11- Guayaquil & Puerto López, Ecuador

17th to 21st of Feb 2019 - Guayaquil/ Puerto Lopez - Quito

Guayaquil (2nights)
The flight from Madrid was delayed, so I only arrived at the hostel at around 1am on 17-Feb. I was pretty exhausted and didn’t do much on that one day I had in Guayaquil. There are a couple of Malecons (river-/ sea front walks) in the town, which the locals like to do, especially at the weekends. So I did the same. It was very very hot & humid during my time in this town & it also rained a lot.
I was on the look out for some snack/ dinner later that day & ended up in a local bar. They had only meat & sweet dishes (pretty much the standard in Central- & South America), but the owner was so nice and made me a salad with cheese & a fresh juice. I paid unbelievable 2US$ all together - OMG.

18th to 21st of Feb 2019 (3nights), Puerto Lopez
Went to the bus terminal on 18th of Feb in the morning & tried to find the bus company the girl at the hostel mentioned to me for going to Puerto Lopez. Unfortunately this bus company doesn’t go to there. (It’s very confusing here, as there are so many bus companies & some of them also have their own terminals.) Some guy started talking to me & mentioned Jipijapa. I was very confused as this is actually a town in Ecuador & I didn’t want to go there. I followed him through the terminal although I had a weird feeling. Turns out he was from a bus company called Jipijapa, going to Puerto Lopez within the next minutes - perfect 😊. Sometimes you just have to trust. 5.50US$ fare for the about 4hrs bus ride.
Puerto Lopez is wonderful. It’s a beach town, not too big with a gorgeous very long beach & many shops & restaurants. They even have TukTuks - OMG, how cool is that!! I really missed them since I was in Thailand. Here they are called motortaxis & they are very cheap. From anywhere within the town they charge you 0.25US$ (more about the fascinating price system in Central- & Southamerica in a different post) from & to the bus terminal, which is a bit out of town, you pay 1US$.
It was very sunny & dry in Puerto López - thanks god, as I feared permanent rain at this time of the year in Ecuador. I had a very nice time on the beach during my stay here.
On the 2nd day I did a tour to Isla de la Plata (silver island). It is also called the Galápagos of the poor man, as it’s so much more affordable (35US$ for a day trip incl snorkeling & snacks) & you can also see the blue-footed boobies (yes, that’s the real name) here.
I was lucky enough to do the tour with a family from the states, as we therefore had an English speaking guide. Usually no one seems to speak English in Ecuador, not even at the accommodations or the tour agencies. As I don’t really speak Spanish communications are relatively difficult, but the people here are extremely nice & try to figure out what I want, so somehow it always works out for me.
On my last/ 2nd full day in Puerto López I wanted to go to Los Frailes beach, which is not far from the town. It’s supposed to be very beautiful & it’s called one of the best beaches in Ecuador. Unfortunately I was very unlucky as access to the beach was denied due to maintenance. Sh... I wish I had more time in Puerto Lopez/ Ecuador, but unfortunately I have to rush things a bit to get the chance to go everywhere where I want to go within the next months, so I only had 2 full days in Puerto Lopez.
Next stop Quito - the capital city of Ecuador.

Blue footed booby

Blue footed booby observing tourists from under the cliff

At the park in Guayaquil 

10- World wide

09th to 16th of Feb 2019 Essential & nonsensical trips around the world

As mentioned already in a previous post - the least expected thing happend & I had to fly to Ireland to unlock my Visa debit card PIN. It got locked at the start of January as I tried to use it in an accommodation, where I was being asked to insert the PIN multiple times, as I was told the connection/ communication btw the paying machine and the bank broke down. My bank could not (or didn’t want to?!)  help (I called them multiple times) & the credit card I also have is limited & can’t be extended.

So instead of going to Panama City & than flying to Ecuador (Quito) at the start of February as planned, I went back to Costa Rica and than traveled onwards.
Bocas del Toro, Panama -> Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica (4nights) -> San Jose, Costa Rica (red eye flight) -> Paris, France -> Berlin, Germany (1night) -> Dublin, Ireland (1night) -> Madrid, Spain -> Guayaquil, Ecuador

Paris airport was fascinating. After landing with AirFrance and before another flight with the same airline about 1hr later, there was another security check. So everyone had to get rid of their drinks. How handy that there were shops right after the check, where they sold 500ml of water for 4€ 🙄.

Another flight gave me some stomachache, as we were standing in Dublin for quite some time & than had to circle over Madrid for about 1hr with the potential of having to fly to some other airport. Don’t even know why. Jesus, what a stress relief after we finally landed.
As much as I love being someplace else, I really don’t like traveling itself. It’s way to stressful for me. Hopefully this might ease a bit within the next few months as there will be a lot of traveling.

