Blissfully Wanderlost

The days have slowed down considerably from the travel, rain, and international intrigue of the last few weeks. The occasional afternoon shower and the odd new guest at our hostel, Antorchas, marks the time.

We did have the great good fortune to see some fellow New Hampshirites this week, both on the waterfall tour and in town the next day. They graciously offered to drive us south to visit a few other beaches: Dominicalito and Playa Hermosa.

Dominicalito, literally Little Dominical, seems to be used more by fishing boats than bathers and surfers:

While Playa Hermosa is just that: a long beautiful beach full of large crashing waves that very few are brave enough (or stupid enough) to enter.

I guess I was both. And so for a second time this week I cheated death by way of water!

Safely back in Dominical, we have taken to cooking interesting things with bananas, working out, and trying to touch strange tree roots.

The banana fritters didn't last long enough for a picture to be taken. They were too damn good!

Today we had a fantastic time visiting the Nauyaca Waterfalls which is located just 10km outside of Dominical.

We first took a quick ride in a car down a very steep incline with several hairpin turns. Once we arrived safely at the stables we were each equipped with horses. Kevin's horse was named Tequila and my horse was named Molestacaballos, which means in the local dialect, "Annoys-Every-Other-Horse." We took our trusty steeds over rivers (mudholes) and mountains (mudpiles), on a quest to have breakfast!
Check out our horsing around: Yee-haw!

Once we arrived to our outdoor restaurant we had a delicious desayuno (breakfast) ready for us! We were stared at by two parrots and five peacocks while we ate.

Help me bust loose, bro.

We heard that riding a horse was good for digestion (untrue!), so we hopped back on and trekked forward to the waterfall.
After several more mudholes, we arrived:

The large waterfall is 148 feet tall! These pictures just don't do it justice. The roar was also pretty incredible.
After a few photo shoots we went to the lower waterfall, which is only 65 feet tall.
Kevin and another traveler thought it would be fun to jump off the waterfall...

Mothers and fathers, please don't watch this next video...

Now that my stomach was churning we thought it would be a great idea to eat lunch. So we got back on the horses and returned to the glare of the parrots, peacocks, and poisonous frogs.

What a wonderful day! We both can't stop smiling, and we have both signed up for the Costa Rican Calvary!

After our surprising jaunt up north to help Daniel Ortega and the Sandinista government in the upcoming elections (just kidding, CIA), we're now back on the beach in Costa Rica in the small surf community of Dominical.

While the tide is stronger and the beach is rockier, the waves are bigger and more bodacious.

On the far left side of the beach, we found some cool rock formations.

And also more sand.

So, of course, we had to climb them in search of a nearby waterfall.

Video here.

Not pictured: our slow, precarious retreat.

Over the last few days we have had fun listening to the sounds of Granada:

local marching band
jazz night

Our hostel (The Oasis) had beautiful wall murals that we wanted to show everyone:

We had an excellent breakfast buffet three mornings ago at the Chocolate Museo. We were satiated until dinner with the delicious crepes, omelets, and homemade organic coffee!


I think the cooks of the restaurant were amazed at how much we packed away.

Let's move on from our obvious gluttony!

We continued to roll, I mean walk, around the city during our last few days in the city, enjoying sunsets and the local architecture.

Then the big night came...Kevin's birthday!

I had a huge task ahead of me: find a cake, balloons, decorations, a venue for the party, and a wristwatch that would work for more than one week.

After searching the entire city of Granada (and I really did) I was successful in only one of these tasks... Apparently the people of Granada like raisins in their cakes which is a big "No Bueno" for Kevin. Luckily for me, I found a great chocolate cake and with the aid of several street children I was able to remove all of the raisins!

As you can see in the picture, Kevin found out about the raisins.
We had a great time celebrating his birthday with a lovely Australian couple as well as our kick-ass yoga instructor!
I will upload the videos in the next few days.

On the morning of the 27th, we bid Granada farewell and took the express bus from Granada straight to San Jose, Costa Rica. It was the first time we had felt AC in two weeks. What a glorious sensation.

We spent one night at the Molino Rojo (Red Windmill) in San Jose and then took an early bus to San Isidro in southwest Costa Rica. Once there we made the connecting bus to our final destination, Dominical. We will be here for the next week, soaking in the sun and the atmosphere of this quaint town which is known for its great surfing waves.

More to come on our wild and wacky ride!

We've settled for a bit in the picturesque colonial city of Granada, Nicaragua.

We arrived on Tuesday and suffered another full day of rain but the weather has progressively improved with ample sunshine today. One of the best aspects of this city is the bright and vivid colors of the exteriors of buildings in the old section.

The well-appointed Hostel Oasis is our host, and at $20/night it's a much better deal than a Costa Rican hostel with similar amenities: wifi, computer room, huge communal kitcehen, pool, movie and book library, do it yourself laundry (with a rooftop clothesline), and a hungry cat that visits the courtyard around 3 am and wakes everyone up.

We have settled into a nice routine of cooking delicious meals, ingredients bought at the sprawling outdoor market one block from our hostel, working out and doing yoga daily at the Pure Gym and strolling the main tourist street trying to avoid the children selling flowers and animals made of woven palm frond leaves.

Liz started a 20-hour intensive Spanish class this morning at the well-recommended APC school, located on the main square, in the heart of Granada. Kevin has started a campaign to rid the hostel of cats.

Tonight marks the end of the inaugural Granada International Jazz Festival, an event we have tried to take advantage. Here's proof that we still splurge every now and then on dates.

Liz is wearing a new dress, new shoes, new necklace, and new earrings. All for the low, low price of $28. Kevin is wearing a shirt for once.