We’ve decided that rather than force ourselves to post something every week about what we’ve been up to, we’ll only post when we do something of interest. We’d rather have good content that’s sporadic, than mediocre content every week.

Don’t worry, this doesn’t mean that you aren’t gonna hear from us on a regular basis, it just means that our posts are going to be about specific topics rather than a bunch of random stuff we happened to do in a particular week. We’re hoping this will help us index better on google, and make it easier for people to find what they’re looking for when searching our site.

So… say goodbye to the weekly post, and stay tuned for some highlights of our upcoming trip to Nicaragua!

Read the original article here: Week 64: The last of the weekly reports

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1. Week 17: The last weekly report of the year
2. Week 45: The week that we forgot
3. Week 25: Things to do before leaving the Philippines

On Thursday evening we set out on a Turtle Tour in hopes of seeing a nesting Leatherback Turtle on Playa Grande. Playa Grande’s three mile stretch of beach is part of the Las Baulas National Marine park, one of the largest Leatherback Turtle nesting sites in the world, and is strictly regulated in order to help protect the turtles.

We weren’t really sure what to expect from the tour, or how likely we were to actually see a turtle. When we booked the tour that afternoon, the tour office was boasting of turtles the size of cars, and how they saw 2 the night before. When we arrived at the ranger station however, our perspectives were slightly adjusted when we learned that in all of last year’s nesting season (October to March) they had only seen 32 turtles.

Never the less, after a 15 minute briefing, we set out on the tour (with a lot more people than we expected). We boarded a small boat for a short ride across the Tamarindo Estuary. When we reached the other side, one of the Ranger’s shined his flashlight on the beach, and scared off a small crocodile. Flashlights and cameras are not allowed so we waited in the dark as the boat went back for the other half of the group. We then followed one of the rangers single file about half a kilometer along a very dark path to the ranger station on Playa Grande.

Then the waiting began…

Every evening the rangers patrol the three mile stretch of beach keeping their eyes out for turtles. When they spot one, they radio to the ranger station letting them know where it is, and how far into the nesting process it is. On the night we were there, we’d been waiting for about 3 and a half hours when the call finally came through the radio. At this point it was already 12:30am, and we were just beginning to give up.

One of the rangers gathered everyone together and explained that the turtle was about a kilometer and a half down the beach and that only 15 of us would be allowed able to go. Fifteen is the park enforced limit for the number of people allowed to view any one turtle at a time. We had been told this when we booked the tour, and had also been told we would be in the first group. Problem was, everyone else had been told the same thing.

From this point on the tour went downhill…

The ranger decided that the best way to determine who would go, would be to draw numbers. If you got one of the first 15 you got to go, however then someone asked “What about couples?” so they changed it… if you got one of the first 7 you and your partner could go. We were unfortunately 3 people so weren’t exactly sure how this was gonna work. Anyway… we drew numbers and I got #2, which meant that Mike and I would both be in the group going.

After drawing all the numbers and everyone coupling up, Lauren deduced that there were only 14 people, so just hung out beside us, in hopes that she could tag along as the 15th person. Since the turtle was about 1.5km it would take about half an hour to walk there in the dark. At this point is was already almost 1am, and understandably, the people who weren’t in the group going, wanted to be taken back to Tamarindo rather than wait for an another hour and a half for us to return. The rangers said that wasn’t possible and that they’d have to wait, naturally a bit of an argument started. They Ranger then said if we couldn’t all agree no one would go…. In the end it didn’t matter, because during all the time that was wasted deciding who would go and arguing, the turtle had finished it’s business and we all missed it.

All-in-all it was a little disappointing… not the fact that we didn’t get to see a turtle, but the chaos and the disorganization of the tour it self. Anyway…

* * * * * *

Saturday afternoon was “Booze-Cruise” time. We arrived at the beach, and once again found far more people than we expected. We waited in turn while they shuttled everyone out to the large catamaran in small groups. Luckily we were in the second group so were able to wait with drinks in hand for the rest of the passengers to board. We then set sail towards Playa Flamingo.

We were several Piña Coladas in when we started to notice that quite a few of the passengers were expats, and that a lot of them seemed to know each other. We had another drink, and didn’t think much of it. We headed towards a little bay and all jumped in for a swim and a snorkel… unfortunately there were quite a few jellyfish and both Lauren and Mike got stung. So it was back to the boat for another drink. Booze helps jellyfish stings… right?

