Sitting in the airport in Kingston, Jamaica, waiting on my connecting flight to Cayman after two days in New York. Its good to be back in the warm weather, though I'm sad to be saying good bye to New York, my sister, and the lads (I'm including Alex in that!).
Friday, I worked a half day, leaving Cayman just after two, via Fort Lauderdale, to La Guardia, New York. Simon and Johnny had arrived on Wednesday, and Scats flew into JFK about a half hour before I arrived. Jumped into a cab around 9 and made my way into the city.
Its hard to believe that I had forgotten how amazing the view of the skyline is as you come in over the Manhattan bridge at night. The city that is so good they named it twice!
Checked into the Holiday Inn in Downtown, Soho, and found Scats reading a paper in the hotel bar. Hasn’t changed a bit. Great to see him.
We dumped the bags and headed off down the road to Puck Fair, where Fiona used to work. After nearly getting lost, we eventually found Fiona outside the pub. I had been excited all week about seeing Fi as I have only really seen her for one day in the last 8 months, and I may not see her again until the wedding next July. It was great to be able to give her a big hug in person.
Simon, the Weir fella, Weir's sister Rachel, her husband, Weir's mate Tori, and Weir's other sister and cousin were already inside the bar. Great to see the lads aswell. I think I was in the pub 10 seconds before the slagging begun. I hadn’t missed that!
I hadn’t even had a chance to sit down before Fiona started dragging me around the bar to introduce me to all her friends and the staff. First up was the closest barman who insisted that I needed to down a shot of tequila in celebration. I had the distinct feeling that it was going to be a long night!
After a rollercoaster drinking tour of Puck Fair, that lasted about 15 mins, I was able to go back to the table and catch up with everyone.
Many drinks later we all left and headed down to a club that Fiona's boyfriend Joe was DJ'ing in. The big queue outside looked daunting, but sure enough, the velvet rope was lifted, and we slipped in through the back door. Literally! Past the kitchens and toilet before emerging in the basement where Joe was on the decks. Smaller than I expect, but a great guy, as I had been told in advance by many.
Joe organised a table for us in the reserved area, but the condition of getting a table was that you had to buy a bottle of liquor, at 300 dollars a bottle! We ordered a litre of vodka that Joe sorted out for half price. The waiter arrived over with buckets of ice, jugs of juice, red bull, glasses, etc , and what I can only describe as an ornate glass bong!
One of the features of the bar is that you smoke this bong, with a basin of water at the bottom, and a mix of herbs in the top. Having never smoked anything in my life before, I reckoned if I was ever going to smoke anything, it would be this. The verdict: it was like breathing in air through rose petals, jasmine, and other fruity tastes. Not bad. Fiona tried to convince me that it gives you a buzz, but after about 8 or 9 drinks, who can really tell!
Joe got to join for about half an hour during his set, and then we headed off again to another bar, where we nestled in between the front of the bar and the bay window until they stopped serving drinks. Scats and Torri and Si were knocking back "Car Bombs", a cocktail of Guinness and Baileys and Jameson whisky. Nasty. I declined.
By 4:30, we were all wrecked, and so we hit the hay.
Next morning I awoke around 11am with the head spinning. Myself and Scats met up and headed out into Soho to find breakfast. We found brunch. Top notch.
Meanwhile, Johnny and Si were dragging themselves off Rachel's couch with plans to eventually meet us uptown.
An hour shopping in Soho was followed by a short ride uptown to meet the lads on Fifth Avenue. Niall and Alex had just touched down in JFK and were on their way into meet us.
I had a list with me of things to get for Jill on top of my own, and top of the list was a visit to the Abercrombie Store on Fifth. The place was rammed, with loud music, and dimmed lighting adding to the feeling of claustrophobia. The lads decided to wait outside for me as I began my mission. An hour and one thousand dollars later I arrived out to a bunch of not very happy faces, with the exception of Niall and Alex who had just arrived. Niall has a goatee!! What's the story, wasn’t expecting that! The pair of them are so good, they arrived to NYC with a present for me, the new Irish rugby jersey! Top notch!.
