9 & 10 Sept 2012 Bali

9 & 10 Sept 2012 Bali Sunday and Ketut brings breakfast to my room as he has everyday - chicken leg, veg and sticky rice. Good. He works long hours and is busy today so he organises friend Komang to drive me for the day. It is a holiday for everyone after yesterdays celebrations, a bit like our Boxing day. The roads are busy so it is a long slow journey to Atundown Temple. It is worth it. High up in the mountains, beside a great lake, the ancient temple is bordered on three sides by gardens filled with brightly coloured flower beds, mostly yellow and red, trees and bushes. The fourth side is right up against the lake, with some of its buildings actually in the water, strangely cast away from the main courtyard as if the gods require the peace and isolation of an island for these places of worship. On the other side of the lake, forested mountainsides rise up into misty clouds, creating an immense and mysterious backdrop to the temple and lake. An enchanting place, only slightly compromised by the swan shaped pedal boats on the lake, so ridiculous in this place they can only widen the smile inspired by this temple and its surroundings. After a traditional lunch followed by a welcome cup of tea (with milk thicker than double cream), we drive to the Botanical Gardens. This is a huge area of trees and grass populated by thousands of local families picnicing and playing games on their holiday. Good to see, we drive through and I take some photos, but now it is time to start our journey back. On the way, we stop at Tamas Ayru Palace, a very different temple with children playing football on the lawns, and families and teenagers walking and relaxing in the woods and riversides behind the Palace. This evening I want to post my second blog so walk to Deus, a bikers restaurant. But oh no, they only have wifi, no computers. So the very helpful waitress calls a taxi and asks the driver to take me to an internet place. He mumbles apologies about traffic jams and pulls onto the narrowest windiest causeway through paddy fields, unlit in the dark, mile after mile, amazingly not pushing passing bikes (for whom this path exists) into the watery rice fields. We arrive at a remote village I know not where and yes here is the internet shop, the most basic traditional village store. I sit at the computer in a very dimpsy lit room and ask for more light so the shopkeeper gives me a torch. When he looks in 5 minutes later and sees I am still waiting for googlemail to load, he invites me to use his personal notebook behind the counter. This loads immediately, I sort my emails and post blog number two, while Eddie the shopkeeper serves customers and leans across me to reach cigarettes and stuff on the shelf. This is the real world. I think. Now I am in a remote unknown village shop, getting late and very hungry. So Eddie fetches his car, abandons his shop, and drives me back to Jepun. The man is a hero. Now I enjoy a Quattro Staglionni, tomato, mozzerella, ham, mushrooms, olives and wastel sauce, in Jepun Pizzaria. Then sleep. Monday Ketut takes me on a two hour drive to his home village, Tenganan in the South. This community has preserved traditional ways, there are no cars allowed here. 250 families live in single storey dwellings, arranged either side of three main walking stone laid thoroughfares. As we walk up and down, Ketut stops and talks or waves hello to every villager we pass. Everyone knows everyone here. We visit his house and eat bananas and Bali cake, a gift from a 70 year old lady who helps look after the place. He shows me the temple and we walk through the forest that surrounds the village. A beautifully unspoilt place, quiet, unhurried and peaceful. My favourite place in Bali. After the drive back, I have another australian burger with everything and a cup of tea and a nutty chocolate covered magnum ice cream lolypop. Goodnight all, John

