Spanish School Playa Gigante is a small friendly school right on the beach. As you take lessons, you can look out on the ocean and watch the pelicans dive bomb fish in the bay. Most students surf in the morning and take Spanish in the afternoon or vice versa and the schools general vibe reflects this laid back student attitude. Lesson plans are flexible and focus on what the student wants to learn, and teachers were experienced and welcoming.
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For Christmas and New Years, we headed back North to visit Zoe on Ometepe…. And what a Christmas and new years it was! In the new year, the infamous ferry from Panama to Colombia (which we had planned to drive South and catch) was still not running. A dispute between the ferry company and the port workers in Cartagena meant the ferry had stopped running indefinitely. This put quite a hole in our plans, as the ferry cost $400 for the car, and the only other option (sending the car in a shipping container, or on a RORO) was going to cost us around $2500. We booked in another 3 weeks of Spanish class in Playa Gigante, hoping that when we were done, the dispute would be resolved and the ferry would be running again. Sadly, that was not the case. After our 3 weeks vacation by the beach, we decided that the best thing for us to do was turn around and head back towards Canada. After saying goodbye to Tessa it was time to head back to the beach. We had two weeks of volunteering lined up on the Caribbean Coast of Costa Rica in a hippy surf town called Puerto Viejo. This was the kind of town where the pace of life really slowed down, especially compared to the hectic pace of Central America. Nothing seemed to have a deadline, and no one seemed to be in a rush. While a little touristy (most of the population were American or European) it was a great place to while away 2 weeks reading, cooking and relaxing.
The following day we were up bright and early to drive up another volcano, Volcan Poas. In true Costa Rican style however, the entry fee was exorbitant, and it was pouring with rain. The park ranger advised us that we would still have to pay full price, even though the volcano was obscured by cloud, and we wouldn’t be able to see a thing. We decided to cut our losses, and drive 2 hours back down the mountain, and onto Costa Rica’s largest archeological site. We arrived after closing time, but a friendly guide let us camp in his driveway for the night. As usual, it was raining, so we huddled in the car and played cards for 6 hours before bed. The first thing you see when you enter the Guayabo National Monument, is a wide smooth stone road (all excavated, and rebuilt by volunteers) which is better than many of Central America’s national highways. The ancient people who used this road built it for show. They didn’t have domestic animals yet, or carts but wanted to show off to surrounding towns with a large lavish road. After the flashy entrance road were a number of raised grass hills, which would once have been pads for grass and wood houses. The highlight of this sight was the aqueduct which filtered water and fed it into the center of town. Volunteers say that when the sight was uncovered and jungle stripped from the aqueduct sight, fresh filtered water began to flow again, over 1000 years after creation. While small compared to other sites we have visited, the advanced nature of the aqueduct system made it worth the trip. Make sure you get a guide, it’s well worth the extra money. Monteverde is undisputed adventure capital of Costa Rica Set high in the cloud forests North of San Jose, it`s the first place to really commercialise zip lining, and it shows. Every sign you drive past seems to advertise zip lining, Tarzan swings or bungee jumping. Obviously, we had to give it a go! Zip lining (for those who don`t know) involves attaching yourself to cables high in the jungle canopy, and sliding off down the line attached only by a harness, pulley and carabiner. Both thrilling, and a little terrifying, Aventura zip lining boasts the longest zip line in Latin America (at 1590m) which sends you fling through the air over the valley below, where farmers and cows the size of ants were casually going about their business. The following day for some more wholesome fun, we took a hike in the Santa Elena reserve, one of the only remaining primary cloud forests in the world. While it might sound obvious (it is a cloud forest after all) this place is dripping with moss and was very wet, but definitely worth the soggy feet to see such a unique environment. Recommended by our hostel, was the Monteverde Strangler Fig. Strangler figs begin life as a seed in a bird poo. These seeds are deposited on top of fully grown trees, and as the fig begins to grow, it shoots its roots toward the ground, using the host tree as a type of scaffold. Once its roots have reached the ground, the fig then precedes to strangle its host to death. The dead tree then rots away and you are left with a large tangle of roots, and a hollow shaft up the centre, where the host tree used to reside. These gaps means you have the perfect ladder on your hands, allowing you to climb up inside the fig to the very top branches, safe in the centre of the fig. While we were climbing the inside of the fig, a local boy arrived with some lovely young ladies, and proceeded to climb the outside of the fig, one handed whilst talking on his phone while the girls squealed and giggled from the bottom of the tree. Seems teenage relationships are the same the world over.
The Monteverde cheese factory was an essential stop on the way out of town. After months and months of Central American cheese, I was desperate for some genuine Fromage. The factory dates back to the 1950 when a group of Quakers moved to the area from Alabama, to avoid conscription (the Quakers are a pacifist religion, and many of their young men were being jailed for refusing to join the armed services). The Quaker community also believes in environmental sustainability and as such has employed a waste management system to use almost all waste involved in the cheese factory. A farm full of lucky porkers receives all the whey from the cheese. And we were lucky enough to receive a tasting of all their varieties of cheese. Highly recommended! This hostel has the friendliest staff I have ever come across. It was so welcoming, I felt like I had found home away from home. It was cheap, clean and best of all, rooms come with free breakfast. But don`t expect your usual hostel breakfast of stale bread and jam, this breakfast included scrambled eggs, fresh fruit, tea, coffee and a HUGE slice of freshly baked banana bread. Obviously set up by people who have traveled a lot, and know what makes for a great hostel. We planned on staying one night, and stayed three.
The Topiary Gardens in Zarcero are one of the strangest and most interesting central plazas I have ever seen. Large Topiary bushes cut into ghoulish surrealist animals, faces and arches sit in the square in front of the local cathedral. The cathedral is entirely made of wood, but painted (roof, flood and all) to look like it was carved from the finest marble.
That night, we settled into our hostel for a round of Costa Rican wrip-off Monopoly. It was great fun, especially testing our Spanish with the Chance and Community Chest cards, and developing hotels on all the pristine National Parks we had visited on our trip. It seems that maybe I should have considered a career in real estate or housing development? Heading back West to the coast, we found what seemed to be a lovely spot to camp on Playa del Coco. Tessa was doing her PADI certificate, with Deep Blue Diving and had a great time diving just off the shore. She saw rays, octopus, seahorses and got to be part of an emergency sea rescue, when the staff found a turtle that had become tangled in fishing line.
Unfortunately things took a turn for the worst when Tess and I decided to go have a drink at a bar on the beach. It was reggae night, and the bar had been recommended by Tessa`s dive instructor. Some dodgy looking guys had been hanging around the car, so Angus decided to stay and keep watch. 5 minutes later, a masked bandit began yelling he had a gun, and threw a rock through the canvas pop top of the van. He then preceded to smash the back window and grab anything within reach (Tessa`s bag, phone, wallet, e-reader, a stack of camping bowls and our kitchen knife). Angus jumped down from the upstairs bed, and grabbed his hammer, swinging it at el bandito`s head. After nearly having his face taken off, he decided to high tail it into the night with his booty. The following day was spent chasing VW windows through Liberia. As expected, there weren`t any, but we did find some Plexiglas which worked as a suitable alternative until we reached San Jose. We also met a couple of locals who were able to point us in the direction of VW parts.
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AuthorsThis is the story of Linden, Angus and their (not-so) trusty steed Pancho as they set off on an overlanding adventure through Mexico, Central America and beyond. Archives
April 2015
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