The Celestial Waters of Rio Celeste

After a failed effort to go to Rio Celeste the previous weekend, thwarted by a broken timing belt, we set out to reach this famed destination again.  Our first stop was basking in the thermal waters of Aguas Thermalitas in La Fortuna.  This is now my favorite of thermals here in Costa Rica, for the price, the number of pools, the variation in temperatures, and for the bubbly jacuzzi chairs.  

We arrived at Hotel La Cascada, located right outside the Tenino Volcano Park entrance, right at nightfall.  Grabbed an amazing casado dinner at the local soda.  The next morning, after a decent breakfast included with our hotel, we were advised to rent boots.  I was completely unconvinced until a French tourist gave me the same advice.  And so, Benji, Marina and I rented boots.  Ilana had brought her hiking boots.

The hike was MUDDY.  We sunk into it, were splattered by it, and would have lost our shoes in it.  Miles of mud.  But, the waterfall was amazing.  Then we continued onto the magical lagoon.  Lastly, we went to the end of the trail where the two clear rivers converged into the magical blue color.  We read about how one river carried a mineral that when met with the PH level of the other river, the mineral quickly enlarged.  While powder was deposited on the convergence line, and that powder was also carried in the river, reflecting the magical blue light.  Cool science and beautiful anomaly.  

Waterfalls and Monkeys Galore

The Fenstermachers came to visit--Hooray!  We logged a lot of hours boogie-boarding on the beach, hiking to the Dominical Waterfall Nauyaca (on the road to San Isidro General), eating beans and rice and enjoying the variety of monkeys and wildlife at Manuel Antonio National Park.

This time, we stayed in Parrita at Cocomar Resort.  We loved staying on the beach, and waking up to jump right into the waves.  Truly off the beaten track, too.

El Gallo de Escazu in Tres Equis

Steve's new girlfriends

Jonny and Maricela

A visit to Tres Equis to see our friends always makes us feel relaxed and happy.  Steve was particularly interested in the lifestyle of the rooster who lived at Jonny's parents house.  The gallo had 10 gallina girlfriends, and Steve thought that sounded pretty cool.

Don Rafa y Dona Iris

Popsicles in a pick-up.  Now that's livin'

We picked chayote squash right off the vine at the cousin's house, and the kids were as happy as could be sitting in the back of a pickup truck with their neighborhood friends, eating icies and telling jokes.

Super cute puppy

Blatts in Guatemala: Roasting Marshmallows on Lava - Pacaya

Written by Marina

Roasting marshmallows on lava... That was the first thought that went through my head when my parents told me we were going to hike the volcano Pacaya! So of course, we rushed to the grocery store and and bought all of the marshmallows we could find and a lot of chocolate. Then we drove the hour ride with our new friends: Laura and M.G. to Pacaya.
When we got there the officer told us we needed a guide to go up and wanted to charge us 200 quetzales per guide, but we went back to the road and got our own guide for only 100 quetzales. The hike was a super easy hour and a half. We saw awesome views of the neighbor volcanoes and our guide told us that  a clear day you could see the Pacific Ocean.


Soon we started to hike on a black sea of lava rocks! Sometimes we would get to a spot where the lava would emit heat and we felt like were in a natural sauna. Near the top of the volcano the trail ended and we sat down to take a lunch break. We ate avocado, frijoles and tomato sauce all rapped up in a tortilla.

Finally it was time for dessert! Our guide led us to and area littered with tiny sticks to roast marshmallows. It wasn't like what we expected; the read lava flowing around our shoes, but instead we stuck our marshmallows deep holes in the ground breaking apart the hot chunks of lava. It wasn't long till our feet started to get hot and we had to go stand on cooler land. Luckily none of our shoes burnt but Dad did have a pretty scary experience: he was leaning over the lava holes and must have taken in too much of it's fumes.  He later explained to us that he had slowly blacked out and come back to consciousness little by little.
          Once we were all marshmallowed and photoed out, we hiked back down to our car.  Later on the plane back home, we ate our left over marshmallows!

       

Blatts in Guatemala: Turquoise Pools at Semuc Champay

We knew it was a bad decision.  But it was too late to turn back.