7 & 8 Sept 2012 Bali

7 & 8 Sept 2012 Bali Friday a quiet day, taxi to nearby Kuta-Legion where I finally find an internet cafe....2 and quarter hours later I have cleared my inbox and posted the first blog. Then a coffee and wander around before taxi back to Jepun. We pass many preparations for tomorrows Hindu celebration day. There are tall arching weaved creations, that look like giant straw snowdrops, outside every house and shop along the roadside. And dragons. These are fearsome creatures that weave and rear across the village roads, followed by a troupe of whooping children. Actually, they are a variation of our pantomime horse, but much more interesting and threatening. That evening, Ketut takes me to his home again where I eat an inordinate amount of pork ribs with rice. Sitting in the porch, there are four of us, Ketut, me, Putu(Ketuts main man) and Korman. When we start eating, Putu offers me a small glass of coca-cola which he indicates I have to down in one. Interestingly, the same glass is topped up and passed around for the 4 of us to drink in turn. By the end of the evening there is a pile of bones in front of me and we have got through 2 large bottles of coca-cola. I don't drink coca-cola very often, and thought this had a slightly different taste, anyway it turned out to be arak, distilled from fermented palm extract, a very pleasant drink. I don't remember being taken back to my room but woke up the next morning feeling very refreshed after an excellent nights sleep. Saturday is celebration day, another taxi ride to Legion sees all the decorations in place, mainly on the temples of which there are many, large ones for village attendance and prayers, and small ones in every household and shop porch. And giant straw snowdrops of course. Everyone is dressed up for the day, visiting temples for prayers, men in white robes and hat (called udung), ladies in beautiful saris, radiant colours and fine materials, and children in smart outfits all excited and reveling in the occasion. I see all this travelling to and from Legion through villages and countryside, it's a pleasure to be here. Late afternoon, Ketut and Putu pick me up at Jepun and drive me to Tanah Lot Temple on the coast. Hundreds of locals are here queuing up to pray in the main temple which is on a huge rock in the sea. The tide is out so there is a long queue of white robed worshipers across the wet rocks and up the winding steps to the top. The sea is crashing against the rock on three sides, sending curtains of white spray up towards the temple and its acolytes on this rock that dares to defy the onslaught of the sea and its powerful waves. Those coming back down from the rock look quite relieved and those waiting to go up are evidently keen to get on with it before the tide comes in, and the angry sea reclaims the fourth side of this rock temple. The whole scenario is spectacular and I am privileged to witness it. In the evening Ketut and Putu have to work, so I walk alone to Canggu beach. Although there are many people here, mostly locals and surfers, the atmosphere is quiet and serene. I see a local lady in traditional dress on a bench, she is bending over as in prayer, and I feel uplifted by the sense of peace and tranquility of this place. As I pass by her, I notice she is texting on her iphone but no matter, the sense of peacefulness prevails. I walk across the beaches to Echo Beach where I order a large beer and a very large aussie burger with everything and chips. I am sitting at a table on a promenade right next to the sea. The incoming tide is gradually consuming an outcrop of rocks that separates two beaches (a bit like Corbyn Head rocks). I like this place. Even the dogs are relaxed here, evidenced by the mongrel that continued aloof and unruffled as it walked past my table pursued by a small child throwing firecrackers at it. I finish with an almond and belgian chocolate covered magnum ice cream lolypop. I do like magnums. Corbyn Head rocks are covered now. Time to sleep. Goodnight and take care, John

5 - 6 Sept. 2012 Bali

5 - 6 Sept 2012 Bali Hello again to you all. So here I am in Bali for 8 days on a trip arranged by my good friends from Perth,WA, Sean and Jodie. In our favourite bar in Phuket, they introduced me to their, now my, friend Ketut from Bali. Ketut has organised airport transfer, accommodation, food and day tours for my stay here. The perfect host, he waits two and half hours until past 2am at the airport for me after delayed flight and massive slow queues at immigration. In the car, a cold beer from an ice box awaits, I have never appreciated a bottle of beer as much as this one, a perfect welcome. In my room in Jepun Bali, he gives me the ice box with more beers, a local mobile phone to use while I am here and arrangements for breakfast. Brilliant. Later that morning, after a breakfast of chicken legs, rice and vegetables (+ a spicy sauce...too hot for me, I had to scrape it off!), Ketut drives me to the villas he manages then to his nearby home where I meet his wife and daughters 6 and 3. He has a lovely home and family. Next I change some Pounds into Roupees, 15,000 to the pound, I am a millionaire!, some shopping and back to room for more SLEEP. That evening it's a long walk on Echo Beach a 10 minute walk away from Jepun, followed by a pizza in the restaurant next to my room, then more SLEEP. Next day Thursday, after breakfast, Ketut takes me on a tour. First to a Batik factory and shop, where a lady demonstrates the dying process used on a variety of materials used mostly to make clothes. It involves different colour dyes and wax and is very meticulate and time consuming, but the final product in its various forms is stunningly beautiful. Then to a fine art studio, I have never seen anything like this before. In a very large house, room after room after room with every wall space filled with original paintings of all sizes, traditional Bali and modern. They have 150 artists working to keep the walls filled as they sell from the displays. Some pictures take 6 months to complete they are so intricate. Amazing, striking colours, designs and images, many exceptionally beautiful. They sell for thousands of US dollars, I'm sure they are worth it, but decided I have enough pictures for Rivendell. Now we visit a display of wood-carvings, a Bali speciality. Incredible sculptures, some small, some very large indeed. Horses, dragons, a crocodile, everything you can think of, often in dramatic poses, carved in various hardwoods. All perfect in detail, wonderful stuff. Then LUNCH in a very clean tourist restaurant, pork, rice and veg., excellent. (Ketut has TWO portions!, I am full after one.) Next we go to Mandala Wista Wenara Wana which, I'm sure you will know, is the Sacred Monkey Temple and Forest. Huge trees, hundreds of macaques, a river gorge, stone carvings of gods and animals everywhere, and temples including the large main one and a funeral temple. I love this place, natural and ancient. I only get lost for a short time and find my way back but I am longer than Ketut estimates so he comes looking for me! We find each other, no problem, and drive back to Jepun. That evening I walk alone to Canggue Beach and village, next on from Echo Beach. I am looking for an internet cafe but don't find one. My evening meal in an Echo Beach restaurant next to the beach, listening to the waves crashing on the sand and rocks, is chicken and cashew nuts plus extra vegetable. Very tasty, and I treat myself to a special nutty magnum chocolate covered ice cream for afters. Happy happy. Afterwards I walk inland to a bar called Deus where I find they have internet but it is too close to closing time to use. I have one more beer, but I think one too many. I have to concentrate very hard not to fall into the rice paddy fields which come right up to the narrow grass verge I have to step onto when a vehicle passes on this narrow unlit country road. I get back OK and soon go to SLEEP. I love Bali Take care you all. John

