On Friday after work three of us set off for Alejula, a small town 45 mins outside San Jose (the capital). The bus winds down through the moutains for 2 and 1/2 hours. By the time we arrived I was pretty car sick and really to get my feet on the ground. The hostel we were staying in was nice and clean and we ended up with our own room, with cable tv! I haven't watched tv since I've been here! They had enemy at the gates in English on so that was our evening sorted! For dinner, someone within the group, mentioning no names, wanted to go for Chinese food, so off we went to commit culinary madness, Chinese food in costa rica. I wasn't impressed and didn't eat much of mine, instead I went to the supermarket and bought bananas and cereal- always a good emergancy dinner.
We had arranged for a mini van to pick us up at 7.30 am to go to the volcano as the best chance to see it without mist is in the morning. The driver was really sweet and ended up being an unofficial tour guide for the while day, telling us all about the area, farming and plants while we drove back into the mountains (all in Spanish though!)
However best laid plans... Never work as when we arrived the crater was shrouded in thick mist which was belching sulphur fumes accross the viewing area. Not to be dettered we started the hike up to the lagoon crater further up the volcano in the hope it might be clear. It was in a thick mis as well but we decided to wait it out. After half an hour we started to see the edges of the lagoon down the crater and little ripples on the water. Then suddenly the mist cleared and the sun was shining down over the whole lagoon, it was magical and beautiful. I took millions of photos in sheer joy at this place being revealled to us. Within minutes the cloud was rolling in again and the lagoon disappeared once again. We returned to the first crater in the hope of seeing it but it wasn't to be and I was satisfied with my lagoon experience. We went back to the ranger center and got something to eat and I bought myself the obligatory tacky tshirt, with lava etc on it!
We then headed over to the la Paz (the peace) waterfalls, a series of large cascades in a complex that also had a butterfly centre and hummingbird garden. The area in which it was had suffered a earthquake last year which meant many of the villages we passed through on the drive were eerily deserted and the whole towns were empty. Once we arrived, and I tried to pay to get in I realised that I had lelft my debit card at the cafe at volcan poas! Drama drama followed/- not really I was impressed with how calm I stayed. I realised thewoman had never given it back to me when I had paid so I asked the reception at the waterfall to call the cafe and ask if my card was there- which it was thank god! So the driver, carlos, took me back in the car, another 49 min drive to poas while the others went to the water falls. I was pretty stressed but my card was there wrapped in a cellotaped bag. It was a weird experience bein I this van for almost two hours trying to speak Spanish, we chatted about football, Scotland and cars. I though I was doing ok until I realised I had told him Scotland has many earthquakes, oops.
Back at the falls I waited in reception for the others as I didn't want to pay the whole entry fee to only have an hour. Fortunatley the guys must have felt sorry for me as they let me in half price, but I had an hour to power hike down to the falls and back, I have never been so out of breath! And by this time it was torrential rain! It was worth the sweat and risk of slipping as they were magnificent, almost moreso in the rain and being by myself was special. The hummingbird gareden was also beautiful and I was momentarily mesmorised by them, just watching them fly around me.
Back at the hostel we all crashed out, it had been a tiring day! I needed to find a phone though to speak to my bank as I didn't want to assume my card was safe! The bank were really nice and told me just to watch the Internet backing to make sure there were no suspicious transactions, so now I'm on it all the time! Ice cream and pizza for dinner, a safer and yummier choice all round. A big sleep in preparation for gallery visits in San Jose on Sunday.
Tuesday 23 March 2010
Sunday 21 March 2010
My fifth week in ciudad quesada
After a week of no blogging I have returned to update you on more of my stories and adventures. This week was very varied at volunteering and the days pass quickly as the routine is familiar and comfortable. This week the children were really fun to work with and I managed to do some good craft lessons with them. I taught them about mothers day in the u.k and we made tissue paper flowers for them to give to their mums at the end if the day. Most of the mothers are cleaners or cooks or farm workers and work long long days so I was hoping it would bring a smile to them after their day. I also made with them felt hand puppets with wobbly eyes and string hair! They loved though I got covered in glue and bits of felt. I think they are growing fond of me and I hear "sophia, "sophia" when I arrive and play with them. Some even come sit on my lap when I read to them at the end of the day. My goals with them are coming along, the older ones can almost count to ten in English and they now know they have to say please and thankyou before I let them do things! Installing good manners I am!
The elderly home is still going well and I have made a few friends in the residents and I take them for walks and listen to their stories, however I often do catch much as most of them have no teeth which makes understanding Spanish even harder! There is one man there called Monte Tigre, which means mountain tiger as he used to hunt jaguars and pumas as a living whenhe was young. He still walks around with a staff and a large purple cowboy hat and big leather boots with jeans tucked in. He is a very proud man and is interesting to talk to, though unfortunaty he has proposes to me
twice now and even offered to buy me off another volunteer, hmmmm. Another man who I speak to regularly is called Manuel, he is 72 and in a wheelchair and from the town if Limon. he has over eleven children and was never married and is in the home because he stash he never found a wife until he was too old to marry and no one would settle down with him. On Friday he was talking me and another voluteer, who is fluent in Spanish, about his family and his mother. He began to recount her death and started to cry, it was increbibly otional to have this man open up so much and share his lonliness. I began to cry soon and we held his hands until he felt better. It was so moving, it's hard to describe, I'm just glad I was there to listen.
