Category Archives: Costa Rica

summary by number

Posted on by

Over the 84 days we have

  • visited 9 countries
  • checked out 34 cities
  • slept in 18 different beds
  • encountered 5 different languages; including London english, my love
  • dipped our toes in 5 swimming pools
  • rented 3 cars in 3 different languages
  • ate about 100 gelato
  • read over 60 novels, many more than once
  • walked barefoot on 11 beaches
  • witnessed 2 proposals for marriage
  • felt the wind in our hair in 9 boat rides
  • saw many , many churches 
  • sat on the top of 2 Hop On Hop Off Busses
  • pedaled on 3 bike tours
  • sorted through 6 different currencies 
  • sampled tasty morsels through 11 markets: (12 if you count the one we spent 1 hour skirting the perimeter and never getting in  — you know who you are New Covent Market)
  • became acquainted with 6 different metro systems
  • took the train in the wrong direction 2 times
  • 12 —-  the number of times Rhoneil was asked “No, where are you really from?”
  • 1 time totally drenched by rain
  • 0 — the number of times it snowed
  • 84 – the number times Isy said we make _______ when we get home?

Food exports of Costa Rica

Posted on by

On the drive back to Playa Hermosa from Monteverde we saw a gigantic rice field.  I immediately wanted to see the field up close, harvest the rice, see what happens before we see the rice in stores.  I knew we couldn’t stop to explore the field.  On the drive we also saw a rice processing mill near the rice field. Continue reading →

Thoughts from Arenal

Posted on by

I can’t sleep.  Maybe it’s because of the iced coffee I had this afternoon; we went into La Fortuna and I had a second helping of this delicious cafe frio:  an amazing, cold, very creamy concoction made from the fabledly-good Costa Rican coffee.  Think Tim Horton’s iced capp, but much, much better! Continue reading →

Just Some Things I Noticed

Posted on by

There are clearly some differences between Canada and Costa Rica, but besides the temperature, it’s the subtler things that make the differences beautiful. Affected by everything from the history to the climate, these contrasts let us peek into culture of the countries. I could list each variation, from public transportation to the brands they sell, but there are two I really noticed – about animals and food. Continue reading →

Critters In Costa Rica

Posted on by

IMG_0396

There are plenty of land animals in Costa Rica. We have seen monkeys, lots of stray dogs, and some coatis. The monkeys that you commonly see here are howler monkeys. We saw howler monkeys when it was sunset, as they usually come out around sunrise and sunset. Other monkeys that are in Guanacaste are white faced monkeys, and sometimes spider monkeys. Continue reading →

cuidate

Posted on by

Our 1st trip outside of visiting the magic kingdom was to Costa Rica in 1998.  As we hung out waiting for our flight to Central America in the LAX terminal, culture shock hit me.  I couldn’t understand the instructions given over the PA by the airline attendant.  I suffered in absolute dread: where were we going & what have I done. Sensing my discomfort, Rhoneil assured me those words were in English… that wasn’t reassuring!  There was an overwhelming mix of passengers including many people headed to Guatamala carrying chicken. Continue reading →