Fiona meanwhile was working all day, with plans to meet up with us later.
We tried to go to FAO Schwartz but the queues to get in to the shop went back 3 blocks, so we visited the 24 hour Apple Store beside it, where I had to pick up a few iPod Shuffles. Top notch by the way, they're bloody tiny!
After that we headed for lunch in a sushi restaurant on 4th and 57th and caught up.
I headed out at the end to do another half hour's shopping before, we went on walking tour of the city, with Times Square as our destination; me laden down with shopping bags!
A few pics around Times Square and we were off in a cab to go back to our respective homes to get changed.
Myself, Scats, Niall, and Alex headed down to Ground Zero to check out the remains of the Twin Towers.
After that we headed for dinner, ending up chugging back wine and having a few deep and meaningfuls until 11pm. The three of them headed to meet up with the lads, whilst I hopped in a cab to meet Fiona in Solas, a bar that her friend Sammy owns, he who put Jill up when she was there. Fi was there with Caroline, Sammy's husband.....
Have to go board my flight, will continue later...
Right, Thursday morning and I'm finally finishing this post!
So anyway, we met up in Solas for a few drinks. Caroline is nuts. A lovely girl from Clare, with a heart of gold, but definitely mad. After several introductions to random strangers, we hit the road to meet up with the lads over in the East Village. They were boozing in some packed, dingy looking bar that, quel surprise, Caroline and Fiona knew the owners of. Simon and Caroline got chatting and it turns out that they have many mutual "friends", especially considering that Caroline worked in Lillies back in the days when we all worked in Pod. Scats was more than a little insulted when referred to as a "foetus" by Caroline. She meant something else (I hope), but once it was out, the insult was burnt into Scats' memory and forever he will consider her a C U Next Tuesday.
Around 2am, myself, Fi, and Caroline hit the road again, back to Puck Fair, where Joe was DJ'ing. Again, an introduction of the bar and waiting staff ensued, as we settled down to a few pints. At 4am, the music stopped, the bar closed, and people started to pack into the pub!
Surely that isnt right? Well, turns out that Puck Fair is the local after hours spot for most of the local bar staff, cops, etc. We all bailed downstairs where another DJ had started playing, and the Guinness was flowing. Many drunken chats later, thankfully joined by Joe (I finally got a chance to have a decent, if not drunken chat with him), my impending return flight began to weigh on my mind, so we hit the road back to my hotel, where I had to give Fi some of the gifts I had brought for her. It was twenty to seven in the morning, the hotel bar had just reopened, and I was full of spirit to start drinking again. In an ironic twist, Fiona advised me to go to bed. Tables turned! I said my goodbyes, and complied in about 30 seconds
9:30, I was up packing. Not watching the match as I was meant to, but slowly filling my suitcase to catch a cab at 11:30. I headed firstly up to Scats to say goodbye, finding him in as much a heap, but with a towel stuffed down his hotel room toilet. I shouldnt ask!
No queues at the airport, boarded a 747 for Jamaica, nice three and a half hour flight, with a fairly nifty turnaround and back in Cayman by 8:30, wrecked.
Would I do it again? Bloody sure I would.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Pirates
22-6! First South Africa, then Australia, who's next? Pacific Islands, thats who.
Ah well, two out of the three southern hemisphere teams in one week aint bad.
Great match this morning, but what made it even better was watching it on the couch knowing it was 26 degrees outside (I know, cold by Cayman standards) whilst everyone in Landsdowne Road were freezing their nuts off!
Last night was the closing ceremony of Pirates Week. The centre of George Town was closed off to traffic, you could buy food and beer on the streets, there was a big stage set up beside Breezes, looking out at the bay, with a Caribbean band playing all night. 20 of us met up at 7:30 for dinner in Paradise Grill, watching the fireworks kick off at 8pm. After dinner, we headed backstage to the Digicel tent where, in true Irish tradition, we drunk the private bar dry (5 mins before the bar was due to close we literally bought everything they had left, including half a bottle of vodka and rum). Soon enough we were the only people left in George Town, but still thirsty at 1 in the morning, so we all headed back to ours for a party until 4 in the morning.
