La Fortuna

A full-on tourist day: we walked to the base of the volcano, amidst lizards, spiders and trees that had been blown over by volcanic rocks hurled from Arenal. Travelling with a Tour Guide has its advantages: not only did we get a cheap (and rather nice) hotel room, but we also saved ourselves $6 a piece by getting into the National Park for free. Bargain.

After that we went to a Cataratas with a pool, and a powerful flow of water that means that all the tourists stay firmly clung to the edge, for fear of undercurrents. We lounged and bathed in the accompanying, slightly tamer pool, that has a powerful throughflow of water nonetheless (great fun to wedge yourself in some rocks and feel the torrent flow past you).

After a slightly worrying, but non-existent engine problem (the drip turned out to be from the Air Conditioning) and dinner, we finished the evening in the Hot Springs - with pools heated up by the volcano (some too hot to even put your toe in, as I verified) and, best of all, a swim-up bar. I felt like I was in Magnum PI.

August 28

Playa Conchal is so named, like many others around the world (I also saw one in Western Australia), because it is largely composed of millions of shells. With that, and its clear waters it was incredibly beautiful spot. BUT! We had been told that there was good surf here and, after lugging my board for about a kilometre or so, it turned out that was a big flat lie. We stayed anyway for a couple of hours before heading for La Fortuna and Volcan Arenal, the biggest (and still active) volcano in CR. After driving all around the lake, and seeing picturesque views of the beast from all directions, we finally found La Fortuna. We were incredibly lucky to be able to see the volcano at all - usually it laughs at the tourists from its impenetrable shroud of clouds - but for us the sky was mostly clear. I suppose that (for us at least) is becoming of a place called La Fortuna.

After dark we went to a choice lookout point and witnessed, after waiting an hour or so for a window in the clouds (that had built up by that point), we watched the amazing spectacle of bright red volcanic rocks spewing out of Arenal and rolling down her sides. But she was shy, and after watching for about fifteen minutes, the clouds returned and we left.

August 27

After eating at a cheap Soda, we started what we thought would be a short drive to Tamarindo. It wasn´t. When we got there though, we decided it lived up to its reputation as being Tamagringo - scutty and full of tourists - so we decided to leave. After considering Playas Del Coco, Playa Flamingo and Playa Grande (whose legendary waves I was disappointed to be missing), we eventually settled in a really nice room in Braselito, and saw what was probably the most amazingly beautiful sky I have ever witnessed. Of course it is impossible to describe: (but i´ll try!) an amazing sunset with a reflection in the East, patches of blue sky, a rainbow and beautiful clouds - all of which we watched while swimming in the sea.

25 August

The rest of my days in Malpais/Santa Teresa/Playa Carmen were spent in similar fashion - surfing everyday, writing and reading. I also met Stephanie and Dominique (French Canadians - a very strange accent that sounds like Eddie Izzard doing a medley of different accents in one of his vids - I didn't even recognise that they were speaking French) and Billy (NY), and we all went out and got rather drunk a couple of nights ago. On the same night I managed to create a look of shock, disgust and bemusement on an American's face by telling him that patriotism is an evil presence in the world. I guess politics is one of those things you should keep out of light conversation.

Yesterday I hired a 4x4 with 2 Dutch girls I also met in the hostel, Wendy and Anna. Team Enferma drove Cariño for about 5 hours on the sketchy roads to Sámara which, as Anna put it, are more like holes with the odd patch of road, and today we are very much relaxing (and surfing) to recover before we drive to Tamarindo tomorrow. Sámara is a really quiet, chilled out town, but I think we're getting a worse experience as it's been raining all day! I'm sooo pleased to be using my tent also, if only because it validates the fact that I brought it all the way here (and it's saving me 13 pounds). The fact that it's falling apart is relevant.

21 August, Malpais?

I am still in the same place as before, except I am now in Malpais. The truth is nobody actually seems to know where Malpais ends and Santa Teresa begins, so i'll pretend i'm in Malpais for a change of scenery. Malpais literally means 'Badlands', but it is far from that.

I hired a bike for a couple of days, cycled around the local area on a wildgoose chase for Howler Monkeys - no avail, but I might try again cos i'd really like to see some (despite the fact that they poo in their hand and throw it at you).

