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Ola a todos,
quite a bit to pick up on:
So, we liked Nicaragua a lot and went to Leon. Leon is a colonial city, a little bit like Antigua and Granada, but more original. This means there are more Nicaraguans actually living in Leon than in the other cities just mentioned that have become expensive because of tourism. We stayed in a nice hostal outside town, run by a french couple. Good food, very pleasant place and just lovely. We enjoyed the environment and took a rest at the hotel, and the beach just an hour outside of Leon. Leon itself we discovered step by step and were increasingly impressed by the good restaurants (really good pizza, amazing churrazco, etc.) - we cannot see rice and beans anymore.
However, we spent quite some time in Leon planning and deciding what to do next - three day hiking around Leon? Visit San Carlos (jungle and visit friends of Claudia)? In the end we took our decision in favour of Colombia, where we really want to spend 4 weeks - which means that we had only two weeks left for Costa Rica and Panama. So we decided to go on to Costa Rica right away (quite inefficient when just having traveled to northern Nicaragua again, but anyways). In effect we spent the whole next day (from 6am to 8pm) in buses to make it to San Jose (capital of Costa Rica).
Our first experiences were quite contrary to our trip so far: At the border we had to show a ticket that enabled us to leave the country again (against illegal migration), we saw firefighters (!!!) wearing a helmet!!!!, all roads we traveled were paved....But the worst thing was when we tried to book a hostel for the night. The cheapest we could find was a HOSTEL (!!) for 44 USD/night. We do not think you pay that much in Europe. And the hostel was quite filthy after all. Having the prices and our budget in mind we decided to focus on nature related trips (as guided tours cost >USD 500).
Our choice fell on hiking the Cerro Chirripo, the highest mountain between Guatemala and Colombia, with 3820m above sea level. And apparently the country is not so developed as it seemed at first glance: As tour agencies keep most of the entrance tickets to the national park for themselves you must camp in front of the ranger station to get a last minute ticket for the next day. We did and received one - tickets for the next day were gone at 3:30am!! The next day we spent almost entirely on preparing for our 3-day hike: Borrow a camping stove, what clothes & food to bring, etc.. And then getting warmed up with a 5h hike through the foot of the mountain at 1300m. Day one of the hike started (at 5am) with a 6h hike up to the Base Camp (at 3300m). We arrived completely exhausted but happy - lucky to have brought our ski underwear as is gets cold very quickly. Day two started at 3am - to hike the peak at 3820m and be there at sunrise. It was just beautiful.. but also freeezing. See photos!! After a late breakfast, we left for two other peaks and a lake. Day three was the easiest with 'just' having to go down the mountain with all the equipment again. Here we are - completely tired and exhausted and proud...and probably 3kg lighter after having hiked more than 75km and 10,000 altitude meters (gross; so including up and downs) during the last four days.
The goal for the remainder of the day was to determine where to go next. We eventually decided not to go to Corcovado as we originally planned. It just seemed to difficult to access. To picture this we share one of the many quotes from guide books that helped us make our decision: "You must wade through three sand flea-infested rivers (...) that can be crossed only at low tide and, as there's no shade, the sun beats down unmercifully. Be sure to check tide tables before departing! You must put your pack on your head, cross the river naked, all the while scratching sand flies and watching our for the small bull sharks [!!] that reside at river crossings." (from the guide book Explore Costa Rica- sounds like a commercial for the region, right??).
Instead we decided to head straight on for Panama, where we will start of with some more hikes in the region of Cerro Punta and Boquete.
For now all the best to you.
Yours,
Anna & Maarten
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