Home Again, Home Again

Oh how good it feels to be back home again. And yet I miss the road already. It was a culture shock being back at home with everybody going off to school and work while I stayed at home. It is great to catch up with friends but the excitement of travel is still there. 
Thanks for following along on our adventure... stayed tuned, who knows what other plans we may come up with.

At Last... Nicaragua

Ometepe was a hidden jewel. We had no idea what to expect when we got there. The long boat crossing wasn't my favourite but it was worth it to spend time living under a volcano. Despite my reservations, I got to release my inner motorcyclist and spent two whole days driving all over the island on a scooter. One of the highlights had to be our lobster, mango salmon, and wine supper courtesy of our hotel owner Ian Colonel. To top it all off, he made sure we had a ride all the way to Granada the next day with his friend Nery.

We had a wonderful time getting to know Granada. Granada will always be about colours and colourful people (I'm talking about you Gregg.) Nobody else in the world calls me by my first and middle name, and nobody keeps on repeating words like corkscrew endlessly so he won't forget things. Cruising through the islands near Granada and looking at the seemingly endless rows of beautiful pottery rounded out our memorable stay.

Our final stop in Central America was something a little bit different, a resort. We had to get used to relaxing and wandering up and down the miles and miles of beautiful beaches. I love looking for seashells and Gran Pacifica afforded me the richest opportunity of any place I've traveled to indulge myself. The hostel Mind The Gap just a few miles down the beach was a great place to hang out and feel young again. Sleeping in a tent in 30 degree plus heat was not that enticing so we happily would walk back to our much more comfortable Gran Pacifica house. And so our travels came to a quiet conclusion with one final gorgeous Pacific sunset. 

Hola Costa Rica

We left Canada in the nick of time ... snow was starting to fall and the weatherman was threatening sub-sub-sub zero temps from our December 27 departure date to well into the New Year. Although the thought of traveling around Central America was a bit out of my comfort zone, it was good to know that we would be accompanied by Bernie's brother John and his wife Linda for the first two weeks.

Costa Rica is an amazingly lush, green country. Palm trees, banana trees, hibiscus plants, and orchids abound in this tropical paradise and I never got tired of seeing them all. Wow, it makes the Manitoba growing season feel pretty chintzy. We tried to explain to some of the locals that while we were enjoying plus thirty temperatures, Canada was having minus thirty degree temps. Not surprisingly no one took us up on our invitation to come for a visit. Besides trying to persuade locals that life in Canada is not all cold and snow (and may I add, every time we said we were Canadians, we received the most favourable responses ... good, eh?), we went on a number of nature walks, (one during the day, one at night, and one in the rain), snorkelled, and enjoyed the local beach or hotel pool.

Our travels took us from the Pacific coastline of Quepos and the Manuel Antonio Park to the cloud forest in the mountains near the town of Monteverde to the volcanoes and natural hot springs of La Fortuna. So much to see ... so little time!