George Bush International Airport, Houston, TX

La china guapa. It has been a while since I've had a nickname that stuck, but I have to admit that I like the one that Kumata and Sara picked out for me in Costa Rica. It stemmed from our first bus trip out to Corcovado, when several men on the street called me la china guapa, and it's pretty much stuck since that moment. For all of you non-Asians who have never been to a Spanish-speaking country, it's customary for anyone who looks even remotely Asian to be labeled china (Chinese). This was true even in Spain, and even though it used to annoy me because I'm not Chinese, I've learned to take it with a sense of humor. Next on the agenda is getting used to all of the Southeast Asians who insisted that I must be Japanese (which I'm not either!).

Chinese pulpería

My flight out of Costa Rica was as near of a close call as my flight out of Seattle. I awoke in San Jose, Costa Rica at 5AM this morning, anticipating that I would have more than enough time to make it to the airport for my 8AM flight. Sara's host mom bade my farewell, and her host sister Kumata walked me to the main drag to catch a taxi. It took nearly half an hour to hail a cab (much longer than anticipated), and by the time the 4,000 colones ride got me to the airport and I made it through the exit tax (ingresos) line, and the line to check into my flight, I was the very last person they allowed to check in. The line to get through security was even longer, but somehow I found myself in the "unaccompanied minors" line, and got through in less than five minutes. I suppose that's one benefit to looking like I'm under 18.

Creative way to deal with sunburn

Anyway, as a recap of the last couple of days, Sara and I spent the day after snorkeling (my last blog update) as an entirely lazy last day in Bahía Drake. We ate breakfast and lounged around Casa Horizantes on the front porch reading our books until noon. I managed to finish my first book of the new year, Maya Angelou's autobiographical novel I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. We then rented a sea kayak and spent a couple of hours kayaking around Drake Bay, doing our best to protect our already sunburned backs from the sun. Yesterday, we caught the last speedboat of our trip out of Drake Bay into Sierpe, and then a shuttle to Palma Norte where we took a 6 hour bus ride back to San Jose. It was a day of waiting, as our speedboat was 45 minutes late, our bus 60 minutes late, and our friends in San Jose were nearly an hour late meeting us. Still, I suppose that is what one should expect on trips--lots and lots of waiting.

The dock at Sierpé

Boating through the mangroves on the way to Sierpé.

Kumata and Jeff met us at the bus station in San Jose, and we were taken to the host family's new home in San Jose, which is much bigger and nicer than their house in Limón, with four bedrooms and 3.5 baths (and hot water!) compared to the 3 bedroom 2 bath house in Limón. It was a pleasure to be able to see it before leaving. We had our last home cooked Costa Rican meal, and lounged around before heading to bed. This is when Sara and I discovered the disadvantage of the new house (besides the house's first cockroach that we discovered during dinner): the house is right across the street from an outdoor basketball court that doubles as a hangout spot for local teenagers at night and a loud step aerobics class that begins at 5AM. I no doubt was counting my lucky stars for learning early on the necessity of traveling with earplugs. You never know when there will be screeching monkeys or drunken teens preventing you from getting a good night's rest (no joke..the monkeys were a problem in Bahía Drake).

Krishmir, Kumata, Sara - Christmas Eve (well, midnight) in Limón, Costa Rica

After a 3 hour plane ride to Houston and a much shorter customs line, I am now back in the US sipping a Wendy's vanilla frosty with Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat Pray Love for my 14 hour plane ride, waiting to embark on chapter 3 of my adventure. As usual, there was a bit of culture shock on the airplane, as I was surrounded mostly by American English-speakers. Sometimes when you travel abroad, you wonder what it's like to be able to understand and potentially jump into any conversations that go on around you...and when you finally experience it again, it is less than a thrill. I am excited for my pending return to the E.U., although a little nervous to be hit with high prices once again, even though as some others on my flight concurred, Costa Rica is actually more expensive than other destinations such as Southeast Asia. My trip to Costa Rica a times put me out of my comfort zone, especially in terms of the humidity and mosquito population, but like all other trips I have been on, I am grateful for the experience, definitely plan to return, and recommend that others visit as well. ¡Pura Vida!

