The thought of going back home hasn't hit me yet despite being reminded how many days we had left and such. I've had such a great time on this trip that I don't even want to go back home though I miss my family and friends. It's been quite the journey and I loved every minute of it ... even the times that I thought I would not get through.

Anyways, we headed out early to try to avoid the long line ups esp with the departure fee that you have to pay before you check in. We had lots of time to spare before our flight on American Airlines to Dallas. When it was time for boarding, we got the announcement that we could not take any liquids over the required amount.... like WTF! We just went through screening! And Eva and Helen just bought a bottle of water while waiting to board an hour before. On top of that.... they did another check manually in your carry on bags! I was the lucky one who got picked to do the whole shabang again (taking of sweater, shoes, belt, etc and getting my shoes and self screen with the portable detector) and also getting my bag checked. How nice! No wonder boarding was an hour early lol

After that ordeal the plane was delayed by an hour because they didn't finish loading cargo I believe (I dozed off as we were waiting and only glimpsed when we were actually in the air already so I didn't know how much of a delay til later). This delay will come to haunt us as we only had 30 minutes to connect to San Fran from Dallas. AND ... we had to take our bags out through customs and recheck them back in! Amazingly, it went smoothly and it helped that we already had our boarding passes. Unfortunately, our checked bags did not make it with us :( We found that out when we got to San Fran and waited for our bags to come out. When the luggage belt stopped ... we were like crap ... our bags didn't get through! We did a delay luggage claim via American Airlines and they were actually helpful. They made the claim and said they will send the bags to Edmonton on the next day's flight. This was for me and Eva as Helen was able to get her checked bag to go all the way to Edmonton (though in the end it didn't and ended up with our bags).

Once we got back to Edmonton we made another claim but with United this time as it was United that we flew from San Fran to Edmonton. We did what we needed to do and hopefully the bags will be delivered to us tomorrow or the next day.

The bag situation was such a gong show. I got the call the next day saying that the bags were on Alaska Air from San Fran to Edm and would be delivered once it goes through customs in Edm. The day after as we were all at work, we expected to have the bags delivered but only Helen was called to set up a time for delivery. My bag as well as Eva's was MIA. I had to call Alaska then United ... apparently United was waiting for our bags but didn't know where it was - which was locked in the customs lockup room at Alaska Air -so calling them up was a good thing cause at least she knew where the bags were. I had to call a couple of times to ensure that our bags were to be delivered on Tuesday and united said they would be on the delivery run Tues nite but from 9pm - 1am. So here we thought we would see them the next morning ...ya that didn't happen.....no bags ... it's like getting a lump of coal on Christmas morning and you weren't such a nasty kid lol ... anyways ... called again this morn (wed now) and united admitted she didn't do the paperwork in time....nice! Patience is wearing thin here ... what can you do ... deal with it eh ... so to our ..well Eva's surprise ... united got her bag on the morning run and all is well in Eva's world. I, on the other hand, am stilling waiting for mine. I live on the north side so I should be on the tail end of the run ...hopefully I will get it sometime soon :) Gotta love travelling! Oh the stories to tell!

P.S. Just got word that my bag was delivered! Whoot whoot!!!!!

More photos on Costa Rica:

Album 1
Album 2

Read more »

Today's entry will be short and sweet as all we did was go to the beach early in the morning at around 9:30 am, had breakfast at one of the restaurants, then relaxed on the lounge chairs under umbrellas on the beach. Note that you have to pay for planting your butts on the chairs and using the umbrellas for the whole day or even hourly. Helen was able to haggle us to 8000 Colones (or about $17 US) for the rental. Crazy. But hey, we wanted to relax and do nothing once during our trip and this was the day. We bought a couple of magazines, a Suduko book, cards, and our mp3 players for the day (as we plan to be there til sunset).

During the whole day, we were approached by people who offered menus for drinks and food, sold vases and trinkets, etc. We saw the same people over and over again the whole day. It must be so hot and hard for them to do this as they go back and forth down the coast selling things. Some were nice to talk to ... while Helen seemed to snag a stalker ... I mean admirer... that kept coming back to talk to her LOL We headed here and there to the ocean to cool off, tried to remember how to play some card games we haven't played in years (that's not poker!); but mostly just sat and suntanned away. By the end of the day, we were all burnt here and there though Eva had the most. Poor girl didn't even tan much but sat under the umbrella! The sun is definately strong here as it's by the equator.

