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The Lazy Monkey

March 8, 2009 in Costa Rica by tom | No comments

Five river crossings south of Playa Negra Kelsey caught and rode her first real wave. It was blowing offshore and the swell was holding up a long time before breaking. I looked out to see Kels lining up a real beauty, a big left-hander, and her timing looked about right. I paddled over the top of it just as she was taking the drop and looked back to see her screaming down the face of the wave. It was real sweet—that ride took six months of repeated punishment and the smile lasted for days.

We camped in Guiones, Nosara for a couple more nights before heading to the Caribbean side. Got horribly lost in the tangle of San Jose after missing what turned out to be a crucial yet poorly signed turn off to Heredia. Everyone we asked said we were going in the right direction despite the fact that we were in fact driving in circles. We were saved by a man in a furniture truck who took the time to lead us through a maze of back roads and we both vowed to do the same if we get the chance.

The Caribbean side of Costa Rica is strikingly different from the rest of the country. Steaming jungle with abundantly rich wildlife line the Caribbean coast. We were lucky enough to see this guy, hanging out in front of our cabina—a two toed Sloth or Mono Perisoso, the lazy monkey. Leaves are the Sloths main food source but because they are low in nutrition, provide little energy and are slow to breakdown (sometimes the digestion process can take up to a month) the Sloth has to maintain a pretty laid back lifestyle—apparently they only climb down once a week do their ‘business’.


Sloth in Puerto Viejo from Kels M on Vimeo.

A Year on The Road

February 20, 2009 in Costa Rica by tom | 11 comments

So it’s been one year, twenty thousand kilometers, eight countries and one hundred malarial pills since we left Calgary last February in that -21º snow storm. We put together a little slideshow of our trip highlights to date.

The Rich Coast

January 31, 2009 in Costa Rica by tom | 3 comments

joydrive-update

We’re staying at Playa Negra in a sweet little cabina on the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica. It’s offshore here almost all of the time and we’ve had a couple of days of good surfing—we’re waiting on a big south westerly swell coming up from New Zealand that should hit here midweek. So while the waves are small we’re going to try our luck at spear fishing with some home made Hawaiian Slings. Yesterday we bought some lengths of 1/2″ aluminium tube and some spear tips, attached some bungee cords and we now have a couple of formidable looking slings …  heading out today, so we’ll see how it goes.

Bribery and Corruption

January 22, 2009 in El Salvador/Nicaragua, Honduras by tom | No comments

After Honduras, importing a car into Nicaragua was a breeze, After the border though we were stopped by the police four or five times in about two hours, all trying to catch us out on the old …and where is your fire extinguisher and safety triangle trick. Fortunately for us Kels had read up and we were prepared. It was kind of fun, I had restrain myself from including the finger when presenting our safety triangle.

But when I was caught not wearing my seat belt after digging for a map in the back it was all over – these guys make up their own infractions, so in that moment of not wearing my seat belt I had stupidly given the friendly Nicaraguan policeman a free ticket. I still haven’t quite managed to shake the remnants of the ‘gringo pressed for time’ attitude, even after nearly a year on the road, and he could smell it and I knew he had me – all our initial banter was just a tired façade. So while were being passed by truck loads of people and by families of threes and fours on motorbikes I gave him ten US dollars to look the other way and just like that my hopes of completing the drive without greasing the wheels of corruption were dashed.

New Year’s and Latino Heat

January 3, 2009 in El Salvador/Nicaragua by tom | 2 comments

We bought these babies to ring in the new year Latin American style, wearing red undies on New Year’s Eve is thought to bring good fortune in love and romance.

Ropa interior rojo were in high demand and a little hard to find but we managed to track some down in a crowded clothing market in Granada the day before.

A couple other interesting Spanish New Year’s traditions include;

  • Eating twelve [red] grapes while making a wish for each of the twelve months.
  • Those hoping to increase their financial prospects should wear yellow.
  • Packing a suitcase and walking around the block is recommended for those wanting travel during the new year.

Hope everyone is having a great holiday season – we’ll have more in a few days.

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