But before all that, we didn’t even tell you about the Australia Zoo yet! Mike and Candy were amazing hosts (as previously mentioned) and they let us stay and extra night and borrow their car to get up to the Australia Zoo (which is only an hour away, but a bit of a pain to get to without a car). So, we headed out (I drove, Mike is saving himself for the Great Ocean Road), I have to say, I think I was a champion driver (to be fair, we had a GPS, although Mike did manage to convince me to go the wrong way once..) The Australia Zoo is where Steve Irwin lived and worked until his death in 2006. The zoo has a really interesting way of memorializing him, his face (and his family’s) are EVERYWHERE and the message is generally, Steve loved animals and nature, he is gone, so on his behalf, you should too. It’s a pretty effective message.
Anyway, they have a great range of animals, and a few fun shows, overall it was a great day. Highlights: we went to the Crocoseum (like the coliseum) and saw their big show where they let birds fly all around and feed a croc! Super fun. Before the show, the warm up guy made everyone pretend to be their favorite animal, and he would give a prize… that’s right, Mike and I are big winners! We both pretended to be koalas (curled up sleeping on trees, and we didn’t even discuss beforehand!) We are now the proud owners of a picture of Steve Irwin feeding a croc. Crikey!
After the show we headed over to the Elephant area where you get to FEED THE ELEPHANTS!! It was so fun, and you can get in line a million times so I fed an elephant named Bimbo, and one named Siam and they were amazing. We headed through some more kangaroos and koalas (because who can get enough of kangaroo petting?) and in the koala area saw the cutest little joey, Portia, her mom is Ellen (haha, get it?) and she was ADORABLE. Then we were going to leave the zoo and went by to check out the wombats, and they were TAKING A WOMBAT ON A WALK! So we got to pet it! You can pet a wombat (anywhere on their backside) because apparently, when a wombat wants to go somewhere, they want to go fast.
On to Fraser Island! We took a 2 day, one-night tour. Fraser Island is the 4th largest island off of Australia, and I think the only habitable island in the world entirely built on sand. There are no roads on Fraser, you either drive on the beach or on inland sand tracks. You can do a 4 wheel drive self tour with random people, but we’re not brave, so we signed on for a tour. We got picked up in the morning, along with a lovely Irish couple, a nice guy from Jersey named Joe, and an 8-member Czech family (4 grandparents, two parents and two boys) of which two spoke English and I only learned one’s name (Hanna). (Hi to any of you who are reading! Sorry we didn't make it out last night, we fell asleep!) Anywho, the tour was great. We saw wild dingos (the purest bred in Australia as they are on an island), lots of lizards (Mike also saw a giant snake!), and got to float down Eli creek, a gorgeous freshwater creek that flows to the ocean, and spend time in Lake Mackenzie, a freshwater lake of entirely rainwater it has no feeder. The water was amazing, and the sand was pure silica, very good for exfoliation (and Mike brushed his teeth, gross.). The scenery was amazing, the whole island is a World Heritage site, and there is even a rainforest (the only one on sand based soil… are you getting the picture? Fraser Island is unique )On the first day, our tour guide stopped the bus and told us to get out because he was going to show us how to find Pippies! Pippies are clam-like, and you can find them right on the beach and eat them raw or bbq’d. We all found them, and Mike ate a couple right off the beach, it was the highlight of his day. Tonight we’re taking an overnight bus up to Airlie Beach where we will decide if we’re going to spring some serious cash to go out on a boat in the Whitsundays, or maybe we’ll just hang out.
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Koala!
It is also just a lovely zoo with tons of fun animals, including wombats (unexpectedly large), tasmanian devils (unexpectedly rodent-y) and ton of kangaroos that you can go chill with! I even got Mike to pet a couple, and you know Mike with animals.
Afterward we went to the XXXX Brewery (aka Fourex) which has the longest conveyor belt in the southern hemisphere! We did a tour which was fun, and included four small beers at the end... which turns out to be a lot.. But it was fun to watch the cool factory stuff like the bottles getting labeled, and shrink wrapped and stuff.
