Life in Costa Rica

Casa de Sophie - our home for a month

If you have time to spare .... go by air! We were supposed to leave Halifax on January 31st at 1pm, but the high winds caused our flight to be cancelled. We were delayed until Feb 2nd at 6:30 am, but had a great flight to San Jose, arriving at 1 pm. Bob and Francine also had their flights cancelled from Ottawa and they arrived the night before us and picked us up at the airport. We got to our house late afternoon, only one day late.

We flew directly down the US Eastern shore. This is Key West Florida.

Judi relaxing in our pool

Eric and I went for a walk and found these little friends

Bananas from our back yard. Delicious!

On our first full day we drove south to Parrita, which was only about 20 minutes and poled around town. we stopped at one of the many fruit stands and loaded up on all the delicious local fruits. We ate lunch at one of the many outdoor restaurants .... delicious fresh fish  dishes and really good prices.

Waiting for our meal. A lovely hot day, with cool ocean breeze.

On Monday, we headed north for the day, past Jaco to Carara National Park. We hired a private tour guide for 2 1/2 hours to take us through one of the trails. we were interested in birds and any anything else! Our guide Arnando, had little secret places to take us and we saw some wonderful sights. It is not a full rainforest, but a transitional forest.

Ghost Bat

Boa Constricter

Many beautiful flowers

Always an interesting butterfly

Royal Flycatcher. A HUGE sighting. People come to this park just to find this bird and can spends days waiting to see it.

Once again on our way home we stopped at another roadside restaurant and enjoyed more fish beside the ocean.  A wonderful day in a wonderful place.

Andrea and Dave arrive tomorrow, they also got delayed and had to change their flights.  We spent the morning at the beach and are now nursing sunburns.

I will post photos of our house and the beach on me next blog.  Love to everyone .......

COSTA RICA 2013

It has been a very cold month at home here in Nova Scotia and we are more than ready to take off to Costa Rica. This trip has been planned for a year and we hope you enjoy it along with us.

Casa De Sophie, Condominio Casa Del Sol, Esterillos Este, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

This will be our home for the  month of February, click on the link to view the house.

http://www.casadesophie.com/

We fly from Halifax on Thursday, January 31st, arriving in San Jose at 10:30 pm. We will stay in San Jose the first night and then head over to the Pacific Coast on February lst.

This is an aerial map of our location, the red dot on the right

It will be a wonderful family time:  Eric and I, my brother and sister-in-law Bob and Francine and for two weeks, Andrea and Dave and Andrew.

Keep posted for our adventures ziplining, geocaching, ATV adventure, bird watching and lounging on the beach.

Home Sweet Home

Two days at sea before we docked at Miami were well appreciated.  We were able to relax in the shade as it was still very warm, but much less humid.  We finished our bridge games for the cruise and had lots of last minute meals with our friends.

We arrived right on time at Miami and took a cab to the airport. It was hot in Miami, but we still had to dress for Nova Scotia! Our flight to Newark was scheduled for 1:15, so we had lots of spare time to spend at the airport. When we arrived at the airport at 9:30 we checked in and went through security, thinking we would have a long wait.  We decided to check out which gate we were to leave from and as we approached the gate, the attendant said "You must be the Marshalls. Just wait a minute and I will arrange for your luggage to be put on this flight which is about to leave." We were immediately put on the flight and upgraded. Got to love United Airlines! The flight was half full.

It was raining hard when we arrived at Halifax at 10:30. Andrea picked us up and handed us our winter coats. We spent the night in Halifax and drove home the next day.  Wouldn't you know it .... we had snow coming home on Wednesday; in fact, we were driving 50 km/hr on the 101 between Dartmouth and Kentville.

Everything was fine at home and we are looking forward to spending Christmas in Bridgewater with the family.  Thanks to everyone for following our blog.  It was the trip of a lifetime and when we are asked if we would do it again with said definitely "no".  Not because we did not love it, but there are just too many other places we want to go.  We do not repeat our vacations.

Stay tuned .... on January 31st we leave for a month in Costa Rica and I will do another blog.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone.  May God bless you and your loved ones.

Barbados, Antigua and Puerto Rico

Bridgetown, Barbados

Barbados retains a very British atmosphere. Afternoon tea is a ritual and cricket is the national sport. Barbadians are a warm, friendly and hospitable people who are genuinely proud of their country and culture. Beaches along  the island’s south and west coasts are picture-perfect and open to cruise passengers. On the rugged east coast, the Atlantic Ocean attracts world-class surfers. The northeast is dominated by rolling hills and valleys; the interior of the island is covered by acres of sugarcane and dotted with small villages.

Entrance to Sugar Cane Plantation

Atlantic Ocean Beach

View From Atlantis Hotel

Eric’s shore excursion was 4 x 4 beach Safari which took him to the Atlantic side of the island.  Judi’s shore excursion was a Barbados photo adventure with famous Barbadian photographer Ronnie Carrington.  They were both excellent shore excursions, with magnificent scenery and a taste of the famous Barbados rum punch. The weather was spectacular and it felt so good to be rid of the hot, humid temperatures.