Costa Rica Sun 28 Nov - Mon 6 Dec 2010

Costa Rica Sun 28 Nov - Mon 6 Dec 2010

Final post for Costa Rica
This has been a quiet, relaxing 9 days, mostly spent on the beautiful beach, walking, running, reading, chatting, sleeping on a sunbed. Met and chatted with various people from different countries. Most of the tourists here are from the US. Also walked miles in the forest on cloudy days. The trees run right down to and onto the beach. We have had some cloud and rain, but plenty of sunshine too, especially the last few days. The naughty monkeys are everywhere though, as are the thieves with which Costa Rica is unfortunately infested, so you can't leave anything unattended even for a few minutes.

Found a great bar with excellent grilled chicken, then an even better place with amazing breakfast, dinner plate filled with 4 fruits and a pancake with syrup, then a second dinner plate also full with scrambled egg, the local rice mix and 2 pieces of bread, all followd by a mug of tea. Heaven.

The Manuel Antonio Hotel room is clean and comfortable, with the bonus of my friend the lizard running around the floor to keep me company. I can hear the sea at night, sometimes as backing music to the howling and shrieking of monkeys.

This has been a good holiday, 2 weeks with the group and 9 days on the beach. Thank you all for reading my blogs, it makes their production well worthwhile. Let me know if you have any feedback, comments or anything to add.

Till the next time, All the Best,
John

Costa Rica Sat 27 Nov 2010

Costa Rica Sat 27 Nov 2010

9am I wave a sad bye-bye to guide Aaron and the other 11 members of the grop. They are catching a bus to San Jose from where they fly to Heathrow via Madrid on Sunday. We have had a good tour together. Now I am alone in our group hotel, packing and checking out in my own time. I pull my bag (fortunately it has wheels) 300m to the Plaza Yara Hotel where I am booked for 1 night. Nice room.

This evening I bus into Manuel Antonio, enjoy pleasant pasta dish then some beers in what appears to be the liveliest bar in town. Juggling in the street, random bongo drumming at one of the tables, I think I am going tp like this place. I transfer to the Hotel Manuel Antonio tomorrow.

Less frequent blogs for the remainder of this hol., I will mostly be lazing about on the beach with the occasional swim in the day, reading books and eating and drinking a few beers in the evenings. However I do plan to go into the Park at least one more time so there should be more to report later.

All the Best,
John

Costa Rica Fri 26 Nov 2010

Costa Rica Fri 26 Nov 2010

Tomorrow the rest of the group leave for San Jose but I am staying in Manuel Antonio for another 9 days. Before leaving England I booked the Plaza Yara Hotel but their web-site is fibbing when it says they are in the centre of Manuel Antonio. It is about 4k away on a distinctly dodgy road for walking along. The buses are good but I want to be beside the seaside. So today I research some hotels, calling into half a dozen or so and negotiating prices and room quality as Dalgety taught me so effectively to do. I find one 20m from the beach at 30USD cash with very helpful girl on reception.

The rest of the day = beach with some of the group + long walk through the gently breaking waves along the waters edge + a swim. Very relaxing.

