Costa Rica - Bull fights, rainforests, beaches and body surfing!!

Well, on the 27th December Amanda, Mark and myself caught a bus to Tegucigalpa and the airport and our Costa Rican adventure was about to start! What an amazing time I had, a week away from Honduras and life here - a much needed breath of fresh air.

One of the many things that stood out about Costa Rica to me was how developed it was compared to Honduras. The taxis all have meters (instead of bargaining a price) - and you pay for the taxi and split the cost between you instead of paying per person here; the houses all look far more 'modern' than here, the roads are tarmacked and don't have huge potholes in them, the cars all have number plates and aren't falling apart, the people are a different colour...so many things. It showed how very behind Honduras is and how underdeveloped. But...if CR can do it so can Honduras. They have worked out how to develop tourism and how to maximise on it.
I had spent days planning out the trip whilst Amanda spent time with her family and had booked hotels etc. Sue and Ken used to live in CR and so were able to proved us with links to places to stay and people in San Jose - the capital. So we arrived at San Jose airport and there was Romeo the taxi driver waiting for us with a huge sign with my name on it!! I was very excited at this! Ken used to work with a wonderful CR girl called Sillenia and she had arranged for us to be met at the airport and taken to the Guest House she runs. She was hilarious and without thinking we were chatting away to both her and Romeo in Spanish - apparently I can say more than I thought!! Good to know!

That evening the 3 of us ventured out to the town, we were heading to the shopping mall - not something we have in Sigua! There were literally hundreds of people out and it turns out there was a Fiesta in town for Christmas/New Year. It was a giant carnival/funfair/party and so we jumped out of the taxi and went to explore. Low and behold there before us was a long queue and upon enquiring about it we found out there was to be a bull fight!!! Oh yes!! So a bull fight we went to!! At first it was fun and yet as we watched further it became apparent it really is just a 'bloodsport' and they just torment the poor creature. It wasn't a bull fight as we have all seen on TV..one man with a red flag and a bull....no...more like 150 men in a ring with a bull. It was crazy, all these young guys (and yes Mark did join in, but it wasn't exactly dangerous!)jump into the ring and try and get hte bull to chase them and then run away from it or jump out of the ring again. It was quite amusing at times and yes some did fall and get flipped up or rolled over by the bull (and then they get picked up and taken to the Red Cross booth!)But by and large the bulls were very confused by so many people and occasionally just stood there! We stayed a good long while and watched different bulls, bull rodeoing (riding)and different 'games' with the bull. I however, was quite taken by the uniform of the people working at the stadium and quite wanted the t-shirts they were wearing - with Torros and Tico's written on the back (Tico is the name of CR person and torro a bull, and some other Spanish writing I wont bore you with. Anyway, the nice older lady showing us to our seats was wearing a particularly nice red and black ong sleeved shirt and so we sent Mark off to see where we could buy one. Alas ...not for sale. But..I liked it! SO as we were leaving I went to said lady, gave her a hug and a smile and well, she went to someone else, who went ot their boss, who radio miked another person and next thing I know along comes a man with not 1 t-shirt for me but one for all of us. Alas not red but orange...but FREE! Obviously had to hug everyone at that point and he made us put them on there and then! At that point, the crowd all started shouting as they also wanted one and so we left quick smart!! So, although we didn't have a cameras for hte bull fight we did get a free t-shirt! And all for a smile!! You have to love it!!!

SO the next day, Amanda and I went off to Arenal and Mark went to climb a mountain (a 10 hour hike up - no thanks!) We went to Arenal Volcano, one of the 10 active volcanoes in the world. Our hotel had a perfect view, on a hill looking right at the lava side - perfect! Except...it was raining and cloudy the whole time and we saw nothing!! However, we met up with 2 other English girls at our hotel, who were lovely and we all went together to the Hanging Bridges. WoW! These were bridges (they looked like the ones on I'm a Celebrity get me out of here!) and went through the Rainforest. We had a 2 hour walk through the rainforest - in the rain- and crossed bridges that went through and above the rainforest canopy so we could look down upon it all. Truly truly amazing. Everything you expect a rainforest to be and more. The humidity was intense though even in the rain.












After a rainforest tour we caught another bus down to Manuel Antonio. This is a beach where the rainforest (part of the National Park) comes right down to the beach. Wow wow and wow again. What a place! White sand and rainforests! We went for a walk through this rainforest and the heat was intense. Blazing hot day and the humidity of the rainforest combined...wow! We saw monkeys (squirrel and white faced), iguanas, lizards, a raccoon type thing - agouti?, a large rodent type thing with legs - I forget the name, birds, views..WOW! Truly stunning. As we wondered past our hotel down the road a large iguana just crosses our path and as we sat on the beach in front of a large rock a large lizard just lay on the rock basking in the sun just behind us! Sadly for that I didn't have my camera with me. The weather wasn't amazing the whole time, cloudy and then in the evening s it rained. But we still got some colour and were able to swim in the sea - and get stung by a jelly fish?! I even did some body surfing! Have to laugh!

New Year's Eve was quite rainy so Amanda and went out to dinner and then watched movies on Cable TV on our beds! We then fell asleep and missed most things. We woke up to watch some of the fireworks. There were parties on the beach but the weather wasn't great and 2 white girls on their own probs wasn't too safe! Get ready for all these pics!....














Then we were on a bus again back to San Jose. You'd think that going by bus for hours at a time (our shortest bus journey was 4 and a half hours) that I would have seen a lot of the country...I however slept for every journey! Amanda assures me it was beautiful!! Back in San Jose we met up with Mark again and shared stories - and made it to the mall. It was like going to a Shopping Mall in Brighton - better in fact. You'd never think you were in Central America.

Here we are on the plane home (neither plane journeys were full!)


Photo of Honduras through a dirty plane window:


Coming back to Honduras was a shock, realising just how behind our life here is, how 3rd world it really is. Quite a shock. We went straight to Sue and Kens where we stayed for 3 days dog sitting for them whilst they were away. It was great - we had a movie marathon and just stayed and watched films, making the most of their home comforts!
Now, however, I am back at home. Thinking how much of an empty shell our house is - despite fact it is hugely modernised compared to others! Tomorrow, Amanda and I are going to try and make it more homely?! I have been thinking about next year and where on earth I am going to live in this town. I think there is a possibility that I like the sound of. A gringo couple here are building a house next to Ken and Sue's new house but are going to the States for 6 months...and they need a house/dog sitter! Perfect! They think it is great too and so I am hoping it will all work out that I can live there Sept - Jan. We shall see.

I have just come back from town to finish adding photos to this blog and it is now that I am certain I am back in Honduras. Mark, Amanda and I went into town this afternoon to try and find some lamps for our bedrooms and to buy food and as we were driving down a bumpy road in town, an old lady (about 70, who was clearly not compus mentus - is that how you spell it?!) just lifts her dress and poos on the side of the road as we pass. Hiding nothing. Quite a sight really! Yes.... I am most definitely living in Honduras!

So...it is now 2008..I live in Honduras...school starts again on Monday. Let's see what this year is like! I hope you all have a great 2008. I have hundreds (literally) of photos of the rainforest and can't fit them all on here and so I shall have to find a way of putting them somewhere where you can all access them (other than Facebook!). Here is a link to a photo album with some of my pictures in..i hope it works!!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=81513&l=1ae87&id=876635272