Adventure Travel Archives - Gainfully Unemployed

August 10, 2018August 10, 2018

La Fortuna: Rio Celeste – Hands Down the Most Amazing River I’ve Ever Seen (and Swam In)

I want to wrap up the story of my time in La Fortuna, Costa Rica by writing about what I consider the high point of my time there – seeing Rio Celeste. Not that some face time with a sloth and soaking in the hot springs weren’t amazing experiences. But Rio Celeste is a true natural wonder and a river quite unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Its waters are a brilliant opaque azure blue that looks extra stunning set against the lush green Costa Rican jungle it runs through. But a picture is worth a thousand words, so I’ll save a little trouble:

Rio Celeste running through the jungle
Taken by Elani

To get there from La Fortuna takes an hour and a half by car. We rented one because the public transport there is not great and the tour operators are actually more expensive than the 50 USD it cost to rent a car for the day (no, it wasn’t anything fancy, Costa Rican car rentals are just really expensive). After parking and paying a guy $2 to park and/or watch our car (in all reality probably neither), we set off on a rather muddy path through the jungle. This part of the trip was quite nice in its own right, and had some rather picturesque, if small, residents. There were a couple of varieties of grass hopper that I didn’t find anywhere else. There was even one that had its legs stinking out to the side instead of up, as is the usual configuration:

A weird looking grasshopper
Taken by Elani

A group of brightly colored grasshopper hatchlings
Taken by Elani

There was a little lizard that, if I didn’t miss my mark, is a variety of anole, and whose camouflage was good but not good enough to fool this higher primate:

An anole trying very hard to be sneaky and mostly succeeding
Taken by Elani

And this little guy, a stick insect hatchling, who hitched a ride on me until I spotted him and left him on the some of the nearby foliage after a brief photo shoot:

On the roughly half hour hike to get to the river, Elani and I had caught a few glances of the river through the trees, then we came to the first clearing where we could get a close up view:

Me admiring the waters of Rio Celeste
Taken by Elani

Really, the pictures don’t do it justice. In part, that’s because there are so many enhanced photos out there, but really seeing that deep solid impenetrable blue with my own eyes was quite spectacular. But even though they don’t really capture it, I’m still going to keep including pictures, because they do look awesome:

We continued to follow the trail upstream, crossing the river a few times on bridges that stated rather explicitly that they were for one person at a time. Seeing a sign like always makes my engineering training kick in and I have to wonder, what safety factor did they use? I figure those bridges have to be good for at least one and a half people at a time, probably two if their small. Oh well, I guess it’s not a long drop anyway. The bridges did give me a chance to stare down into the waters. At this point (it turns out we were getting quite close to the source), I could really only see a few inches below the surface, and on the rocks and branches on the sides that I could see, there was a strange colored bluish/greenish algae that was weirdly close to the color of corroding copper.

I’m sure this bridge will hold
Taken by Elani

Continuing on, we came to what was the most remarkable (though I would say not the most stunningly beautiful) spot on the river. That was the place where it turns blue. That’s right, Reo Celeste is a normal looking clear river up to a certain point, but when a tributary flows into it, it turns that amazing milky blue. It’s not a gradual change either, there’s a sharp line in the river where the waters mix and all the sudden – boom, blue water. It’s pretty crazy. So what the hell is going on? Well, there are two explanations, and I like them both for different reasons, so I’ll relate them both. The first is that the main river contains aluminosilicate in suspension. The pH change at the mixing point causes the suspended particles to increase in size. The new larger sized particles now reflect blue spectrum light, giving the river its color. I summarized this off a surprisingly technical, though not well translated, sign in the park, so take it with a grain of salt. Or perhaps a particle of aluminosilicate might be more appropriate. The other explanation may lack a bit of scientific rigor, but it is rather poetic, a heck of a lot easier to remember, and does a nice job of catching the feeling of staring in wonder at those blue waters for the first time. It is that after painting the sky, Rio Celeste is where God dipped his paint brush. Well, either way, the spot where those rivers come together is where the magic or science or whatever happens. And it’s pretty amazing to see:

The mixing point where Rio Celeste turns blue
Taken by Elani

But what is probably most amazing is that the point where the color shifts isn’t even the most scenic part. We back tracked our way down river and took a path leading to a long (and fairly slippery) stairway that leads to a platform overlooking the most ridiculously beautiful waterfall I’ve ever seen:

Definitely one of those spectacles you just have to stand and stare at for a while. Unfortunately, even though those waters look cool and inviting, especially after a hike in 85 degree F heat, there is no swimming allowed in the park. Probably for the best really, not sure I really need to see a bunch of half naked tourists lining up to all get the perfect new profile picture. However, that’s not to say that Elani and I didn’t get a chance to take a dip. A couple miles from the park there is an overpass where you can pull over and head down to the water. In case you’re curious, the water doesn’t feel any different than normal water, but it has a slight metallic smell. The oddest thing about it was that you really couldn’t see more than a foot beneath the water and there were some rather larger boulders down there. But all in all, it was a great way to cool off and wrap up a day experiencing what is hands down the most amazing river I’ve ever seen (and swam in).

Elani enjoying a swim in Rio Celeste
Taken by Geoff

July 30, 2018July 31, 2018

Durian: So What’s All The Fuss About Anyway?

At the time of writing this, Elani and I are one week into our five week stay in Penang, Malaysia. It’s a wonderful mashup of cultures and history, and I’m sure I’ll have a lot more to write about it, but for now I want to talk about durian. The “king of fruit,” as it’s often called, has to be one of the most famous and controversial in South East Asia, if not the whole world. Some value it as a delicacy and discuss the flavor and varieties with the same mystique as those who enjoy top self wines and whiskies. Others find the taste, texture, and particularly smell an affront to the senses – so much so that it is specifically banned from some hotels in the this part of the world. Malaysia is a particular hotspot for this contentious fruit: not only the fresh fruit, but also durian candy and ice cream are commonly available in shops and stalls around Penang. So with all the hype, we had to give it a try – I mean, how could we not. But how to even begin to figure out how to tell the “good” durian from the “bad”, not to mention all the stories of the overwhelming smell? If we brought one home and opened it up, would our apartment irrevocably smell of durian for weeks to come?

Looking over various tours in the Penang area on AirBnB, we found a tour to a local durian farm, including all you can eat durian. Well, if we’re going to do this, we figured we might as well do it right, so we booked the tour and paid a few extra bucks to get the “fancy” grade durian. Our hosts picked us up in Georgetown and drove us to their farm in the hills about 30 minutes drive outside of town. Once there, we met the other folks doing the tasting, a Chinese couple and their adult son, who seemed to be much more seasoned connoisseurs than us. The farm was a beautiful patch of jungle set high among the foot hills with a great view of the surrounding countryside and Indian Ocean beyond. Our host, Peh, and her parents and uncle showed us around their farm where they grew not only durian, but also banana, papaya, mangosteen, rambutan, and nutmeg, along with a variety of veggies for their own use. They showed off – with obvious pride – their durian trees, which included some large trees that were over a hundred years old and evidently produce the best fruits.

Durian fruit still on the tree
Taken by Elani

We started the tasting by sampling the rambutan and mangosteen, both of which were great, though I’d say the mangosteen were particularly tasty. This wasn’t Elani or my first time trying either of these, both of which are common not only here in Malaysia but also in Bali (where we were prior to flying here). Both are fairly uncommon in the states, and if you get the chance, I recommend them. Rambutans are quite similar to lychee, but with a slightly earthier taste. Before peeling off the skin, they look about as much like a tropical sea slug as a fruit. When ripe, mangosteens are round, about 2 inches in diameter, and glossy black. You have to break off the pithy outer shell to get at the multi-lobed, translucent white fruit inside. They are quite different from anything else I’ve had, quite sweet and tart, with very soft flesh and a floral, almost perfume-like smell. They’re very tasty, and as it turns out, a common pairing with durian. Then it was time to get down to business.

