Los Angeles: More than just celebrities and traffic

 

I’ve been in LA for five days now and we have done so much that if I tried to break down our day by day itinerary, i’d be writing a novel. So instead I’m putting together a best of LA list!

 

Favourite Activity: Going to a Dodgers baseball game – Dodger Stadium was packed to the brim for the weeknight game and we watched as the Dodgers won 5-0 over the Philadelphia Phillies. The energy of the crowd was amazing, and from the kiss cam, to singing take me out to the ball game, to the nachos in a baseball helmet it was as stereotypically American as you could imagine!

 

Favourite Place: Santa Monica – the beach side town is home to the famous pier and some great shopping. It’s beautiful and clean and definitely worth checking out.

 

Favourite Tour: LA in a Day by Bikes and Hikes LA. This bike tour takes you on a 32 mile (51km) ride through the city. It’s tough at times but definitely worth it as you get to really see the city from ground level.

 

Best Shopping: It’s LA so anywhere is good, but definitely worth a look are The Grove, Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica Place and Macy’s at the Beverly Centre!

 

Best Food: Umami Burger (The Grove) – this burger bar puts an unusual twist on the average burger and is definitely worth a look! Also – Sprinkles (The Grove) – this cupcake shop has about a dozen different flavours everyday and they are baked to perfection!

 

Be prepared for: traffic!! Traffic is notoriously bad in LA and the metro system is average at best so I recommend using Uber if you can’t walk to your destination. Uber is a fantastic and friendly  service and so much cheaper than taxis!

 

Still to do: Runyon Canyon and Griffith Observatory! 

Trees, Mountains, More Trees, Bears and a View

July 1st is Canada Day so we decided to escape the crowds and take off to Grouse Mountain and Capilano Suspension Bridge. We were wrong aboot avoiding the crowds however as it seemed that the fit population of Vancouver were using the public holiday to attempt the Grouse Grind. However the crowds of people could not possibly detract from the amazing view that lay at the top of the mountain. After taking a skyride up most of the mountain, visiting the two resident bears and then a chairlift to the top peak we were rewarded with a spectacular view of Vancouver, far off mountains, tall trees and the coast line of Vancouver Island.
   
 
Leaving Grouse Mountain we headed to Capilano Suspension Bridge. The 140metre Capilano Suspension Bridge hangs 70metres above the Capilano River. If balance isn’t your thing I can’t say I recommend the bridge but if you don’t mind a few wobbles and stumbles then the bridge provides some gorgeous views of the river and trees.

  

The free shuttle brought us back to Canada place where we used our hop on/hop off trolley ticket to head down to Granville Island. Despite being packed with tourists we still were able to see the markets of food and jewellery and shops of cute hand made goods. 

   
 Back on the hop on/hop off bus we continued until we reached the ole spaghetti factory where we stopped for a meal before walking to the Canada Day celebrations. 

  
The Canada day parade and fireworks were a patriotic end to a busy day. Groups of army, navy, sports players and other personalities walked in the parade and after the sun had set a colourful fireworks show lit up the sky. 

  

Welcome to Vancouver – beyond the Seawall

After 24 hours of flying that honestly felt like 240, I arrived in Vancouver!! The nerves of visiting a new place quickly disappeared when I set foot in the appropriately decorated nature themed airport (water falls and ponds and fountains) and then boarded their excellent skytrain system which took me from the airport straight to the centre of the city for only $10 (Perth take note).

Arriving in metro Vancouver felt like I had just arrived to a cross between Melbourne, Downtown somewhere and a forest. One street you are walking past the hotel in which the royals stay, the next you are walking past some hip breweries and bars and the next you are standing looking out at the ocean with a wall of trees behind you.

  
One of Vancouver’s many highlights is Stanley Park. Surrounded by an 8.8km Seawall the once military base is now home to the Vancouver aquarium, totem poles, lookouts a rose garden and generally breathtaking views. The Seawall is a popular biking and walking route for many, and as a tourist looking for impressive scenery I found myself leaving the hop on/ hop off bus so I could take my time and snap some photos.

  
An educational horse and carriage ride took us past the Lion gate bridge built by the Guinness family (yes, the beer makers) and told us about all Stanley Parks features from the 9 o’clock gun, to the Seawall, the aquarium and the wind damaged trees.

  
After thoroughly exploring Stanley Park, I walked back past the waterfront and Canada place, past a giant Lego orca whale and saw all the Canada preparations for the 1st. I then rose 550ft at the Vancouver lookout for sweeping views of the gorgeous city.

  
  
Day 1 in Vancouver was amazing. I can’t wait for day 2!!

Pura Vida!

These are a few of my favourite things!

Favourite Moment on Project: The chaotic night of January 31st – seeing two nests hatch and releasing the babies and seeing a black turtle nest. A full circle of life.

Favourite Moment on Adventure Tour: Torn between riding horses at Rincon de la Vieja and relaxing in the Baldi Hotsprings. Both very different but amazing experiences.