St. John’s, Antigua and Barbuda

It is so nice to wake up each morning to a new port. St. John’s is the capital and largest city of Antigua and Barbuda. It is one of the most developed and cosmopolitan municipalities in the Lesser Antilles. We both took the same shore excursion, 4 x 4 Luxury Beach Safari and got a spectacular ride around the more isolated spots on the island. This is a beautiful clean island and we could see why it is such a popular tourist destination. The beach portion of the tour took us to a lovely beach destination where we were able to swim for an hour. The nice part about going off-road was that we were able to drive to some high hills for wonderful views of the towns along the water.

View of Harbour from Hilltop

Our Beach Stop

Abandoned Sugar Mill

We drove back to the ship at 5 pm and got caught up in the Santa Claus parade. While we were stopped, we were able to enjoy the local culture.

Friday Rush Hour

San Juan, Puerto Rico

We had been to San Juan before, so we chose not to wander the streets …. which is so much fun. Instead we chose a trip to the rainforest. El Yunque National Forest. It was a 45 minute drive from the port and just as we turned the first corner I saw a Tim Hortens and Scotiabank.  Actually we saw Scotiabank at pretty well each port town, even in Brazil. The island is very busy and thankfully it was Saturday so the roads were only moderately crazy. The National Forest, run by the US, was excellent.

At the National Forest we visited the visitor’s center, stopped at a waterfall, did a 30 minute guided walk through the rainforest and went up an observation tower.  This was a very good experience and of course I have lots of good photos.

El Yunque National Forest Welcome Center

Waterfall at National Forest

Love the Rainforest

We left San Juan at 9 pm and about 1 pm I awoke when I heard the side thrusters on the ship. This was not supposed to happen at sea! Then I realized the ship had stopped.  Well, we were back at San Juan as a lady had had a bad heart attack and they had to get her to port. An ambulance was waiting for her and they took her, her husband and all their luggage off the ship. By now we had lost 8 hours and the captain is trying his best to get us to Miami on time. Many of us have flights out on Tuesday and people are getting a bit nervous. We’re not concerned as this would be when our trip interruption insurance would kick in. Eric has been doing the math and figures we are okay. Never a dull moment while at sea.

The seas are calm and right now we are passing close to Haiti and then Cuba.  All for now …..

Parintins, Brazil

Parintins is located on Tupinambarana Island in the Amazon River, halfway between Santaren and Manaus, Brazil. Accessible only by air and boat, the city of 115,000 is a 25-hour river boat trip from Manaus.  But Parintins is no isolated third-world community. In 2006, the Intel World Ahead Program brought in computers and connected two schools, a hospital, a community center and Amazon University to the WiMax broadband wireless Internet service.

Because there are not enough hotels in Parintins, out-of-town visitors either rent bedrooms from locals or sleep in hammocks in the Amazon river boats, which brought them from Manaus.  Most people don’t sleep at all, preferring to sing, dance and party around-the-clock.

Riverboat Hotels

The only shore excursion offered was the Boi Bumba Folk Show, which was presented in the large, air-conditioned convention center. Boi Bumba means “bull dance” and is a comic re-enactment of a legend based on a resurrected bull.  We were all tendered ashore and seated in the theatre.  The production was absolutely spectacular, with lots of drums, guitars and singing.  The music was non-stop for over an hour, accompanied by a wide array of beautiful costumed dancers. All the feathers on their costums were authentic and not dyed. It was one of the best performances we have ever seen and we have lots of great photos.

Photos from the performance

This was our last stop on the Amazon River and each stop was unique and well put together.

Devil’s Island, French Guiana

We didn’t know what to expect on Devil’s Island.  It is the smallest and northernmost island of the three Iles du Salut located about 6 nautical miles off the coast of French Guiana, South America. It has an area of 34.6 acres and it was the smallest of the nortorious French penal colony in French Guiana until 1952.

Once again we were tendered ashore and we spent the morning hiking around the island. It was incredible hot and humid, worse than the Amazon River, but we had a very enjoyable day.

Part of the ruins

Beautiful hiking path around the island

Not very much to say about this island, as most if the buildings are in ruins. There is a hostel and a hotel still operating on the island. We were able to see monkeys, peacocks and lots of other wildlife.  Off in the distance, on the mainland we were able to see the rocket launch site. If there was to be a rocket launch, the island would be evacuated.

The resident peacock

The prison cell ruins

The hotel

Another day at sea to rest up for 3 more days of shore excursions!

Manaus, Brazil

Manaus is the capital of the state of Amazonas and is situated at the confluence of the Negro and Solimoes rivers.  It is the largest metropolitan area in Northern Brazil and the twelfth in all of Brazil, with 2,006,870 inhabitants, making it the 8^th most populous city in Brazil. It represents 50% of the population of the Amazon.

Manaus was at the centre of the Amazon region’s rubber boom during the 19^th century and was labelled “one of the most gaudiest cities in the world”. The decadence of the city extended to the grand opera house which cost $10,000,000 to construct. After the collapse of the rubber industry in Brazil, the opera house went through years of neglect, but has been fully restored and is fully operational.