Finally I arrived in Ecuador on 17-Feb after 1am (local time) very very exhausted, sick (the usual travel cold) & 11days later than original planned (& of course also with much less money than originally budgeted) - but hey at least I am finally here!
Anyways there are always good things in every situation. It was a beautiful sunny day in Dublin & I also got the chance to meet a great friend for amazing food and a couple of drinks & had a great evening 😍. I really miss nice company & catching up over a few drinks or so.
So, more about Ecuador & onward traveling in the next post.

9- Bocas del Toro, Panama

24th Jan to 09th Feb 2019
Left Monteverde on 24th Jan & spent one night in San Jose & 2 in Puerto Viejo. Arrived on Bocas del Toro on 27th Jan 2019. Border crossing was easy enough with the shuttle I booked. You just have to pay your exit fee from CR (8US$) & give your fingerprints & your proof of onward travel to the Panama check point (also possible to show on your phone) & that’s it. No issue with the wrong entry stamp date in my passport, they didn’t even look at it. Yes!!
I stayed in Bocas town & was exploring this and some of the other islands around.
Some of the things I did during my stay:
-Rented a bike (8US$ for 5 hrs) & cycled to Playa Bluff - very lovely yellow sand beach - but challenging route for someone who seems surprisingly rather unfit like me 🤔
-Took a water taxi to Isla Bastimentos (6US$ Return) & hiked to Wizard Beach - was being asked by the police to leave at around 4pm as it’s not a safe place to stay for foreigners (seems there had been a few violent robberies recently) - but still worth a visit, just go there early in the day, so you have more time by the beach.
-Took the local bus to Costa del Drago (5US$ return) & went to Playa Drago & Playa Estrella (Starfish beach) unfortunately non starfish seen, but beautiful area, just a little crowded (especially on weekends) but def worth a visit.
-Took a taxi boat to Isla Carenero (2US$ return) & hiked around there. Consider to stay there if you are more into nature & less into going out or simple if you want to enjoy peace for a while. Wish I would have done that myself for a few nights.
-Did a Bioluminescence tour on a new moon night, snorkeling included. It was probably one of the most special & amazing things I have ever done so far! Also the clear sky was absolutely amazing. Like seeing the Milky Way with your own bare eyes 😳
-Did a day tour which included snorkeling, dolphin, starfish & sloth watching & lots and lots of beach time.

Welcome 😊

Zapatillas- beautiful ❤️❤️

8- Monteverde, Costa Rica

19th to 24th of Jan 2019 - San Jose/ Monteverde, Costa Rica

Spent 2 nights in San Jose & Katrin left me on the 20th of Jan to fly back to Germany 😭.
San Jose seems always a bit cooler & more windy than the other places in Costa Rica.
But that’s nothing compare to Monteverde, I have to say. There was a strong wind day & night about 45km/h. Thanks got it was sunny daily and therefore I felt freezing cold only during the night. I was actually planning to do laundry, but that failed as I had to wear all of my clothes. And (for the first time since I arrived here) I was very happy I carry the hiking boots & the jacket with me.
Getting in occasionally contact with people is relatively easy. They just start talking to me. After my arrival at the hostel in San Jose an American girl asked me if I wanted to go to dinner with her, as it’s better to not go out alone after dark. We had a nice time. Or as I was reading Pablo Neruda in a cafe, the waiter and myself had a nice talk about the book... I am loving these beautiful & very unexpected situations.
The Monteverde Cloud Forest is nice, but I don’t think you would miss it, if you hadn’t seen it. Especially if you used to live in Ireland. It’s an old forest with lots of moss and the occasional sunshine peaking through the green & the fog are nice. Pay in US$ if you can, they charge you much more if you can only pay in CRC & it’s already expensive.

