As part of traveling independently, a person ends up sometimes in places that they wouldn’t have necessarily chosen had they planned ahead. Liberia, Costa Rica is one such place. I started out yesterday from Playa Del Coco and couldn’t make it all the way to La Fortuna on the public bus (cheapset way to go). I almost got stuck in an even less desirable place and quickly got back on the public bus and backtracked to Liberia. I’m going back to La Fortuna today and from there to Tortuguero to go to that huge wildlife park they have there.
I’m all caught up on the photos for now…again, these are to give you a rough idea. Any pro would know the content is not bad (if I do say so myself-course I take what I like and am partial to it…but the instrument used has poor reproduction capabilities. I’m using a Sony Handycam HDR-HC1, which is a small consumer level video camera utilitizing the new HDV standard (and it also takes stills, too). The video is fantastic when viewed on an HDTV and the DV Conversion feature works great for editing in DV mode on a Laptop. Here are some fun photos from Costa Rica.
I love this dog! I call him “‘Sup, Pup?”. I bet he’s still sitting there in that same place greeting folks as they pass by!
More Photos from Costa Rica! For the rest of the bunch, go to Photos or click on the Photos link under the Page area in the navigation bar at right. 
Requires Flash (place your non flash content here.)
WT
OK, so here’s a little update that hopefully will be of interest…this is a cool little application that I’ve used quite a bit to figure out what time it is at home and if I’m calling in the middle of the night (I used this without fail after I woke someone up just to say ‘I’m having a great time-what about you?’)
WorldlyTraveler’s Personal WorldClock
I’m currently in Tamarindo, Costa Rica. This is a beach-centric town with surfers, strip malls and even a TCBY! You can buy a surfboard, a yoga outfit, high-priced therapuetic soap, a ‘Bali’ style massage with two massueses at once, some really nice wood boxes and any kind of drug you want without walking more than 100 yards! Really, the drug thing isn’t a problem here, it just kind of something that just exists to serve a certain type of visitor and the unsavory types seem to know one another and only approach one another (although I was approached multiple times-uh oh). The people offering such things also offer cool jewelery and surfing tips!
I have found the Costa Ricans to be very kind and friendly and like the Thais, don’t have a mean bone in their body. Crime is non-violent down here so apart from the normal vigilence of watching your stuff (which you need to do anywhere in the world), you are pretty much free to enjoy the country without having to watch your back. Some people might disagree, but that is my WASP opinion at present.
I’ve bodyboarded and surfed in Playa Grande, toured canopies in Monteverde and Hacienda Guachipelin, ridden horseback to hotsprings and whitewater tubed in Hacienda Guachipelin and whitewater rafted in The Pacuare River (beats Colorado whitewater hands down), hiked in the Santa Elena Cloudforest and eaten a lot of good food. The weather here is great and the rainy season seems to come and go. It hasn’t rained on me for 3 days but when it does rain it doesn’t mess around! I’m enjoying myself here and looking forward to diving and visiting the Carribean coast.
WT