Tomorrow we are heading to the Australia Zoo! It was Steve Irwin's dream and it is supposed to be a phenomenal animal facility. We can't wait!
Monday, February 22, 2010
Brisbane Ahoy!
Sorry for the lack of pictures, something we hope to remedy by tomorrow-ish, but we've found that an evil company named Global Gossip seems to have a stranglehold on internet in backpacker establishments, and I'm just not sure how long it takes to upload 1200 pictures...
Anywho, a quick update on Byron Bay. Although it was severly hindered by aforementioned sketchy accomadation, there were some high points to Byron Bay. Yesterday for example, we walked down some gorgeous beaches, hiked up to the most easterly point in mainland Australia and up to the Cape Byron Lighthouse ( would have been slightly more pleasant if it weren't like 89 degrees... but beggers can't be choosers) the sights were really fantastic, we saw dolphins jumping, lots of surfers about and the ocean was so clear!
Afterwards we took what ended up being a hike to get to a day spa where we had booked massages and 'float tanks'. Mike in particular loved the float tank, although I also thought it was pretty cool (you just get to have like an hour of zen time, floating in a super salinated tank in the dark, it's pretty chill), and the massages were great. Less great was the woman at the hotel in front of the spa who refused to let us use their free bus to get back in to town, bad karma for you mean lady in the ugly floral print...
The previous day we had a mildly traumatic sea kayaking experience, I'll tell you about it tomorrow, the long and short is, we survived, still like each other and have mutually agreed that we will never again sea kayak, particularly if a beach entry is involved.
Now we're in Brisbane staying at Candy & Mike's. They are long-time friends of Alan & Linda (my sister's in-laws), and it is 180 degrees from icky tent cabins. They are amazing hosts, and have Zoe, pretty much the cutest dog of all time. Tomorrow we are going to take a ferry into the city and do a good bit of walking around the city center to get aquainted with our new digs. Pictures to follow. Promise.
Anywho, a quick update on Byron Bay. Although it was severly hindered by aforementioned sketchy accomadation, there were some high points to Byron Bay. Yesterday for example, we walked down some gorgeous beaches, hiked up to the most easterly point in mainland Australia and up to the Cape Byron Lighthouse ( would have been slightly more pleasant if it weren't like 89 degrees... but beggers can't be choosers) the sights were really fantastic, we saw dolphins jumping, lots of surfers about and the ocean was so clear!
Afterwards we took what ended up being a hike to get to a day spa where we had booked massages and 'float tanks'. Mike in particular loved the float tank, although I also thought it was pretty cool (you just get to have like an hour of zen time, floating in a super salinated tank in the dark, it's pretty chill), and the massages were great. Less great was the woman at the hotel in front of the spa who refused to let us use their free bus to get back in to town, bad karma for you mean lady in the ugly floral print...
The previous day we had a mildly traumatic sea kayaking experience, I'll tell you about it tomorrow, the long and short is, we survived, still like each other and have mutually agreed that we will never again sea kayak, particularly if a beach entry is involved.
Now we're in Brisbane staying at Candy & Mike's. They are long-time friends of Alan & Linda (my sister's in-laws), and it is 180 degrees from icky tent cabins. They are amazing hosts, and have Zoe, pretty much the cutest dog of all time. Tomorrow we are going to take a ferry into the city and do a good bit of walking around the city center to get aquainted with our new digs. Pictures to follow. Promise.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Post from Mike: Sydney and beyond
Please note the paragraph breaks for the benefit of Marc Baranov.
Well, we’ve now been gone from Sydney for a few days. I have to say that being in Sydney – and seeing the Harbour and Opera House – was the fulfillment of a life-long dream. Sydney is an extraordinarily beautiful city, in the same sort of mythical way that I think San Francisco is. We struck a great balance in Sydney between “doing things” such as the Jewish Museum and the Art Gallery of New South Wales and just experiencing the city…wandering through neighborhoods by foot or bus, watching lawn bowling, sitting at the beaches.