The Waze link and Google maps both showed the two routes to Semuc Champay from Tikal.  But one said 10 hours, and the other said five.  But the 10 hour route looked so much shorter.  The technology must be wrong.  I insisted we take the "shortcut" in our rental car.

Ten minutes into the rock-filled, pot-holed cliff edged road, we both said, "Maybe we should turn back," but the other turn-off was an hour behind us.  Two young girls shouted at our car in Spanish, "Cuidate!"  "Be careful," but we paid no heed.  We saw an indigenous family sitting on the roadside, "Does this road get any better?"  They nodded.  "Does it go through to Lanquin?"  Again, they nodded.   Later, I realized, what do they know about this road....It would be about a two day walk to Lanquin.

After about an hour and a half Steve said,"I hope it doesn't get dark on us."  I laughed nervously.  We still had almost two hours til sunset.  But we were moving at a snail's pace.  There was nobody around, not a house or a car in sight.

Suddenly, there was a group of 8 men blocking the road with a chain, and large rocks.  They were holding jackhammers, axes and machetes.   We could pass if we paid them, because they were "fixing the road."   "How much," Steve asked, hoping they wouldn't take the car and all of our luggage. "Okay, I'll pay, but only after you open up the gate and let us through."

We got off easy for about 7 bucks, but we wondered how many more "road workers" we'd find before we made it to a drive-able road.

In the pitch black, we made it to Lanquin and stayed in separate, single cot,  mold-infested prison cells for the night.

But the morning was worth it.  We hiked an hour or so to the Mirador lookout and saw the spectacular view, and spent the rest of the morning playing in the turquoise, cool pools of other-worldly Semuc Champey.  Ultimately, it was worth it, but I'd recommend spending a couple of days instead of one morning to play there.  And take the road from Coban, instead of the 'shortcut'!

Tikal - Ruins of Guatemala

First off, if you go to Tikal and you speak Spanish, call Chindo 5199-2959 and use him as a guide.   He was so knowledgeable  about everything Tikal: history, nature, culture.   Steve asked him how many years he'd been a guide and he replied. "Oh!  You're my first tour!"   (He'd been training for two years!) Chindo es el mejor guia en Tikal.

Was Tikal worth the 20 hours of driving, noisy, mold-filled hotel rooms, pillows stuffed with who-knows-what and a road pocked with boulders going three miles per hour?

The short answer:  Yes!   The ruins were fascinating relics of Mayan history, and we saw some spider monkeys, to boot.  Honestly, though, Steve and I both thought that Palenque, just over the Mexican border, was more impressive and jungly.

We hiked for hours around, upon, in between ruins, climbed pyramids and ate roast chicken rolled up in tortillas sitting on top of a tall pyramid looking out over the archaeological remnants of the Mayan empire: a technologically and scientifically advanced society that sacrificed their sports stars to the gods.

One of Steve's favorite parts was chewing on the anesthetic leaf of a pepper tree, which not only made your mouth go numb, but was also a curative for stomach aches, if you swallow it.

Cool ruins, history and natural surroundings!

Blatts in Guatemala: Market Day in Chichicastenango

If you wanna buy ethno-plunder like it's going out of style, get yourself to Chichicastenango on a Thursday or Sunday.  As the day wore on, the streets became so crowded with vendors that it became difficult to remember how to get back to that stand where I saw the "authentically hand-sewn" bag I had my heart set on. (I did find it in the end!)

The scariest moment (from a parental perspective) was when Marina stepped on a grate in the street and her leg slipped through the gap in the metal bars.  While all of the bystanders panicked, Marina calmly removed her shoe and deftly pulled her leg back out, without missing a beat.  What a trouper!

Plan on ponying up for the real deals, but the machine made crap is easy pickings, and most stuff goes for a few bucks.

There's a brightly colored cemetery at the end of the road; the flower vendors on the stairs of the church are a photographer's dream, and don't miss the hot cornmeal papusas filled with cheese and topped with cabbage and hot sauce!

Steve left his favorite REI towel in a hotel here, but fortunately, as this is a  popular spot on the tourist trail, we found fellow travelers who picked it up for us when they went there!

Leave a trail of bread crumbs if you plan to try to make it  back to your hotel.