Suzi's Photo of the Day

Canada-US border, March 2008
Vancouver city/island trip during spring break of senior year. So excited to see my friend again in less than 24 hours!

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Isla de Caño, Costa Rica

Okay, well we´re not technically on Caño Island anymore, but we spent most of the day there today as part of a daylong snorkeling trip. Caño Island is a biological reserve located 20km away from Drake Bay, so we got up at 6am this morning (the sun was already shining brightly at this early hour) to catch a speedboat to the island. There were about 5 other snorkelers, as well as 6 scuba divers on our boat, and the snorkeling was pretty decent. I can´t lie, I kind of regretted not finishing my scuba certification in college--if anyone can cure my fear of deep water and my inability to clear my ears underwater, I´d be all about getting my scuba certification.

In Bali, the snorkeling seemed very touristy in that we snorkeled with baggies of bread and fed the fish to get them to swim around us. It was cool, but kind of like having pet fish in the wild. At Caño Island, the snorkeling was slightly deeper, and the water much more clear and blue, so all of the fish and marine life were in their natural habitats, which was an honor to be able to observe. There were huge tuna, parrot fish, and other various schools of fish, and we were lucky enough to see about a half dozen small sharks lurking in the waters below, as well as several turtles. Being surrounded by all of this marine life reminded me of the Fred Barnett´s Hawaiian Reef Fish Madness video my brother and I used to inhale as kids. It definitely helped solidify some of the early reef fish knowledge that stays with me today.

Isla de Caño

A little girl and her puppy, Mancha

The water was warm, and the sun shining bright, so we without a doubt are a shade or two darker (and redder) than we were yesterday, but it was a day well spent. We also met a couple of girls (one from California and the other from Vancouver Island), one of whom had a similar mission to my own, which was funny. I truly am meeting a lot of others in the same boat as myself, which is somewhat reassuring.

Me, Sara, and our two new friends!

Tonight, there are 6 Russian tourists inhabiting our B&B with us, so we will luckily get to mooch off the of the fish dinner that will be prepared for them. I suppose I should feel a tiny bit of guilt for craving fish for dinner while snorkeling today...

Suzi´s Photos of the Day

Alhambra from the Albaycin

The Alhambra, Granada, Spain, Spring 2007

Since I studied abroad in Granada, I have countless images of the Alhambra, and toured it more times than I can remember, but these are definitely my favorite views of this Moorish fortress of Andalucia.

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Still in Bahia Drake, Costa Rica -

We are coming up on finishing day two in Bahia Drake, and this is definitely the vacation getaway spot that you all should be jealous of. Perhaps. If you like small beach towns. Casa Horizantes, the B&B that we are staying in, is a real steal. The 5-bedroom wooden house sits high above Drake Bay, meaning that it is a bit of a hike to get up there (the path isn´t meant for vehicles), but the view and the quality of the house is worth it. Yami, the owner, has been cooking our two meals of the day (breakfast and dinner), and they have been well worth it. Yami and her family inhabit the entire B&B during the winter, but during the summer, they open it up to guests, while the family resides in the smaller side attachment. It is interesting to listen to how the residents of Bahia Drake deal with having the nearest bank/ATM located several hours away by car/bus. They all seem to operate on a debit/credit system, which seems to work fine for them, but for the sake of tourism if nothing else, it would be so much more helpful to have a bank or ATM in town. All in all though, I recommend staying at Casa Horizantes if you ever find yourself on this side of Costa Rica. Check out their website HERE.

