Indigenous people to Turtle Rescue...

Well a lot has happened already. This is going to be a quick update. We woke up 5:30am (light) here and headed to Manuel Antonio, a park with beautiful beaches and lively wildlife. We were the 2nd ones to enter the park because we got there when it open so it was like we were explorers (just the way I like). We saw this huge white rat thing, monkey's, crazy dinosaur-like lizards, beautiful floating butterfly with brown underneath but ELECTRIC blue on top, and also the elusive SLOTH. Cool pics. Then headed out and rode buses the rest of the day to the other side of the country, final destination: Puerto Viejo. Today we rented bikes and trekked about 17 miles on half-paved bumpy roads to this other part of town (Punta Uva and Manzania); it's funny how quickly you meld with the ways of traffic here...driving here is CRAZY. Anyways, our legs were totally burnt out by the end of the day. We also saw some amazing beaches: white sands with jutting rocks and jungle growing off of them. We were exhausted all day though because we awoke at 4:30am to complete our travels to Puerto Viejo (stayed in a town along the way last night).
Our itinerary has completely changed though. Tomorrow we are doing 8:30am yoga and then trekking into the backwoods (30mins from town) into an area where an indigenous people live. THere we will swim in the river, weave baskets, and help them with whatever they need help with ! Friday they are having a unique celebration that we hope to partake in/witness. We will spend the night in some hammocks by the fire (and if that gets too mosquioty, then they have a thatched bungalow we can stay in). No running water or electricity, what I've been DYING to experience (though this is barely enough time). We have a day of play, but plan on getting to this Island near Siquierres where we are going to meet up with these people who track turtle activity. We will be partroling the beaches at night, finding turtles laying there eggs, tagging, measuring, etc. SO COOL! We also get to stay in a locals home while we're there and they will cook us 3 meals a day. A staple here is rice and beans so I'm sure we'll be having plenty of that while we're here. SO don't be surprised if you don't hear from us for a few days...but we'll try to check in on Sat.
Side Story: The other night at the hostel, Missy and I got ready for bed and all of the sudden this huge roach scurried up the wall and hid behind the curtain. I made up some excuse as to why it was Missy's turn to get it and after much arguing agreed. Long story short, much screaming and slamming into things persisted. After almost peeing in my pants with laughter (because it was after 10pm so QUIET TIME - u know that just gives you the automatic giggles) and Missy leaving me alone to battle it out (with no success), a team effort of knocking the roach off the bed and Missy crunching the juices out it with her shoe proved successful. We laughed so much.

There was also MUCH laughing on the bike ride today, not very cooridinated and crappy $3 bikes leads to much amusement.

Times up! Love you guys, lovin it!

Quepos, a tiny town in the middle of almost nowhere

So, Jenny and I are sitting here on the computer when we should be laying in the hammock...but oh well...

today we woke up bright and early and went to the beach, a picturesque sight, with beautiful rocks and bright green fauna :) then we headed back to the tiny town to swim and eat yummy food and explore a tiny bookstore and then we were off to the hammocks to get lost in the Lonely Planetś guide to Costa Rica.

The sunset was breathtaking over the bay (got lots of pictures to show you later) and then we had a dinner of appetizers: mahi mahi ceviche, calamari and plantaines with guacamole and mango salsa. yum. Oh, and Jenny and I have given up deserts. I realized i have gone a little overboard with the deserts lately, so its time to kiss those chocolate cakes goodbye :( well at least for a few days.

anyways, tomorrow we are off to Manuel Antonio to see lots of wildlife, fingers crossed and then to take the trek by bus back to San Jose to head to the Caribbean side of the country and hopefully into Panama

im sure there will be more to come. I hope you all are enjoying your days and we are missing you here in Costa Rica!! - Missy (and Jenny)