By lunch we had started to realize that no one else was really drinking (the boat was all-inclusive and had a stocked bar) and found it a bit strange that someone had stopped the entire boat before eating lunch to say grace. Again we put it out of our mind and had another drink. However, then came the guitars…. and the Jesus songs. Suddenly it all made sense, and we found out that were were the only people on the boat (with the exception of 3 girls who didn’t speak english) not part of the church group.

So we had a few more drinks and we headed back to Tamarindo, enjoying the beautiful sunset.

We stayed on board as they shuttled the church group to shore, and had a drink with the crew, the music was finally turned on, and Lauren got her Salsa on!

That night we made the rounds to a couple of bars in town and had several more drinks before calling it a night.

Sunday was not only recovery day, but moving day for us, and Lauren’s last day in Costa Rica. Mike and I had to switch apartments cause the one we were in had been rented for a couple of weeks, but it was just across the courtyard, and we don’t have much stuff so wasn’t too bad. That night we had a great last dinner with Lauren, and said our goodbyes. It was a really fun couple of weeks and so nice to see a familiar face.

Read the original article here: Week 63: Lauren’s Last Week

Related posts:

1. Week 58: Settling In
2. Week 59 & 60: Chillin’ in Tamarindo
3. Week 62:
   A Visitor, a Volcano, and a couple of Van rides

Wednesday was her first full day here, which actually coincided with a scheduled town-wide power outage. Since we couldn’t get any work done, we really had no option but to make it a beach day. The morning started off a little overcast, but by the afternoon it was gorgeous and sunny, and we all got a little burnt. Ooops! To cool off and get out of the sun, we headed to the patio at Witch Rock Surf Camp for some cold beers and a late lunch. Unfortunately the power outage made the menu selection a little thin, and Lauren wasn’t able to fill her craving for Witch Rock’s famous “Nachos as big as your ass”, but we made due with what was available and added nachos to our list of things to do next week.

On Thursday we had a full on work day to make up for the mid-week day off, and also in order to finish up some stuff so we could get away for a long weekend. Lauren had a lazy day at our pool, and finished off the first of the many books she’d brought with her.

Our plans for the weekend came together pretty last minute. We avoided booking anything early as Mike wasn’t sure he was going to be able to get away for four days. But he managed to get everything done, and we promised to find a hotel with wifi in case anything came up. Unfortunately, since we’d left it so late the public shuttle from Tamarindo to Arenal was full. Instead we had to take a private shuttle which was a bit more expensive, but also meant we didn’t have to get up early and could leave when we wanted.

Arenal is about a 4 hour drive from Tamarindo, and is known as the “adventure capital” of Costa Rica. Arenal Volcano National Park is chalk full of adrenaline pumping things to do. From canopy tours and bungee jumping to whitewater rafting and waterfall rappelling. There are also horseback tours and hiking trails and of course to relax after a hard day, several volcano-fed hot-springs.

We arrived at our hotel around 3 o’clock Friday afternoon, and after booking a couple of tours for the next day we kicked back and enjoyed several beers and the beautiful view of Arenal Volcano.

The next morning we were picked up bright an early and headed to Arenal’s Sky Trek, a canopy tour that criss-crosses it’s way through the Arenal Reserve. After suiting up in climbing harnesses, helmets and some slightly smelly gloves, we boarded the Sky Tram Gondola for a 20 minute ride up into the reserve.

It wasn’t till we reached the top and saw the length and height of the highest cable that the adrenaline started to kick in. The first 2 cables were just little baby ones to get you used to things, and give you the option to chicken out at take the gondola back down. The 3rd one, however, the point of no return, was a completely different story. 656 feet high, and 1550 feet across the reserve, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous.

Some how I ended up going first out of the 3 of us. My heart was definitely pounding as I stood on the platform getting clipped onto the cable. A little push and a slight scream, and there’s no turning back! I had done a canopy tour the first time I was in Costa Rica, about 6 years ago, but this one was definitely higher, and definitely longer.

After the initial few seconds the nerves let up a little and you can enjoy the ride. The first cable only takes about 30 seconds to cross and before you know it you’re flying into the next platform hoping the cables will actually stop you. Lauren and Mike were up next, and I had just enough time to get my camera out to snap a few pics as Lauren & Mike came flying in after me.

There are 8 cables in all, and to be honest, once you conquer your nerves on the first one the rest are a breeze. The views of lake Arenal, are beautiful and even though the top of the volcano was hidden by clouds it was still pretty amazing.

