Friday, January 20, 2023
Costa Rica Day 1
On the road again. Couple of flights yesterday and we arrived in one piece. Our luggage even arrived with us.
We arrived at our hotel, and met Andres, our Tour Director. Got to our room, and discovered my sneakers had fallen apart (again). Careful readers (Paul) will note these sneakers fell apart in Montana last summer, and I had to buy new sneakers. I fixed the old ones when we got home, but decided to take the old ones with me this trip, as they are more comfortable. Oops, bad idea. The bottoms were falling off again, at least this time from a different place. The old Shoe Goo was holding up.
So we tried to walk across the street from our hotel to a mall. Bad idea. The roads here are nice, but the Costa Ricans don't seem to believe in traffic lights. Cars were zipping by with no idea about letting us by. We finally got across, but this was almost a repeat of our Xian adventure.
No Shoe Goo at the mall, but we found some Super Glue which seemed to work. Getting back was a bit easier, and we found the entrance to the elvated walkway over the street!
So on to today.
We met our group at breakfast. Mostly experienced travellers also. Retired lawyers, professors, and others we haven't fully met yet. Seems to ge a good bunch.
Onto the bus for our first adventure. We went to the Irazu Volcano Park, the remnants of a volcano (duh) that last erupted 50 years ago. We were <supposed> to be greeted with a breath taking view of the lake inside the caldera, but.... As we climbed to 12,000 feet, we went into the clouds, and thats all we saw. And it was pretty cold and windy. We tried to wait out the clouds for 15 minutes or so, but no go. Down we came.
Lunch was a "typical Costa Rican meal" of juice of papaya, mango and other stuff, followed by rice & beans, potatoes, plantain, salad and some meat. I had beef; Ann had trout.
After lunch we went to the Basilica of Los Angeles, originally built in 1639. Pretty wood, but it's a church. After that we went to a people's shopping mall with zillions of little shops.
Not the greatest first day, but we're not here for the cities. The one natural wonder was obstructed by natural events. Oh well. More manana.
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Monday, July 11, 2022
July 11 Jasper
Another long day.
We went to Maligne Canyon, which is the connection between Maligne Lake and Medicine Lake. This Canyon is about 5-10 feet wide, and has about a 450 foot drop for the river. It is VERY impressive. The river has cut down up to 50 feet from the surface. It may have been an underground river and the ceiling collapsed. We walked the trails and crossed the river multiple times to see the power of the river cutting through the limestone. Then we hiked back up to the top. Huffing and puffing.
Driving from the Canyon, we saw some elk grazing by the side of the road. Cool
We went onto a boat on Maligne Lake which took us halfway out to a little outcove called Spirit Island. The views here were spectacular, even more so than previously. A little hike (much less than before) gave some great views.
On the way back, we passed the remnants of an old fire from 2003. The burnt trees were still standing, but you could see the new growth coming behind. Interestingly, fire is needed in this area. It seems the pine cones are covered in sap that only release their seeds when exposed to high temperatures (as in a fire). Thus, previous fire suppression activities was actually harmful to the forest.
After lunch, we went on a tram in Jasper to a magnificent overlook. There was another 3/4 mile hike to the top, which both Ann and I passed on.
Dinner on our own was actually pretty good. Most of the food has been meh - adequate but not much to write about. The restaurant, Fiddle River, was an exception. My appetizer was Bison Meatballs which was very good. I had the Western Trout, which was pink. Glen (one of our tour mates) had a meat loaf of a combination of bison, elk, and other local fauna.
Tomorrow to Banff.
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