Favourite Location:
– Guioness, Guanacaste – a beautiful town home to a beautiful beach and wonderful shops and restaurants with a lot to see and do.
– Equal second are the province of Heredia and Puerto Viejo in Limon province.

Favourite Accommodation:
– The treehouse bungalow of the Almonds and Corals resort (Manzanillo) was peaceful and relaxing.
– Equal first is Hacienda Guachipelin in Rincon de la Vieja – so much to do at this resort. From horse riding and nature walks to tubing on Rio Negro.

Best Restaurant(s):
– Baldi Hotsprings In La Fortuna: An endless supply of both traditional and international food. It also had a chocolate fountain which automatically makes it amazing!
– Lagarto Steak House in Samara: brilliant steak at amazing prices!!
– Gustos Beachclub in Samara: a gorgeous bar and restaurant located right on the beach. Amazing food particularly the house burger.

Most Terrifying Moment
Holding a snake. Hands down. Almost passed out.

What I’ll miss most
– Torn between the beautiful country and the amazing people I have met!

Back to the Beach

Samara, a touristy beach town, located in Guanacaste, on the Pacific Ocean was our final stop on the adventure tour. Filled with vegan restaurants, pizza places, trendy beach bars and road side clothing stores it was apparent that we were going to cram a lot into the next two days.

Our first full day there was action packed. We were up early to jump into kayaks and paddle to Isle Chora, just off Samara beach. Holding my own in the single kayak we made it to our rest stop in about 45 minutes. A beautiful white sand island (filled with iguanas…) we rested before heading back to Samara.

After a quick, delicious lunch at vegan burger bar, Luv Burger, we headed back to the beach for surfing lessons!! After a short lesson on how to stand on the (very long) board we jumped into the ocean. We quickly debunked the myth that all Australians can surf, many of us fell straight into the water. I finally stood up on my third attempt and although it was short lived my fourth attempt at standing was longer. For the next hour we rode waves into the shore and paddled back for the next one.

Shortly after our lessons ended we had a two hour yoga sessions. I had obviously forgotten about my lack of flexibility and my inability to do yoga when I signed up but I still attempted most of the poses (unsuccessfully). About an hour into it, during a child’s pose, my yoga session turned into a meditation/nap session but I still came out of the session feeling relaxed.

That night we had the most amazing steak at the Lagarto Steak House. $17.50 for a 300gram ribeye. It was quite possibly the best thing I have ever eaten. I am possibly considering moving to Samara just so I can eat here regularly.

The next day we had a free day which we filled with massages, shopping, food and relaxing before we all headed out as a group for last night drinks! We met up with some other volunteers from our project and had a delicious meal at a gorgeous bar and restaurant located right on the beach.

Today we headed back to Heredia, where it all began, for the last night before we begin our mammoth journey home.

Animales de Costa Rica

Rincon de la Vieja, located in the sunny province of Guanacaste, was the next stop on our adventure tour, and the activities located there had me over the moon with excitement and placed me in a cold sweat at the same time!! The morning activities were where my excitement lay – horse riding on a cattle ranch and tubing down white water rapids. However what was planned for the afternoon had me hitchhiking back to Australia.

We rose early to meet our horses. My horse Santene was gorgeous, but felt the need to stop and eat every five seconds. We took off on the trail, walking and trotting past cattle and through the Costa Rican country side. After stopping at a swimming hole we continued to a magnificent view point before ending our journey at the start of the tubing course.

After gearing up we took off down the tubing course where we sped down rapids and through tiny waterfalls. Looking up to the trees monkeys could be seen jumping right over our heads. Too soon though the tubing was over and the 31 of us headed to lunch where we destroyed the buffet.

As much as I tried to freeze or even delay time, my efforts were unsuccessful and the fateful hour of 2pm arrived. I trudged to the lobby before we headed off to my worse nightmare. You see, the lovely, comfortable symbiosis mud spa that had been scheduled was closed, so our tour guide booked us into a new activity. A heart attack inducing snake and frog exhibition.

Anyone who knows me knows that I would rather chew off my own hand than encounter these animals. If there were lizards there too I would probably be dead. But I had to go on this tour to get to the reward – another hour of horse riding. We walked past several terrifying enclosed snakes of all colours and sizes. I don’t actually remember this, I was too busy focusing on not passing out. Finally we arrived at the last enclosure – the boa constrictor – and lucky us (heavy sarcasm), we got to hold it. Due to a strong desire to face my fears/peer pressure I was talked in to holding the snake. And at this point anyone who thought I was exaggerating my fear was proved wrong. After successfully having it around my neck I burst into tears before hysterically laughing and then collapsing from jelly legs. But I felt better that I had done it/relieved that it was over.

By this point I felt that the pretty frogs that lay ahead wouldn’t scare me, until one of them jumped at my face. Thankfully my friend/lifesaver intercepted it, but I had had enough of this whole fear facing business and was ready to get back on my horse.

I was reunited with Santene and we took off away from the scary reptiles. It was a smaller group of more experienced riders (not including myself) so the ride was a lot quicker than the first one. At one point we even broke into a canter, which was so much fun and convinced me to take up riding back home. Trotting above a river calmed my nerves and I soon forgot about the dreaded reptile experience.