The Jewish Museum was really well-done…it’s basically split into three sections: one on the basics of Judaism, one on Judaism in Australia, and one on the Holocaust. We arrived in time for a free tour through the Holocaust portion by a survivor named Eddie, who at 89 is spry, witty, and full of life. His experiences during the war and his escape story were truly frightening and inspiring. A tour with him is like another kick in the ass wake up call to live life to the fullest. We also enjoyed the Art Gallery of NSW, including some aboriginal artwork commissioned by the museum and some great landscape paintings by Australian artists. Outside the museum is the “speakers’ corner,” where every manner of crazy people (including anti-Semites!) come spout mostly meaningless (but sometimes insightful) babble. During our time in Sydney we also got to visit a number of the top beaches, including Bondi (two days before Zach Effron showed up there for an Oakleys promo), Coogee, and Manly. The ferry ride across the harbor to Manly was amazing…our pictures of the clouds and skyline are awe-inspiring. We also managed to meet up with a friend of Debbie’s from high school, Jessica, who lives with her husband and brother in a cute part of town called Glebe…we really enjoyed their home hospitality and home-brewed beer!
So our only complaint about Sydney was how expensive everything is. Now, I grew up in New York and have lived in both Los Angeles and San Francisco…so I’m used to expensive, but Sydney takes it to a whole new level. Here are some of the most outrageous items to give you a sense: Fish & chips at a famous restaurant: $40; paperback book: $32; Gatorade: $4.50; bus: $3.30; small plate of spaghetti Bolognese: $22; subway from airport to downtown: $15. Needless to say, we’re really hoping that things will be cheaper elsewhere in Australia (so far the jury is out…we’ve found some less expensive places, but on the whole things remain expensive). We’ve also been surprised to find that there is no such thing as a basic cup of coffee here…everything is espresso based, and the same price (minimum $3) depending on size, regardless of whether you get a cappuccino, latte, piccolo late, macchiato, flat white, short black, long black, etc. Oh, and we’re still trying to figure out what all those terms mean!!
From Sydney we took the train to a town called Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, at my cousin Sara Kaye’s advice. Katoomba was great…very relaxing…a cute mountain town where we got a respite from the heat in Sydney with a bit of cool mountain air. Our first day in town we just took it easy, wandered around town a bit, saw Up in the Air at the local cinema (Tuesday in Australia is the “cheap day,” so we were able to go to the movies for $8.50 each…and later on to get large pizzas at Dominos for $5.90 each, which was too cheap to pass up!), did some reading, figured out how to watch Lost online, etc. On our second day we had breakfast at a great little café owned by a cultish type group(debbie’s note: why do cults always require old-timey clothing? It would be so much more attractive if they weren’t all in baggy chintz)…then took off on a 4-hour bushwalk (their phrase for “hike”…sounds so much more dramatic) through the mountains to Echo Point, where we saw the famous Three Sisters. Our path then took us down a crazy steep, 900-step staircase into the valley below (with a brief stopover inside one of the Three Sisters…pictures to follow), which was quite a feat (especially after I looked down a few times to see the stairs basically going from rock to rock over nothingness…just a straight drop thousands of feet below). The trail passes a beautiful waterfall and ends at the entrance to a cool place called Scenic World, which offers three types of transport through that part of the mountains. We took a scenic railway almost straight up the mountain (it went at a crazy angle, especially considering we had no seatbelts) and then a skyway car across to the side of the mountain where our hostel was. Wednesday we had dinner at Chork Dee Thai food, already referenced by Debbie. Yesterday we took the train back to Sydney (about 2 hours) and then booked ourselves on a 15-hour overnight train/bus combo to Byron Bay, where we are now. We arrived in Casino, where we switched from train to bus, at about 5:00am, and pulled into Byron Bay about 7:00am. We then walked to our hostel, where they thankfully already had a “room” for us to crash in. It’s not so much a room as it is a bed in a tent overlooking a still lake. If we don’t get eaten alive by mosquitos, we should be alright here…it’s a quirky place, lots of hippie types…at least they offer $6 dinners! We’re here three nights, then we continue up the north east coast to Brisbane, Fraser Island, Airlie Beach, and Cairns, before we fly down to Melbourne to tackle the southern part of the country. G’day!