Rambutan (left), mangosteen, and tea
Taken by Elani

Unopened durian (and one jackfruit )
Taken by Elani

There are very few things in life that I’ve found really live up to their hype, and durian didn’t buck the trend on that count. I found the smell to be in no way overwhelming. A little stronger than most fruits, to be sure, and complex – an odd mix of floral sweetness, with funky notes similar to, but not quite like a combination of aged cheese and fresh garlic. So, a bit odd, but considering the rather florid comparisons to opens sewers or worse I’ve heard, really nothing to get all worked up about. And the taste? Again, complex. Trying to describe it really points out the insufficiency of the English language regarding taste. All I can really do is write down a list of things that you’ve probably tasted before and ask you to imagine eating them together, but I’m sure that that would taste nothing like durian in all reality. So maybe like a good strong brie, with jackfruit and a little garlic. No, that’s not quite it. How about a pear cheesecake with blue cheese, bourbon, and truffles? Yeah, that’s not it either really. Alright, this isn’t working, so suffice to say they are sweet, there are fruity notes, almost perfume-like notes, but also some really earthy funky notes like aged cheese, and a little something almost tingly and fermented tasting. Oh, and each one’s different. We got to try several varieties (they grow 10 on this farm alone) from younger and older trees, and all were different, with different notes coming through more or less. Then there’s the texture. The flesh is soft, sort of like a custard or soft cheese, but again there’s a lot of variety. Some patches were a bit firmer, more like lychee. Also, there’s a bit of a membrane around the outside of each section and again around the seeds at the center of each section, not tough, but firmer that the rest of it, and providing an interesting contrast.

Our host opening a durian
Taken by Elani

All in all, I think complexity is really the defining element in durian. The only thing that durian really tastes like is durian, and every durian tastes different. Like everything that’s an acquired taste (wine, beer, whisky, aged cheese, coffee), and durian is definitely an acquired taste, it’s complex and varied with a lot of pleasant tastes and just enough unpleasantness to keep it interesting. So if you focus on the unpleasant flavors, you’re not going to enjoy it. But if you’re willing to take it all in and appreciate the good and the bad, you’ll find a lot more of the former than the latter and at worst, it’s at least interesting. In a lot of ways, enjoying durian is traveling to a new city. You have to take it all in and enjoy everything. If I focused on the dreary high rise condos all over the suburbs, the painfully mediocre beer, or that time when I watched a rat screech and go tumbling off the eves of the building just in front of me into one of the open drainage ditches (that often have a slight raw sewage smell) next to the side walk, only to shake itself off and run under the door into the building it just came out of, I don’t know that I’d really have a very high opinion of Penang. But if I take that along with the amazing and inexpensive food, varied and rich culture, and depth of history that define Penang, it is a pretty great place to be – even if now I have to look both up AND down to avoid rats.

July 5, 2018

La Fortuna: Getting Around On Two Wheels

One of the major problems with Fortuna is that, other than going to restaurants and shops, there’s not that much to do in town, which means walking isn’t that great of an option for transport when sightseeing. That leaves three options: renting a car (which thanks to some shenanigans with rental agencies and insurance, starts at $50 a day), taking a cab (great for short distances), or renting a scooter. The latter is a bit more affordable for short trips, since it came in at $30 a day including a full tank of gas, and really, unless you’re a hardcore scooterist, you’re pretty likely run out of stamina before you run out of gas. During our time in Fortuna, Elani and I tried all three, but when it comes to the actual experience of traveling, the scooter was the most memorable.

Our first outing was a trip to one of the local waterfalls, then out to the free hot springs. We rented a scooter with an automatic transmission and 125cc of raw power. We were given reflective bandoliers and helmets that, let’s just say, would not have passed Department of Transportation standards, and off we went. Carrying two full size adults, a scooter that size didn’t accelerate or stop particularly well, but we got along well enough, and after a couple of trips around the block for kicks, it was off to the waterfall. After a long ride up a rather steep hill (during the steepest part, I had to completely open up the throttle to keep speed up), we made it to a park with a lovely little orchid garden and, of course, a rather stunning waterfall.

First view of Fortuna Falls
Taken by Elani

After going down WAY too many steps, we were treated to closer views of the waterfall and a chance to have a swim in the pools downstream.

Swimming downstream of the falls
Taken by Elani

Then it was off to the hot springs. I’ve already written about them here, but suffice to say it was a very relaxing time. The drive out there was a bit longer then I thought. A 10 minute car ride turned into a 15-20 scooter trip, but it was a nice day, so no biggy. On the way back however, it was twilight and it started raining. A 20 minute drive on a heavily loaded scooter on a major road, in dark and rain with no windshield (no idea why they thought that was a non-essential piece of equipment) was pretty much “exciting” enough to undo all the relaxing I had gotten in the hot springs, though on the plus side, it was the first time I’d felt too cold since I’d left the mountain town of Monteverde. But despite a bit of white knuckling it on the way back, it was quite lovely day of scootering.