Sensing the inevitable yesterday afternoon, myself and Jill had cleaned the condo from top to bottom, stocked up the fridge with beer and wine, and had gone out and purchased our Christmas tree and lights. I know, only the 18th of November, but the actual tree we bought was the last one that the shop had left, we had to buy the display one! Christmas starts early around here!
Anyway, we dragged ourselves out of bed to watch the Australia game at 10 this morning, and are off to see Casino Royale tonight.
Next week I'm of to NYC, so will have an updated blog in about a week and half.
Few musical interludes now:
Killers: Sam's Town, still one of the album's of the year. Brilliant.
Faithless's new album: first listen suggests it is very good, some great songs, more rounded than their last album, but not perhaps as good as Outrospective.
U2's new Singles album: Two new songs, Window in the Skies definitely the better of the two. A great song.
The Beatles: Love album (the soundtrack to the new Cirque de Soleil Vegas show that pulls together a wide variety of classic Beatles song, using the original Abbey Road master tapes, mixing some songs in together to go with the lavish stage production). Excellent stuff. Only a few songs sound different, and not by much, but if you press play on track one, and let it just play through, it's excellent.
Damien Rice: 9. Slow burner, but a brilliant follow up to O. Track 6 is particularly brilliant and upbeat. First two songs are gems. Give it a few listens and it will really grow.
Rafter for now. Home in three and a half weeks. My nephew Gavin spoke to me on the phone during the week, have never heard him "speak" before. Looking forward to getting home for a few weeks, but first have to go to New York, see Fi and the lads, shop, and generally have a great weekend. Here's hoping anyway......
Ah well, two out of the three southern hemisphere teams in one week aint bad.
Great match this morning, but what made it even better was watching it on the couch knowing it was 26 degrees outside (I know, cold by Cayman standards) whilst everyone in Landsdowne Road were freezing their nuts off!
Last night was the closing ceremony of Pirates Week. The centre of George Town was closed off to traffic, you could buy food and beer on the streets, there was a big stage set up beside Breezes, looking out at the bay, with a Caribbean band playing all night. 20 of us met up at 7:30 for dinner in Paradise Grill, watching the fireworks kick off at 8pm. After dinner, we headed backstage to the Digicel tent where, in true Irish tradition, we drunk the private bar dry (5 mins before the bar was due to close we literally bought everything they had left, including half a bottle of vodka and rum). Soon enough we were the only people left in George Town, but still thirsty at 1 in the morning, so we all headed back to ours for a party until 4 in the morning.
Sensing the inevitable yesterday afternoon, myself and Jill had cleaned the condo from top to bottom, stocked up the fridge with beer and wine, and had gone out and purchased our Christmas tree and lights. I know, only the 18th of November, but the actual tree we bought was the last one that the shop had left, we had to buy the display one! Christmas starts early around here!
Anyway, we dragged ourselves out of bed to watch the Australia game at 10 this morning, and are off to see Casino Royale tonight.
Next week I'm of to NYC, so will have an updated blog in about a week and half.
Few musical interludes now:
Killers: Sam's Town, still one of the album's of the year. Brilliant.
Faithless's new album: first listen suggests it is very good, some great songs, more rounded than their last album, but not perhaps as good as Outrospective.
U2's new Singles album: Two new songs, Window in the Skies definitely the better of the two. A great song.
The Beatles: Love album (the soundtrack to the new Cirque de Soleil Vegas show that pulls together a wide variety of classic Beatles song, using the original Abbey Road master tapes, mixing some songs in together to go with the lavish stage production). Excellent stuff. Only a few songs sound different, and not by much, but if you press play on track one, and let it just play through, it's excellent.
Damien Rice: 9. Slow burner, but a brilliant follow up to O. Track 6 is particularly brilliant and upbeat. First two songs are gems. Give it a few listens and it will really grow.