This evening I eat with George, Tricia, Cheryl and Sally at the Bambu Jam Restaurant, a short walk from our rooms along the perrilous road. The 'Pollo Bambu Jam' is excellent and the 'Peras al Caramelo' for pudding is out of this world. As we finish our puddings, the live music starts, latin stuff with a brilliant girl singing. George and Tricia are soon up dancing and whooping it up with the locals. A great evening.

All the Best,
John

Costa Rica Thurs 25 Nov 2010

Costa Rica Thurs 25 Nov 2010

Multicereal with raisens with milk plus filter coffee for diy breakfast on the balcony of our Quepos accomodation with some of the group. Then a 15 minute public bus ride to Manuel Antonio which turns out to be a delightful beach front community of restaurants, bars, shops and hotels. The beach itself is sandy and crescent shaped in a glorious setting of rocky outcrops and islands.

Also in Manuel Antonio is the entrance to the National Park of the same name. With some trepidation I enter the Park with Sally and Cheryl who got us all lost in Cahuita earlier in the tour. However, there are many other tourists on the main track so I feel quite safe. We see iguana of all sizes, often suddenly darting off from very near us as we disturb them sunning themselves on this beautiful day. Then a sloth high up in a tree. Butterflies and birds all around us. When we arrive at the first beach in the Park, we find it infested with capuchin monkeys and racoons whose sole objective is to steal anything edible from us gullible tourists. They are fun to watch but they are very naughty.

I ask Cheryl to take a photo of me on the beach, I have to go back, back, and back a bit more and she takes the picture just as the wave engulfs my boots and fills them with water. Ho Ho.

We pass several more glorious beaches which I plan to come back and enjoy later in the holiday. Then we follow a nature trail around a headland and sure enough the girls lead me into a quagmire of boggy ground. Much of the track and its steps have been washed away or damaged by the recent heavy rains so we have to be slow and careful as we negotiate our way around. But wow is it worth it. Not only is this forested headland an entrancing place of beauty, it is full of wildlife. We see several groups of howler monkeys, a woodpecker working its way up a tree pecking away only feet from us, an agouti which we watch and film for maybe 10 minutes, and more capuchins, birds and butterflies.

This time we do not get lost and eventually find ourselves back on a beach, after negotiating the final stretch of path which has totally disintegrated into a river that we have to jump accross. Here we watch a capuchin hop over to a towel left unattended by a couple who had walked down to the waters edge. The monkey flicks through the pages of the book as if he is assessing it for readability and whether it is worth stealing. I shoo him away. Back at the first beach I watch a racoon lift the lid if a rubbish bin with one hand and reach in with the other to retrieve a piece of bread that it runs off with in triumph.

We leave the Park very happy with our close encounter with nature today. This is such an entrancing place, I will definitely want to make a return visit next week.

Dinner is in a restaurant opposite the bus station in Quepos, portugese grilled chicken, I choose it to find out what it is. The squid and mushroom sauce turns out to be delicious if unusual and the chicken is perfectly cooked and tasty.

All the Best,
John

Costa Rica Wed 24 Nov 2010

Costa Rica Wed 24 Nov 2010

We are spending most of today in a minibus. Before we leave at 8am, there is a treat for us all, a beautifully coloured woodpecker hopping around a tree just outside the Lodge.

The roads are not made up so the ride is very slow and bumpy. This has a positive aspect because the scenery is astoundingly beautiful as we descend from the mountains through, then out of, the rain forest into grassy rolling hillsides and finally cultivated fields on the plains.

We stop at a bridge over a wide muddy river to gawp at dozens of crocodiles lounging on the mudbanks. Some of them are very large indeed.

Our destination is Quepos on the Pacific coast, we arrive there mid-afternoon. After checking in, we walk the 2k into town where I am writing this. It is raining and the place looks a bit run down, but hopefully we will find something interesting to do.

all the Best,
John

Costa Rica Tues 23 Nov 2010

Costa Rica Tues 23 Nov 2010


Today I hike into the depths of the forest with Peter and Lesley. This part of the forest is called The Hidden Valley and we follow the trails with the help of a rough map. Ancient and beautiful, misty and mysterious, a little forbidding, eirily quiet, the forest watches us as we tramp downwards and deeper in the half-light under the canopy.

There is a breathtaking variety of trees and undergrowth here, but we do not see nor hear any signs of wildlife, except a few strange looking bugs and the ever-busy leaf cutter ants. Until we come suddenly to a dead-end on the track at a point at the top of a steep tree-covered cliff that overlooks a valley - the hidden valley. A river crashes through the forest about 100 metres below us. Accross the other side, the trees cover gently rising ground up to a horizon which must be several miles away. It is a vista of astounding beauty.

