While in Costa Rica I tried to send a couple emails via my domain. I couldn’t get the ssh tunnel up to my server here at home so their was no way to forward it through Comcast, my ISP. A while ago I ran into the same problem when sending an email to some hockey buddies. I had hoped when my host did an upgrade this problem might go away, but I never got around to checking. Unfortunately it hasn’t as this time I got the following message.
554 The message was rejected because it contains prohibited virus or spam content
What this means is some providers might view an email coming from my domain as spam but I don’t have any control over that. The problem is when you use a host that has thousands of customers your site’s IP is the same as others. While you might not be sending spam someone else is and thus the reason we send through Comcast.
Just a minor annoyance but might be a good time for a new side project, to work out a solution when we’re away from home. Good thing this doesn’t come up to often.
The last day before we catch a plane in San Jose tomorrow afternoon. The sun comes up earlier here it seems as it’s shining bright at 5:30am. The crashing of the waves on the beach and room drenched in sunlight, as their is no air conditioning only screens with drapes, gets us up early as we need to be at the park early. They only let in a limited number of visitors each day and its a 15 minute walk to get there. Oh, and also the ruckus in the trees next to the room as monkeys play and search for food. Yes that’s right only 15 to 20 feet from the deck. That was another reason to get out of bed.
The walk took us pass a number of small hotels, resturants and street vendors setting up their tables by the side of the road that fronts the beach. Entering the park we pass by a family of monkeys in the trees. Once inside we immediately see a sloth hanging out in a tree take a few pictures and keep moving. It takes about 15 minutes to get to the main portion where you have options.
If you recall the picture from the deck of the hotel room that is where we are. The portion that goes out into the bay is where we are heading next, taking a trail that circles it.
We see oversized guinne pigs, iguanas, and hear howler monkeys from the tree tops above. A narrow trail takes you around and we move up and down a number of times. Alan finds red crabs in a number of areas and after paying attention a little more we see a number of them too. After returning to where we started it was only 9:30 or so. We decided to hang out on the beach for a while, being mindful of visitors (monkeys) that might wander off with things, and picked the side that faces our hotel. The beach on the other side we could see already had a number of people over there.
The surf was a little ruffer but we had the entire beach to ourselves. As the girls went in first they got a taste of the waves, a few big ones put the down a time or two. Alan and I were in next once they returned and even though the surf could be ruff, and the undertow was a little heavy, putting yourself out a little was got you out of that. Water was warm and we hung out there for a while. Kay came back out and on the way in she moved a little to slow and caught a big wave in the wrong place. Salt water up the noze takes a while sometimes to clear out. But all is well and we started our trek back to the hotel, and it was only 10:45am.
Our pace was slower going back and we stopped by a few street vendors along the way. Once back we headed to the pool for a dip and some lunch. After about an hour Alan and I had enough of the sun and headed back to the room. The decks provided a bit more shade. The girls stayed down for a while but were back up for happy hour by 5:00. After a few drinks it was across the street to La Cantina BBQ for dinner. A couple unique things about this place is they have a railroad car as an internet cafe and all the food is cooked over and open wood fired grill. It was excellent.
That’s it we are heading back in the morning. Catch a shuttle at 8:30am and our flight leaves at 2:30pm. We’ll change planes, clear customs too in Charlotte and be home by midnight. We could stay longer but it’s time to go.
Our first day in Quepos and Kay, Amy, and Alan are off to do a canopy tour… a.k.a zip lines above the rain forest. Not really my cup of tea, the hanging bridges was enough thrill thank you. So for me it was catch up on things as the hotel has wireless internet for $4.00 an hour. It’s slow, you can only by an hour at a time but it’s better than nothing. It was nice to sit on the deck look out to the ocean and get a few things done. They were back at around 1:00pm, after leaving at 7:00am, and had an excellent time.
The gig was everyone traverses from tree to tree, 8 to 10 in a group, then gather on a tree stand clipped in as their were no railings. One by one fly to the next stand, clip in and keep going. The zip lines were interupted by one “tarzan swing” and a couple rapels. The vote was unanimous it was one of the best excersions of the trip. Glad they all had fun and I passed. Maybe one day I’ll get more comfortable with heights.