I evidently hadn’t had enough, because a couple days later, I rented another little bike to keep myself amused while Elani was working. This one was a still a 125cc, but it was a proper little motorcycle with a manual transmission and everything. Still hardly a power house, but I did get it up to 80 kph (or 50 mph if you’re into that kind of thing) before I decided that was probably faster than is really necessary on a contraption like this. I decided to head out to the town of La Tigre, because it sounded cool. Lovely drive, but I was hoping for a bit more out a town named for one of the fiercer land predators on earth. Well, what’s in a name, anyway? The most excitement probably came for crossing a bridge. Here’s a picture of me by said bridge:

Me and my “trusty” steed
Taken by the dude at the roadside restaurant

Doesn’t look too bad, right? Well, the driving surface was a steel grid that shifted unnervingly and had a few slats missing. Not enough to drop a tire into, but with skinny little tires, I didn’t want to find out how much that would disrupt my path. But I crossed twice without incident and stopped for a snack at the restaurant where that picture was taken. I ordered a “cheese snack,” which turned out to just be two thick slices of cheese on two store bought tortillas, so not exactly fine dining. But hey, it was cheap, and the proprietor offered to take a picture of me with my trusty steed.

Well, it was nice to get a chance to try out the one the most popular local form of transport, and even with a few rough roads, nerve racking bridges, and rain storms, it left me having a few fond thoughts of my own poor neglected motorcycle patiently waiting for me back home.

July 3, 2018

La Fortuna: Soaking in the Hot Springs

One of the main tourist draws to La Fortuna is the abundance of thermal hot springs to soak in. There is a pretty wide range of development, luxury, and of course cost to choose from. Everything from a free trip down to the river by the bridge to $85 for a half day (and dinner of course) in carefully built and maintained pools at the high end luxury spas. We mostly stuck to the free hot spring, though we did spring for an evening at one of the fancier places just to see what all the fuss was about.

I’ll start with the fancy place. It was $70 for a half days with dinner. Drinks were not included, although to my surprise, they weren’t overcharging for them (though I think they could have been a bit more generous with the pours on the mixed drinks). We chose this place because it was supposed to have some of the best natural surroundings, and it didn’t disappoint. It was a few miles out of town and set into the jungle – they did a great job of landscaping and building the pools so that it fit nicely into the surroundings. I don’t remember how many pools it had, but there were plenty. They started at the top with a waterfall that was really too hot to spend more than a few minutes in and flowed through the rest of the resort with more pools in a wide variety of sizes, shapes and temperatures all the way down to unheated river water. So we spent the few hours trying out the different pools, getting a little too hot, then cooling off and going back again, with the cycle broken up by a trip to the poolside bar for drinks. After dinner (which I think I’d call fine, not mind-blowing), it was getting pretty dark and it was a good time to head to the farthest downstream pool, which was a great place to watch the fireflies buzzing around in the treetops. All in all, it was a great way to spend the evening. However, at the end of the day, the luxury and convenience of this place made it feel a bit canned. Everything was safe, secure, and taken care of. The people there were all tourists, the food was a bit “institutional,” the grounds themselves were too man-made. Basically the only thing that really felt local was the water. Which is why at the end of the day, I think I enjoyed going to the free hot springs quite a bit more.

The free hot springs in Fortuna are right before the big lines of huge resorts on your way into town. You park on the side of the road just after a bridge (usually giving the guys directing traffic and parking, probably unofficially, a couple of bucks) and wander down to the river. Once at the river you can either head to a number of little pools downstream or, like I usually ended up doing, head upstream under the bridge and find a comfortable spot to sit among the rocks. The water in the river wasn’t really hot, just warm, but considering that the air temperature was anything but cold in Fortuna, that was fine with me. Unlike the high end hot resort hot springs, this place has a nice mix of locals and travelers, and though it was crowded enough at times that you’d have a wait before you could snag one of the most choice spots, there was always somewhere decent to sit, and the scene was friendly and vibrant. However, the social scene wasn’t what made it stand out to me. There were two striking details that made this place completely different from any hot spring I’d been to either in Costa Rica or elsewhere. The first was that it was just a river, no walls or benches or any of the other niceties you’d expect to find a in even a semi-constructed hot spring. It was just rocks and sand, and it was up to you to find a comfy spot to sit. The second was that being a river, the water was flowing. I’ve never really felt anything quite like being in water flowing just a little cooler then body temperature, it is EXTREMELY relaxing. One of my favorite parts was finding a little rapid I could sit under and wedge myself against a rock so I could almost completely relax. It was pretty much like getting a whole body massage. The couple of time Elani and I were able to stay at the hot springs until twilight, we were rewarded with sightings of bats and fireflies in the darkening treetops.