In Friday three of us headed off to Alajuela, north of San Jose so we could attempt to see the Poas Volcano on Saturday.
The elderly home is still going well and I have made a few friends in the residents and I take them for walks and listen to their stories, however I often do catch much as most of them have no teeth which makes understanding Spanish even harder! There is one man there called Monte Tigre, which means mountain tiger as he used to hunt jaguars and pumas as a living whenhe was young. He still walks around with a staff and a large purple cowboy hat and big leather boots with jeans tucked in. He is a very proud man and is interesting to talk to, though unfortunaty he has proposes to me
twice now and even offered to buy me off another volunteer, hmmmm. Another man who I speak to regularly is called Manuel, he is 72 and in a wheelchair and from the town if Limon. he has over eleven children and was never married and is in the home because he stash he never found a wife until he was too old to marry and no one would settle down with him. On Friday he was talking me and another voluteer, who is fluent in Spanish, about his family and his mother. He began to recount her death and started to cry, it was increbibly otional to have this man open up so much and share his lonliness. I began to cry soon and we held his hands until he felt better. It was so moving, it's hard to describe, I'm just glad I was there to listen.
In Friday three of us headed off to Alajuela, north of San Jose so we could attempt to see the Poas Volcano on Saturday.
Friday 12 March 2010
One month
It is coming up for a month since I left Edinburgh and it both feels like I've been here longer, yet it's also gone in a flash. I am feeling comfortable in both my placements and look forward to them, well at least I look forward to the elderly cate home! I feel like I am makin friends at the placements and that the people enjoy having me there. Yesterday the group went to a huge waterfall in la fortuna after work. We has to hike down to it and the was a pool we could swim in. The water was really cold and refreshing and the current was pretty strong so we could ride the current down the stream. It was a beautiful waterfall that spilled out from the Forrest into this pool hundreds of feet below. However as we had hiked down, getting back to the bus was not so enjoyable- over 450 steps! Yup I felt the burn! I justiied it by eating ice cream when we got home. The weather has turned room here in cuidad quesada. It has been sunny and hot all week, we are all hoping it will stay like this for a while, the rain was bringing the mood down. I hope to cone back with at least some healthy colour! Watch this space xxxxxx
Thursday 11 March 2010
Monteverde Part 2
After ziplining we had a quick turn around in which to dash home and grab an extra layer and a snack before we headed out on our night trail walk through the Forrest. Most of the animals in the Forrest are easier to see at night or dusk and so this walk starts as the sun is starting to set. We were each given a torch by the guide and we headed into the forest. As it grew darker we spotted sloths curled up in the branches and lots of colourful birds falling asleep, despite the strong winds! Once the ligh had faded I realised the while Forrest was dotted with fireflies which were flying all around, it was like the movie ferngully! The guide was catching them and holding them to show us. The noises as night were intence so many insects and birds, plus he winds rushing throught the layers of vegetation. It was incredibly surreal being there in pitch black with only a few torch lights. When I pointed my torch upwards all I could see seas layer upon layer of vegetation, it was so dense! While watching we also found a tarantula and a huge, I mean huge ants nest (which resulted in nightmares about ants that night). The trail walk was beautiful and I felt I had seen the inner part of Costa Rica. Once we emerged after two hours, the sky was clear and black and I have never seen so many stars in my life, it was like glitter had spilt across the sky.
They next day we returned to cuidad quesada, I was not ready to go. While in the jeep down to the lake we saw rainbows across the valleys, I could have stayed there for a long time. I will definately try to get back there at some point, it felt like the costa rica I had read about when I first started planning this trip.
They next day we returned to cuidad quesada, I was not ready to go. While in the jeep down to the lake we saw rainbows across the valleys, I could have stayed there for a long time. I will definately try to get back there at some point, it felt like the costa rica I had read about when I first started planning this trip.
Tuesday 9 March 2010
Monteverde cloud forrest
Last weekend 6 of us went to the monteverde cloud Forrest which is in the birth if the country and a moutainous area which is really hard to get to. By public bus it takes eight hours, but another way to reach the area I to take a four wheel drive to lake arenal, then sail accross the lake and then get a jeep for two hours up the most insanely bumpy and winding rounds I have ever seen! The journey has to be down in two parts as the jeeps leave only at 8am or 2pm so we had to travel to la fortuna on the friday and leave on the first jeep on Saturday.
Monteverde has been on my list to so since I first decided to come to costa rica as it the best place to seen wildlife and a cloud forrest is a unique landscape. On the drive up the hills I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the area. There was so much green, layer upon layer of vegetation, impossibly bright flowers, trees and cows and birds, a real feast for the eyes. I just instantly loved the place and because it's hard to get to it is not busy, until u reach the main town.