One of the many yummy homemade dinners served at Casa Horizantes

Anyway, we have been sleeping in until about 8:30 every day, arising to eat Yami´s homemade breakfast (usually fruit, eggs, pintos--rice and beans, coffee, and juice), and then lazing about for the day. Yesterday, we walked two hours to Rio Claro, retracing the path that the speedboat took to bring us from La Sirena to Drake Bay. The River was nice and cool, in contrast to the warm sea that it empties into. Swimming in the portion where the river meets the sea is an interesting experience, with the water around you constantly changing from being chilly cool from the river to sunny warm from the sea. We met a European couple with a chatty, imaginative 6-year old boy on our walk to the river, and with them, we went on a $10 touristy canoe ride down the river. It was an hour and a half, and most of the ride seemed like a rip off, except for a short hike to several mini waterfalls that we got to swim under and do some cliff jumping from. All in all though, it was worth a maximum of half the price we paid.

We finished the canoe ride at 4:30PM, an hour before the sunset, and thus had to book it back to town to beat the incoming tides and use as much daylight as possible. Our 2 hour hike in turned into an hour and a half speedwalk back, and we made it with just enough daylight to find our way, but soaking wet hiking boots, unfortunately. The worst part about being here is the fact that things like socks and clothes don´t dry very quickly--my socks are going on 5 days of being damp, which probably means they are getting gross and moldy. Boo.

Today we spent nearly the entire day laying on a nearby beach, soaking up the sun and our books. I made it 100 pages into Maya Angelou´s I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. For the first time since college, it looks like I´m starting the new year off right by finishing not one but two whole books. Hopefully keep the momentum up for the rest of the year.

The "dock" for boats leaving La Sirena

The Dutch family that dropped their drawers for the ride

Súzi´s Photos of the Day

Grand Canyon of West Yellowstone National Park, Sept 2009

First photo taken from the ground, second photo taken from the air. These are REAL waterfalls, stunning products of nature in comparison to the so-called stunning $10 waterfalls our guide at Rio Claro promised we´d see.

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Bahía Drake, Costa Rica

After a grueling 10 hour 25K hike through the Costa Rican rainforest from Los Patos to La Sirena, and two nights of camping at the ranger station of La Sirena, Sara and I exited Corcovado Parque Nacional made it to Bahia Drake via speedboat this afternoon. Bahía Drake (on the upper right corner of the map, just outside of Corcovado´s boundaries) is an incredibly small island town, with two restaurants, a bar, a pulperia, an Internet cafe, and various tourist offerings, but not much else (and no ATM or bank, meaning we are tight on cash). Fortunately, we do have rooms in a beautiful B&B that is clean and has hot water, electricity, FANS in the room, and nice people. We will plan to be here for the next couple of days (or until our cash runs out) before moving on. I am currently covered in mosquito bites (I counted over 40 on one leg alone), and dripping with sweat like a fat person, but I am so glad to be a little bit closer to the real world as I know it.

I have quite an entry to recap the last couple of days we spent in the rainforest. Last night, for New Year´s Eve, for example, I watched teh sun set at around 5:30PM, ate a simple dinner of couscous and lentils shortly after, and was hibernating in my tent by 8PM (I think...I didn´t keep track of time out there). My tent was the best place where I could minimize the amount of hungry mosquitoes I fed, but unforunately, the tent was also poorly ventilated. So....I rang in the new year drenched in sweat and still covered with mosquito bites...but I was in the middle of the Costa Rican rainforest, listening to macaws and howler monkeys not far away. It was a unique experience, one of many that were had in Corcovado.

Path to La Sirena ranger station.

The airfield's right in front of the campsite.

Corcovado was hot, humid, full of mosquitoes, but also very tranquil, beautiful, and full of wildlife that you can´t easily see elsewhere. Bats, spider monkeys, macaws, toucans, crocodiles, various birds and lizards, were all within yards of where we were sleeping. The rainforest portion of Costa Rica in general isn´t much unlike Hawaii or even parts of Washington state, apart from the unique plants and animals that are found here. When I was hiking, sometimes it felt like I was in the mountains of WA or the Manoa trails of HI. The beach even reminded me of scenes from the TV show Lost. It was an adventure that was both very difficult both physically and mentally, but it was a great experience. I will probably never do it again :P More on that later (with some pics too, hopefully!).

Beach - doesn't it look like a scene out of Lost?


