Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Costa Rica

So that is where we have been thus far. We arrived in Costa Rica and headed out to the Carribean side to see what that was about. Puerto Viejo. Good stuff. A lot of beaches. A lot of foreigners. A lot of sun. The bus rides were fine and had little trouble getting around. We stayed there for a couple weeks, then headed up to see my sista ;) Spent a couple weeks there. A lot a staring... a lot of "La China" calling..whatev. Arrived in her apartment complex but wait....oh yes...she didn´t tell me which apartment she lived in....oh man....But we figured it out in due time ;) Nice apartment. Nice roomates. Nice insects...

Anyways, Enda and I went on a fieldtrip with the 4th, 5th, and 6th graders for a couple days. We did a little Taekwondo workshop for the students which was fun. The heat was killing us though...oi. It was fun to see kate with her students both in and out of the classroom. Great teacher. Good fun.

Enda and I did some side trips while we were out there. We headed down to Masaya and did a night tour there. Had the experience of Bats flying at me as well as seeing magma and having my first volcano experience. Very cool. When looking at the magma there was a post we could hang on to so we wouldn´t fall into it. How sweet. It was an amazing experience. Sounds just like the ocean...amazing.

We also went to Mombacho and did some hiking on the craters out there. We were able to practice our spanish with our guide as we hiked the Puma trail...unfortunately we didnt´see any Puma´s or howling monkeys....sad day. (Later we did return to Mombacho and did a canopy tour between trees. Good times. We did some fun tricks while on the wire, oh and there we DID see howling monkeys! Lucky for us they didn´t throw poop at us....odd creatures...)

One of the highlights though was hiking Volcan concepcion. It is on an Ometepe Island and is an intense vertical hike. We went with a couple other people (as well as a guide) and started up it at 6 a.m. A couple days before there was a mini chemical erruption but we wouldn´t let that deter us from summitting...oh no... ;) We each had anywhere from 4 to 5 Liters of water each, which was needed. It took us about 8 and a half hours to hike up and down. we eventually all reached the top (after scrambling up hot and slippery rock) only wanting then to get down again due to the sulfur smell. Anyways, good times.

We also did some swimming/kayaking in a crater a couple days ago with Kate and some friends. Gorgeous area.

Now we are back in San Jose and are heading out to Quito in a couple days. If you want to check out pics, look at my flickr account! ;)