So we're in a 5-Star Resort looking at an active volcano (Arenal) out our hotel door, when this honey-badger looking thing wanders right up to the screen door. I think it's the equivalent of a raccoon but I wasn't allowing it into the room.

The three most important Spanish words to know down here are "banyo" or restroom, "cerveza" means "beer", and a "Soda" is the Costa Rican equivalent of a Pub. They are everywhere while you drive down these shitty roads but you are normally assured of getting a cold Imperial beer, and a good "taco" with a really good shredded cabbage over it and a delicious red sauce to put over it. I don't drink it but the Cokes and Pepsi's are supposedly very much better because they are made with cane sugar instead of corn syrup.

Anyway, we pulled in this place and watched the locals, or "Ticos", fish in the pond with fishing line wrapped around their hands (no rods or reels).

that looks like a coati, in the first picture.

Here's the Arenal Volcano from downtown La Fortuna. Four of us got as fucked up as football bats soon after this picture was taken. We ate and drank for four hours at a sidewalk soda for US 120.00 We tipped the waitress about 20 bucks and I believe she would have gone home with me in my suitcase. (Tipping is added to your bill, and more isn't expected so it is very much appreciated).

The clouds cleared a little and my friend took this with a crappy camera- not my new Pentax. This volcano erupted the next night- louder than any thunder, the ground shook and you could see sparks fire, lave and ash spewing out the top for about 5 mins...unfortunately it was impossible to catch it with the camera.

Bornyo, it looks lovely.

About that animal in the top picture, are they wandering around all over the place?

Amazing pics, B!!

Here's the volcano from our room at Tabacon. I promise there's a cone up in there somewhere. It's the tail end of rainy season here so the heat from the volcano keeps the top shrouded in mist and steam most of the time.

The coatis are wandering around, but like a coon they'd prefer to be left alone. I think this one was being fed or regularly raiding the resort trash.

We went to Puerto Viejo, Limon region for a few days- down on the Caribbean coast just above Panama. If you drive just outside the village early in the morning and pull over, you can hear and see howler monkeys and another species whose name escapes me just now...

I have more pics, but we are in San Jose today waiting for a flight back.

Anyway, I highly recommend Costa Rica- the Ticos are friendly and laid-back, the food and drink is reasonable and the countryside is beautiful.

The only place I'd advise avoiding is Puerto Limon on the Carribean- really a filthy dangerous shipping center where you don't want to spend any time. Get your gasoline before you get there and keep on driving.

Man I'll have a book to write about the road conditions and driving amongst these crazy people- they do lose their inhibitions when behind the wheel or on a scooter.

Here's dinner one night. Chicken skewers with yucca, carrots, peppers, rice and frijoles negro tipical. They crack a raw egg into the black bean soup just before serving it, and it it was quite a mystery as to what I was eating until I found the yolk. I think it was about 10 dollars including two Imperials. (No Gia- I couldn't eat it all).

Bad ass pictures Bornyo.

Looks much better than what the Costa Ricans restaurants serve in NJ and Brooklyn.

Great pics man! I love Costa Rica. The company I work for sent me there for 3 years and it was awesome. I even bought a little house on the mountain looking at the main valley in San Jose. I go there for vacation every year.

People are great, beautiful country, awesome weather for 6 months out of the year.

Is that eel? ("I have no idea" works for me).

That's the fried yucca. Like a potato. Or it might be plantain. I think it was yucca, though.

Thanks, I don't think I have ever been served yucca in Canada.

Usually any Brazilian BBQ will have yucca on the menu... it is pretty tasty.

I like yucca flavored with garlic.




All the hispanic places in Union City have tasty yucca.

Were there any hotties like a pre-implant Kitty Yung? Btw the director, Max West, is a pseudonym for Max Hardcore.

Ah yes, the pre-implant Kitty Yung. She was a supreme butterface. I would have fucked her ten ways to Sunday.

really great pics and writeup, Bornyo - thx for sharing. There's nothing like going somewhere far away to clear the head and breathe in some fresh air.

