The last couple weeks with my parents have been a blast, trying to make the most of their time in Costa Rica.  While we had a great time showing them around and going on a variety of day adventures, their visit also came with some new challenges for Chelsea and I – namely finding the best cheap red wine for my mom and an appropriate substitute for my dad’s usual “blue drinks” (VEX electric lemonade vodka coolers).  Their visit also meant a nice change for us – a couple weeks of eating better food, staying in fancy-schmancy rental properties (with hot showers, hooray!), and the experience of Costa Rican driving with our rental car.

The first week we stayed at a condo in Playas Del Coco, about an hours’ drive south of Tamarindo.  The guy who drove us into town introduced the place as “a drinking town with a fishing problem” and we quickly saw why.  The main part of town was a stretch of road packed with restaurants and bars, each with large signs boasting their “happy hour” deals.  One bar on the far end of the beach had a “wall of fame”, showcasing their current record-holders for the most beers drank in a single day – one of whom we were told was a ninety pound Canadian chica who slammed back 30 or more beers and still managed to head out to go dancing afterward.  Way to represent!  The main beach at Coco was packed with fishermen and their rigs, as well as local kids playing football (soccer) and random dogs running amuck.  

We spent a few days relaxing at Playa del Coco and a couple of the neighboring beaches, at each new location sampling their Pina Colada in Chelsea’s extensive search for the very best.  My dad and I also managed to pack in a morning of ocean fishing, which was a nice treat.  Our boat was followed by a couple pods of spotted dolphins, and we managed to catch (although we did very little of the actual fishing part) a beautiful mahi-mahi, which took us a few meals to eat our share of.  We also spent an afternoon relaxing and surfing at Playa Grande (thanks Christie & Sebsters for the recommendation!) which was by far the highlight of the week for us.  The waves were perfect for learning and we all (except for the mimsy) had some success catching some gnarly surf (but limited success in picking up on the surfer lingo).  

Although Playas del Coco was not exactly the nicest beach or town we’ve seen so far, it was great to spend the week relaxing, eating, drinking, playing cards and catching up with the parents.

The next week we spent at an awesome rental house in Neuvo Arenal, which was recommended to us by April’s parents (thanks Janice & Gord!).  The house was gorgeous, complete with two king-size beds, an extra bedroom, four washrooms, a swimming pool, beautiful garden & terrace, and fully-stocked kitchen (with a blender for mastering our Pina Colada skills).  We did a lot of driving around to check out the sights, which were incredible.  We spent an afternoon hiking around Arenal Volcano, during which my mom impressed us all with her rock-hopping skills.  We awoke every morning to howling monkeys (which to us sound more like pissed-off dinosaurs than monkeys), though we didn’t see any until our drive back to the airport on the final day.

The two weeks flew right by, and we were sad to see my parents off.  We also can’t believe it’s already December – it will be tough for us to be away from our families over Christmas.

Some of the highlights of the last couple weeks:

-       exploring random dirt roads in our rental golf cart

-       feeding the mocking-jays at Playa Ocotal

-       Scuba diving at Playas del Coco and experiencing the intense chill of the thermoclines

-       catching mad curls at Playa Grande in Tamarindo

-       fishing for mahi-mahi at Playas del Coco

-       searching for the best pina colada, and finally achieving perfection for ourselves

-       hiking through the jungle around Arenal Volcano

-       relaxing in the hot springs river near La Fortuna

-       driving along a random gravel road and spotting spider monkeys

-       playing lots of card games and learning a new game together (All Fours)

-       horseback riding around the hills near Nuevo Arenal



Thanks again, Mimsy & Pimsy, for coming to see us!  Hope to see you in Africa next year!  =)

Pura Vida,
Mandrew & Chelsea

To open in a new window click here

To open in a new window click here

We spent the last week or so hanging out and scuba diving in the awesome little island of Utila, Honduras (just west of Roatan).  It is a vibrant, colourful, friendly place where you begin to recognize people after just one or two days on the tiny Caribbean island.  We both loved the chill and safe atmosphere, though getting to the island is another story... 