Rafter for now. Home in three and a half weeks. My nephew Gavin spoke to me on the phone during the week, have never heard him "speak" before. Looking forward to getting home for a few weeks, but first have to go to New York, see Fi and the lads, shop, and generally have a great weekend. Here's hoping anyway......
Pirates
22-6! First South Africa, then Australia, who's next? Pacific Islands, thats who.
Ah well, two out of the three southern hemisphere teams in one week aint bad.
Great match this morning, but what made it even better was watching it on the couch knowing it was 26 degrees outside (I know, cold by Cayman standards) whilst everyone in Landsdowne Road were freezing their nuts off!
Last night was the closing ceremony of Pirates Week. The centre of George Town was closed off to traffic, you could buy food and beer on the streets, there was a big stage set up beside Breezes, looking out at the bay, with a Caribbean band playing all night. 20 of us met up at 7:30 for dinner in Paradise Grill, watching the fireworks kick off at 8pm. After dinner, we headed backstage to the Digicel tent where, in true Irish tradition, we drunk the private bar dry (5 mins before the bar was due to close we literally bought everything they had left, including half a bottle of vodka and rum). Soon enough we were the only people left in George Town, but still thirsty at 1 in the morning, so we all headed back to ours for a party until 4 in the morning.
Sensing the inevitable yesterday afternoon, myself and Jill had cleaned the condo from top to bottom, stocked up the fridge with beer and wine, and had gone out and purchased our Christmas tree and lights. I know, only the 18th of November, but the actual tree we bought was the last one that the shop had left, we had to buy the display one! Christmas starts early around here!
Anyway, we dragged ourselves out of bed to watch the Australia game at 10 this morning, and are off to see Casino Royale tonight.
Next week I'm of to NYC, so will have an updated blog in about a week and half.
Few musical interludes now:
Killers: Sam's Town, still one of the album's of the year. Brilliant.
Faithless's new album: first listen suggests it is very good, some great songs, more rounded than their last album, but not perhaps as good as Outrospective.
U2's new Singles album: Two new songs, Window in the Skies definitely the better of the two. A great song.
The Beatles: Love album (the soundtrack to the new Cirque de Soleil Vegas show that pulls together a wide variety of classic Beatles song, using the original Abbey Road master tapes, mixing some songs in together to go with the lavish stage production). Excellent stuff. Only a few songs sound different, and not by much, but if you press play on track one, and let it just play through, it's excellent.
Damien Rice: 9. Slow burner, but a brilliant follow up to O. Track 6 is particularly brilliant and upbeat. First two songs are gems. Give it a few listens and it will really grow.
Rafter for now. Home in three and a half weeks. My nephew Gavin spoke to me on the phone during the week, have never heard him "speak" before. Looking forward to getting home for a few weeks, but first have to go to New York, see Fi and the lads, shop, and generally have a great weekend. Here's hoping anyway......
Ah well, two out of the three southern hemisphere teams in one week aint bad.
Great match this morning, but what made it even better was watching it on the couch knowing it was 26 degrees outside (I know, cold by Cayman standards) whilst everyone in Landsdowne Road were freezing their nuts off!
Last night was the closing ceremony of Pirates Week. The centre of George Town was closed off to traffic, you could buy food and beer on the streets, there was a big stage set up beside Breezes, looking out at the bay, with a Caribbean band playing all night. 20 of us met up at 7:30 for dinner in Paradise Grill, watching the fireworks kick off at 8pm. After dinner, we headed backstage to the Digicel tent where, in true Irish tradition, we drunk the private bar dry (5 mins before the bar was due to close we literally bought everything they had left, including half a bottle of vodka and rum). Soon enough we were the only people left in George Town, but still thirsty at 1 in the morning, so we all headed back to ours for a party until 4 in the morning.
Sensing the inevitable yesterday afternoon, myself and Jill had cleaned the condo from top to bottom, stocked up the fridge with beer and wine, and had gone out and purchased our Christmas tree and lights. I know, only the 18th of November, but the actual tree we bought was the last one that the shop had left, we had to buy the display one! Christmas starts early around here!