After an adrenaline filled morning, we headed back to our hotel to kick back by the pool and have some lunch. Later that afternoon we went on a volcano walk, to get a bit closer and in hopes of seeing some volcanic action. However, despite being one of the 10 most active volcano’s in the world we didn’t get so lucky. The first thing our guide told us was that we wouldn’t see any lava, and that this was the least active time of the year for Arenal. He then proceeded to give us a mini-science lesson for the rest of the hike, which was a bit more information that I think any of us needed or wanted. I suppose they felt they had to give us something to make us feel like we got our money’s worth.

Sunday morning was another early one. We had a transfer booked from Arenal to Monteverde, via the “Jeep-Boat-Jeep” tour advertised everywhere. It actually turned out to be more of a “Van-Boat-Van” trip, but the boat was definitely a nice way to break it up. The trip took a little over 3 hours and included a coffee stop where Lauren and I sat on a Bull.

That night we went on a night hike, which was actually pretty fun. We saw 6 coatis (part of the raccoon family), 3 tarantulas, one of which had a nest of little baby tarantulas, some birds, and frog, a praying mantis, and lots of other insects. Our guide was really great, pointing out lots of stuff we’d never have seen on our own, and giving us just enough information without being overwhelming.

After a couple of early mornings, we decided to just sleep in on Monday. Instead of going on another hike we wandered around Monteverde, and visited the Frog Pond, World of Insects and the Serpentario. All three were really great, but I think our fav was the Serpentario. The guide was great, and we got to hold several reptiles including a Boa Constrictor.

Our shuttle picked us up that afternoon. We grabbed some beer and some snacks for the ride and headed back to Tamarindo. It was a great little get away, and good to finally do a couple of touristy things.

Stay tuned for the rest of Lauren’s visit.

Read the original article here: Week 62:
A Visitor, a Volcano, and a couple of Van rides

Related posts:

1. Week 63: Lauren’s Last Week
2. Week 26: Kuala Lumpur
3. Week 59 & 60: Chillin’ in Tamarindo

We have managed to get to the beach a couple of times in between showers, but for the most part we’ve been holed up in our apartment where the work seems to be piling in.

We did get out for a bit this week, and made our first friends here in Tamarindo. A few months ago while searching for info on living in Costa Rica, I came across Jocelyn and Steve’s website. They’ve been living here for almost 8 years and are a wealth of information. We’ve been emailing back and forth for a while, and it was great to finally meet them in person. We had a couple of drinks at one of the beach bars along the main strip, and the rain was nice enough to co-operate and held off till we got home.

The next few weeks are looking to be quite busy. We both have a lot of work on the go, plus we’re getting our first visitors so hopefully we’ll get out and explore a bit more. Till then, here some more pictures:

Read the original article here: Week 59 & 60: Chillin’ in Tamarindo

Related posts:

1. Week 56: Costa Rica and our “Casa del Surf”
2. Our ATV Tour from Tamarindo
3. Week 57: Workout Week

We did however take a little bit of time out this week. On Wednesday we rented a motorbike and drove up to Playa Grande, a 3 mile stretch of beach, about 30 mins north of Tamarindo. The beach of Playa Grande forms part of Las Baulas, National Park, so remains practically untouched by development.

Every year from October to March it’s home to the endangered Leatherback Sea Turtles, which come ashore to lay their eggs on the beach. In a couple of weeks a friend from Vancouver is coming down to visit and on the list of things to do is a night tour, to try and see the nesting turtles.

This weekend was also Thanksgiving back in Canada, and although we did see turkeys in the grocery store, decided that with just the two of us, a chicken was probably a better option. It felt a little strange roasting a chicken with stuffing and the works in 32° weather, but it sure did taste good.

Of course in typical Thanksgiving tradition, it got us thinking of what we’re thankful for, and well… Mike and I are extremely thankful we’re able to live our lives this way, and even more thankful we have each other to share it with. We miss all our friends a family terribly, but are hoping some of you’ll come visit!

So as the weather starts to get colder up north remember we have a second bedroom, and consistent 32° weather. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Read the original article here: Week 58: Settling In

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1. Week 6: Happy Thanksgiving!
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When we moved to Tamarindo, it was a priority that we find a place where we would have the space to exercise. Our new place is ideal with a 2nd bedroom, and a washer and dryer. There’s even a gym up the road that I have yet to visit. I’ve started using the guest room as a workout space and am finally using the set of resistance bands I’ve been hauling around for the last year. I have a bunch of DVD workouts where some guy yells at me. I’m keeping to a schedule of working out in the mornings before settling into work or heading off to the beach. It’s a start. This first week has been rough, as was to be expected. Just about everything hurts.