Monteverde is famous for it's trails through the forrest and as the first place that did canopy tours with ziplining. So three of us had signed up in advance to go ziplining on Saturday afternoon with a company called extremo- I should have known then what I was letting myself into! The tour consisted in 14 platforms high up in the canopy if the Forrest with steel ziplines between them which you zoom down between each platforms. You are so high up and the views were amazing I could see accross the whole reserve, for miles and miles. One thig I didn't realise was that we were responsible for our own breaking in the lines! Now most people reading this will know I am not athletic and do not posses much/any upper body strength, nit a good start. The lines were so fast and michelle and I just couldn't get the hang if stopping resulting in her crashing into a tree me stopping short and having to try to pull myself along (I ended up getting rescued) and both of us pulling a lot of muscles in our arms. Despite all this is was an insane experience. The lines were over 1 km long and spanned across whole valleys and it felt amazing. One was called the superman and you were attatched to the cable horizontally so you were flying! Completely unreal. One however was not so enjoyable and it wad called the Tarzan swing and involved jumping off a ledge and free falling fiir 10 meters before being hoisted round and swinging insanely up into the trees. Words cannot describe! I recommend the whole thing to everyone, I would do it again in a shot.
So that done we returned to our hostel for a quick turn around and off on a night hike through the forrest to see wildlife with a guide. That is for another post as I'm tired today after a hectic placement day- made binoculars and played adventurers! They loved it, and I have fun chasing them around! Much love xxxxx
Monteverde has been on my list to so since I first decided to come to costa rica as it the best place to seen wildlife and a cloud forrest is a unique landscape. On the drive up the hills I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the area. There was so much green, layer upon layer of vegetation, impossibly bright flowers, trees and cows and birds, a real feast for the eyes. I just instantly loved the place and because it's hard to get to it is not busy, until u reach the main town.
Monteverde is famous for it's trails through the forrest and as the first place that did canopy tours with ziplining. So three of us had signed up in advance to go ziplining on Saturday afternoon with a company called extremo- I should have known then what I was letting myself into! The tour consisted in 14 platforms high up in the canopy if the Forrest with steel ziplines between them which you zoom down between each platforms. You are so high up and the views were amazing I could see accross the whole reserve, for miles and miles. One thig I didn't realise was that we were responsible for our own breaking in the lines! Now most people reading this will know I am not athletic and do not posses much/any upper body strength, nit a good start. The lines were so fast and michelle and I just couldn't get the hang if stopping resulting in her crashing into a tree me stopping short and having to try to pull myself along (I ended up getting rescued) and both of us pulling a lot of muscles in our arms. Despite all this is was an insane experience. The lines were over 1 km long and spanned across whole valleys and it felt amazing. One was called the superman and you were attatched to the cable horizontally so you were flying! Completely unreal. One however was not so enjoyable and it wad called the Tarzan swing and involved jumping off a ledge and free falling fiir 10 meters before being hoisted round and swinging insanely up into the trees. Words cannot describe! I recommend the whole thing to everyone, I would do it again in a shot.
So that done we returned to our hostel for a quick turn around and off on a night hike through the forrest to see wildlife with a guide. That is for another post as I'm tired today after a hectic placement day- made binoculars and played adventurers! They loved it, and I have fun chasing them around! Much love xxxxx
Sunday 7 March 2010
Week three
It's already come to the end of my third week, which has gone so quickly. It was such a busy week and ups and downs throughout. Monday was a difficult day, various difficulties with the kids and I decided I needed to speak to the programme people about it. So I now started two placements now, so children on Mondays, Tuesday and Thursdays, and an elderly residential home on Wednesdays and Fridays. The home is equally difficult and sad. The home is stated supported and a lot of the people there are there because they have been abandonned by their families due to financial difficuties or problems in the home. The poverty of the area is very apparent in this placement as the home provides food and shelter but not much else and without the volunteers they wouldn't have dancing or exercise classes or arts and crafts. Most of the residents are wheelchair bound, but just speaking to them and spending time with them. I am glad I will have time at both placements and in a few weeks I am hoping to start helping at the womans centre as well.
So the rest of my week went well, Spanish class, zumba, I played football in a staff versus voluteers game and loved it, visited a nature reserve and went to a Spanish dubbed movie, a really busy and fun week! The movie was hilariousit was that percy Jackson and lighting bolt thing, a fun experience in Spanish. My activities with the children went well, masks and animal puppets on sticks, tommorrow it's paper bag puppets, look at me all blue peter!
Anyhoo this weekend we went to Monteverde and I had an amazing time, one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. A brilliant weekend and i wish you'd all been there. I will write all about it tomorrow but for now it's bedtime, love love xxx
So the rest of my week went well, Spanish class, zumba, I played football in a staff versus voluteers game and loved it, visited a nature reserve and went to a Spanish dubbed movie, a really busy and fun week! The movie was hilariousit was that percy Jackson and lighting bolt thing, a fun experience in Spanish. My activities with the children went well, masks and animal puppets on sticks, tommorrow it's paper bag puppets, look at me all blue peter!
Anyhoo this weekend we went to Monteverde and I had an amazing time, one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen. A brilliant weekend and i wish you'd all been there. I will write all about it tomorrow but for now it's bedtime, love love xxx
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)