Suzi´s Photo of the Day

Bumbershoot, Seattle, WA Sept 2009

Because I miss him.

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Parque Nacional Corcovado - recap

Corcovado National Park is located in southwest Costa Rica on the Osa Peninsula. According to Wikipedia, it was established in 1975, and encompasses an area of 425 km² (263 mi²), and it has a stunning ecological variety. It is home to lots of wildlife including Baird's tapirs, Harpy eagles, American crocodiles, Spectacled Caiman, pumas, peccary, ocelots, white-faced monkeys, and bull sharks. I only had the pleasure of seeing a crocodile, monkeys, and birds, but it was still a wonder to behold. Read more about the park here.

Sara and I spent several days in Corcovado National Park, hiking in the day before New Years Eve, and speedboating out on New Years Day. I have to admit that the experience was unlike anything I have ever experienced, and I mean that it had its ups and downs. On December 29, we left the tourist/ex-pat haven of Puerto Jimenez and bussed into the border of the park, staying at the isolated house of our guide Eduardo and his family. They are campesinos, or country-dwellers whose first attempts at farming fizzled out due to wildlife consuming their cattle, so their new focus is on tourism and guiding through the park. Bright and early on December 30, we hauled our packs (mine was around 30lbs) onto our backs, and began our 25k (15 mile) trek to La Sirena ranger station.

Just outside of Los Patos with our guide, Eduardo.

 
A scarlet macaw.

When I was 17, I ran a 30k race in 2.5 hours. This journey took about 8 hours more than that. At first, it was a somewhat leisurely hike, albeit difficult given the weight of our packs and presence of sticky, slippery mud on the path. Occasional river crossings made us grateful for seeking out knee-high rubber boots (botas de hule) in Puerto Jimenez, although after a while, the lack of support within the boots caused a great deal of foot pain. I was also relieved to forget about the possible presence of crocodiles and bull sharks (they swim in both salt and fresh water) in the rivers. It was good to know that the river water was purported by our guide to be drinkable, and even though I was skeptical for a long while, thirst got the best of me and I downed two liters of untreated river water. Luckily no medical problems ensued. Yet :)

Lack of distance markers also made it difficult to tell just how far we had left to go, and the fast setting sun later in the day (at around 5PM), was a bit disheartening. All in all, I can't find the words to express my relief and joy upon finally crossing the clearing of La Sirena just after dusk that day. Covered in mud, sweat, and tears, I know that I looked like a mess, but I quickly learned that this is how most trekkers arrive at La Sirena. There is another station, La Leona, that is an approximately 6 hour hike away from La Sirena, and its path stays on the beach, while the Los Patos path that we did stays entirely in the rain forest. Most trekkers arrived to La Sirena from La Leona, and their stories and dramatic entrances imply that that path is much harder than the one we did. Either way, everyone luckily made it in one piece.

Large ants in Corcovado

An American crocodile in the river/ocean crossing

Hermit crabs

La Sirena is basically a big wooden structure with dorms and a full-service kitchen for those with reservations, and camping platforms and a "do it yourself" kitchen for budget travelers. We were lucky to arrange to have a rentable tent there for us, even though it didn't breathe well, and we were without sleeping pads the first night. With only a skimpy sleeping bag separating my back from the wooden floor, that's one way to build a backbone. Humidity was high and the mosquitoes were aplenty, but so were the travelers and the interesting stories they brought. There were Google employees, a Western Washington University professor, students, and unemployed folks traveling in pairs, groups, or families. Perhaps the most interesting story was a group of 5 backpackers coming from La Leona--two girls arrived first, followed by their lost friend the next day, and, on the day we left, the last two of their party made a dramatic entrance (flopping down on the ground out of joy and exhaustion upon arrival). As fun and pretty as it was, I have to admit that I couldn't have been happier than when I was on the crazy, splashy speedboat heading to Bahía Drake.

 
On the speedboat!