An hour later we returned to get ready for the authentic Costa Rican BBQ that awaited us. For those that are wondering it was very similar to every other BBQ with one key difference – rice and beans, and like every other meal that we have eaten here, was the size of Christmas lunch.

The following day we set off for Samara, a beach town in Guanacaste, and the last place on our itinerary!

Hot and Cold

The town of La Fortuna (translated to Good Fortune) is located at the base of Volcan Arenal – one of Costa Rica’s nine active and 275 total volcanoes. The last big eruption of lava was 1998, since then it has only been spitting small incandescent rocks.

The activities waiting for us here were zip lining, rappelling and hot springs!!! Beginning the day with Zip Lining we soared through trees at heights of 100 metres before we rappelled 85 metres down the side of a waterfall (though we were that wet by the end of it, we may as well have gone through it). The end of our zip lining journey took us to the mystical hill tribe village of the Maleku people, one of Costa Rica’s eight remote tribes. We learnt the cultural greeting and about life in the tribe before heading back to zip lining base. It was an action packed morning that left us thoroughly drenched but full of adrenalin!

The afternoon provided us an opportunity to warm up!! Our destination was Baldi hot springs, home of 21 hot springs of varying temperatures and a cross between a luxury hotel and am amusement park. As we walked in our jaws dropped. It was the most beautiful place and after being constantly cold for a week, nothing could get between us and those springs, except for starting up a bar tab!!

We spent the next three hours going from spring to spring, stopping in between at the various water caves and water slides. Temperatures ranged from 30 degrees Celsius to 50 degrees Celsius, and conveniently located wet bars allowed us to order and drink cocktails from our 47 degree pool! This was truly amazing and put adventure world to shame!! Too soon we had to get out, but our time at Baldi wasn’t over yet, because waiting for us in the restaurant was the most amazing buffet!! After living on beans and rice for four weeks (which I still love, but you know, after approximately 84 servings of it a change is nice) it was like feeding time at the zoo, with the 31 of us swarming the buffet from every angle!! I have never eaten so much food in my life (except possibly the day the bakery truck came to our project). Copious servings of pastas, meats, veggies, rice, salads, fruits, cakes, marshmallows and a chocolate fountain filled our stomachs within minutes and within the hour we had drained the chocolate fountain!! But it was so worth it!

Warm and stuffed we left heaven on earth Baldi and headed back to our hotel inn to recover, digest and prepare for our transit to the province of Guanacaste the next day.

Pirates of the Caribbean

After spending a full two weeks living by the Pacific Ocean, three days in a rainforest (albeit an amazing one) had us itching to see the sea again! So we took off to the closest thing available – The Caribbean!!

Our accommodation for the next two nights was the Almonds and Corals hotel – a jungle tree house, complete with a hammock and jacuzzi in our room! Connected via boardwalks that took us past a poisonous yellow snake, we could walk right out onto the beach.

The next day we went on a nature walk through the Manzanillo wildlife refuge. The sloth spotting game was strong and we were able to see both a two and three toed sloth and a collection of monkeys, birds, spiders and really cool plants that closed when you touched them!

Our walk ended back at the Caribbean ocean where we drank from coconuts and marvelled at the view before heading off to the reggae town of Puerto Viejo.

After lunch we browsed through the handmade trinkets and Marley memorabilia, whilst we were offered drugs a handful of times (don’t worry mum and dad – I said no!!). After another coconut drink and a delicious brownie (not made of anything sketchy mum & dad – promise!) we headed back to our treehouse for one more night.

The next day we headed to the town of La Fortuna, home to Volcano Arenal, one of Costa Rica’s nine active volcanoes!

Just Around the Riverbend

The Pacuare River is one of the top 5 rafting rivers in the world, with over 90 class III and IV rapids in just 30km. It was also our playground for the next three days. We set off on our rafting journey in boats of eight. Once we had our bearings and had encountered a few practise rapids the water fights began. Splashing and capsizing were the aim and our boat definitely succeeded!! Rafting through the middle of a rainforest was an experience like no other, illusive blue butterflies and colourful birds flying past and the calls of howler monkeys make you feel like you are in a scene of Pocahontus.

Whilst days one and three were filled of rafting and water fights, day two included a short hike to a natural water playground. Trekking under trees and over rocks (and snakes 😮 ) we arrived at a collection of natural waterfall slides. It was like we were back in primary school at recess time, trains of people sliding down into the swimming holes.

Our accomodation for the trip was a lodge nestled in the rainforest. A collection of hammocks lined the viewing deck, and whilst the bunk beds and shared bathrooms gave it a school camp feel, the ‘serenity’ of the area was second to none.

Day three brought the last day of rafting and the bucketing rain. Whilst the rain was chilling it also made the rafting ten times more exciting. We encountered class IV Rapids that ensured there was not a dry person left in the boat. Unfortunately all good things must end and too quick we were back and rafting HQ, getting into warm clothes to ease the frostbite, and moving on to the second leg of our adventure – the Caribbean side of Costa Rica.