Then, against the background of trees on the opposite side of the valley, and against the sky above the horizon, we see black vultures - huge birds, soaring in the air with no visible movement of the wings. Then an eagle, much more intense in its flight, searching for prey, maybe to feed chicks in their nest on cliff face or tree-top. Then a hawk of some kind, wings flapping as is also searches for a meal. Then another eagle, and more black vultures. This place is very special.

We eventually and reluctantly move on to continue our trek. A sudden movement in the trees reveals a squirrel, twice the size of ours in the UK, dark grey and almost black down its back, it turns and runs away from us.

After several hours in the forest, Peter and Lesley decide to head for an exit but I love it here, so go on alone back into the centre of the forest. I get lost, the map is useless here, but who cares, this is an amazing place. A sudden movement on the ground to my right makes me stop in my tracks. Something is heading towards the track just in front of me. I see through the trees and undergrowth that it is an orangy brown animal. Then it crosses in front of me, I get a clear view, it looks like a small hairy pig. I am told later it is probably an agouti.

I start to look for a way out but find that I have gone around in a circle when I recognise a bunch of bamboo growing in a clearing that I passed earlier. Never mind, I try a different way then come to a path I remember being on with Peter and Lesley so follow this. Suddenly there is a loud chorus of screeching above me, a flock of parrots are charging from tree to tree, obviously looking for trouble or shouting at something that has disturbed them............maybe me?

I get to the point that I parted company with Peter and Lesley, so walk the way I thought they went and promptly get lost again, on a track that ends in a mass of twisted foilage and dead branches. I retrace my steps and try another way, there is a grassy bank ahead, then a shack and a wider track that leads me back to (relative) civilisation.

I head for the bakery. A meat pasty, a chiken pasty and a huge chunk of the most gorgeous moist delicious carrot cake ever, are followed by a perfect cup of tea.

Now I am in a bus. It is fixed on a hillside amongst the trees and converted into an internet cafe where I am writng this blog. Bizarre.

This has been a good day.

Bye for now,
John

Costa Rica mon 22 nov 2010

Costa Rica mon 22 nov 2010
Walked 4k through the rainforest along dirt road and rough paths to sloth rehabilitation centre. Just me and an American couple are shown an excellent video on sloths and the work of the centre. Some of the background music is Flanders and Swann singing about sloths. Next a talk by a very knowledgeable guide aided by illustrated boards showing the ancestry, species and distribution of sloths. Then we are taken to see the animals themselves, about twelve of them in four enclosures, all rescued and unable to return to the wild for varying reasons. Some had been used to entertain tourists, others as pets. One had had his toes/claws cut off so that he wouldn't scratch the children. A sloth cannot climb trees or feed itself without it's claws. This ones regrew over time and eventually he returned to the wild.

On the way back I bought packs of tasty looking fudge for my children and striking t-shirts for the grandchildren. Then lunch in a local snackery, high up on a hillside overlooking the forest. I have their speciality wrap containing chicken, beans and cheese, with a mountain of salad.

It's another 4k hike back to the Lodge and quiet few hours chatting and resting before our evening meal in town at a locals' buffet serving traditional fare.

Bye for now, John

Costa Rica Sun 21 Nov 2010

Costa Rica Sun 21 Nov 2010

7.30 start this morning, we mini-bus to the shore of the artificial lake, transfer with our bags onto a boat that takes us along one side then across to the other side. We are treated to multiple sightings of ospreys and egrets, plus a beautiful black and White kingfisher. I get an amazing photo of an osprey launching itself into flight from the top of a dead tree.

From the lake we are driven to Monteverde cloud forest and our lodge accommodation. We are in the clouds and it is raining; although this is a tourist area, there is an old world atmosphere about the place with it's timber buildings and corrugated rooves. Martin and I walk down into the nearby small town of Santa Elena, about 2k up and down steep hills on a hairy bendy road through the forest. We survive to meet the rest of the group back at the lodge to go out for our evening meal.