While the resort hot springs were certainly nice in their way, when it came right down to it, the free hot springs had what I really look for when I’m traveling – the chance to experience something truly unique to the place I’m visiting.

June 23, 2018

Update: I’m Going to Malaysia!

I live a weird and somewhat extraordinary life. A couple of days ago I didn’t really have any intentions of going to Malaysia and didn’t even know that much about it (still don’t, really, but that’ll change soon one way or another). Now Elani and I will be traveling there in a little over a month and staying for a month and a half. So, what changed?

Well, I’ll start by saying I don’t like to plan too early – there’s a sweet spot to planning. If you wait too long, things book up and prices rise, but if you plan too early, you can miss out on some information that would change your decision, or preferences or goals may change. Basically, I’m a big proponent of waiting until that last minute before things get difficult. That may sound like me justifying being lazy, but “lazy” is usually just a derogatory term for efficiency, and I’ll certainly never apologize for being efficient. Anyways, that sweet spot came for planning where to go after Bali, mainly because we need an exit ticket before arriving there.

Two of the top spots in Southeast Asia are Thailand and Vietnam, but the weather in general and the wind for kiting in particular aren’t great until later in the year. That meant it was time to use my favorite trick when I don’t know where I want to go –pull up the Google Flights map and see where’s cheap. It turns out that the cheapest flights out of Denpasar, Bali, other than to somewhere else in Indonesia, were to Malaysia. The next step was to check the US State Department’s website for travel restrictions and dangers (for would-be travelers out there, I recommend it as a starting place). Despite the fact that in East Malaysia (the section of the country on the island of Borneo, and definitely nowhere near where we’re going), there is a real danger of being kidnapped by pirates (I’m not being the least bit facetious about that, actual modern pirates are kidnapping tourists on Borneo for ransom – holy crap!), mainland Malaysia is actually quite safe. Visas to Malaysia are straight forward, with a generous 90 days given for tourist on entry. Okay, so a go on Malaysia then. A little more digging showed that though Kuala Lumpur is a little cheaper, Penang is a bit more chill, has more history, and is one of the best cities in Asia for street food. Sold!

At this point things were looking good, we just had to wade through some bureaucracy to get a 60 day visa to Indonesia and then after that we would fly out to Penang. It was a pretty good plan, but I was lamenting to Elani that that puts us in a non-kiteboarding spot for my birthday. Not a big deal, but it got us thinking, why bother with all the trouble of getting a 60 day visa? Instead, we could just do 30 days in Bali, head over to Malaysia for a while, then go back to Bali in time for my birthday. Boom, done, perfect plan. Sometimes you just need to step back and think about things differently.

So, that’s what we’re up to. First Bali, then to Malaysia, then back to Bali, and by that point, the weather will be starting to get nicer in Thailand and Vietnam. I love it when a plan comes together!

June 13, 2018June 13, 2018

Update from Germany: What I’m Up To and What’s Up Next

It’s been a little while since my last post – about a month, in fact – so it’s probably time I got everyone up to date on where I am and what I’m up to. Right now, I’m writing from Rügen, Germany, which is a lovely little island in the Baltic Sea situated in the northeast corner of Germany. It’s pretty much just vacation towns on the coast and farmland in the interior, but the atmosphere is relaxed, the natural beauty is abundant, and the beer and smoked fish sandwiches are excellent and plentiful. Honestly, I’ve thought on a few occasions during our stay that I could really see myself retiring here someday. It’s too slow paced for my life right now, but I have been enjoying my time here after being in Lisbon for a few weeks.