Hola chicos y chicas! Well last night we landed in Quepos which is on the south coast after a 4 hr busride which seemed like an eternity! We were planning on taking a 15hr busride to Panama City but are now RECALCULATING. So far things have seemed pretty safe but we don't really go out at night (to keep it that way). By the way, it's light at 5:30am and dark at 6:30pm. It's two hrs earlier here and so far we've been waking at 6am... Today we were going to go to the Park Manuel Antonio where there is supposed to be much wildlife: tapirs, crocs, monkeys, quetzals (native bird), but it was closed. So instead we met this girl name, Yaara, 23 yo and traveling alone for 6 months! She took us in her car to the beach and we hung out there for several hrs this morning. It was so GOOD to get in the ocean. The girl was really interesting and I enjoyed talking to her about her beliefs (she's Jewish and currently living in Israel). She left today though.
So we're staying at the Wide Mouth Frog recommended by Lee and others we have encountered so far. It is very nice for $12/night, free internet, a pool, free DVDs, and common area and kitchen...super cool. The drawback we've found to Quepos is that the park is the only thing you can do that is NOT a tour, it is very touristy here. :( So we plan on leaving tomorrow but we;re still trying to decide where to go because of the bus rides... We really want to go to San Blas because the indigenous tribe there is supposed to be very kind and we just wanted to see that culture in action. But it is very far. So I'll let you know when we decide... :P

Random: So yesterday morning Missy was humming the Adam's Family theme song and I was ragging her about it and then it got stuck in my head.... So later we were at the bus stop waiting for the 2pm bus since we missed the 12pm one and the guy there selling stuff started humming the Adam's Family song!!! We were laughing, it was so random! We also met some Canadians there that I talked to about horses and stuff. I love the culture of backpackers through here, I definitely prefer this over hotels and car travel because you just don't interact enough. But on buses and in hostels there are plentiful opportunities.

Thank you for you comments, we are very much enjoying them! And Missy will be making posts on here as well.

Jenny (and Missy)

Arrived!

Well we arrived safe and sound. Missy´s flight was delayed 2 hrs so I waited in Customs for her with two other people who had been there longer than me and were also waiting on their friends. One was a retired federal policeman and the other was med student doing residency in Philly. Good convos...
I finally got EXCITED when we exited the airport and tried to speak in broken Spanish to people to ask where the bus station was. Upon Lee Gross´ recommendation, we bused just outside of San Jose (called Alajuela) and stayed at the Hostel Mango Verde in a room for 4 (but only 2 of us) for $12 per person - not bad. Traveling by bus is CRAZY cheap. We had dinner last night which consisted of yucca root and a bit of shredded carne (meat) and a water, $2 per person.
My pack is already proving to be cumbersome (I have a hikers backpack) so I´m considering downsizing. Missy has a normal sized school backpack but is also missing a few items...but the smaller is definitely nicer...especially for crowded bus travel. We met this man named Sy last night at the hostel and picked his brain for all the places we needed to go to. He has been here since NOVEMBER and has traveled to 144 countries! He´s 78 yrs old! And he looks about 60...COOL guy.
So due to his influences and Missy´s and I´s friends and fam´s influence, here´s our current very tenative itinerary: in Panama go to Panama City (canal), San Blas (islands with beaches and cool indeginous tribe), Boquette (cool mountain town), and Bocas del Toros (N. beach, beautiful); in Costa Rica go to Quepos, Manuel Antonio (beautiful forest park area).
So this morning Missy awoke at 5:45 am and started chatting it up (Izaz you know what I´m talking about...) and we got reprimanded by the sleeping Sy (thin walls). I slept like a ROCK due to lack of sleep the night before and was definitely charged up for the day. So we went back to sleep and got up at 8am. The days are interesting here because it gets light about 5:30 and dark around 8pm.
So this morning we showered up and headed to this internet cafe to look into taking some Spanish courses at some different locations. Also looking into homestays with some families for a couple nights. All very reasonable prices. There´s also this volunteer organic farm just outside of San Jose that we´re looking at spending a couple nights at helping out at...we´ll see. Very tenative. So, we´re about to head out and get some more cemented plans and I´ll update you more then! Lovin´it and wish you all were here to experience with me. I probably won´t be uploading photos, but we´ll see.... :P

LOVE YOU GUYS!
Jenny (and Missy)