Anyway, we dragged ourselves out of bed to watch the Australia game at 10 this morning, and are off to see Casino Royale tonight.
Next week I'm of to NYC, so will have an updated blog in about a week and half.
Few musical interludes now:
Killers: Sam's Town, still one of the album's of the year. Brilliant.
Faithless's new album: first listen suggests it is very good, some great songs, more rounded than their last album, but not perhaps as good as Outrospective.
U2's new Singles album: Two new songs, Window in the Skies definitely the better of the two. A great song.
The Beatles: Love album (the soundtrack to the new Cirque de Soleil Vegas show that pulls together a wide variety of classic Beatles song, using the original Abbey Road master tapes, mixing some songs in together to go with the lavish stage production). Excellent stuff. Only a few songs sound different, and not by much, but if you press play on track one, and let it just play through, it's excellent.
Damien Rice: 9. Slow burner, but a brilliant follow up to O. Track 6 is particularly brilliant and upbeat. First two songs are gems. Give it a few listens and it will really grow.
Rafter for now. Home in three and a half weeks. My nephew Gavin spoke to me on the phone during the week, have never heard him "speak" before. Looking forward to getting home for a few weeks, but first have to go to New York, see Fi and the lads, shop, and generally have a great weekend. Here's hoping anyway......
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Costa Rica
Shortest holiday I've probably ever been on, least amount of alcohol consumed, earliest I have ever been up on a holiday, yet still could be one of the best! Now this is why we moved to the Cayman Islands!
Last Friday Jill packed up the dogs and brought them for the first time (but definitely not the last) to the kennels and we headed off to the airport for our long weekend in Costa Rica (Monday being a bank holiday here). We got off to a bad start, 2 hours queuing at the airport to check in. Wouldnt mind but our queue wasnt that big, but the check in guys, in true Cayman style, just couldnt see what the hurry was (cue Lilt ad...). Plane was due to take off at 8pm. We were handed our boarding cars at 7:50. The check in lady, with a straight face, tells us that boarding is at 7:30. Yeah, right, sure it is. Time for a beer me thinks.....
An hour and a half later we arrive in Costa Rica, San Jose to be precise. Felt strange being in the cool (24 degrees Celsius at night, cold for us....). Half my work were on the flight with us (Amber, her husband, and Chantelle and her husband and their mates), along with plenty of other heads. There was a package holiday vibe to the trip, everyone ordering extra rum punch at 10,000 feet!
Anyway, we picked up our rental, a brand new out of the box Hyundai 4x4, 26 miles on the clock, and headed into the city where we were booked into the Radisson. I've never driven on the right hand side of the road. Its an experience, especially at 11pm at night in a Central American city with a population of millions, that the travel guide suggested had drivers who didnt really obey things like road signs, lanes, and traffic lights!
We ended up getting lost, even though I was following Amber and her crew, but after a few dodgy turns we found the hotel. Nice enough, big room, what can I say, it was 12 at night, bar was closed, no food to be had, so we headed to bed.
Up at 6:30am the next day, breakfast in the room and on the road by 7:30.
We headed out of the city, on the main road up the mountains to Arenal, which is the country's most active volcano, and is located in the Northern Region. We left the motorway after under an hour and were on to side roads winding through the mountain, climbing rapidly through mist and intermittent sunshine. Fabulous views all the way. Without a doubt the most scenic place I have ever been. Lush green fields, rain forest, mountains, lakes, amazing.
After crossing some wide rivers via some very dodgy bridges, being overtaken by mad locals, we arrive in Arenal, two hours earlier than expected!
We checked in and headed to the spa, with two hours to kill before our bus was due to pick us up. The hotel's springs/ resort is at the foot of the volcano with naturally heated rivers, waterfalls, and pool, averaging at 42 degrees. The place is great, kind of kicks the ass off the spa in the Heritage where we are getting married next year. Ah well. We had lunch, took too may photos, and headed back to to hotel to go white water rafting.