Kelly has also started running in the mornings. It’s something she’s trying to learn to love… begrudgingly.

Beyond working out ourselves, we’ve been working out the kinks of moving into a new place. Doing the first few big shops at the grocery store. Figuring out transportation options. Finding umbrellas and searching for bicycles. Looking into where to take some Spanish lessons. It’s become apparent that we need to refresh our Spanish. Even explaining to the taxi driver where we live can be difficult. There’s no street names or numbers in Tamarindo after all.

Soon we’ll just need to get ourselves down to the beach and figure out this whole surfing thing.

Read the original article here: Week 57: Workout Week

Related posts:

1. Week 56: Costa Rica and our “Casa del Surf”
2. Week 59 & 60: Chillin’ in Tamarindo
3. Week 58: Settling In

I had been to Tamarindo about 6 years ago, and have great memories of it being a sleepy little surf town so convinced Mike it would make a good first stop in our quest for a place to live.

We spent the first few days checking out the town, which has grown a lot since I was here last. We rented mountain bikes and road around looking for ‘for rent’ signs, and then spent a few hours online checking out some links we’d found on craigslist.

We looked at a bunch of different places and although there were a couple of good options, one of them definitely stood out. In typical Costa Rican fashion there were a couple of hiccups, but we managed to get it all worked out and moved in on Thursday.

The place is great, it’s a two bedroom, three bathroom condo not too far from the beach. Although it’s a little more than we wanted to pay, it’s really livable and we’re already super comfortable here. Plus we’ve got an extra bedroom for family and friends, so let us know if you’re looking to come surfing!

The rest of the week was spent getting settled into our place, grocery shopping and of course getting some work done. We had a couple of days of rain, which definitely made putting in those work hours a little easier, but considering it’s suppose to be rainy season right now we’ve been really lucky with the weather.

All-in-all it’s been a great first week, and now that we’ve got the hard part done, we’re looking forward to settling in for a few months. Next up spanish lessons!

Read the original article here: Week 56: Costa Rica and our “Casa del Surf”

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There’s been a lack of posts from us for a few weeks. I suppose that’s because not much has really changed back home since we left a year ago. The same old haunts are still there. Our friends are pretty much as we left them. Just a few of them got married, or popped out babies, or got a little heavier. ;)

We headed back to Kelowna after visiting Kelly’s family in Edmonton, and it was my turn to see my parents. My folks are based on Vancouver Island, but just bought a place in Kelowna and took possession this week. It would be really convenient for us if we ever came home. No more choosing who’s parents we spend Xmas with, but this year we’ll have to ask them to come visit us instead.

It was great to see my Mom and Dad. It’s kinda funny because I usually only saw them in person once or twice a year before we moved, but it felt like we hadn’t seen each other in a really long time. They even flew out my brother from the island to visit. We had a few good dinners together, and I also got to catch up with a couple of my aunts and uncles who follow our blog regularly. Good to know someone is reading our ramblings… In fact, just about everyone we saw mentioned that they read our posts, but there seems to be a suspicious lack of comments. I’m going to start asking you guys to check in. Anyway, since my parents and Kelly’s folks now live in the same town, it was suggested that everyone should potentially be in the same room at the same time. I don’t know why that sounded daunting at first. Probably just lingering images from the Meet the Fockers movie, but the night went off without a hitch due to Bryan and Linda’s superb hosting and an ample amount of wine. We spent a few more days in Kelowna and headed back to Vancouver after the long weekend in our little rental car which had aged 2000km in the last 2 weeks.

Back in Vancouver, we met with a few more clients and ran through the travel checklist. Travel insurance, deodorant, a new razor, a few new books. We try to travel light, but we’re still hauling 70-80kg of stuff from place to place. Beyond a few changes of clothes, the computers, backup drives, Kelly’s underwater camera gear, and a bunch of dive equipment usually ends up doubling our domestic airfares. The number of taxi drivers and porters that have severe lower back issues from our baggage is staggering.

On the 12th we had our reunion/departure get together titled the “You Know You’re Still Fucking Jealous” party. A similar theme to last year and again at our friend Raya’s restaurant, the Alibi Room in Gastown. Getting the crew together was nice, and I made up for my poor showing on my birthday, when I nearly fell asleep in my beer due to jetlag, by staying out till 3 or 4am. Needless to say, the next day was spent lying on the couch.