I've also been surfing everyday, sometimes with more luck than others. Just got back from a really good one this morning, and had an amazing one last night while the sun was setting (in contrast to the crazy lightning storm of the previous night) - i'm standing up fairly consistently now, but haven't really turned or anything yet. I have bought a beautiful board for $150.

I met a few guys from the hostel the other day - went for pizza with Erica and Peggy, then we went with Morgan, Dan and Mindy to a beach party full of local Ticos. Great to meet people, although they all left the next morning - hope it wasn't something I said!

I'm about to get cooked lunch by Hugo, who also sells delicious pinchos (kebabs) most evenings outside our hostel, so I had better get back soon...

17 August, Santa Teresa

I got up at 6:30 to get a boat to Montezuma - really good fun! Crazy bumpy speedboat all the way, for about an hour and a half. Was going to stay, but decided to share a taxi fare to Santa Teresa - and i'm really pleased I did. Our taxi driver was excellent, stopping and getting out every now and again to show us ardillas, monos, pizotes, mariposas, platanillos, iguanas - that is, squirrels (red like they used to be, with huge grey bushy tail), monkeys, pizotes (I dont know if there's even an English word for it!), butterflies, crazy plants related to bananas, and i think you can guess the last one. He put my mind at rest by saying he has rarely seen a snake in CR!

Santa Teresa looks like an amazing place, and a bit of a surf haven so I might stay here for a bit (although I just tried for a bit and failed miserably). I think it's a surf haven because it's all a little bit above me (literally and figuratively).

I don't know if eyes are the windows of the soul, but nostrils are las ventanas de la nariz.

15 August - El Dia de La Madre

Mother's Day.

I caught a bus from Coca-Cola in San Jose - very dodgy neighbourhood ("lots of crack smokers", said an old American guy I met in the hostel. He also recommended a good brothel to me).

Got to Jaco by noon and asked a woman (Celeste) on the bus for directions to a good hostel, and she ended up giving me my first Costa Rican coffee, along with Jocato, a weird fruit that would be almost impossible to explain. It had an almost powdery texture, about the size of a lime, and was quite sweet. I also met her pet parrot, who had some kind of infection/rash/parasite, so had scratched a lot of its belly-feathers off with its beak. But like a child it refused its medicine.

Celeste is studying to be a nurse, involving getting up at 5 and taking the bus to San Jose three days a week. I'll try to appreciate my Halls of Residence.

Also in Jaco I did a Canopy Tour, involving 12 ziplines from platform to platform in the treetops. I saw a White-Faced Monkey, a Chicle Tree and a huge Banana Spider. Tried surfing for the first time in CR - choppy waves, very hard work. I need to buy a rashvest!

San Jose, 14 August

After about 24 hours of travel, many security checks (involving taking off my shoes at each checkpoint), and waiting for about an hour on the plane on the Miami Airstrip, for the lightning to give us a breather, I am finally here in San Jose.

Yesterday I saw the Museo Del Oro y Numismatica (Gold and Coins) - the coins bit was absolutely boring - just cabinet after cabinet of Costa Rican coins and notes, with flimsy explanations holding it together. But the gold section was much better, how the indigineous folk used to make and craft gold into ritual paraphernalia and all that jazz. I also saw the Teatro Nacional, which was quite impressive and with obligatory paintings and sculptures. It was founded by Rafael Igelsias, who had a degree by the age of 15, was elected Minister For Culture at 19, was President of CR at 23, and is thought to be CR's most attractive man ever (y'know, one of the those real bastards).

22/23 July 06

Ashton Court Festival! As always, all the best people from Bristol and beyond flocked to the stately grounds for musical fun and the like. Amongst highlights were my marriage to Patsy, Paul (Randall)'s marriage to Rhi, Paul getting entirely lost ("don't worry," said Tim, "he always lands on his feet - he'll probably end up meeting a couple of lovely ladies and taking them home..." ...that he did), zippy getting a shout-out from Alice Russell, and free spacehoppers. Babyhead probably would've been the highlight, but I had to leave early to get back to that ivy!

18 - 27 July 06

I'm a lumberjack and I'm OK. I sleep all night and I work all day. It's true. "Do you wear women's clothing?" asked Nige. I think that's beside the point.