We were the only passengers on the mini bus that day as we travelled across the country for an hour and a half to one of the main rafting rivers. The water level was low, but the rapids were there aplenty. We suited up, and bailed into the raft with our instructor behind us, followed by a guy in a canoe behind us and one ahead to check for obstacles.
Great craic, could have been faster, but still great, two and a half hours trailing down a 10 mile stretch of river that cut through the rainforest. In between rapids we were introduced to the bird and animal life all around us, stopping halfway for fresh pineapples and water melons as we dove off the banks and into the rushing water for a swim. Were definitely trying this again!
The photos are courtesy of a photographer who followed in his car and joined us at various points to take photos from the bank.
We dried off and headed back to Arenal, almost running over an Armadillo on the way home (big, slow enough creatures by the way) before capturing sight of the volcano in the dark, with not a cloud in the sky, spewing lava into the air and down the side of the mountain. A once in a lifetime sight!
Back to the hotel for dinner before heading back to the hot springs where we chilled out watching the lava flow, sipping cocktails from chairs in the pool at the pool bar. Very chilled out.
Next morning we were up early (again) to get on the road for Monteverde. It had been a three hour drive to Arenal, but we warned that our next drive would take nearer 4 hours and that the roads were bad. A half hour into it, the tarmac turned into red clay. We slowed down as we curved our way through the mountains and around the Lake. Not too bad we thought, we can do this. Then the road stopped. Like, no more road as you know it. A track of rocks and muck that from 100 metres in the air probably resembled a road, but not up close. We slowed to 20 kph as the 4x4 was put to the test bouncing off boulders and holes in the road. Think the windiest road in the Dublin Wicklow mountains, half the width, with trucks flying at you in the other direction, with vertical cliffs either side, no grip, and large chunks of the road at various bends just missing, long gone into a gorge below. It was a trip! Seriously, brilliant. And this is the main road to get to one of Costa Rica's main tourist attractions!
After a wrong turn onto an even worse road (I still cant believe it was possible), we eventually arrived into Monteverde, a one horse town surrounded by Cloud Forests (rain forests with think vegetation that have clouds or mist all around the place).
We checked into our more rustic lodge, no TV or jacuzzi, unlike the previous night, but at the top of a mountain overlooking the forests all around, with two dogs and a cat who mozied on over to us as we sat out in the morning sun on the grass, surrounded by banana and lemon trees, soaking it all in.
An hour later we arrived by bus to the Cloud Forest for our Canopy Run Tour. We suited up in out boiler gear and hats, and walked into the forest with about 20 other punters (mainly Germans actually, a bit odd!). After brief lesson we were led up to our first run. Basically the forest is traversed by a dozen or so wires elevated 100 metres above the forest floor, some 1/2 a km wide. You are attached via a pulley around your waist and sent off on the wire as gravity does the work taking you whizzing across the roof of the rain forest. The first one was short, a warm up. Jill went ahead of me. I expect to meet the group at the end of the wire, but there was no one there when I got to the other side only one of the staff who immediately put me on another wire back across the forest. Four wires later we took a break. The views are sensational, whizzing through the cloud across vast forest, the adrenaline pumping.
Half way we stopped to try something different. We climbed up a 30m tower and grabbed onto ropes, one at a time, to swing "Tarzan" style, into the forest beyond. Again, great craic!
Then back the canopy rides.
Two hours later we took the helmets off, slowed down the pace, and took a walking tour through the forest, with our feet firmly on the ground. Halfway through the tour, Jill noticed rustling in the trees ahead as we crossed a bridge. Monkeys! There were loads of them. We kept relatively quiet and watched them swing from tree to tree, hooking up with other monkeys. Beats Marlay Park!
After that we headed on home to the lodge where we had a couple of beers out on the porch watching the sun set before heading into town for an authentic meal in a local restaurant.
Asleep by 11!
The next morning we had breakfast and headed back on the road, on our way back to San Jose to catch our flight at 7pm that evening, but not before taking in a fishing village on the pacific side of the country.