On one of our last nights in town, my buddy Jay had us all set up at Brix in Yaletown. Chris and Kyla, Jay, and us sat down to an amazing five course meal where the chef had paired each course to a bottle of wine Jay had selected. A few nights later, we met with Mike, Alex, Taz, and Erin at Campagnolo and had a great Italian meal. We’ve eaten amazingly well over the last month between dining out with friends and mooching off our folks, but we’re both itching to be in our own place with a kitchen again.

We’ve done a ton of moving about in the last six months, and even more since coming home trying to visit everyone. I think in general we’re due for a settling down phase again. Much like in the Philippines, we’d like to get an apartment and unpack the bags for a while. Six months in Costa Rica learning to surf sounds like heaven right now.

Things that are great about being back in Canada:

- Ants don’t swarm the food you didn’t put in the fridge.
- You can drink the tap water.
- Fast internet!
- Less people per square inch.
- You don’t have to dodge chickens when driving.

Things that suck about being back in Canada:

- $100+ hotel rooms.
- Speed limits.
- Why isn’t there free WiFi everywhere?
- Liquor laws are stupid.
- It’s fffffreezing!

Goodbye Vancouver!

Read the original article here: Week 53, 54, and 55: Another year on the road begins

Related posts:

1. Week 52: Road Trippin’
2. Week 57: Workout Week
3. Week 17: The last weekly report of the year

This week was all about the family! We rented a car in Vancouver and headed to Kelowna. First stop was my mom and Bryan’s place where we spent four days eating and chatting and chatting and eating. It was super nice to see the folks, sleep in a comfy bed, play with the dogs and eat lots of good food.

On Thursday we headed further east to my brother’s place in Golden. Kyle and his wife Kelly (yes my sister-in-law and I have the same name) had a baby while we were away, so I finally got to meet my new nephew. I know everyone says this but seriously, Mason the cutest kid ever! I instantly fell in love!

We spent Thursday night hanging out at my brothers, catching up and playing with Mason. Then Friday all of us headed to Edmonton. My dad has a cabin about an hour outside, where we used to spend a lot of time in the summers. These days I only get out there about once a year if I’m lucky, but it’s always great to spend a weekend when we can.

The weather was fantastic and we enjoyed several beers, and even a couple bonfires. We spent a lot more time playing with Mason, and did a lot of catching up on a year away.

It’s been a pretty busy week of family and we still have another one to come so Mike and I were looking forward to a night to ourselves. On the way back we stopped in Radium to break up the drive and chill-out. We took a dip in the hot springs and drove the rest of the way back to Kelowna the next morning.

Read the original article here: Week 52: Road Trippin’

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1. Week 53, 54, and 55: Another year on the road begins
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Next up was Caesars! Oh, how we missed caesars! I know those of you who aren’t Canadian don’t really understand this, but it’s one of the few truly Canadian things we have. That first one was so good, we just had to have another…

Sunday morning the jet lag hit us pretty hard and we were both wide awake by 3am! We spent the early hours flipping through channels till we finally ventured out for coffee about 6 o’clock. That morning I managed to get some shopping done and we met up with a bunch of friends for lunch in the afternoon. It was so great to see everyone and we had a fabulous lunch a Joey Fortes (Thanks Curt!). The sun came out and we rounded out a gorgeous day with a few beers on Sherry & Rich’s patio. It was a perfect welcome back!

^{Picture from Daniela’s iphone}

The rest of the week was spent in much the same way. We had birthday drinks for Mike on Wednesday and got to catch up with quite a few people. We had lunch with my old work to say thanks for continuing to send us both freelance while we’re away. We BBQ-ed with Murray and Laura and got to meet their adorable new baby Thea (the first of many new babies who’ve popped out while we’ve been away). And on Friday I got sick! At first I thought I was just loosing my voice from all the talking I’d been doing since being back, but ended up spending all weekend in bed.

Mike got to see a few more people over the weekend, hitting up a lion’s game and the casino with the boys, and hanging at Jay’s volleyball court on Saturday. All in all it’s been a busy week of catching up, and we’ve got lots more people to see. Luckily we’ll be back in Vancouver after we visit some family, so if we haven’t seen you yet drop us an email and we’ll make some plans before we take off for Costa Rica, September 19th.

Read the original article here: Week 51: Hello Vancouver

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2. Week 52: Road Trippin’
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