Greetings from La Fortuna, Costa Rica

Hi all,
So here we are in La Fortuna, the land of extreme activities.
Apparently people come to Costa Rica just to do these extreme activities.
It's also famous for its hot springs.
Every costs a fortune. To visit a hot springs, you need to visit a resort, and pay around $100 for the day. And there is nothing natural about these resorts, the pools look like municipal pools, some with slides like at a theme park. Revolting. I told Hasi there was no way I was going to one of these, even though I really love hot springs.
Anyway a bit of research and I found there was a river that the springs ran into, about 15km out of town and its free. Of course it's where the locals go, so I'm going there.
I wanted to hitch out and back, thinking that Hasi was too unwell to come with me. Anyway, mum you will be pleased to hear, there was nowadays Hasi was going to let me hitch alone in Central America! O it was Yale or taxi. Hasiopted for the taxi, as he still wasn't 100%
Anyway it was awesome, lazing in the warm river in the rainforest!!

Today we went white water rafting. I'm hoping Liam Jack classifies this as an extreme activity, as I  definitely think it is. I have done this once before in New Zealand, about 30 years ago, and Hasi had never done it.
We really loved it. Awesome, exhilarating, scary, adrenaline pumping!!
I think it's pretty dangerous as well.
Anyway still here to tell the tale!
And not to be forgotten, The  guides, who were amazing, so skilled, and watching out for our safety the whole time.

Went to an organic farm for lunch, which was lovely. Everything we ate was grown on the farm,, including the coffee, sugar cane and a guaro, a local alcoholic beverage made from sugar cane.

And still it rains. We are not going to see the whole of the Arenal volcano before we leave here
tomorrow. We saw about three quarters of it , and we could see the form of the peak beneath the clouds, but not a good clear view. The still have tomorrow morning, so fingers crossed.

OK, just thought I had lost the whole blog, still learning this machine, so am going to sign off now, just in case I lose it all again.
We hit the road again tomorrow morning to go further up,the mountains.....stay tuned
Love to all, Zak

Welsh Greetings

Hi All,
Enjoying the travel updates Kate. Hope Hasi is feeling better. Give him our love.
Winter has come in with a vengeance. It is cold here - but dry for the moment.
Had a great day in Cardiff last week with Louise. Christmas markets, shopping, lunch and a few drinks along the way. We really should do it more often.
Darts are going well this season. We are playing knockouts at the moment. last night was Captains and I won our venue! This means I play on finals night at the end of the season and will either be the winner or runner up.
There is plenty of work at the moment so getting the shifts I want.
Not much other news at the moment so will sign off. keep the travel updates going and enjoy Kate.
Love to all. xxxxx

Greetings from La Fortuna, Costa RicaI

Hi all,
Today we packed up, and headed to the bus station to find a local bus to La Fortuna, further up in the mountains.
Costa Rican buses are very organised, on time, and in good condition. The roads are very good as well, with wide deep gullies on either side for all the rain water to drain into.
Also the toilets in Costa Rica are also incredibly clean(so far)   Today was the first time we had to pay to go to a public toilet at the bus station - 400 colones, which is about 80c!!
Australia must be one of the only countries where you don't have to pay to use a public toilet, and please let it stay that way.
So after an amazing four hour bus trip through mountain villages, coffee and banana plantations we arrived in La Fortuna. This area is famous for cloud forest and also Arenal volcano which is still active and last exploded in 2010. It is not allowed to climb the volcano, but it's a tourist town full of other activities like hiking, canoeing, swinging through the forest canopy on rip lines, soaking in thermal hot springs.
Of course it all seems to costs a fortune, but then again tourists have money!!
I am sitting on the verandah of our hotel, and if there was no cloud cover, I would presumably be looking at Arenal Volcano. Again the weather is not allowing us this opportunity today, but the locals say, the weather may clear tomorrow. Costa Ricans love to make you happy, so we wait and see.
Hasi is still not well. Fever, sweating, nose running. Seriously he is no fun at all at the moment, so hope he improves in the next day or so.
Annie you should see the hydrangeas here. They are enormous, and when it stops raining , I will take heaps of photos to show you. Mostly pale purple, blue.
Still raining!! Why do we travel so much in the wet season? Crazy.
OK, time to wake Hasi up for dinner. Seems to be several vegetarian restaurants in town.