Well, we’ve now been gone from Sydney for a few days. I have to say that being in Sydney – and seeing the Harbour and Opera House – was the fulfillment of a life-long dream. Sydney is an extraordinarily beautiful city, in the same sort of mythical way that I think San Francisco is. We struck a great balance in Sydney between “doing things” such as the Jewish Museum and the Art Gallery of New South Wales and just experiencing the city…wandering through neighborhoods by foot or bus, watching lawn bowling, sitting at the beaches.
The Jewish Museum was really well-done…it’s basically split into three sections: one on the basics of Judaism, one on Judaism in Australia, and one on the Holocaust. We arrived in time for a free tour through the Holocaust portion by a survivor named Eddie, who at 89 is spry, witty, and full of life. His experiences during the war and his escape story were truly frightening and inspiring. A tour with him is like another kick in the ass wake up call to live life to the fullest. We also enjoyed the Art Gallery of NSW, including some aboriginal artwork commissioned by the museum and some great landscape paintings by Australian artists. Outside the museum is the “speakers’ corner,” where every manner of crazy people (including anti-Semites!) come spout mostly meaningless (but sometimes insightful) babble. During our time in Sydney we also got to visit a number of the top beaches, including Bondi (two days before Zach Effron showed up there for an Oakleys promo), Coogee, and Manly. The ferry ride across the harbor to Manly was amazing…our pictures of the clouds and skyline are awe-inspiring. We also managed to meet up with a friend of Debbie’s from high school, Jessica, who lives with her husband and brother in a cute part of town called Glebe…we really enjoyed their home hospitality and home-brewed beer!
So our only complaint about Sydney was how expensive everything is. Now, I grew up in New York and have lived in both Los Angeles and San Francisco…so I’m used to expensive, but Sydney takes it to a whole new level. Here are some of the most outrageous items to give you a sense: Fish & chips at a famous restaurant: $40; paperback book: $32; Gatorade: $4.50; bus: $3.30; small plate of spaghetti Bolognese: $22; subway from airport to downtown: $15. Needless to say, we’re really hoping that things will be cheaper elsewhere in Australia (so far the jury is out…we’ve found some less expensive places, but on the whole things remain expensive). We’ve also been surprised to find that there is no such thing as a basic cup of coffee here…everything is espresso based, and the same price (minimum $3) depending on size, regardless of whether you get a cappuccino, latte, piccolo late, macchiato, flat white, short black, long black, etc. Oh, and we’re still trying to figure out what all those terms mean!!
From Sydney we took the train to a town called Katoomba in the Blue Mountains, at my cousin Sara Kaye’s advice. Katoomba was great…very relaxing…a cute mountain town where we got a respite from the heat in Sydney with a bit of cool mountain air. Our first day in town we just took it easy, wandered around town a bit, saw Up in the Air at the local cinema (Tuesday in Australia is the “cheap day,” so we were able to go to the movies for $8.50 each…and later on to get large pizzas at Dominos for $5.90 each, which was too cheap to pass up!), did some reading, figured out how to watch Lost online, etc. On our second day we had breakfast at a great little café owned by a cultish type group(debbie’s note: why do cults always require old-timey clothing? It would be so much more attractive if they weren’t all in baggy chintz)…then took off on a 4-hour bushwalk (their phrase for “hike”…sounds so much more dramatic) through the mountains to Echo Point, where we saw the famous Three Sisters. Our path then took us down a crazy steep, 900-step staircase into the valley below (with a brief stopover inside one of the Three Sisters…pictures to follow), which was quite a feat (especially after I looked down a few times to see the stairs basically going from rock to rock over nothingness…just a straight drop thousands of feet below). The trail passes a beautiful waterfall and ends at the entrance to a cool place called Scenic World, which offers three types of transport through that part of the mountains. We took a scenic railway almost straight up the mountain (it went at a crazy angle, especially considering we had no seatbelts) and then a skyway car across to the side of the mountain where our hostel was. Wednesday we had dinner at Chork Dee Thai food, already referenced by