Tell me you went fishing B.

Nice pics and cool destination. Good for you.

Loopnode, the egg is cracked into the soup when it is boiling hot in the bowl. It cooks thoroughly but the result is mysterious looking when dished out of a bowl of black bean soup. Think of eggdrop soup with the strings and films of eggwhite interspersed. It was far and away one of my favorite foods even before I knew it was a huevo- I ate it twice before I knew exactly what it was.

I thought important words to know in latin countries were "Senorita, me puede chupar mi verga, por favor?".

The pictures are great! Looks like fresh air and quality time.

Re. egg in soup
An ex-girlfriend used to make soup and, just before serving, she'd crack an egg into it. It was thoroughly cooked, because the soup was boiling hot. But I had to get used to the idea of 'egg in soup'.
She came from Poland, btw.

Hey that's how we make the famous and very tasty
Stracciatella Soup:

http://calabrisellamia.wordpress.com/2008/10/08/stracciatella-soup/

Here is a chicken dish one of our party ate the night I had the chicken skewers. They served the meal on a wooden plate with a banana leaf trimmed to fit.

Lou, I didn't get to fish, though I tried. We were in Puerto Viejo, which is just north of Panama on the Carribean. This area only got electrical power 20 yrs ago, and you still have to go to an old Ticos house to buy gasoline for $6 US out of gallon jugs he keeps in a utility room. Charter fishing hasn't gotten a foothold there, though you can go snorkeling or diving from these open rowboats that look like lifeboats off a ship.

I declined.

god that looks delicious.

We had some Ceviche one night. It's raw fish and shrimp marinated in lime juice and cilantro among other seasonings. It's good stuff- you can get it in a lot of Italian restaurants, too.



Edit: sorry this is a bad pic- I cropped it out of a much larger image... I only include it because I had a request for food pics

The place we had ceviche had a two-man calypso band playing, and had this fireplace/grill off to the side, cooking chicken and sausage. I built one of these for a client once, and we've always referred to them as Argentinian Grills. I guess they should be called a South American Grill.

That tears it, I'm going to C.R. in the very near future. Great pics, B, thanks.

This was the guy manning the grill that night. I'm not sure what his arrangement with management was- he sat drinking and listening to the band most of the night, and when someone ordered the chicken he'd go tend the fire.

The Calypso/Reggae band was a two man affair- one playing a Fender Squier and this fellow playing the one-string bass.

I have no idea how those crazy Ticos caught this tarpon because I never saw a rod or reel down there but when they drug their boat back up on the beach with this fish it caused quite a stir.

Dogs, or "perros" are everywhere in Costa Rica. They come and go as they please and are very well socialized. They never fight one another, never bother with people or traffic and are well-mannered. The people love them and treat them very well. This guy was hanging out in the restaurant and I took his picture because he looks like my dog. Most of them are mixed breed.

Still in Puerto Viejo on the Carribean. Self explanatory... yet inexplicable.

Everything there either flowers or bears fruit or both. I won't be posting many of the flower pics I took.

Were there any reports of chupacabras in the area? Central America is one of the hotbeds of their sightings. I know there have been a lot in Nicaragua.

costa rica fucking rocks!!! i went CR about 5 years ago staying with my uncle, we is economics dean in Earth University, and is fucking great!!

bornyo did you went to the rapids??

We went back to Costa Rica last week and had a good time. I took a lot less photos and did a lot more stuff. We flew into Liberia rented a suv and drove to a resort in Guanacaste. It was a different experience from before and I'm still not sure if CR's changed so much in the last six years or it's the differences between the central and Caribbean areas of the country we last visited and the pacific where we were this time.

We spent most of our time scuba diving but did venture out across the countryside some. I'll have to go back to the Caribbean one more time to see if that side has changed as well and if so, I guess we'll start going to Nicaragua instead of CR.

Isn't Danny Ortega running Nicaraqua again? I'd stay away.