It was nice to do nothing the whole day and see the sunset. But we had to eat and head back as we were going out for drinks and dancing and needed to shower and put aloe vera badly :) We talked to a local named David on the bus back to the hotel where he said that Bambo Jam (I think that's what the restaurant was called) had ladies night and a lot of people were heading out there tonight. Flyers were passed out on the beach right before sunset to advertise it. Our GAP leader, Fabiola, said she would take us there as it was only a short walk from our hotel.

We met up at about 10:30 pm to go to Bambo Jam or whatever. There was 7 of us who went. It was a nice place and was definately crowded. We found a table by the stage where there was a live 3 piece band playing salsa music. No one knows how to dance salsa in our group except for, of course, Fabby ... Eva took some lessons but "says" she's not good and that's about it. But we got up and danced for a bit then sat down. I was surprised to be asked to dance by a guy named Benjamin from Iowa and admitted I don't know how to salsa dance but he lead well though the combination of alcohol and salsa dancing ... hmmm... let's just say can make guys a bit too touchy... and I wasn't the only one experiencing this as the other girls had their share of touchiness ... heck Eva had a stalker who kept coming back for her email and number...loco!!!! But there were some great guys that were willing to teach how to salsa dance ... Helen had a couple of good teachers that taught her steps and stuff so that was good!

Read more »

Today we took about a 5 hour bus ride to Quepos which is on the coast of CR ... which also means beaches! It's been a long time since we came across nice and hot sunny weather since Lima and Lima wasn't even that hot. We stopped in a few places to snack and go to the potty but that was about it. It's pretty much put on your earphones, turn on the music kind of travelling deal. We took some pics along the way and got excited when we saw the ocean! It means that we are close. As we drove down, you can feel the weather change; it was nice!

When we arrived at Quepos, we stopped DT so we had a chance to get money or exchange money etc. before heading to the hotel. Our hotel is about 10 minutes away from DT and is called Blue Monkey in English. It's a cute little place with a couple of pools that you can relaz by. Apparently there is a stationary bike on one of the balconies but it's hidden a bit. From our hotel, you can take the public transport or taxi. The former is your best bet as it is not only cheaper but pretty clean as well. It costs about 210 Colones each way. For taxi, it will cost about 1500 Colones. The buses take you to DT Quepos or to Manuel Antonio Beach.

When we arrived, we decided to check out DT Quepos. It's small and walkable. You will find many shops and restaurants there catered to foreigners and travellers. We snacked on Mexican Food which was so good for a change as we were feeling a bit deprived in terms of food selection - even the tacos on the menu got us excited! Who would have thought tacos would bring so much joy?!!!

It didn't take too long to go around DT Quepos before heading back to have a pizza dinner with the gang. We went across the street to the Mimos Hotel and Restaurant and ordered a couple of pizzas as we were very hungry. It wasn't too shabby yet it wasn't great. I was disappointed with the Creme Brulee (my fave dessert) as we paid almost $7US for it and it wasn't up to par so to say. San Fran is still the best so far for me and my Creme Brulee ...

Read more »

What a rush! It´s our first full day here in Monteverde and we booked a zipline tour yesterday when we got here in the early afternoon. 

The morning was spend on a hike about the Forest Cloud Reserve. It was pretty cool today so I had to put some layers on. I miss the sun. Haven´t seen much of it since Lima really. Our guide David was sooo knowledgeable. He knew the diff bird calls and even knew how to do the bird calls, knew the diff kinds of plants and their medicinal properties, little facts and figures here and there ... I wish I can retain stuff like that! The hike took from about 8 am to 12 pm. We saw quails, monkeys, hummingbirds, millipedes, birds, ants, etc. Seeing the spider monkeys was a treat through his telescope as we saw the baby monkey up on the trees playing and David said it was pretty rare to see them on the hikes so I felt privileged to take a peek in their world there. The hike took so long that at the end, us girls ended up sprinting the stairs - incline - cause we had to pee so bad. It was like the Inca Trail all over again but the goal was to pee.

After visiting the reserve, we walked down the road 5 minutes to the restaurant to have a speedy lunch and got our gear on for the zip lining . They had lockers for your things and I would totally recommend using it as you don't want to carry anything while zipping around the 11 diff zip lines there. They won't allow you to go a head with a little backpack etc anyways. You can carry around your camera but make sure it can be stored in a zipped pocket or somewhere safe.