Debbie. Yesterday we took the train back to Sydney (about 2 hours) and then booked ourselves on a 15-hour overnight train/bus combo to Byron Bay, where we are now. We arrived in Casino, where we switched from train to bus, at about 5:00am, and pulled into Byron Bay about 7:00am. We then walked to our hostel, where they thankfully already had a “room” for us to crash in. It’s not so much a room as it is a bed in a tent overlooking a still lake. If we don’t get eaten alive by mosquitos, we should be alright here…it’s a quirky place, lots of hippie types…at least they offer $6 dinners! We’re here three nights, then we continue up the north east coast to Brisbane, Fraser Island, Airlie Beach, and Cairns, before we fly down to Melbourne to tackle the southern part of the country. G’day!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Katooooomba
Ok, really just Katoomba... but still fun to say. We'll try to put up a longer post in the next couple of days. Mike has lots to say about the crazy prices in Sydney, and the massive number of stairs we went down today, but I've got 5 more minutes of internet and just wanted to check in. We've spent the last two days in the Blue Mountains, which are gorgeous, an Australian mini-Grand Canyon if you will. We spent all of today hiking, yesterday we saw Up in the Air (cheap tuesdays, yay 'cheap' movies!). And tomorrow we will spend most of our day in transit on our way up to Byron Bay for the weekend! Katoomba has been awesome, I would recommend it to anyone (also we had amazing Thai food for dinner, way to go Chork Dee, Blue Mountains Specialty restaurant of 1998).
Friday, February 12, 2010
Aussie Aussie Aussie
Hi all! Sorry it’s been a few, we have safely arrived in Sydney, but alas the internets are not free… so slightly more limited than normal. In any event, we had a lovely couple of days in Los Angeles, after a very eventful flight (not in itself eventful, but there was a lot of delays on the part of American Airlines, and a lot of running on our part, and in the end both us and our luggage made it, so that is something). We saw a ton of people, got some errands done (Thanks Marc!) and enjoyed our last US moment until October.
Tuesday night we headed out for Australia, and arrived bright and early on Thursday morning! We’ll work on regaining Wednesday for the next few months ;) We got in nice and early, so we actually had quite a full day yesterday. Our hostel is lovely, and as promised both over an archeological dig and has an awesome view of Sydney Harbour (that’s right, rocking the Aussie spelling, just wait till I tell you not to park too close to the kerb!). First we spent some time walking around our new digs, we’re in ‘the Rocks’ a neighborhood initially settled by convicts (usually people who stole like an apple, one guy was sent here for 14 years for using a false pound note). Now it is an adorable and old-timey neighborhood with lots of shops, historic sites, etc. We set out for some walking and headed over to the Harbour Bridge. We opted not so spend $400 so we could each climb the bridge, but for $9.50 a piece you can climb one of the pylons on the side to learn about the bridge (while the 3rd longest steel arch bridge people consider it ‘the greatest’, we will now refer to it as the Mohammed Ali of bridges…), and see amazing views of the bridge and harbor (read Opera House). Then we walked over the bridge, and over to the Opera House, which let me tell you is awesome, and when you get close up, covered in what looks like standard white and beige bathroom tile.
Next, we headed over to the Royal Botanical Gardens where they ask you to please walk on the grass, smell the flowers and otherwise enjoy yourself (for FREE). It’s a gorgeous seaside expanse, with amazing trees, tons of birds (including flocks of cockatoos?), fresh water eels (which apparently eat ducklings) and BATS, huuuuge effing bats, sooo cool. We finished up the day with a rooftop BBQ at the hostel. Tired? Us too.
Today was our “Fish” themed day. This morning we set out for Darling Harbour, but ended up making a detour to go to the top of the Sydney Tower, which was good fun, I do love to be high up! It is a really fantastic view of the city. We stopped by the Queen Victoria Building, which is a shopping arcade… really a mall, but so much cuter, America could learn something here. Then headed over to the Sydney Fish Market, so Mike could gorge himself on lobster, prawns and oysters (oh my!). When we had our fill, we came back to walk around the harbor a bit, got some ice cream (amazing on a kajillion degree day like today) and headed on to the Sydney Aquarium.