Bye for now
John

Costa Rica Sat 20 Nov 2010

Costa Rica Sat 20 Nov 2010
The Arenal Volcano had been dormant for five centuries when it erupted without warning in 1968. They found 87 bodies in three villages caught by the 1000 degree gasses surging down into their valley, many more died but were never found. This volcano does not produce rivers of lava, it cools more quickly into rocks which are hurled upwards out of the active crater, following the gasses down to create avalanches of huge hot boulders which splinter and break in all directions as the careering mass destroys everything in its path. Trees, vegetation, wildlife and villages disappeared in the carnage.
Today, the lower reaches of the mountain are green again with trees, shrubs and grasses competing vigourously for nutrients, water and light. An artificial lake, created to provide hydro-electricity, covers the three destroyed villages. The volcano, with its two craters and forming an almost perfect steep-sided cone, towers above this area of beauty and apparent tranquility. But it is still active, still spewing hot gasses and rocks in mini eruptions that occur intermittantly and with no warning.
We trek up to the lower reaches of the volcano. Nobody is allowed to go further than the point we reach. Access to Arenal has been controlled by the Costa Rica government since earlier trekkers were killed by sudden eruptions catching them too close to the active crater.
The volcano is awesome and threatening. It sits where the caribbean plate is pushing over the top of a pacific plate. There is more trouble to come.
On the trek we see three kinds of orchid and a wide variety of vegetation including large trees that have regenerated these lower slopes since the devastation only 42 years ago. It is a remarkable recovery by nature. Monkeys play in the trees. But it is only a matter of time.

But not today. We descend and are driven to hot springs which are a welcome by-product of the seismic activity. After an hour lazing about in the hot water, it´s time for our evening meal, delicious tomato soup with bits of avocado floating about in it, steak and veggies, ice cream to finish, a pleasant end to the day.

All the Best,
John

Costa Rica Fri 19 Nov 2010

Costa Rica Fri 19 Nov 2010

We take two public bus journeys to get to La Fortuna, a town in the Arenal Volcano Region. We travel through fertile farmlands, with cattle grazing and a diversity of crops including papaya, pineapple, sugar cane, casava (a root vegetable a bit like potatos but long and thin), taro root and ornamental crotons, the last grown for export for tropical gardens and displays.

Towards the end of the second bus ride, we are climbing steadily and quite steeply at times, the road is very narrow with many sharp bends but the driver has obviously done this route many times so that he can maintain a high speed and place the wheels with precision right on the edge of the embankments.

We see Arenal, Costa Ricas most active volcano cone. It is 1633 metres high and covered by a tangled mass of vegitation on the side we can see, but apparently it is barren on the other where lava flows have wiped out all signs of life. The top is hidden by mist and cloud so that the mountain looks very mysterious and forbidding. Tomorrow some of the group are going hiking on it, including me. Is walking in the mists on an active volcano a good idea? I'll let you know next time I write!

All the Best,

John

Costa Rica Thurs 18 Nov 2010

Costa Rica Thurs 18 Nov 2010
Up early today, three public bus journeys, four bus stations and a taxi trip later, we arrive in Sarapiqui, not far from the Nicaragua border. We check into the Hotel Gavilan Lodge, I think we are in paradise.
After a steak and rice lunch, most of the group take a boat trip up the River Sarapiqui which runs right alongside the Lodge. The scenery is magnificent, there is no other word for it. Huge trees are lords of the river, the water is tumbling along at great speed broken only by the remains of great and small trees, lying in the torrent, victims of storms and torrential rains that wash them into the deluge. The wildlife is abundant, we see two varieties of swallows, toucans, herons, an ankinga, a woodpecker peering out of its hole in a tree, egrets, turkey vultures, an aracati, a ringed kingfisher and three macaws flying in formation over the trees.
Also a camen, quite large and threatening, and several green iguanas, including one bright orange specimen (the male changes colour in the mating season), over a metre long, chasing its brown female partner over branches and through the undergrowth. A spectacular sight.
We spend over two hours on this raging river, wonderful stuff.
Take Care everybody,
John