It’s f... crazy windy here

7- Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

15th to 19th Jan 2019 San Jose, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Stayed in San Jose for one night. While waiting for the shuttle to Puerto Viejo the next day, the security guy from the building next to us came over to gave us some chocolates. How unbelievable unexpected & cute.
Puerto Viejo is very nice. It’s a small relaxed tiny town with many many tourists, shops & restaurants. There are gorgeous beaches all along the Caribbean coast, that you can walk up & down. The beach right next to the town has black sand, which is very shiny. Like diamonds - absolutely stunning!! I have never seen that before. Unfortunately it gets extremely hot in the sun, so put your shoes on, as it feels like it’s burning your feet.
In Puerto Viejo many people are cruising around on bikes. I will come back here in a few days/ weeks & rent one as well. Going out late at night (ie. to celebrate a birthday) seemed a bit difficult here. As in all the places we were in Costa Rica, Puerto Viejo is not a party location. It’s more about enjoying beaches, animals & landscape & going out usually means having a beer or a cocktail (or both- always a tricky decision for me anyways) in a restaurant or a bar. And there is definitely nothing wrong with that 😊. But we did found a location with live music by the beach. They stopped playing by 11pm.
Our days were filled with enjoying the beautiful beaches around and we also went to the Cahuita National Park. If you hire a guide, you will see lots of animals. You will definitely see not that much without a guide, but the park is still a beautiful place & beach. It closes at 4pm, which is worth to know for planing. The park is donation based at the entrance at Cahuita town (we took a public (MEPE) bus from Puerto Viejo).
In this part of the world everything starts a little earlier and doesn’t go as late. We usually start our days around 7am, to get the chance to enjoy the full day, as it’s usually pitch black outside by 6pm latest.

Handmade from palm leaves 

Kolibri - its hard to get a picture 

Our transport in CR

Beach walks

Breakfast

A bat hiding in a leaf during the day

6- Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica

09th to 14th Jan 2019
Manuel Antonio (Nationalpark), Quepos

Spent a lot of time at the beach. Sun is brutal & very intense here, got sunburned although used SPF 30 & applied it multiple times during the day - so bought 50 & Aloe Vera gel. It’s fine, but I have to be a bit more careful.
Did a tour at Manuel Antonio National Park. Saw many animals, butterflies, monkeys, sloths, tucan... Spent a lot of time at the beautiful beaches & watched gorgeous sunsets. The view from our hostel is amazing, especially during the sunset.

My debit card got locked, brilliant. I can only use it for online purchases now, but no longer whenever a PIN is required. So it’s basically useless. This can only be unlocked at an ATM which has PIN service. What a shit, as these AIB service does only exists in Ireland. Suppose it happened in the hostel as they told me at the check in that the machines connection to the bank broke down twice during the payment, so the PIN was required multiple times. AIB’s service does basically not exist. They told me they can not do anything. I still have a credit card, but it’s limited. So if the worst case happens & something goes wrong with this card as well, I have to fly to Ireland to unlock the debit card. Unbelievable.
Still trying to enjoy the hols, but it does bother me, especially as I have over 4.5 months of traveling left.

Daily magical sunsets at the Pacific

A sloth at the Manuel Antonio National Park

5- La Fortuna, Costa Rica

06th to 09th of Jan 2019
La Fortuna Arenal
Took a shuttle from Tamarindo to La Fortuna along Lake Arenal. Beautiful landscape. Saw monkeys and raccoons along the way.
Did a (2hr) hike to Volcano Arenal through a rainforest & along lava rocks. Swam in a lake & in the hot springs from river Tabacon which has very warm water created by the volcano and creates little natural pools and waterfalls along the way. Water is about 26Degree warm & it’s very very relaxing to hang out there. We also did a mud mask from volcano earth.
Lessons learned: Don’t drink the tab water on the go, even if the locals tells you it’s fine. 2 days of sickness are not worth that. Outch.
We also did a night hike & saw some animals, many frogs & spiders, but also geckos & a slot.


06.-09.Jan 2019
La Fortuna, Arenal
Mit dem Bus von Tamarindo nach La Fortuna (ca 4Std). Die Fahrt ging entlang Lake Arenal, dem See & war holprig, aber landschaftlich sehr schoen. Wir haben Affen & Waschbären auf der Fahrt gesehen.
Wir machten eine etwa 2Stuendige Wanderung zum Vulkan Arenal durch den Regenwald & entlang Lavagestein. Wir schwammen in einem Vulkansee & in den heissen Quellen den Flusses Tabacon. Der Fluss fuehrt durch den Vulkan sehr warmes Wasser & man kann in den angelegten Becken sehr gut entspannen. Wassertemperatur ist etwa 26Grad. Sehr nett da eine Weile rumzuhängen.
Gelernt: Trinke niemals das Wasser aus dem Hahn, selbst wenn die Einheimischen sagen es ist okay. Aua.
Wir machten außerdem eine Nachtwanderung & sahen Froesche, Spinnen, aber auch Geckos & ein Faultier.

Volcano Arenal

Rainforest / Regenwald

Lava rocks / Lavagestein

Holding a baby turtle during the night walk

Relaxing in hot springs with a mud mask

Sitting on lava rocks & enjoying the view