The rain began to fall as we approached the city,good timing!
We arrived home at 10:30 Monday night, wrecked, but happy out at a great weekend, only an hour and a half away.
Next stop Jamaica, then Panama, then Cuba. Not a bad way to spend your weekends!
Anyway, back to normal this week. Were at a table quiz in Triple Crown last night, felt like the days in the Bugler with Simon, Dave, and then Simon and Barry. Ah, the old days...
Anyway, off to New York next weekend to see my sis Fi. Johnny Weir, Si, Scats, Niall, and Alex are all going to be there aswell so should be great craic.
Thats all for now. It's Pirates Week here in Cayman this week, which closes with a huge carnival and fireworks display on Saturday. Also a big weekend for rugby, you never know we could be ranked third in the world by Monday! Come on Ireland!
Last Friday Jill packed up the dogs and brought them for the first time (but definitely not the last) to the kennels and we headed off to the airport for our long weekend in Costa Rica (Monday being a bank holiday here). We got off to a bad start, 2 hours queuing at the airport to check in. Wouldnt mind but our queue wasnt that big, but the check in guys, in true Cayman style, just couldnt see what the hurry was (cue Lilt ad...). Plane was due to take off at 8pm. We were handed our boarding cars at 7:50. The check in lady, with a straight face, tells us that boarding is at 7:30. Yeah, right, sure it is. Time for a beer me thinks.....
An hour and a half later we arrive in Costa Rica, San Jose to be precise. Felt strange being in the cool (24 degrees Celsius at night, cold for us....). Half my work were on the flight with us (Amber, her husband, and Chantelle and her husband and their mates), along with plenty of other heads. There was a package holiday vibe to the trip, everyone ordering extra rum punch at 10,000 feet!
Anyway, we picked up our rental, a brand new out of the box Hyundai 4x4, 26 miles on the clock, and headed into the city where we were booked into the Radisson. I've never driven on the right hand side of the road. Its an experience, especially at 11pm at night in a Central American city with a population of millions, that the travel guide suggested had drivers who didnt really obey things like road signs, lanes, and traffic lights!
We ended up getting lost, even though I was following Amber and her crew, but after a few dodgy turns we found the hotel. Nice enough, big room, what can I say, it was 12 at night, bar was closed, no food to be had, so we headed to bed.
Up at 6:30am the next day, breakfast in the room and on the road by 7:30.
We headed out of the city, on the main road up the mountains to Arenal, which is the country's most active volcano, and is located in the Northern Region. We left the motorway after under an hour and were on to side roads winding through the mountain, climbing rapidly through mist and intermittent sunshine. Fabulous views all the way. Without a doubt the most scenic place I have ever been. Lush green fields, rain forest, mountains, lakes, amazing.
After crossing some wide rivers via some very dodgy bridges, being overtaken by mad locals, we arrive in Arenal, two hours earlier than expected!
We checked in and headed to the spa, with two hours to kill before our bus was due to pick us up. The hotel's springs/ resort is at the foot of the volcano with naturally heated rivers, waterfalls, and pool, averaging at 42 degrees. The place is great, kind of kicks the ass off the spa in the Heritage where we are getting married next year. Ah well. We had lunch, took too may photos, and headed back to to hotel to go white water rafting.
We were the only passengers on the mini bus that day as we travelled across the country for an hour and a half to one of the main rafting rivers. The water level was low, but the rapids were there aplenty. We suited up, and bailed into the raft with our instructor behind us, followed by a guy in a canoe behind us and one ahead to check for obstacles.
Great craic, could have been faster, but still great, two and a half hours trailing down a 10 mile stretch of river that cut through the rainforest. In between rapids we were introduced to the bird and animal life all around us, stopping halfway for fresh pineapples and water melons as we dove off the banks and into the rushing water for a swim. Were definitely trying this again!
The photos are courtesy of a photographer who followed in his car and joined us at various points to take photos from the bank.