Beer and fischbrötchen (fish sandwich) on Rugen
Taken by Elani

Which brings me to what I’ve been up to since my last post from Tarifa, Spain – I’ll write more about it later, but to be brief, after heading out from Tarifa and a short stay in Malaga, Spain (it was supposed to be one night but turned into two because of a mix-up with bus tickets) it was off on an overnight bus trip to Lisbon, Portugal. Elani and I rented a place in a nice, modern area of town for three weeks. For about a week in the middle of this, I was off to an inn just outside the little town of Elvas (which is a couple of hours drive east from Lisbon, almost on the Spanish border) for an intensive training seminar on the Spanish school of classical fencing. It was an amazing experience and a great way to get to spend time with the folks from my classical fencing school in Seattle and to get to know students and teachers from the classical fencing schools associated with it from across the country. During the time I was away, Elani stayed in Lisbon and had the chance to get a bit of work done and explore the city. After Lisbon, we flew out to Berlin, grabbed a rental car, and made the three hour drive to Rügen.

So, what’s next? Well, when we leave Rügen in a couple of days, we’re going to stay in Berlin for a little over a week. That being said, Elani and I both agree that if we’d known how much we would like it here, we would have just stayed the whole time. But Berlin is a nice city, and I am excited to get me some currywurst. From Berlin, we fly out to Sanur on the island of Bali, Indonesia. The plan is to stay there as long as our visa allows – and it looks like we should be able to get a 60 day visa without too much hassle. It’s going to mark a bit of a shift in this adventure, I think – Europe has been a lot of touristing and moving around every few weeks, and seeing lots of folks from back home. But Sanur is a smallish town, we’re going to be staying there a lot longer, and the plan is to adopt that model a lot more in the future. It’s a bit more of a sustainable pace and a bit easier on the pocketbook, to boot. After Bali, it’s a bit more undecided, but top contenders are Thailand and Vietnam. After that, who knows?

In the meantime, it’s time to get back to telling the story of our adventures in a little more depth, so back to Costa Rica for our move to the town of La Fortuna and our meeting with a good natured and slightly overfed sloth.

June 13, 2018June 13, 2018

Off to La Fortuna – Sorry, I Mean Fortuna

After our stay in the land of expats – Arenal – it was time to jump right back into a major tourist destination with La Fortuna, or just Fortuna, as it is pretty much always called, much like Nuevo Arenal is almost exclusively called Arenal. I was corrected for calling both Arenal and Fortuna by their full names, so Costa Ricans (or Ticos for short) seem to take not saying more words then is strictly necessary fairly seriously. There’s probably a good lesson for me there, I’m at a hundred words and I haven’t even told you much about the town yet. Alright, back on track.

Anyways, the most obvious feature of Fortuna is Arenal Volcano, usually half covered in clouds, which juts into the sky just a few miles outside town. Until relatively recently (2010, I believe) there were almost nightly displays of lava flowing down the sides of the volcano, which is really what built Fortuna up as a tourist destination. Since the flow suddenly stopped, tourism has taken a bit of a hit, and the town has a bit of a “not at capacity” feeling, but there is still plenty of natural beauty, thermal hot-springs, and adventure activities to keep folks coming.

I got a chance to have a little preview of Fortuna for an afternoon even before moving out of Arenal. A former coworker of mine was vacationing in Costa Rica, and I took the bus over to meet up with him while he was staying in Fortuna. With a couple of nice folks he met at his hostel, we went for a walk around Arenal National Park and then hung out at the natural hot springs. The park offered a few great views of the volcano and wild life (including my first, but not last, sighting of monkeys). Here’s a shot of me taken in front of the volcano:

The hot springs were basically thermal vents feeding into a river, which is pretty awesome, I must say. Warm (but not really hot water) flowing over you is a pretty great way to relax.

It was only a couple of days later that Elani and I headed over to Fortuna from Arenal (the town, to be clear) for our two week stay here. We got a nice little place through AirBnB that was a few blocks outside of the main downtown, which has a nice little park and church at its center. As with most places in town there was a pretty great view of the volcano to be had there – when the clouds weren’t in the way:

Elani Posing on the fountain in the park in Fortuna
Taken by Geoff

The town itself wasn’t particularly large, but here there were plenty of decent places to eat, including an honest to goodness sushi joint, which was a nice change of pace. Not the best sushi I’ve ever eaten, but perfectly edible and they certainly didn’t skip on the portions:

Really why would you put sushi in anything except a boat?
Taken by Elani

After a few quiet days of chilling out and eating too much sushi it was time to get out and take in what Fortuna has to offer, starting with meeting a new fat little flower-eating friend.