We made our way from Jinotega to Tegucigalpa on the chicken bus (basically a souped up school bus) with one overnight stop in Ocotal, a border town in northern Nicaragua.  The bus trip was surprisingly easy - we're definitely getting the hang of this!  From there, to save time we chose to catch a relatively cheap flight, stopping over in La Ceiba, a small town on the northern coast of Honduras.  This is where things got interesting.  We were lead from our first plane (large enough to fit around 40 passengers), shoved down the runway, and packed into a small Cessna with barely room enough for us, three other passengers, and the pilot.  With six people and a whack of luggage, we were surprised the plane even took off!  Without any attempt at a weight balance or safety talk, we proceeded to take off down the little runway.  This was a far cry from any flying we've done in little planes with Chelsea's brother Shawn, where he goes through his full safety checklist, provides a headset, ensures we wear seatbelts, etc., but no worries - it was really just a short hop over from the mainland.  Everything was smooth during takeoff and I felt fine until the door right beside me popped open just as the plane left the ground!  I managed to get it closed again, though for the rest of the flight I wouldn't let go of the seat in front of me for fear of an exciting but very final skydive (did I mention my seatbelt wouldn't do up?)  

Once we landed (and after a couple more battles with the plane door) we caught a cab into town, got settled into our hostel and immediately fell in love with the place.  Basically a single narrow road along part of the coast, the town of Utila seems to consist mainly of bars, restaurants, dive shops, houses, and hostels.  The people are a weird mix of locals of either Caribbean or Spanish descent, backpackers, scuba enthusiasts, and retired ex-pats.  It was a great pastime to sit on a patio and watch as guys on motorcycles weaved their way through the mass of cyclists, pedestrians, and retirees riding around in golf carts.  We rented bikes one day and in the span of a few hours were able to make our way around most of the island, save for some of the rougher & muddier dirt roads. 
We were lucky and managed to score a room at Rubi's Hostel, recommended to us by our new Turkish friend Ozgar who we met in the airport at Tegucigalpa.  He was flying to Roatan for one night and catching a ferry to Utila the next day, so he asked us to reserve him a room if we stayed there (even though at the time we didn't know his name).  Rubi's was great!  Very simple and affordable ($20/night for both of us), but clean, and located close to everything.  We even had hot showers, which was a nice treat after returning from a night dive or being soaked in one of the many downpours (rainy season, sigh).

The main attraction for us, of course, was the scuba diving.  We'd read that it was possible to dive with whale sharks, which would have been incredible.  Unfortunately, we missed them by just a couple days (a pretty big storm on our first night drove them further out to sea).  All in all, though, the diving was great.  Lots of large & colourful coral formations, plenty of sea life, and nice, warm water (28 degrees celsius).  We did seven dives while there, including a night dive.  It's always great to be able to see how strange and different things are at night -  parrotfish awkwardly sleeping on the seabed, lobster & shrimp emerging from their hiding places inside the coral, and one of my favourite parts - the tiny bioluminescent plankton that are everywhere but invisible until disturbed.  Near the end of our dive we gathered on a patch of sand, covered our flashlights and waved our hands around, watching as the tiny glowing specs appeared out of nowhere.  It was an added bonus to witness the water and sky above occasionally light up from a nearby thunderstorm.  It was all quite magical.

Lucky for us, Ozgar generously lent us his underwater camera for a couple of dives so we were able to get some cool photos and videos.  We both felt very much like Monsieur Cousteau by the end of the week, and will likely have an undersea documentary in the works before too long.  =)

After Utila, we'll be making our way back down to Costa Rica to hang out with my parents for a couple weeks (assuming we survive the flight).

Pura Vida,
Mandrew

To open in a new window click here