Now any of you that know me know how I feel about the Monterey Bay Aquarium, so I’m a bit of a hard sell on them, but man, this aquarium is awesome! A) Australia has crazy cool creatures, because it’s Australia. B)they had tons of fun, walk through tunnels, and many locations to see the whole tank so fish can’t hide. C) Lot of things they had were huuuuge, not sure why, everything is bigger in Oz? In any event, we saw platapuses…platapi? Can’t spell it, but darn those creatures are cute, a bajillion sharks, an absurdly large ‘smooth ray’, a ‘shark ray’ which is the weirdest looking animal ever and dugongs, which are a ‘streamlined’ relative of the manatee (when I say streamlined… I mean they have a more fish like tail?). We saw tons more, but I’m sure you are tired of hearing about fish…
Tonight we went out to check out the Rocks Night Market. It rained, which made us hide for a bit, but it really was a nice little craft market, and we found some adorable dudes playing Beatles songs on the ukulele! (Mom, maybe soon you can join them? I told them you’d call…)
Tomorrow I think we’re heading to Bondi to check out the beaches. Pictures will come next time the internet is free…
Tuesday night we headed out for Australia, and arrived bright and early on Thursday morning! We’ll work on regaining Wednesday for the next few months ;) We got in nice and early, so we actually had quite a full day yesterday. Our hostel is lovely, and as promised both over an archeological dig and has an awesome view of Sydney Harbour (that’s right, rocking the Aussie spelling, just wait till I tell you not to park too close to the kerb!). First we spent some time walking around our new digs, we’re in ‘the Rocks’ a neighborhood initially settled by convicts (usually people who stole like an apple, one guy was sent here for 14 years for using a false pound note). Now it is an adorable and old-timey neighborhood with lots of shops, historic sites, etc. We set out for some walking and headed over to the Harbour Bridge. We opted not so spend $400 so we could each climb the bridge, but for $9.50 a piece you can climb one of the pylons on the side to learn about the bridge (while the 3rd longest steel arch bridge people consider it ‘the greatest’, we will now refer to it as the Mohammed Ali of bridges…), and see amazing views of the bridge and harbor (read Opera House). Then we walked over the bridge, and over to the Opera House, which let me tell you is awesome, and when you get close up, covered in what looks like standard white and beige bathroom tile.
Next, we headed over to the Royal Botanical Gardens where they ask you to please walk on the grass, smell the flowers and otherwise enjoy yourself (for FREE). It’s a gorgeous seaside expanse, with amazing trees, tons of birds (including flocks of cockatoos?), fresh water eels (which apparently eat ducklings) and BATS, huuuuge effing bats, sooo cool. We finished up the day with a rooftop BBQ at the hostel. Tired? Us too.
Today was our “Fish” themed day. This morning we set out for Darling Harbour, but ended up making a detour to go to the top of the Sydney Tower, which was good fun, I do love to be high up! It is a really fantastic view of the city. We stopped by the Queen Victoria Building, which is a shopping arcade… really a mall, but so much cuter, America could learn something here. Then headed over to the Sydney Fish Market, so Mike could gorge himself on lobster, prawns and oysters (oh my!). When we had our fill, we came back to walk around the harbor a bit, got some ice cream (amazing on a kajillion degree day like today) and headed on to the Sydney Aquarium.
