really cool animals, I think the people I met made my trip. For better or worse, it was the low travel season because it is the rainy time of year. There are not as many travelers to meet in the hostels, but I was thankful for the friends I made. The first night I met an… interesting tree hugger from Phoenix. She was headed to one of two communes to work, despite her trepidation that they sounded slightly like cults.

The second day, near Arenal Volcano, I met the group I just could not shake. Or maybe they could not shake me. I was the one who caught up to them a couple times. I ran into Cam and Connie, my Canadian buddies, at breakfast in La Fortuna, then again a couple days later at a treetop café for lunch in Monteverde. I went out one night with Daniel, my Swiss friend, as we talked about the places I visited and remembered in Zurich, where he lives and where I studied last year. Then there was Rita and Sir Charles. He was from Austin and she from Houston, but they now live in southern California. After running into them a couple times in Fortuna, I met up with these last three for dinner in Monteverde. They tried to run away, but I hunted them down and made them go to dinner with me. Like I said, maybe I was the stalker.

I did not meet many people at the beach. I do not think I fit in with the surfer crowd. That was quite a surprise for a hard core skater dude like me.

The last three nights I spent in San Jose and managed to meet some interesting people. There were a couple British girls headed to the Caribbean coast to work at one of the sea turtle preserves for a few weeks. There was a teacher from New York whose flight was cancelled and he was hanging around the hostel until he received the call telling him he could leave. Then there was an interesting Swedish guy who went on the same rafting trip as I did. He is a self proclaimed capitalist living in a half-socialist country. I would claim that they are fully socialistic, but that was only the beginning of a long, interesting conversation about economics and politics.

And last, but not least, a bit of travel advice for those of you who managed to finish reading this blog entry. When you are in Costa Rica, drink Café con Leche: coffee with milk. Or, to stay healthy, wealthy and wise, try my morning cocktail to keep you… regular: café con leche con multivitamin con pepto-bismol. Sure, it makes the coffee a little pink, but I think the end result is worthwhile.