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Puerto Jimenez, Costa Rica

After a grueling 9 hour bus ride on a non-air conditioned bus, Sara and I left San Jose and made it to Puerto Jimenez yesterday night. We spent the night at The Palms hotel for a mere $10/head, since the AC in the room was broken. On the plus side, we were given a fan, and the room had both a mosquito net and hot water (my first warm water shower since arriving in Costa Rica! It was glorious). Puerto Jiminez is definitely more of a touristy beach town, with lots of Americans and ex-Pats who speak fluent Spanish with horrible American accents. We spied two huge red macaws this morning -- our first glimpse of wildlife, and just bought botas de hule (rubber boots) and are seeking out gas supply for our camping stove before we leave the comforts of Puerto Jiminez and officially embark on our journey into Corcovado Parque Nacional. Wish us luck!

Convenience store in Puerto Jimenez sells chain saws.

Suzi's Photo of the Day

Mount Rainier, Spring 2008

My first snowshoeing trip, and it was to Mount Rainier with the UPS (Univ of Puget Sound) outdoors club. I am craving the snow right now b/c it is sooooo hot out here!

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Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Bueno, pues fuimos a Puerto Viejo ayer y ahora estamos otra vez en Limon. (We went to Puerto Viejo yesterday, and I am currently in Limon again as I write this).

Christmas festivities here in Costa Rica are, as expected, a bit different than those in the U.S. Christmas eve, which is when we arrived in Limon, is more of a big deal than Christmas day. When Sara, Kumata and I arrived at the house on Christmas eve to meet la madre de Kumata (Mami), Kumata´s 10 year old brother Krishner, and several young cousins. Mami had been cooking all day, partially because she makes triple servings of a dish, which is then exchanged with the neighbors. The thing we were not aware of is that even though she began cooking at 7am, we don´t eat until late at night (10PM, in our case). Waiting was tortuous, but the meal of pasta, chicken, fish and rice was delicious and well worth the wait. Midnight is when the gift-opening occurs, so over glasses of rosé, small gifts of clothing and cellphones were opened.

Day after Christmas--congregating around the Nintendo Wii

On Christmas day, we along with la familia de Kumata and two neighborhood girls, Ashley and Rakea, spent the latter half of the afternoon at the "city beach" in Limon after a morning of getting up at 10am, spending several hours eating breakfast (fried cakes, yogurt, and coffee). The beach there was a bit cloudy, but it had moderate waves that made well for young boys and their six foot tall surfboards.

Monkeying around at Playa Bonita in Limón.

Yesterday was the day after Christmas, and the three women of the house, Mami, Sara and I spent most of the day lounging on the tranquil but beautiful beach at Puerto Viejo, which is an hour bus ride away from Limon. It was a small, lazy beach town with many hostels and the general feel of a surfer community. Perhaps my favorite part of the day was going to a bakery for lunch and getting a bocadillo de tortilla espanol, much like the sandwiches my host mom in Spain used to make us for lunch. That night, Mami also made us one of my favorite desserts from scratch--rice pudding. The only other thing I needed to make it an excellent day of food would be another empanada, which I am delighted to see here in Costa Rica, because they were also one of my favorite treats in Spain.

Pulpería at Puerto Viejo

This afternoon, Sara and I will leave Limon for San Jose, where we will re-pack our bags and prepare to head out to Corcovado early tomorrow. Hopefully our actual trip will be less of a headache than the preparations...as an example, to pay the entrance fee into the park, we have to deposit money into the park´s bank account, which we still have yet to do. Anyway, we will be spending the rest of our time in the Peninsula de Osa, hiking and camping through the national park. There will of course be tons of mosquitos and wildlife (including, according to Lonely Planet, peccary), so we are preparing ourselves with lots of DEET, rain boots, and other provisions for ¨roughing it¨in the Costa Rican ¨wilderness¨of sorts. Not to worry to much though, because we will have a guide throughout the entirety of our stay (much to my relief).