June 13, 2018

La Fortuna: Making Friends in High Places

Well, first of all, let me apologize for the joke in the title. It is very dumb and really should be beneath me, but clearly it’s not – I’m sorry. But that’s all in the past now, it’s time to move forward. Ahem, anyways, one of our first adventures out in Fortuna was to check out a “sloth experience” run by a local farmer. Basically, he found an abandoned baby sloth, fed it, gave it a place to stay in his garden, and now he’s got a permanent house guest.

So the experience started by learning a little about his farm and how to make juice out of sugar cane, and a sample of fresh sugar cane juice. Then we took a walk out to the garden and stood around awkwardly with several other tourists and our guide waiting for our star to make her entrance:

Badoke making her entrance
Taken by Elani

A little late but, you know she is a sloth after all. Her name is Badoke, which basically means chubby. Which may not be the kindest nickname, but it was fairly accurate. I guess life is pretty easy when all you have to do for your supper is hang around and be adorable. So, after a bit or waking up and a proper amount of scratching herself, it was time for breakfast. What else, flowers eagerly handed to her by her adoring fans. Here’s Elani feeding her one her favorites, avocado flowers:

Time to get some breakfast
Taken by Geoff

More eating and posing, she makes breakfast look good:

What doesn’t everyone look this good when they get up in the morning?
Taken by Elani

And a bit of working the audience:

Making friends
Taken by a helpful person who’s name I’m afraid I didn’t get

The camera loves you, Badoke:

She calls that look “fluffy steel”
Taken by Elani

After 20 minutes or so of showing off for the tourists she made her way off to her favorite avocado tree to finish up breakfast – which I imagine rolls neatly into lunch – in peace. It was a pretty great experience. It wasn’t the last time we saw sloths in Fortuna, there were actually some wild ones living a few blocks from our apartment that our host kindly showed us, but it was certainly the closest look we got of one. Meeting a chubby new tree-climbing friend was definitely one the highlights of our stay here.

May 11, 2018May 11, 2018

Writers’ Block: That’s My Story and I’m Sticking to It

Me, extremely busy, on the beach in Tarifa
Taken by Elani

I’ve been a bit remiss in my self-imposed duties, I’m afraid, which is to say updating this blog. I’d love to say that it was because I’ve been kiting every day, but that’s not really it. I have been kiting to be sure, and doing plenty of exploring and even, in an out of character turn of events, quite a bit of socializing. But really I let myself get distracted, and fell out of the habit of writing a post or two over the week. Or wait – maybe I should blame it on writers’ block. That makes it sound more like I’m a serious writer, so I’ll go with that.

Not that I regret having a bit of a busy schedule over the last several weeks. Elani and I were able to convince a couple of our best friends to come visit us in quick succession (we actually dropped one off and picked the other up from the airport on the same day). Getting to share our globing trotting with a couple of our favorite people was awesome. While they were here, it was a great excuse to tourist around a bit more, well, a lot more. We’ve seen not only several amazing cities in southern Spain (Seville, Ronda, Vejar) but also day-tripped to two other countries – Gibraltar and Tangier, Morocco. Heck, Tangier marks a trip to a whole other continent for me, one closer to the goal of hitting all seven.

Long story short, a lot has happened since my last update. I seem to be making memories much faster than I can write them down, and I still need to tell the whole story of Costa Rica. So, be patient with me. I’m trying to get back in the saddle and get caught up. To start with, let me tell you about Nuevo Arenal, and drinking gin and tonics on the beach.

May 11, 2018

Nuevo Arenal: Live the Life of a Retired Expat

Do you dream of retiring and moving somewhere warm and tropical, where people live a slower, more deliberate life? Well, come to Nuevo Arenal, and you can see what that looks like every time you walk by a bar or café. Now, you’ll find expats littered all over Costa Rica, but what make them stand out in Arenal (I’m going to save myself the trouble of writing Nuevo every time and just call it Arenal – like everyone else in the area) is that there’s not much else there. So what you have is a town that, if left to its own devices, would be a place for local farmers to buy groceries and supplies and for travelers to get a tank of gas and a bite to eat. But the weather is pleasant and the views of the lake and volcano (both also named Arenal) are decent, but not good enough to attract significant tourism – so a bunch of old gringos moved in and brought with them enough restaurants and shops to keep them happy.

