Part 2 of the Costa Rica adventure

Marks Journal

Next weekend I went to Arenal(volcano) and Monteverde(rain forest). Didn't see the lava flows as cloud obscured it but we did see 3 toucans!! It was actually cold in Monteverde and out came my jumper and jacket.....and the wind! Whist most of our group went "zip lining" (racing down a cable over the forest for a roller coaster type buzz) which I couldn't see the point of. Rita, Jerry and I went walking in what's left of the rainforest( most of the hills in Costa Rica seem to have been cleared) and saw 3 monkeys playing. One of them shat on Rita's hand which was not very pleasant for her...I'm sure they do it on purpose! Saw loads of hummingbirds...they are amazing things, like alien creatures with their robotic jerky movements.
A selection of beasts encountered on the trip!!
A walk through the rain forest on the way to view Arenal
We sat there waiting for the cloud to clear...but alas it never did
Oh the shame! On the left is the best picture I could get. On the right is Arenal as I wanted to see it....had to borrow a picture from Dana!!
And a team photo before we split into groups and went our seperate ways...next to me is Dutch girl Suzanne

Marks Journal

Moved into a new hotel called "Sol y Mar" with Dana and Suzanne. Decent place in the Tico end of town but Dana's old host family father frequents the place and he is an alcoholic, plus there is a wacko American guy called "Double G" who studies the Kabbala and talks about weird shit. Decided to blow out my flight and stay another week which was maybe rather a rash move as a new ticket cost me in the region of 700 squid. Class on Monday was another disaster. For some bizarre reason I was moved into an advanced class ready to study the Subjunctive...sat there like a lemon. Demanded a move and was put down into the same class as Anthony which was much better...why wasn't i put there in the first place? Visited another beach further up the coast which had the biggest waves i've ever seen. I was trying to hang on to my sunglasses which wasn't working very well and I ended up getting tossed around, nay cartwheeled around in the breaks...my sunglasses got battered and lost a lens, they did cost only 1,500 colones though.
Checking into my new abode The girls found my sunblock most amusing...
A distant view of Sol Y Mar and the sea as seen from the new pad
The beach with the big waves took away my lens!!
The girls performing some bizarre ritual!! Andy finds solace on a big log
Me and my second teacher Vanessa
Another teacher "Jesus"(pronounced "Hesus")started to hang out with us. Here he is showing his mean and moody side!

Marks Journal

What can I say about the picture on the right! I wasn't there, but I wish I had been!!.... A very drunken saturday night which had started off with fun games of table footy ended up with Dana vomiting and Anthony chasing after fat birds! By the Sunday I was feeling down and wishing iŽd left....weird, hadnŽt felt like that in years...might have had something to do with all the whisky iŽd drunk the night before. An English girl called Polly introduced 2 new girls who were staying in my old hotel and were studying not through Intercultura but Guanacaste, 1 on 1 in the the Samara beach restaurant...I was invited to crash their classes so did on a couple of occasions. Lot's of conversation and little grammar....just how i like it!!.
Starting off the evening in a refined way But soon degenerating into drunkenness!!
Nice pic of Dana and Michelle Feeding the dogs outside "Shake Joe's was something of a ritual

Marks Journal

Back at the ranch had some good chat's with my neighbour Dana and we often skipped dinner at Sol y Mar and went for Italian at Manglar...On one occasion because I lost a bet about my forthcoming schedule.She thinks I'm a mess because I (ahem) always lose things....don't know what she's talking about!! Went to Samara beach hotel for more Spanish lesson's with Christina and Marie. Graduated from Intercultura on the thursday and had to give a speech. My last weekend was spent going kayaking in the morning which was a lot of fun...you'd soon have hige biceps doing that every day. Surfing the waves and smashing into our guide was not pre-planned though...oops! On the right you can see cute Christine posing on the little island we visited
There were no pubs open in the evening thanks to a curfew during election weekend. So we ended up playing cards. contract whist(I am the master!!) and Emperors and Assholes!
Taking it seriously Banished by Emperor Polly for being too annoying!!
demonstrating my kyaking style...check out the weather back on Samara!!
Team photo of Marie, Mark, Christine and Matteus on the island.

DA VIDEO

<a href="crmovie.wmv"> <img src="crsamarafront.jpg" border="0" align="left" width="160" height="120" vspace="10" hspace="20" /> </a>

The full Costa Rica video....10 minutes of fun and thrills!
May take a few minutes to load....don't even bother if you have dial-up!!

Marks Journal

There is a postscript.
I left without too much of a hitch the next morning....only panic was locating my washing in Sol y Mar. Had to pay for two seats on the shuttle which was a rip-off but hey ho! Arrived at the airport in good time and set about getting some duty free products. Purchased some Bulgari aftershave and was trying on an extremely fetching pair of Gucci sunglasses when I put my fine plastic washing bag containing all documents down on the floor so that I could check myself in the mirror. Decided to make the purchase but in the meantime my Bulgari and passport had gone.....What to do?
Well there was nothing I could do save contact security who made a half assed search of the place and even questioned a couple of Argie girls who had been standing right in front of the bag. They didn't even check their bags. The end result was I had to go to San Jose and spend a couple of nights in a hostel whilst I got a new passport sorted out. The British Embassy came up with the goods sharpish and I had a new 42 page document hot off the press within two hours of visiting them....very impressive.
When I finaly did get to leave I went and bought those Gucci sunglasses and re-purchased the Bulgari. Only hitch this time was when we had a stop over in Miami and the wankers there photographed and fingerprinted every one of us making us queue for an hour and a half despite us only being in transit.
Back in the UK it was more or less straight down the pub when Nick and his mate came to pick me up from Reading......

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