So, my closing thoughts on Limon and my first few days in Costa Rica: if there were two things I could have with me right now, it would be tons more DEET and a portable but functional fan. The humidty and mosquito population here are what I imagined Cambodia and Bali would be like, and if I hadn´t been staying in hotels in SE Asia, I probably would have encountered the same situation as aqui. The nice thing is that it cools down enough at night that I can fall asleep in the fan-less and AC-less room that I share with Sara. Citronella candles help keep the bugs away at night, and usually at around 8am, I the heat and buzzing mosquitoes make it uncomfortable to oversleep. Also, I am learning to appreciate the unheated water here--there´s nothing like a cold shower to cool you off for a few minutes, before the heat causes you to start sweating again. Slowly but surely, my Spanish is starting to come back again. It´s a nice sign when I start thinking in Spanish. If only it would flow a bit more frequently.... :-P

Suzi´s Photos of the Day


Dubrovnik, Croatia, June 2007

Since I´m kind of on a beach kick right now, these are from my brief trip Dubrovnik, Croatia during my European backpacking tour. I´m in love with the Adriatic Sea...in my memory, it had some of the warmest water ever, and was one of the most beautiful beaches I´ve seen.

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Limón, Costa Rica

Ahora, estamos en Limón, Costa Rica.
The link is in Spanish, but I am sure there is an easy way to reference it in English.

After a sleepless (but fun) night in Atlanta, I departed for San Jose, Costa Rica yesterday morning, after a brief layover in Houston. I stood in the longest immigration line ever (it took two hours to get a stamp on my passport), and was relieved to finally see a familiar face upon exiting the airport. Sara, her host sister Kumata and friend Jeff picked me up, and we spent the night in San Jose. Early this morning, all of us (sin Jeff) took a 3 hour bus ride to Limon, which is where we will spend the Christmas holiday before Sara and I depart for the Parque Nacional, tentatively on the 28th. From what it sounds like, from then on, it will be several days of pretty hardcore trekking, so I will probably be offline from then until the new year.

The streets of downtown Limón

Limón is much warmer than San Jose, so it is nice to once again trade in my jeans and winter jacket for board shorts and slippers. It is not as warm as Cambodia and Bali (it was in the 90s in both places), which is a blessing. Also, I hear that there is warm water in the house we are staying in tonight, so I don´t need to attempt and fail to take a cold water shower like I did last night.

Thus far, Costa Rica is unlike any other place I have been to. I thought SE Asia reminded me a lot of Hawaii, but Costa Rica is slightly different. It has the same tropical feel, but is still quite unique in a way I cannot quite describe. Also, I am suprised that there are many dark skinned people here. I suppose this goes along with every other American stereotype of Spanish-speaking countries. We always assume places like Spain and Costa Rica will have people who look like Mexicans, but that is almost never the case (especially not in Spain!). OH, and the salsa music! They like to play tons of salsa music on the street (with the exception of this Internet cafe, which is playing HAWAIIAN music! yes!).

Before I sign off, I´ll explain that this is yet another departure from my previous blog. At the Atlanta Couchsurfing party, I met some travel bloggers there who gave me recommendations for this blog, including neglecting to include my full name in it, hence why I am changing the domain. I will slowly move my other posts over to this blog, and include my post on Atlanta, which is on my laptop, which I left in San Jose for safe keeping.

Meanwhile, I enourage you to check out and bookmark this travel blog by my new friend in Atlanta, Zach. He will spend the upcoming year (beginning Dec 26) traveling through South America and Africa...I wish him all the best on this new adventure!
http://www.travelpod.com/members/zachsmith

Suzi´s Photo of the Day

Rome, Italy, December 25, 2006

Christmas dinner on Christmas day in Rome, three years ago. We were all studying abroad in Europe, and we met in Rome to be festive and merry together, bringing sweet treats from wherever we were coming from. Milka bars from Germany, shortbread from Scotland, Oregon chocolate, and random Toblerone that some couple gave to me on my flight to Europe. This was also the day after we attempted to see the Pope give his Christmas speech at the Vatican and failed miserably, having to walk halfway across Rome in the middle of the night because no taxis would stop and pick us up. It was a holiday to remember!

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