We had an overnight stay in Manaus which gave many of the crew members a chance to go ashore. The city is very large and quite spread out. A beautiful new bridge has been constructed over the river and has been dubbed the “bridge to nowhere”. There is one highway out of Manaus and it extends north to Venezuela.

We did a tour of the city and really enjoyed it. Our driver made certain to take us all over the city to show us the different levels of housing and types of shopping. Near the harbour was the market where the people on the riverboats buy and sell their wares. Downtown are many elite shops, hotels and restaurants.  We toured the opera house, which is a magnificent building. They were preparing for a huge Christmas concert which was going to be broadcast outside, so the seats on the main floor were covered to make a stage. We have many beautiful photos of the opera house.

 The Opera House

Next we toured an Indian museum, operated by nuns. It was interesting to experience the culture of three different tribes.  Afterwards we toured the zoo, operated by the Army and saw lots of wonderful animals and birds.  It was a long tour and it was very warm, but we enjoyed it.

In the evening, Eric went “caiman spotting”. He found it interesting, but not well organized.  The next day was the tour to see the “meeting of the rivers” where the black and white rivers meet and flow side by side.  Both the meeting of the rivers and the caiman spotting at listed in “1,000 things to do before you die”.

Caiman Spotting

Meeting of the Waters

It was interesting to watch the activity on the dock while we were docked. Outside our balcony there was a commotion below us. It turned out to be a small fishing boat which 2 crew members had rented. They had caught 2, 35 kg fish and had them in the small boat. We watched as they tried to lift the fish out of the boat, on to the ship. It was tough, but they made it.

The slum area of Manaus on the waterfront

Our ship at night

The bridge to nowhere

Manaus was our last port before returning down the Amazon river and we travelled a total of three time zones.  As we left Manaus, we realized that our cruise was half over.

Christmas tree at the stern of the ship at sunset

Boca Da Valeria, Brazil

The Boca da Valeria Port in Brazil means “mouth of the Valeria River”; it is where only 100 people live. It is a tiny Indian fishing and trading village where the people sustain a livelihood through tourists’ purchases of their products.  The Amazon Basin Rio da Valeria converge to form this village. Boats are its means of transportation.  The children are dressed up for the tourists to have photos taken of  them and receive payment. They also act as escorts to the visitors.  The village allows visitors to witness the lifestyle and hardship that the residents experience daily.  The river dwellers’ houses are made of wood and built on stilts. There is a church and a school in this remote village.

The Church

The School

When the ship dropped anchor, the canoes and small river boats , full of people suddenly appeared. They had fresh produce and trinkets for sale.  They pulled up along side the ship and spent the whole day there.  Since we were being tendered ashore, there were several canoes that would come along side the tender boats as they were being loaded. The children had jewellery for sale and two boys held sloths inside the window for photos to be taken.

Children with pet sloths

We were advised to bring small things from the ship as payment. We had shampoo, soap, lotion, small jars of honey and jam and the most popular item …. the leftover balloons from my birthday.  All these items were gone in no time!  We had bottles of water which they loved. 

We were adopted by 4 children; one on each hand and away we went to the village. Our 4 little boys were so cute and one of mine spent the whole time repeating my name over and over. He would say it and giggle.  It was so interesting to see their homes, all on stilts because of the rainy season in July. Their gardens in most cases were raised, either on the rooftop or on raised wooden platforms, all covered with mesh.

 Eric with his little children

The village has a power generator and the batteries are replaced on a regular basis by passing riverboats. The houses have lights and deep freezers. Also each home has a satellite dish … they love to watch soccer.  It is interesting to note that since they are located right on the equator, the satellite dishes point directly up.

 Houses with satellite dishes

The families line both sides of the pathway from the dock to the village and they have their children dressed in native costumes and the children also have their pets on hand.  We were able to see caimans, monkeys, turtles, rats and sloths. There were lots of fish in pails of water and many more birds and animals.  All from the local rainforest.

Home with raised garden

3 of our 4 little boys

It was a wonderful day and we took many photos, too many for this blog.

We have enjoyed experiencing life along the Amazon river.  Sometimes the river is quite narrow and next it is several miles wide.  This is the dry season, but in the wet season, the river floods in some places to 30 miles wide.  Riverboats are the only means of transportation and the trip from Malaus to Belim takes 9 days. People bring their hammocks and hang them on the open decks. They sleep all day and party all night.  They arrive hours before the boat is supposed to leave in order to get a good place to hang their hammock.  These people are very social and happy.

Amazon Riverboats

Goods and cars are also put on the riverboats; but most goods are shipped by tankers and barges. Our ship had to change pilots periodically since the pilots have a very specific area they cover. The people in the little villages are very poor, but Brazil is a very wealthy country. The Amazon river consists of many island and it wanders all over the place. We travelled from the mouth of the river to Manaus and went through 3 time zones. It is all rainforest, but we did see “slash and burn” many times.

All for today.  My next blog will be about our 2 days in Manaus … a city of 2,000,000 people in the middle of nowhere!