A view of the hills at sunset behind some typical houses in Arenal
Taken by Elani

So, why did me and Elani end up there for 12 days? Because there’s kiteboarding in the area. Bet you didn’t see that coming. Also, it looked a like a nice place to chill and relax with enough restaurants and good enough Internet to keep us happy and Elani working. It was a good place to settle in for a few days and change gears from being in tourist mode in Monteverde to living at a more sustainable pace while traveling.

Getting there was pretty straight forward. We took a public bus to Tilaran (what, you’ve never heard of Tilaran?), the closest city to Arenal, and our AirBnB host offered to pick us up there, partly as an excuse to runs some errands. He was, as you probably could have guessed, a mostly retired ex-pat who owned an apartment building that was built by another old ex-pat, and rented mainly to other old ex-pats. It was a nice little apartment, nothing fancy, but with everything we needed to be comfortable for a couple of weeks.

The town itself was cute, with two main roads formed an “L” and had most of the shops bars and restaurants. At the end of one of the roads was a nice looking little church that overlooked the soccer fields – you know, exactly want you might expect from a pleasant Costa Rican town.

Arenal’s church and soccer fields.
Taken by Elani

It was pretty common to see views of Arenal Volcano from spots in the town – it didn’t have the commanding presence that it did in our next stop, La Fortuna but it was quite picturesque.

Arenal Volcano seen over over Neuvo Arenal.
Taken by Elani

In town, there honestly wasn’t a lot to do other then taking a walk, eating, and drinking. But those were pretty worthwhile activities, since the scenery was pleasant and sightings of keel billed toucans (for the uninitiated, those are the ones that look like Toucan Sam), vultures, and other birds were fairly common, and Arenal definitely punches above its weight with respect to the food scene. There were several good options for pizza (which is pretty much the second option you’ll find in Costa Rican after Costa Rican food), local, and American-ish. We had some admirable burgers and pasta at a place right next to the lake.

Lake view restaurant in Arenal
Taken by Elani

But the real standout restaurant was the “Gingerbread.” The chief was an American-trained Israeli chief with a gregarious attitude and a rather foul mouth. We ordered a 5 course chief’s menu and were by no means disappointed or underfed. The first two courses were a roast duck quesadilla and a wild mushroom cream with fresh bread. They were followed by a Greek salad, fish, and fillet minion. Which were then followed by a multi element desert with ice cream, cake, passion fruit seeds, and some things I’m sure I’m forgetting. Everything was great, but I think the first two courses were the winners.

Roast duck quesadilla and creamed wild mushrooms at The Gingerbread restaurant
Taken by Elani

I’m writing this a bit after the fact, so now that it’s been a couple months, I’d say the most memorable part was – not surprisingly – the kiting. On Lake Arenal, there’s really just the one launch. It’s run by a nice Brit who’s been running it for the last 19 years that it’s been a vacation spot of sailboarders and, more recently, kiters. It was probably still a bit more of a sailboarder spot then a kiter spot, but there wasn’t any of the silly rivalry that sometimes pops up between the two groups. Everyone was very friendly, so there was always someone to shoot the shit with on breaks between sessions or when waiting for the wind to pick up. Since I didn’t have a rental car, the trip out there was a bit of a slog on the public buses with all my gear. On top of that, there wasn’t really a stop where I needed to get off (which is fairly typical for Costa Rican buses) so on the return trip, I had to wait until the bus went by (which could vary quite a bit) and flag the driver down. Oh well – after a couple times, it was pretty much routine.

The conditions on Arenal aren’t perfect, and I can see why it hasn’t become one of the kiting meccas of the world. The launch was tricky, the wind is fairly gusty and variable, and the water is fairly choppy, but not choppy enough for wave riding. On the other hand, the wind was certainly a fair sight tamer than at Playa Copal (a welcome change, I must say) and there was pretty much always enough of it. Also, the temperatures were warm enough to never even consider a wetsuit, the scenery had excellent views of Mount Arenal in the background, and as I mentioned, there was a nice contingent of friendly sail- and kiteboarders around. One particularly friendly sailboarder – Ted – was taking pictures between outings and was nice enough to send some of me along and let me use them here. This one does a great job of making me look awesome and showing off the views of the mountain: