Life's a beach

Having been instructed by Bec to find her somewhere hot and relaxing, I think Tamarindo very much fitted the bill. It was 30 degrees every day, sunny and well stocked in cocktails and rose wine.

Happiness is...

 The surrounding region seemed to consist of a strange mix of surfers, yoga people (yogaers? yogi's?), and middle-aged Americans who'd taken their dog for a holiday to avoid the cold. If anyone wants to go and set up a grooming parlour there you'll be able to retire in a couple of weeks.

Despite generally relaxing (or in my case trying to move as little as possible so as not to give the God of Oppressive Heat any reason to destroy me utterly) we did get get up to some activities, notably a sunset cruise/snorkelling trip which could be broken down thusly:

Still, we did manage to get enough photos to prove that we did actually do the snorkelling and sunset parts:

I really should have photoshopped a shark into the back of this

A shark?

Spot the eel competition (edition #36). Sent entries to: Blurry Underwater Photos, W3R3 I5IT

Bec's making me put this in

I don't think this needs a caption

This guy wasn't on the cruise but he's pretty cool so he's in

 After 4 fairly laid back days we headed back to San Jose for a days rafting over a 32km stretch of the Rio Pacuare river. We're both still alive so job done all in all, although Bec was keen on flying headfirst back into the boat.

I then earned copious brownie points by generously deciding not to drag us to Costa Rica vs Paraguay in a winner takes all international friendly, despite driving past it just 2 hours before the match started. I plan on spending these points by finding something even more pointless to watch further down the line. Phillipino baseball anyone?

The national stadium 2 hours before an enthralling 0-0

We have since arrived in San Francisco for a 4 day layover before heading on to Tokyo, so if you want to catch next week's blog early, type in "San Francisco" into google images. We've already found some wonderfully overpriced cocktails next to the hotel, so a certain theme appears to be continuing...

Until next time
Rob&Bec

PS:
This week in things that amused me:

I'm going to suggest that if you're close enough to read the sign, then it's probably too late to be of use...

A warm welcome...

Bec's favourite TV show. It's called Combate, and in this episode the contestants were tied to stakes in the ground while wearing bikinis/trunks then covered in breadcrumbs before chickens were put all over them to see how long they would last. A bit like Big Brother, but full on mental.

Travel stats:
15 - Final Bec caiparinha in Costa Rica count. Expect a Sake count to commence next week
15-20 - Questions about whether I've played basketball
1 - Times Bec has asked what Xing is when seen at a pedestrian crossing...

CaipaRica

 So we paid US$80 for emergency exits seats from Madrid to San Jose and now I have nothing funny to write about the discomfort which would have otherwise have ensued, and which would hopefully have made this more entertaining. I can only apologise.

Despite nearby volcanic activity the flight was uneventful and the croissants numerous and generally disappointing. The car ride from the airport to Arenal was much more exciting, as we seemed to have been picked up by a man who had clearly spent many years evading the police. Bec decided that the choice between gripping the seats in fear or falling asleep was an easy one, the result being she will be in the next edition of the Guiness Book of World records for "Most sleep in one day". Not that I'm jealous of her ability to sleep at will. Not at all. Honest.

Arenal was a beautiful place to start. The centre of the park is a huge volcano which was active for 40 years until 2000, but has since fallen dormant. We stayed at the old observatory in the middle of the surrounding rainforest, which was perfectly situated for hikes throughout the forest, as well as providing some stunning views of the surrounding area. Also, as some of the photos below will testify, some views which google tells us would have been stunning were conditions different. In nearby La Fortuna there were thermal springs as a result of the residual volcanic activity, one of which provided us the opportunity to see our first and only sloth to date, while Bec managed to sample Caiparinha #5.

Caution: Idiots crossing

Nothing as bad as size envy...

From there we drove up to Cano Negro, which was a beautiful area of wetland with practically no tourists. We were there primarily to try to catch Tarpon, an aim which we left spectacularly unfulfilled. That being said Bec did have a tarpon on at one stage (hooked by the guide initially) and caught a Roncador (below) (hooked by the guide initially...) (Not that I'm jealous that my highlight was twice casting half of my own rod into the river...)

The other main draw to the area is the abundant birdlife, primarily varieties of heron and kingfisher, which resulted in the presence of some overkeen birdwatchers (there were excel sheets involved...seriously). Having said that if anyone back home wants to join a birdwatching club I know Bec would secretly be very keen.

The Broads (ed: check this)

A local showing us what we could have won

One of the many, many caymen

An incredibly aloof iguana

Apparently this view is beautiful. Personally we found it cloudy

Yesterday we made the long drive from Cano Negro to Tamarindo, via the Rincon de la Vieja National Park, which Bec loved. I say loved, although "barely put up with" might be closer to the truth, while "was completely underwhelmed by and thoroughly disliked" would be closer still. I've no idea why, I thought everyone liked 3 hour walks in oppressive heat to look at volcanic vents. Who knew?

While Arenal appeared to be for American families, and Cano Negro for middle-aged birdwatchers, Tamarindo is aimed squarely at younger travelers who want to relax (drink?) at the beach. It took just 20 minutes to be offered weed. So that bodes well... As does the Canadian woman having her purse stolen from the bar on our first night, which was nice.

Anyway,  there's a sports bar with 9 screens so I've got work to do. If Bec asks, please tell her none of this as I plan on acting surprised when I find it.

Thanks
,
Rob&Bec

Official Bec Caiparinha count:10
Also apparently I can't have milkshakes every day "just because it's hot..."

The departure

Having been bullied into this by a few people, consider this the official start to Rob and Bec's round the world tour, something which currently involves the game of "lets see how much of Bec's stuff ends up in Rob's bag". At current rates scientists predict it will be roughly 90% of her entire wardrobe. Thankfully I can't believe I'll need more than one pair of pants anyway.

All being well this time tomorrow we'll be about to land in Costa Rica and I will have made significant progress extracting myself from the airplane seat, into which I will have wedged myself beyond acceptable levels of comfort, before helping Bec down from hers.

I say all being well as currently a volcano is currently erupting 50km's from San Jose which has closed the international airport at times. So we might be back sooner than you think, or we might never have gone away...

First stop is Arenal, home of a (hopefully) dormant volcano, before we head to the beach at Tamarindo via Cano Negro. I figured we needed to relax at the beach after all the work I've been doing recently....

Anyway, this is the place to visit if you would like to have further updates as we will try to post relatively regularly, mostly because its cheaper than calling any of you.

Until next time,
Keg&Bec