Costa Rica, at last !

At last, at last ! What love can do : with Leen arriving here in San Jose almost two weeks ago, the internet shops totally got out the picture, so sorry guys for waiting that long for a sign of life... But as you might have guessed, no news is good news, and that's certainly the case! Leen and I have been hopping on busses and boats, savouring beaches and rain forests, swimming and walking... well, simply enjoying every single moment we have been together ! I must say, travelling alone for more than 2 months, some adjustments were made to my life style... Finished are those hours on MSN, I managed an amazing economy on phone calls (hehe), and now I don't need my sleeping bag either when I get cold at night ! No more toilet seats that are up, and at least two shaves a week... No more beard ! Well, I can live with that. No, travelling together is so much more fun : it's not only cheaper, but you can relate a lot more to what you are experiencing than when you're alone. Of course, maybe you meet less people and you spend less time telling the home front how life is in Central America, but that was a nice change for me after those 9 weeks alone on the road. So, needless to say we were both too excited to see eachother again, and for those would like to know, it's still BIG love at first sight between the two of us. Hehe.And what have we been up to in Costa Rica? Well, after recovering from the first emotions and jetlag, we headed down to the Nicoya Peninsula, where for 4 days, we savoured the sun and some very fine beaches. Montezuma proved to be the right spot for the two of us, with a relaxed atmosphere, quiet swimming (the surf beach at Malpais was a bit too rough for that), the beautiful Cabo Blanco nature reserve just next door and some very good food ! If you ever get there, go to Pension Lucy and get knocked over by the delicous baracuda or mariscos at La Playa de las Artistas just next to it. They even have a Belgian beer card with yummy Hoegaarden, Leffe and Duvel !After we got a bit too lazy and bored by the beach (and Leen got a bit burned too), we moved on to the Central highlands, where we took a couple of hikes in the quiet Santa Elena cloud forest reserve (go there instead of the Monteverde reserve, a lot less tourists and more wildlife!) and the area around Volcan Arenal. It was hard to keep up with Leen Powerbeen, jee her pace is something ! Arenal is the third most active volcano in the world, with minor eruptions almost every 15 minutes. Well, so said our guide, and we believed him on his word, because with all the cloud cover we saw zero of anyting that would come close to a volcano. Oh well, the thermal hot springs near Arenal certainly made up for missing out on all the lava action. Apparently we can all blame it on global warming : normally, in the 'dry' season one could see the volcano clear on any day, but unusual amounts of moisture moving in from the Atlantic have been bringing rain to the area for the last weeks. In general, the weather hasn't been as great as one would expect this time of year, but we deal with it. Although Leen is considering going back to the sunbed center once she gets back to Madrid. Anyways, in the last 10 days, we have had our share of climate changes : we moved from the nice spring like climate of San Jose to the dry, almost unbearable heat of the Pacific and from there to the almost European like windy and cloudy area of Monteverde. We got to see dry tropical forests, cloud forests and rain forests. Costa Rica has a lot to offer, that's if you are willing to cope with the tons of tourists and the strong US influence. For me, after Nicaragua, it certainly was a small culture shock to get on a 'regular' bus again and walking into airconditioned supermarkets, where they have all the stuff we have back home, or even more. The country is more expensive too than the rest I've visited so far, but there are ways to get through Costa Rica in a cheap way as well : eating in the local sodas and avoiding the tourist trap tours gets you quite far already. People on the other hand are very friendly, although they are very keen on speaking English any time, even if you stubbornly keep on talking Spanish to them. So, after taking a break in San Jose, washing our clothes and enjoying the luxery of satellite TV and a hot shower in the very much recommended Galileo Hostel , we are back on the road again. Leen is craving for some sunshine (well so am I), so we are heading back to the Pacific coast, lingering on to the end of our stay here next weekend. And then it's another sad goodbye, for another 2 months. Leen will head back to Spain for her second Erasmus semester, and I will fly to Peru to meet up with my brother Andres and his girlfriend Tina !More travel news and pictures next week !

Helena Tropicana & JoS Kokos