Tag: iguana tours

Water World Part 2

On By StevenIn Relationships, Travel, Uncategorized1 Comment

 

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Yesterday morning we set off on our second water adventure. Sue booked us an ocean kayak and snorkeling trip. We decided to drive to the tour company rather than have them pick us up as the drive home from the white water rafting included about an hour extra to drop off the other rafters. This way, we figured, we could drive to Quepos, the town where Iguana Tours has its offices and then when were done with the kayaking, we would wander the town.  We arrived at 8 a.m.  for our tour (yes, on vacation Sue booked us early morning activities every day so far) and were pleased to find that we were the only ones going. A driver took us to the beach and we met Alex our tour guide. A quick lesson on how to paddle, a safety lesson (stay in the kayak) and off we went. The water was beautiful: clear, calm, a bit of wind, but nothing that made paddling hard. We kayaked for about a mile, which took us about an hour. When we reached the snorkeling spot, we tied the kayaks together (ours and Alex’s), he tied them to a buoy, and we hopped into the water.

IMG_20190326_103022745_BURST000_COVER_TOPThe snorkeling was great, huge schools of small, colorful fish were all around. It felt like we were swimming in a tropical fish tank (which I guess we were –just a very large one!). Unfortunately, I forgot my GoPro, so I didn’t get any pictures/video of the fish. We snorkeled until we had our fill, hopped into the kayaks and beached on a nearby peninsula for a snack of fresh pineapple (which Alex cut up in front of us), cookies and lots of water. While we were relaxing, we had a visit from a troop (or barrel) of monkeys.  They hopped from tree to tree eating the leaves.  One of them had a baby on her back, while another small one seemed to be trying only very long (and scary) jumps.  Alex said that once we left, they would come down and eat the remains of the pineapple (and if they didn’t, the iguana’s would).

Once we were done, we hopped back in the kayaks and paddled our way back. All in we spent about 3 hours on the water. They tour company provided us with lunch in Quepos (typical food!).  After lunch we wandered through the town for about an hour and were ready to leave.

We walked back to our car and found to our dismay that it wouldn’t start. Luckily,Alamo, whom we rented the car from, was next door. We walked in and let them know we were having a problem.  After about 20 minutes the mechanic came out and walked over to our car.  He took one look, grabbed a new battery, and we were on our way. Whew. If you have read our blog before, you know that we have had car trouble on several trips and have been extremely lucky each time. Fingers crossed that streak holds.

 

Water World, Part 1

On By SusanIn Travel, Uncategorized2 Comments

Yesterday, we had our first water adventure: white water rafting. We thought we were getting class V rapids but the trip we were on only had class II and III.  I’m still not sure we got the tour we originally booked (or thought we booked); nevertheless, we had a blast. We took a bus ride up and around a mountain with the rest of our intrepid group: a young couple from New York and 6 community college teachers from the LA area on spring break and sabbatical.

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The view in El Silencio

IMG_20190325_133911994I always like the ride on the tour bus because you get the silly tour guide jokes (my favorite of the day: “We have three kinds of bridges in Costa Rica, Oh My God, Jesus Christ, and Oh Shit!”) interesting local information. We drove through palm forests, which are used to make palm oil (I know, I know), mostly for biofuel and bioplastics, the guide said. Then we traveled through the town of El Silencio, a co-op that has its own money and farming business. We ate typical food (rice and black beans, plantains, salad, and a choice of meat or vegetarian) for lunch in their cafe, which, naturally, had a fabulous view.

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These guides work hard!

But lunch was the end of the trip. First, we rafted the Savegre River (the cleanest river in Costa Rica!) with our guide, J.J. and the young couple from New York. It turned out that J.J. is quite the joker. Shortly after we got going, we ended up floating in the river, when he purposely flipped us over. Steven went in first (photographic evidence later confirmed) so technically he was buying the beer. The second time we went in, J.J. paddled over to me, asked me if I was OK floating and paddled away. Thanks! Luckily, I was laughing and enjoying the water, which was the perfect temperature for me to jump right in without feeling cold. Steven later told me the  young woman was kind of freaking out about her boyfriend, and he was a little panicky himself, so better to get him first.

As I said, the water was low and the rapids weren’t amazing, but we got plenty wet and had a fun ride. The guides had us paddle into the rapids a few times to get an extra little zing, too. We did this tour with Iguana Tours; in fact, we booked all our tours through them, so we will let you know how they did overall, but so far, so good. And while they all joke about Tico time, no one has been even a minute late.