Four months and fourteen days.....
Trip Start
Jun 30, 2009
1
Trip End
Jun 30, 2009
San José, San Jose, Costa Rica
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
I apologize for not keeping up with the blog, our delinquency was due in part to spending more time in secluded locations and also using our Internet time to search for employment. Below I will give a little description of where we left off and how we have come to where we are now...
From Santa Eleana we hitchhiked to Volcano Arenal. We met up with a friend that we had met in Santa Eleana and in keeping with the beatnik spirit, we decided to forgo the paid tour of the volcanoes and searched for the free natural hot springs instead. The three of us packed up some peanut butter sandwiches and hitched a ride with a friendly gringo couple straight to the springs. We enjoyed a few hours of bathing in a steamy river surrounded by natural beauty. It was wonderful. That night we shared drinks and food with a group of about 10 people from all over the world....
Next, more or less, we headed south to San Isidro where we would spend the next 6 weeks with Frank, Sue and Jillian working at finca La Puebla. We learned how to process and roast coffee. We also learned about cinnamon, cocoa, medicinal tinctures, black pepper, fruit trees (most we had never even heard of before), sweet potatoes, corn and new types of greens. We planted a garden and ate from gardens of past volunteers. We really enjoyed the company of the campisinas as well as the company of their gigantic library which we were at liberty to peruse while we stayed. We spent our mornings 7 - 12 working on the farm and the rest of the afternoons in our peaceful cabina reading, hanging in hammocks, playing scrabble, dreaming by the river and dancing in the rain. I celebrated my birthday here, was able to be part of a ´woman´s gathering´on the new moon and on a weekend off, we climbed Mt. Chirripo. All around it was wonderful and the tears rolled when we left.
With little time left for adventures we headed south to the Osa. WOW. What a place of beauty. We stayed in a primitive structure for three nights and hiked our days away near Costa RIcas most famous national park, Corcovado. We met macaws, toucans, a sloth, lizards, pizotes, beautiful insects, flowers and breathtaking views. We spent the whole of the time with a couple from Holland, they were very pleasant and we were able to talk in the evening about thier travels (they had been traveling for a year around the world). We left feeling as though we had seen everything we had wanted to see in costa rica, except for the jaguars...
From the Osa we continued south to David Panama, nice city with very friendly people. A highlight was that we had the opportunity to try sugar cane juice squeezed straight from the cane, it was mixed with a little lime and was really tasty. From David we took a bus through Panama to a border town on the Caribbean coast. We both felt that the bus ride was a schooling in the geography and culture of Panama. The scenes we a mixture of beautiful mountains and waterfalls and burning garbage. We saw dwellings of indigenous people and lots of political signs as they were on the verge of accepting a new president. Elderly, families, students and workers would get on and off the bus as it rolled from town to town, giving us just enough to imagine what they might be doing next.
From Panama we headed back North to Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica. We stayed one night in a camp ground on the beach in the tent that Dan made out of plastic bags. It was really groovy, but slightly difficult to sleep in. The next day we traveled further up to Chuita. We spent four days there taking in the comforts of a small friendly town and an amazing ocean front. We were even lucky enough to attend a festival in the park where there was Calypso music and free food. We splashed around in the beach a lot and finally got to try some Caribbean style rice and beans, yum. We stayed at a humble little hotel with friendly laid back owners. They gave us a little insight into the history of Chuita and Caribbean food. We felt very satisfied when we left.
That brings us to the present....we took a bus up to Limon. Everybody told us that Limon was a dangerous city and that we don´t need to see it. That´s what we heard about David, Panama as well. Our philosophy is play it safe, but see it for ourselves. And...we have really enjoyed Limon. We walked through the market, the shipping ports and got another chance at some Caribbean style food. Today we will head back to San Jose for one last night and then to Grand Rapids tomorrow. We plan on spending some much needed time with our families and then back to Madison. Although we haven´t found jobs yet, we continue our search with a positive outlook. That about sums it up, we are both looking forward to spending time with all of you whom with we´ve only been able to send greetings to via e-mail theses past months....