We took a quick 1-2 min bus ride to the starting point where we met Elvis and his team that will be helping us go through the zip lines. They went through the safety tips and how to instructions. It's pretty simple ... pull to break, you should have one hand behind the pully to balance, make a circle with your index and thumb, etc. Still it doesn't help when you are nervous! I was so nervous about this (which was weird that I didn't feel the same with rappelling ). I went on the first run and wasn't too bad but I didn't get a chance to catch my breath before being hooked to the second one. It was just so nerve racking for me as I continued from one zip line to another ... but when I saw the 5th one ... I swear I wanted to hurl! I mean visually ... it's stunning ... you're going through the clouds ... but the thought of going through and not knowing where the end ended ... like omg! I was told after that it was about 600m in zipping and it was high above the jungle. Eva was infront of me ... and I saw her only for a few seconds and then she disappeared into the clouds ... in my head I was like sh*t! I should get a taxi (a taxi is one of the professionals to go zip with you in tandum). But I got all this way here on my own with my nerves so just do it! That's what I kept saying to myself anyways. So he hooked me up and gave me a push and all I can tell myself is don't look down (or else you'll break and they have to save your ass in the middle of this long zip line) ...just look ahead ... but all you see is the zipline on a cloud background ... and no end in sight! I had to keep it together. You don't know how happy I was when I saw the landing! LOL

The funny thing I was still nervous through all the zip lines until we reached the 3rd last one ... which was the Tarzan Swing ... they pretty much hook your legs together and you hold on and swing through the trees etc. You had to climb the stairs to a platform first. Everyone had gone except for 4 people. I wasn't going to go but it's really just a big swing so I convinced myself to do it. While Elvis and his buddy hooked me up, I was asking questions and talking hoping to delay them lol but it didn't phase them at all. I kept asking if I needed to jump off and they were like no just bend your knees. In my head I was like it doesn't make sense cause you need to leave the platform somehow. So when the time came, Elvis said, "Bend You Knees" so I did and they nudged me over the edge and I swung down then forward and up. It was crazy! I had a delayed scream cause I didn't except the nudge lol ...but it was sooo fun! I needed the Tarzan Swing as I was more relaxed for the last 2 zip lines. I still like rappelling more than zip lining :)

Sorry. Didn't take any photos. We didn't bring a camera in case we would lose it.

Read more »

So wow! I had a blast today! We started off the day a bit late ...around 10 am and slept in for once. The Lost Canyon tour that included 4 rappels off waterfalls was sooooooooooooooooooooooo awesome! I love love love it! We met up with the other GAP tour going on the same time as ours and the day was mostly rainy and cold. I wasn´t sure if the water from the waterfall was going to be ice cold or not. Believe it or not ... I wasn´t afraid of the height or doing the rapel but afraid that the water was sooo cold that we had to trek and rappel during the 3 hours in cold frigid waters!

But the water was pretty surprisingly warm! And the first rappel at 20 m was a good start. Our 2nd rapel was 150 m and it was so fun going straight down. It was really safe and the guides knew what they were doing. There was 2 guides for about 12 of us on this tour. The 3rd rappel was about 50 m and the 4th one ... 210m! The last one was a bit tricky for me because my weight didn´t allow me to go down as fast I would like to and I had to work my ass off to go down the 210m waterfall. I got tired halfway and probably build some good right arm muscles there lol.

I´ll put some pics up once we get the CD from the guy. There was one guy who came along that took photos of us doing our thing the whole time which was good because we got so wet that you cannot take a regular camera ... or anything else for that matter. At one point, we had to jump and dive into this deep hole trekking to the next rapel site. I was hoping I would be dry but there was no way to stay dry. No accidents on this one except for what I did to poor Helen there at the end when we were on the trek back to the site after the rappels. I slipped on a rock and my hands went up only to hit Helen on the right side of the face as she was right behind me. All you heard was WHOMP.... I was like...I hope I didn´t hit Helen and that was like a rock or something ... but when I turned around I saw Helen holding her face in shock. Man I feel sooooo bad. After a few minutes her nose was bleeding! Ugh... Sorry Helen!!!!!!

After we got back from the tour we went straight to another tour ... not until after we got our clothes from the laundry service at the hotel we were at. It cost $3US per Kg which was pretty darn good and we needed to do laundry bad. Anyways, the tour we had next was the continuation of the one we started with yesterday at the hot springs ... the Volcano hike. We drove and then stopped to hike around the area for about an hour with our tour guide Elmer - he is one funny dude! And man alive ... what´s with the men pulling their shorts/boarders here ... they pull it til it hits like half way down the ass ... and you can see the crack! The photo guy at the rapel had done the same thing as Elmer ... and yes... we saw the ass crack... not a pretty sight ... anyways... continuing on with the story... Elmer was very knowledgeable about the volcano, the area, the animals around there including their calls and stuff so it was nice to learn as much as we can. We even tasted their Begonias (spelling bad) and it was soo good. Tasted like lemon. We weren´t able to see the volcano based on the weather and time so Elmer had made us Lava Drinks in the dark in an open area by the forest there. And as we drank and talked ... I finally saw fireflies and they were so majestic! I was in awe! It was like christmas lights twinkling in the forest. So pretty!