Now any of you that know me know how I feel about the Monterey Bay Aquarium, so I’m a bit of a hard sell on them, but man, this aquarium is awesome! A) Australia has crazy cool creatures, because it’s Australia. B)they had tons of fun, walk through tunnels, and many locations to see the whole tank so fish can’t hide. C) Lot of things they had were huuuuge, not sure why, everything is bigger in Oz? In any event, we saw platapuses…platapi? Can’t spell it, but darn those creatures are cute, a bajillion sharks, an absurdly large ‘smooth ray’, a ‘shark ray’ which is the weirdest looking animal ever and dugongs, which are a ‘streamlined’ relative of the manatee (when I say streamlined… I mean they have a more fish like tail?). We saw tons more, but I’m sure you are tired of hearing about fish…
Tonight we went out to check out the Rocks Night Market. It rained, which made us hide for a bit, but it really was a nice little craft market, and we found some adorable dudes playing Beatles songs on the ukulele! (Mom, maybe soon you can join them? I told them you’d call…)
Tomorrow I think we’re heading to Bondi to check out the beaches. Pictures will come next time the internet is free…
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Costa Rica Wrap Up
Here we are in our last spot in Costa Rica, the Best Western Irazu Airport Hotel (which by the way is amazing, free wifi, free Denny's breakfast, free international calls, cable, free HAPPY HOUR)... it's been a good 15 hours.
After 2 days in La Fortuna (meeeeh.) We bailed and went up to the Arenal Observatory Lodge. A huge thanks to Adam & Deborah Raviv for recommending it, it was AMAZING! After a super long, and very intense cab ride, we were up at the lodge which sits just over a mile from the base of the active (read: awesome) side of the volcano. The Arenal Volcano has been continuously active for 41 years, and the lodge was originally built for scientists to have a place to stay while they studied the volcano. With in minutes of checking in, the clouds cleared, and there it was, in all of its glory! We spent the majority of our last two days, chilling out on their gorgeous deck watching explosions (the largest and last of which sent a column of smoke a few hundred feet up and scared the crap out of Mike), rocks rolling down, and one night, awesome red lava rocks spewing down. It was tranquil and fabulous. We also saw some great birds and their resident Coatis (a cuter relative of the racoon), one of which hangs out on the porch and does tricks for tourists. Our hotel switch completely made the end of our trip, and it really helped us go out with a bang (he he he).
Here is our wrap up:
Coolest Animal: Quetzal
Best Place to hang out: Deck of the Arenal Observatory Lodge, Hammocks at Amor de Mar are a close second... but they have no volcano.
Friendliest Hotel: Pension Santa Elena, those people are awesome.
Best food: Gallo Pinto (rice & bean breakfast mix... it's just tasty)
Most awkward food: Casado... because who needs chopped beets or macaroni salad with their chicken?
We will be in LA for the next two days, then heading out to Sydney! Call Debbie's cell if you want to check in, we'll have it while we are in LA.
After 2 days in La Fortuna (meeeeh.) We bailed and went up to the Arenal Observatory Lodge. A huge thanks to Adam & Deborah Raviv for recommending it, it was AMAZING! After a super long, and very intense cab ride, we were up at the lodge which sits just over a mile from the base of the active (read: awesome) side of the volcano. The Arenal Volcano has been continuously active for 41 years, and the lodge was originally built for scientists to have a place to stay while they studied the volcano. With in minutes of checking in, the clouds cleared, and there it was, in all of its glory! We spent the majority of our last two days, chilling out on their gorgeous deck watching explosions (the largest and last of which sent a column of smoke a few hundred feet up and scared the crap out of Mike), rocks rolling down, and one night, awesome red lava rocks spewing down. It was tranquil and fabulous. We also saw some great birds and their resident Coatis (a cuter relative of the racoon), one of which hangs out on the porch and does tricks for tourists. Our hotel switch completely made the end of our trip, and it really helped us go out with a bang (he he he).
Here is our wrap up:
Coolest Animal: Quetzal
Best Place to hang out: Deck of the Arenal Observatory Lodge, Hammocks at Amor de Mar are a close second... but they have no volcano.
Friendliest Hotel: Pension Santa Elena, those people are awesome.
Best food: Gallo Pinto (rice & bean breakfast mix... it's just tasty)
Most awkward food: Casado... because who needs chopped beets or macaroni salad with their chicken?
We will be in LA for the next two days, then heading out to Sydney! Call Debbie's cell if you want to check in, we'll have it while we are in LA.
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