Although, just a few days before the 18th, I badly bruised the sole of my foot playing hopscotch (you think that's funny, do you?), and was limping for the best part of these couple of weeks, I fought through the pain (like Arnie in Commando) and spent my days killing the ivy that is taking over our wood in Wales. This is so much harder than it sounds! Ivy vines get literally as thick as your arm (unless you're a fatty), and each one needed to be sawn through in two places to kill it. Despite this I actually had an amazing time being out in the countryside chilling with Andrew, having a three day bonfire in the already sweltering heat, cycling to the nearest pub on ridiculously small bikes (one being Paul's first ever BMX) and playing Risk.

I also had a near-fatal encounter with a centipede. Those things can be very dangerous.

Photos

14 July 06

In a historical, landmark case it was proven that you should never mess with an Atkinson. Today I took the law into, well, the law's hands, and took my old employers to an Employment Tribunal. It was far from an enjoyable morning, involving lies, damn lies and a forged letter of written notice, so I'm not going to dwell on it! It was, in fact, a horrible experience, but all that really matters is I won, and it's over with. If this is the worst thing that happened to me across the last few months, I should probably count myself lucky.

29 June - 2 July 06

I went to Roskilde in Denmark, to a festival characterised by its uber-clean toilets (I held a poo all day because I had no toilet paper on me, only to find they actually provide it in the portaloos - ridiculous for a festival), liberal urinary habits (both girls and boys piss absolutely everywhere) and, of course, excellent music. I saw Clap Your Hands Say Yeah!, The Strokes, Martha Wainwright, Arctic Monkeys, Sigur Ros, Bellowhead, Tool, Death Cab For Cutie, Editors, George Clinton and Opeth, to name but a few. The clientele was as crazy and ostentatious as any festival (except Glastonbury, of course) and fashion item of the day in Scandinavia seems to be drainpipe trousers. Amidst Martyn's ridiculously small tent, comedy was provided by Bjorn, an upstanding citizen of "She Left You", which really exists!

The Scandinavian audience is a strange phenomenon. A couple of rows from the front of Tool (quite heavy), I would expect to be moving in waves of people, metres from side to side. I'd also expect a bit of moshing, and I even took my glasses off as I expected to lose them. But No! All them Vikings ever do is clap their hands and point vigorously, and not really dance at all. I felt out of place dancing, and for most of it was stood rigid to the spot. I put my glasses back on after a couple of songs.

Altho, after Andrew and I had shared 10 cans of beans, Eric was probably pleased to see the back of us, it has to be said it has been great to see his Canadian chops again (Martyn and I met him in Australia 5 years ago). I look forward to seeing him again in 5 years' time.

19 - 25 June 06

...Provence with the "few other people" I mentioned before (Rog, Cat, Caz, Jody, Monkey, Laura, Katie, Katie), Charlie Danger, Mary, Nige and Little Jon.

After abstaining for a whole 24 hours due to illness (throughout which, by the way, everyone was wonderfully full of tea and sypathy), I was able to tuck in to some of the amazing food we had - best of which was the homemade pizzas (cooked in a proper pizza oven!).

Between the swimming pool, hot-tub, table tennis, pass the pigs, archery, perudo, spelunki, Barrooose, Articulate and Caz's birthday, there was always time to play Tony Blair, the best game in the world. Best of all is the expressions round, and the ambience was improved even more by playing, in a chapel, above a 400 year old buried monk.

Incidentally, apologies must be made to the hundreds of passengers whose sleep we (Little, Laura, Katie, Jody and Laura's mate Jesse) disturbed on the way home, by playing Tony Blair between about 1 and 5 in the morning in the airport, at top volume. We won't do it again.

14 - 19 June 06

Went to Sonar, a dance/electronica fiestaval in Barcelona, with Little Jon, Laura, Em, Lizby, Mary and Nige (and a few other people...), and had a fantabulous time. Barca, as always is an amazing city (I am lucky enough to have been there a few times); beautiful architecture, great weather, slightly lukewarm beach, personas guapas, streets that smell of wee - the list goes on. By day, we mostly missed the festival activities and lay on the beach, or wasted out time in other excellent ways. But by night we went to see what the music had to offer... Goldfrapp (the highlight for sure), Rahzel, DJ Shadow (very, very disappointing - shame on you DJ Shadow), DJ Krush, One Self. Altho Goldfrapp were the highlight, I had to enjoy them by myself after Jon's buddy system broke down drastically soon after implementation. He got high and just, kind of, wandered off (forgetting most of the night in the process), leaving me with his new found friend of questionable Irish origin.

After the hectic lights of Barcelona I went to chill out for (almost) a week in...