Hope alls well with everyone.
Love Zak

Greetings from Alajeula, Costa Rica

Hi all,
So we went up to Poas volcano today, way up in the cloud forest.
Very unfortunately the weather was not on our side and we didn't get to see either the crater or the lake, as it was raining and covered completely in mist.
I suppose you have to expect this, in a cloud forest, where the humidity sits around 100% most of the time and it rains between 3000 to 5000mm of rain a year.
Nevertheless I loved it. Hasi was still a bit crook, so went back to dry out after not seeing the crater.
I must say my investment of a very good wet weather jacket, I bought before going to Europe in July, proved its worth today, and was worth every cent I paid for it, as well as my shoes

I was hoping to see some exotic bird life, but it was tricky in the rain.
Tomorrow we travel further north in the highlands for more cloud forests.
We have decided to skip both the Caribbean coast and the pacific coast in Costa Rica due to the hurricane.

The main park in town always seems to have something going on. This afternoon a band was playing, and older couples dancing,and this evening the same spot was being used by young guys doing break dancing and another group doing circus stuff. Great feeling of community.
I went to the cathedral this evening, which had the most amazing murals on the ceiling.
I was looking to light a candle, as Annie and Moo always did when we were in Britain, but suprisingly there was no candles, which I found very odd.

That's it for today.
Love to you all, Zak

Try to add photo

Hi again,
No I can't work out how to add photos, will have to play around some more.
Hopes all well with everyone
Love zak

Greetings from Costa Rica

Hi all,
Believe it or not, I somehow worked out how to get into the blog, hopefully Iwill be able to continue to sign in.
So we sent three nights in Mexico City at our favourite family home stay Frieda and Diegos.
Lovely to be with the  family again. They are so welcoming, hospitable and helpful.
The only negative is the pressure of the showers, which is almost non existent.
We felt at home in Mexico City, going back to our favourite cafe for morning expresses, and dinner at   Tonos, a great local eatery which the locals love.
Yesterday, friday, we were up early to fly to Costa Rica.
As you may have heard, there was a hurricane a few days ago in Costa Rica. This effected the east coast and the south east coast of Nicuaragua. So we won't be travelling to that area, as we had previously planned.
So we are currently in the midlands/highlands, in a city called Alajuela. I love this first stop in Costa Rica. The people are lovely and already in the festive season. Do people in Australia already have Christmas stuff out?
We had planned to do A day trip today to Volcan Poas, but Hasi woke feeling crook, so we will do that tomorrow.
Today we have just hung around town, checking out the market, drinking coffee, watching the locals, enjoying the local talent with a concert in the park, and we also did a big shop and gave it to the Red Cross that is collecting for the hurricane victims.
The weather here is high humidity, due to the hurricane and also as this area is famous for cloud forests. Last night there was a constant mist hanging over the town which was eerie but also very beautiful, sort of like when you see those frosted photos that soften everything.
The woman in Central America love tight and tighter when it comes to clothes. They don't worry about the bulges bubbling out the side or tops of their clothes, they just strut their stuff and I love it.
Maybe one day I will feel as confident as them, and go for the one size smaller.
I want to try to add a photo or 2, but not sure if I can so I will sign off on this blog and try to reopen a new one. Fingers crossed

I sent a few emails to mum  and dad and Annie, as they were the only address I had, hope you got them. This iPad is new for me, and I'm still trying to work it all out.
Moo I tried to write to you on vibes several times, but I couldn't get through.

So love to all,
Zak and Hasi

Welsh Greetings

Hi All,
Just a quick hello as I haven't posted for a while.
Greatly enjoyed the spa day. Was a good deal and we will definitely do it again.
Saw plenty of baby seals on our walk. Stayed in the van in Solva. The wool show was a bit of a disappointment but it got us on the road.
It's halfway through darts season so we are playing knockouts for about six weeks. At the halfway mark we are played seven won seven so doing OK.Knockouts are not going so well.
The weather is cold and damp so not happy about that, but it has been quite mild until now.
As you know by now, we won't be house-sitting for Kate & Hasi whilst they are away. Hope to get back to Aus before too long though. Will let you know. Safe and enjoyable travels.
All good here overall. No real news to report.
Thinking of you all and sending lots of love and hugs.
Take care. xxxxx