The afternoon was a lazy one, hanging out by the pool for a bit and girls catching a nap. As dinner time rolled around we walked up the road, and I mean up, a block or so to a El Avion owned by the hotel. It is set in a C123 cargo plane where the story behind it is it was used by the Regan administration to support the rebels in Nicaragua. Food was good but portions were big. Tomorrow, last day in Costa Rica before heading home, we’ll trek to the Manuel Antonio park. Known for it’s diverse animals and plants it has three beaches and a number of nature trails.
For any of the Calhoun clan that might want to see a few pics of them here are a handful for ya’ll. I’m sure Amy will send some pics your way once we’re all back.
Today is a travel day as we’re up at 7:30am to check out, grad a quick breakfast and be on the road by 8:30. It’s a 5 to 6 hour drive from La Fortuna to Quepos were we’ll be staying at the Hotel Costa Verde fro the rest of our trip. Along the way we stopped on a bridge to see some crocodiles sunning in the river and made it to the hotel by 3:00pm. Opening the door to the room we were greated with an ocean view and the sound of waves crashing on the shore. With the rooms equipped with a stove and refrigerator I’m not sure we’ll be leaving the hotel accept for a trip to the store for supplies. The view says it all.
No adventuring this afternoon. Amy and Alan will be wandering off to the store for supplies, but Kay and I are heading down to the pool and we’ll all spend the evening in.
p.s. the hotel has wireless internet but no TV in the room. Guess we’ll have to make do.
Another dry morning but clouds still covered most of Arenal. Today’s activies have not been planned but after a quick breakfast it was decided we go to the Arenal Waterfall for this mornings excersion. It’s about a 20 minute taxi ride from the resort and $7.00 a person to enter. We hadn’t looked to much into what we’d expect, other than a sizeable waterfall. It’s about a 20-25 minute hike down to the falls fairly steep and narrow. On the way down there’s a couple observations platforms to view the falls from waterfall from and when at the bottom the view up is very impressive. The waterfall plunges into a large pool which runs down a river lined with large bolders. Well worth the trip. The hike back up is a little more stressful but a good workout none the less.
We headed back to the resort for a break before another trek to the volcano at 3:30pm. The plan was to do a little hiking, no guide, and see what their was. We had to hussel a little as we didn’t realize the gates to the park closed at 4:00 to give everyone time to get out by 5:30pm. We were able to make it in time which left us plenty of time for the 2 kilometers to the lava flow from 1992. As we walked through a narrow trail surrounded by tall vegitation we kept hearing “whoosh”, “whoosh” similar to the heavy breathing of a large animal. It was almost rythmic and it took a moment to realize it was the volcano. It’s alive !!!!!
We reached the old lava flow after about 20 minutes and walked up a crude set of steps part manufatured part lava rock. From there we followed a trail of yellow arrows painted on rocks and stakes, painted in yellow as well, across lava rocks for a couple hundred yards. We reached a good vantage point where we could see the lake behind us and Arenal in front. We spent about 15 minutes there listening in silence only broken by the singing of birds, “whoosh” from the volcano, and the crackling of bolders tumbling down. Their were a few times where we could see bolders flying down the side after being broke loose by what seemed to be its breathing. Their were no eruptions like we saw the two days prior but ti was a sight to see. No one else was around, just us four, and was a excellent ending to our 4 days here in La Fortuna. Tomorrow morning, 8:30am, we’ll leave for our 6 hour trip to the coast where we’ll spend the rest of week.
No rain this morning just clouds as Arenal is not visable and if you didn’t know you’d never think a volcano was right in front of you. But that is common and the clouds should burn off by late morning. At breakast we decided white water rafing was in order as their are a number of different trips you can take. We decided against the float trip as much of the wild life is small and alligators would only be out if the weather was right. So we booked a trip with Wave Expeditions that was a 2 hours on the water that included lunch. It was well worth it. The water was great, rapids were challenging but not to scary (class 2 & 3) and views were excellent. After getting out of the river we headed just up the road to a resturant for lunch. What an unbelievable spot for a resturaunt. One of the best views of the Arenal we have had yet.
Once back at the resort we had an opportunity to go view the volcano just after dusk. We were pretty worn out from the rafting so an hour or so’s rest before heading out again seemed to be a good idea. It was about a 30 minute drive to the volcano and their are a number of viewing areas where tourists gather at dusk, and later, to view small eruptions. It was a cloudy night so not much was viewable but we did get to see some lava flowing and large bright bolders tumbling down if only for a a minute or two here and there.