Costa Rica Wed 17 Nov 10

Costa Rica Wed 17 Nov 10
Today is our last day in Cahuita. This morning, four of us go snorkelling, it´s only a short walk to meet Joseph with his boat then 10 minutes max to the reef. An hour in one area then a second hour over a different part of the reef. The water is clear, we see loads of fish all shapes, sizes and colours. I am also lucky to see a ray and a reef shark. I follow a shoal of quite large fish, several varieties yellow, blue and brown, charging around as a group, sometimes stopping to feed on a piece of coral then charging off again. Then I follow a big fat fish, all head and no body, maybe 12" diameter. It doesn´t like being followed and hides under a rock until I go away. This is a very pleasant way to spend a morning. We feed on pineapple on the way back in the boat.
This afternoon I walk with two of the girls about 3k along a dusty road to the ´Tree OF Life´ which is Botanical Gardens and a Wildlife Rescue Centre. The gardens are beautifully laid out with trees and shrubs and various herb and spice growing plants. The animals in residence during our visit included a pecary (a piggy sort of thing), racoons, a capuchin monkey which had lived in a bar and become anti-social with other monkeys, coatis, a kinkajou which has a prehensile tail and normally lives in the forest canopy, deer and turtles. There is also an aviary and a butterfly farm with dozens of those beautiful big blue ones fluttering all around us. As we leave we chat with the dutch lady who owns and runs the place, it has only been open one year and we compliment her on the clean conditions for the animals.
The girls opt to walk around the coast back to the town but we end up stuck in residents gardens and are finally released through the gate of an empty, for-sale property, by a formidable looking Costa Rican lady who stands waiting for us with hands on hips. But she mellows a bit when one of the girls shows her a bleeding leg which she had caught on barbed wire, luckily for us.
Another good day, 6.30pm now, there is reggae music in the bar next door and soon Aaron our guide will take us to yet another restaurant. I am hungry and must go and shower now.
All the Best,
John

Costa Rica Tues 16 Nov 2010

Costa Rica Tues 16 Nov 2010
Today I am walking the Nature Reserve forest trail, I guess about 15 kilometres of it. The trail runs parallel to the coastline, sometimes straying onto the narrow beach, sometimes veering deep into the forest. I am on my own and it is quite eerie at times. But the forest is stunningly beautiful, a mix of jungly type trees and tall palms soaring above the canopy.
I see a large, fork-tailed bird with a pillar box red breast in a tree. Strikingly marked lizards dart from under my feet and hermit crabs with red feet scurry away in front of me. Then a rapidly flapping butterfly has me taking a dozen photos of nothing before I finally capture it in a picture. Red Admiral size, it has a big orange blob on each wing and a single white stripe joining the blobs. Very unusual I thought.
Next I see the biggest butterfly ever, bright blue wings and with a much more serene flight than the orange blobby. Still too quick for me though, so more photos of empty forest before I finally capture this one also. Interestingly, when settled on a branch with folded wings, its mottly brown wing undersides camouflage it perfectly against the bark.
As I walk along, there are gaps in the trees providing stunning views of the Caribbean Sea through the branches. I am very pleased with some of my photos today.
I see more monkeys in the trees and leaf-cutter ants marching accross the trail. This is a wonderful place.
Then there is a loud roaring noise from the forest. I think it is from some distance away, but still very disconcerting. It could be some very large monkeys engaged in a mating ritual, or maybe some noisy tory MPs on a trade mission taking a walk in the forest (swopping bananas for Harriers maybe?)
The rest of my walk is without incident, it has been a very pleasant stroll through the trees.
Now I am back in town, waiting for the group to meet up for dinner.
All the Best,
John

Costa Rica Mon 15 Nov 10

Costa Rica Mon 15 Nov 10
Taxis to bus station then 4 hour journey on public bus from San Jose eastwards to Cahuita. We drive through the dry forest that surrounds San Jose, into cloud forest then rain forest. The road is narrow and winding, the forests come right up to the edge of the tarmac, the scenery is all trees, up mountain-sides and down into deep valleys. Beautiful. A few dwellings, mostly single storey and basic, are scattered along the roadside, some in small communities. Towards the end of the journey there are bannana plantations and a huge Del Monte depot.
We arrive in Cahuita - first impressions, it´s a wild-west town. Single storey shack like buildings flank a dusty dirt road. In fact it is right on the Caribbean coast. The local population is mostly descendants of Jamaicans brought to Costa Rica to build a railway. They were not slaves our guide firmly informs us, and they are allowed to stay and settle in this area. They have established their own culture here, a blend of Costa Rican and West Indian.
Our rooms are 20m from the sea. After checking in, I walk along the narrow golden sandy beach, the forest on one side right up to the beach, the Caribbean on the other. Stunning. The beach is about 1 kilometre long and there are six people on it, plus a few like me just walking along. There is a sloth sleeping in the branches of a tree overhanging the beach. There are at least a hundred black-headed vultures wheeling overhead, some quite low, they are HUGE; are they looking out for a stray tourist who might become their dinner? A racoon comes out of the forest onto the beach to investigate and maybe hoping to be fed, he seems not to fear me. Two americam girls point out three Big Nosed Bats roosting on the side of a tree trunk; the bats feast on mosquitos after dark. Now I like bats. I walk along a forest path and there is a leaf walking along the path in front of me. On closer inspection I see an ant carrying it, maybe 20 times its size. Then there are monkeys playing in the trees, some of them youngsters having great fun leaping over a stream. I like this place.
Back in town I have some beers in a wild-west bar with room-mate Martin (who lives in the Chilterns!), then the whole group enjoy an evening meal in a wild-west ´restaurant´. I have the local dish - beans and rice, a delicious mix including mysterious herbs, with perfectly cooked filleted fish and salad. $8 and Excellent.
Now I am tired so it´s an early night for me.
Good night.
John