The night ended with us catching a bite to eat... going to the grocery store to fulfil our sugar buds ... we bought loads of wafers and chocolates ... we are on a wafer kick since Peru and this time we each bought a pack so we can eat it all by ourselves! Such oinkers we are! But oh so good! Then here we are at the internet cafe. But what a day. It was such a great learning experience today... I do dread the cold shower I have to take after ... ugh...Do I long for a hot shower!

Read more »

So here we are in La Fortuna. It took a couple of hours drive on the tour bus but we are here and it is rainy! Will I ever get rid of my stinky poncho that I've had since the Inca Trail?! I didn´t really use it as I am using my jacket for now. We didn´t do much but visit the activities centre today to book some of our activities that we will be doing tomorrow. 

Helen, Eva and I chose to do the hike to the volcano with a dip in the hot springs as well as the repelling from 4 different waterfalls. The latter will be so cool and will make up for the paragliding we never got to do in Lima because of low winds. Maybe the next time around .... Because it was raining, we all decided to do the hot springs part tonight at 530pm. It was great to just relax there in the springs. There were about more than 10 different springs you can try and the ladies found the one with the slides last minute. We were wondering where they were as we had to leave since this group seems to be so prompt! We never saw the slides but that was ok. It was just nice to relax and sit under the stars as the rains came down lol

We ate supper together at the Lava Lounge by the hotel we were staying in. The food was good and I think ... finally and thank god ... I think I got my appetite back! I have´t been feeling well and as you will read later when I add the previous blogs ... I got the runs in the Amazon and really didn't do much by go from bed to bathroom. It´s all good... at least I got it over and done with in terms of getting it in my travels! But boy oh boy is it nice to eat!

Oh and we tried one of the famous dishes here in Costa Rica called "Gallo Pinto" which is a beans and rice dish. At first we were like ... uh ok...just beans and rice ... they must loooove their beans and rice combo here. The receptionist was almost drooling thinking about it yesterday when we were in San Jose and asked what dishes they ate here. And even said he would eat it breakfast, lunch and dinner! We tried it this morning as part of breakfast and ok ... I admit ... It was soooo good. Very suttle and not what you expect from a black bean and rice dish. I can see myself eating it for a while but like the chicken and rice dish... I will eventually ban it from my choice if I eat enough of it lol ugh ...pollo (chicken)... can´t stand eating it at this moment. 

Anyways, not much stories to tell but you will enjoy the ones that will be added about the Inca Trail. I am happy to say we get to sleep in tomorrow and start the day at 10 AM! Whoot whoot!

Read more »

Hey everyone! So I´ve been MIA for a wee bit :) The Inca Trail and Machu Piccu went awesome! Will tell you more as I am typing out the entries on my laptop (starting yesterday) since I still remember it and these blog entries will pretty much be my journals that I will print out for my photo album that I will need to arrange later on. All 4 of us (Helen, Eva, Steve and I) will be getting together after this trip is over (which I don´t want to be over! Just loving travelling!) and compiling everything. There´s going to be shitloads of photos!

Anyways, we landed in San Jose in the afternoon to start our next GAP Adventures trip in Costa Rica. It´s so funny that this place looked a bit like Edmonton ... Calgary ... when we were driving from the airport to our hotel. We would past by an area and say ... hey that looks like the millcreek area...omg... this highway we are on is so like the yellowhead ... you get the drift ... 

We ended up heading to the Plaza de la Cultura to kill some time before our GAP meeting at about 630 pm. It´s so nice to shop! New clothes! I am so sick of the clothes I´ve been wearing forever in...even if we did laundry ... and oh do I miss my jeans! I swear all the photos are of me wearing the same things lol but that´s part of the backpacking travelling we are getting used to here. But it is nice to get some clothes!

Anyways, we didn´t have much time. We were harassed a bit at the plaza ... all really to laugh about ... we had wendy´s and it was oh so good ... sometimes just a bit of home is good for the stomach you know ... went crazy trying on some clothes ... went to the supermarket to get some snacks for later on and for tomorrow´s trip to La Fortuna. The receptionist told us that we should be back by 8 pm as it was the start of the "unsafe" time to be out lol but we had to be back for the briefing anyways ... which went well...our group is mostly Canadians (with one American) which was interesting but we all got along and hey ... at least people knew where Edmonton was :P

Read more »