After about 30 minutes at the volcano we headed back to town for dinner. We stopped by Wave Expeditions store to check out their pics from rafting and piced up a CD for $35. A decent deal as that was for both boats as Amy and Alan were not in the same boat as Kay and I. We then stopped in at Nannes for dinner, a quiet little place a block down from the square. The night was capped off with a magic trick from the waiter that like most was to obvious to be figured out without a magician’s slow explanation.
This morning started off rainy, but it is the beginning of the rainy season, and after a few hours it cleared off. We couldn’t decide on what to do so we headed down to the pool around 10:30 waiting for the cloud cover to burn off. The pool, similar to our bungalow, has an excellent view of the volcano. At around 11:30am we were greated with a small eruption where smoke and hot ash were clearly visable. An excellent photo opportuntiy but we only had the underwater camera, so no digital pic of it.
With the clould cover burned off and the sun coming out we scheduled a trip to the Arenal Hanging Bridges which is just a short 20 minute drive from the resort. George, one of the event coordinators here, tagged along as he worked at the place for a few years before coming to the hotel. That and their wasn’t much going on in the way of guest looking for things to do. It was Sunday afternoon and most were either heading out or on their way in.
I was hesitant at first, since heights is not my thing, but after getting there and seeing what it was I felt better. Their were half a dozen suspension bridges made of steel where you walked across metal grates that served as the walk way (see through) and chain link fencing four feet up on each side. Cables came down from the spans and each bridge averaged 60 meters long and 50 meters high. All but two of the bridges had so much rain forest around them you really didn’t notice the height. It was the bouncing and swaying when you walked across which made things interesting. But it was an excellent excursion we got to see monkeys, birds, posionous frogs, snakes, and a variety of plants. George our guide made the trip more enjoyable as we would not have noticed many of those things without his help.
The short trip back was delayed twice as we stopped once for tucan watching and a second to view another erruption of Arenal. Once back at the resort it was a little R & R back at the pool, visiting with some other guests from Pensecola, FL and MD. As they had been here longer than us we picked their brains on what to do. The hot springs and horse back riding seemed to be a favorite. It was about 4:30pm by this time and it was clear weather was moving in. You could see the clouds building and the rain coming so it was back to the bungalow for a shower, wait for a break in the rain and then head to town for some dinner.
For dinner we went to La Choza De Laurel an open air resturant next to Bruger King and Chruches Chicken in downtown La Fortuna. Taxi ride was $8.00 (US) or $3,500 (colonas). Taxis park around the square in the center of town with bus stop style loading, so their’s no trouble getting a ride back. Dinner was capped off with Kay getting the
Red Snapper and promptly switching meals with me as she has some trouble with the one eye ball staring at her. Not the way you’d typically have fish served back home, but it was excellent… she agreed to after a few bites.
With the rain had stopped we enjoyed are meal highlighted by the local stray dogs hanging around waiting for any scraps that wandered onto the floor. Even though you’d not see that back home I only wish I could get our two to be that calm and relaxed around people, food, autos and other animals. After dinner it was a short walk through some shops before heading back. Rain was done for the evening and it was off to bed.
This morning started early as our flight left Nashivlle at 6:20am. It was over to Charlotte, NC and a three hour layover till we got on the flight to San Jose, PR. Both flights were uneventful, always nice, but were also a bit cool.
Once in San Jose it was a short wait at customs we picked up our bags and headed out to meet the shuttle. Our driver Albero spoke very little english but lucky for us the other couple we were with new a little spanish. He was very chatty on the trip pointing out various points of interest, explaining the local currency and stopping at a super market for us. From San Jose to La Fortuna, where we would be through Wednesday, is about a 2 1/2 to 3 hour drive. The majority of the route was via two lane local roads that were very curvy and frequent elevation changes.
We finally arrived at Montana De Fuego, the resort. Located at the base of the Arenal volcano (active) it is made up of small to medium size bungalos made for two to six people. Ours had a small enclosed porch at the entrance with enough space for a couple rocking chairs and a smal table. The back porch was only 5 X 6 but it is good for viewing the local wildlife.
After settling in we headed down to the resturant for dinner and then a quick stop at the main desk to check on activities for tomorrow. We’ll have 10 – 15 pictures daily that will give you an idea of what we’re seeing and doing.
In just less than 36 hours we’ll be on a plane to Costa Rica for a week long holiday. I think the last time I was on vacation for a week was Hawaii. Not to sure about the internet access down there but it will be a good excuse to try out the gps on the Nokia N810. Hope to have plenty of things to write about and pics too.