We dried off and headed back to Arenal, almost running over an Armadillo on the way home (big, slow enough creatures by the way) before capturing sight of the volcano in the dark, with not a cloud in the sky, spewing lava into the air and down the side of the mountain. A once in a lifetime sight!
Back to the hotel for dinner before heading back to the hot springs where we chilled out watching the lava flow, sipping cocktails from chairs in the pool at the pool bar. Very chilled out.
Next morning we were up early (again) to get on the road for Monteverde. It had been a three hour drive to Arenal, but we warned that our next drive would take nearer 4 hours and that the roads were bad. A half hour into it, the tarmac turned into red clay. We slowed down as we curved our way through the mountains and around the Lake. Not too bad we thought, we can do this. Then the road stopped. Like, no more road as you know it. A track of rocks and muck that from 100 metres in the air probably resembled a road, but not up close. We slowed to 20 kph as the 4x4 was put to the test bouncing off boulders and holes in the road. Think the windiest road in the Dublin Wicklow mountains, half the width, with trucks flying at you in the other direction, with vertical cliffs either side, no grip, and large chunks of the road at various bends just missing, long gone into a gorge below. It was a trip! Seriously, brilliant. And this is the main road to get to one of Costa Rica's main tourist attractions!
After a wrong turn onto an even worse road (I still cant believe it was possible), we eventually arrived into Monteverde, a one horse town surrounded by Cloud Forests (rain forests with think vegetation that have clouds or mist all around the place).
We checked into our more rustic lodge, no TV or jacuzzi, unlike the previous night, but at the top of a mountain overlooking the forests all around, with two dogs and a cat who mozied on over to us as we sat out in the morning sun on the grass, surrounded by banana and lemon trees, soaking it all in.
An hour later we arrived by bus to the Cloud Forest for our Canopy Run Tour. We suited up in out boiler gear and hats, and walked into the forest with about 20 other punters (mainly Germans actually, a bit odd!). After brief lesson we were led up to our first run. Basically the forest is traversed by a dozen or so wires elevated 100 metres above the forest floor, some 1/2 a km wide. You are attached via a pulley around your waist and sent off on the wire as gravity does the work taking you whizzing across the roof of the rain forest. The first one was short, a warm up. Jill went ahead of me. I expect to meet the group at the end of the wire, but there was no one there when I got to the other side only one of the staff who immediately put me on another wire back across the forest. Four wires later we took a break. The views are sensational, whizzing through the cloud across vast forest, the adrenaline pumping.
Half way we stopped to try something different. We climbed up a 30m tower and grabbed onto ropes, one at a time, to swing "Tarzan" style, into the forest beyond. Again, great craic!
Then back the canopy rides.
Two hours later we took the helmets off, slowed down the pace, and took a walking tour through the forest, with our feet firmly on the ground. Halfway through the tour, Jill noticed rustling in the trees ahead as we crossed a bridge. Monkeys! There were loads of them. We kept relatively quiet and watched them swing from tree to tree, hooking up with other monkeys. Beats Marlay Park!
After that we headed on home to the lodge where we had a couple of beers out on the porch watching the sun set before heading into town for an authentic meal in a local restaurant.
Asleep by 11!
The next morning we had breakfast and headed back on the road, on our way back to San Jose to catch our flight at 7pm that evening, but not before taking in a fishing village on the pacific side of the country.
The rain began to fall as we approached the city,good timing!
We arrived home at 10:30 Monday night, wrecked, but happy out at a great weekend, only an hour and a half away.
Next stop Jamaica, then Panama, then Cuba. Not a bad way to spend your weekends!
Anyway, back to normal this week. Were at a table quiz in Triple Crown last night, felt like the days in the Bugler with Simon, Dave, and then Simon and Barry. Ah, the old days...
Anyway, off to New York next weekend to see my sis Fi. Johnny Weir, Si, Scats, Niall, and Alex are all going to be there aswell so should be great craic.
Thats all for now. It's Pirates Week here in Cayman this week, which closes with a huge carnival and fireworks display on Saturday. Also a big weekend for rugby, you never know we could be ranked third in the world by Monday! Come on Ireland!
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