Costa Rica Sunday 14 November 2010

San Jose, Costa Rica Sunday 14 Nov 2010
I Arrive at hotel 10pm saturday night 23 hours after leaving Bovingdon at 5am. Costa Rica is 6 hours behind the UK. It is the wrong hotel thanks to a communication failure by Explore but all sorted today.
I wander around the central area of the city, very pleasant this sunny sunday with locals and tourists mingling and relaxing in the main square. Musicians in traditional dress, children feeding and chasing pidgeons, most people just sitting and chatting.
Lunch in a locals´ caf is coffee and a flat crusty toasted sandwich. The contents are unknown to me when I choose it due my lack of spanish and their lack of english (fair enough). It turns out to be beef and tomatos, tasty.
5pm now, the group meets at 7pm for introductions followed by a meal somewhere in San Jose.
Got to go, All the Best,
John

(just done spell test, every word highlighted! not unreasonable from a spanish set computer?)

Costa Rica

Off to Costa Rica Saturday 13 Nov 2010
Just to let you know I start an 'Explore' tour on Sunday 14th November 2010.
Costa Rica is one of the narrow countries in Central America, bordering Panama to the South and Nicaragua to the North. It's east coast is the Caribbean Sea, its west The Pacific Ocean. It is a peaceful nation whose army was abolished over 50 years ago. Its democracy is over 100 years old. Adult literacy is 93%.
The tour is called 'Captivating Costa Rica', starting in San Jose, the capital, and finishing in Quepos/Manuel Antonio on the Pacific coast, where I plan to spend a week or so relaxing on the beaches and exploring the nearby national park.
All the Best to you all,
John

Rajasthan 15 January 2010

Rajasthan 15 January 2010
This blog actually starts on the evening of the 14th when we board the overnight train from Pushkar to Delhi.
There are 8 beds in each compartment, so it is very cosy. I am allocated a bottom bunk; shortly after this, an Indian gentleman sits on my bed and says it is his! Much consternation all round. We find Anmar who produces our ticket for my bed. The Indian gentleman then produces his ticket for the same bed! It is double booked. The beds are about 2 ft. wide so I decide not to sleep with the Indian gentleman. Anmar goes off to sort it out with the train authorities. There is also an Indian father and his 12? year old son in our compartment so we chat to them for a while, the boy is going to sit an exam in Delhi the next day.
Anmar returns to explain that Intrepid (our tour organisation) had booked the beds from an earlier station, and because they were unoccupied from that station, they became available for sale again! Welcome to India. We are fortunate that only one had been re-sold. Mine!. Anmar kindly gives me his bunk (in the same compartment) and goes off to find somewhere else to sleep. So now I am in a middle bunk, the Indian gentleman underneath me and Kylie above.
We debate which is the best way to lay down. If your head is next to the side of the train, it is shaking and feels as if you are lying on a vibrator. If your head is next to the aisle, it is slightly lower than your feet which is strangely disorientating. I opt for the latter position after trying both ways.
Then I sleep. I am fortunate in being able to sleep anywhere anytime. (This has resulted in some inappropriate slumbertimes in the past - a pub jazz evening with Jill in Teignmouth many years ago sticks in my memory, plus various car journeys as a passenger and most of the offices I have worked in.)(including CPS, sorry John)
We arrive in Delhi and transfer to the hotel we started from 15 days ago, Hotel sky Rich, where we have 2 day rooms. I go shopping with Sarah-Jane and Kylie, they help me to pick out some nice tops for the girls. Then back to the hotel where the tour ends and we say our cherios and depart at various times.
Within 24 hours, the group will be spread out all over the world. It is a strange feeling to live so closely with a group of people for 2 weeks, then suddenly we fly off in all directions. I have all of their email addresses and hope at least some of us keep in touch.
All the Best til the next trip,
John