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Us Discovering the Latin Americas

a travel blog by ryan & debbrial


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Pushing Chiquimula

Carmen, Costa Rica

Another long bumpy dirty dusty drive along the Southern Nicoya Pennisula today with only a few minor FREAK OUTS!!!

This moring we packed up camp and continued on south thinking it would only take a few hours to get to Mal Pais. That would have been ture if the dirt roads weren't worse than the day before. Its like we are back in Honduras with these conditions. J/k

But really Chiquimula wasn't doing so well either. Very slowly chugging along we made it up, down and over steep mountains. You would think they would just build the road straight along the beach but no it has to be complicated. Then about two Miles out of Cobano, the largest commerical town in the southern tip of the Nicoya Penn., the roads were getting smoother so we pulled over to give Chiquimula a break. For the past hour or so she was making unpleasant sounds and for a minute I really thought we weren't going to make it. Since we always have extra oil and transmission fluid in the van Ryan decided to fill her up some. BUT right as he poured the transmission fluid in he realized it was the wrong type. OH noooooo.....

We pushed on the two extra Miles to Cobano and bumbbled around finding the correct transmission fluid and a machanic to change the fluid before Chiquimula blew up. It was all a success and quite quickly as well.

After that last freak out we headed down the hill to Santa Teresa our destination for the next few days. All and all it wasn't that bad of a day. AND what would a good day be like without a little excitment. Plus it all ended in another amazing sunset.

permalink written by  ryan & debbrial on January 26, 2010 from Carmen, Costa Rica
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Southern Nicoya Pennisula: a Paradise

Carmen, Costa Rica

I think we found paradise.... Well not exactly but pretty close to it. We are still in Santa Teresa/Playa Carmen/Mal Pais. I say slash, slash, slash cause they are three beach towns on the Pacific tip of the Nicoya Peninsula right next to each other with not exactly clear divisions. Either way it is definitely a long stretch of white sand beaches and good surf.

Originally we only planned on staying here at the Tranquillo Backpackers hostel in Santa Teresa/ Playa Carmen for three days then move on around the peninsula tip to Montezuma, another supposidly chill hippish beach town. But after the intense roads from Samara to here we decided it might be a much wiser decision and rented a quad and check it all out before. That and Ryan really wanted to rent a quad of course!!

So on Thursday we road to Montezuma to check it out. And good thing we did cause when we got there we were not too impressed. It is a cute little hippy town with lots of hippies, organic food and hippy camping colonies alongside the really expensive hotels all at a gorgeous no surf beach. Don’t get me wrong it is a nice town but not what we are looking for. We didn’t see any hostels at first sight and it looked pretty touristy, expensive. Plus I don't think I could have convinced Ryan to leave Santa Teresa especially when the waves have been so good here.

The one attraction Montezuma does have the Santa Teresa doesn’t is waterfalls. So since we decided we weren't going to stay in Montezuma we decided to visit the waterfall then and there. After driving around for 20 minutes or so we finally found the hidden "back “entrance (I think) to the waterfall. We hiked down a steep hill to the base of the waterfall and I took a dip in the chilly but refreshing water. We only stayed for a little while cause we where both super hungry and left our picnic lunch in the ice chest on the back of the quad.

After lunch and a few hours left on our quad rental we decided to continue riding up the eastern coast of the peninsula to see if there was any place else we might want to visit before heading to San Jose for the next three months. Up and back and we didn’t find any place else we would want to spend the next 5-6 days expect on the very tip of the peninsula back toward Santa Teresa we did find tons of good secluded beaches with probably good snorkeling. So that's when we decided what we wanted to do. Stay in Santa Teresa till the end of the weekend for Ryan to catch the good surf till then come back to the secluded beaches for a day or two of snorkeling.

Even though we spent the whole day with the rented quad checking out places to stay for the next week we had a great time. We agreed that we saw the most beautiful landscapes we have ever seen in our entire lives. From open green farmland plains, to super lush "Jurassic Park" mountains jungles, to secluded crystal clear blue oceans and white sand beaches. And again we agreed that the southern tip of the Costa Rica Nicoya Peninsula is a Paradise.


permalink written by  ryan & debbrial on January 30, 2010 from Carmen, Costa Rica
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An attempt at snorkeling

Montezuma, Costa Rica

So we spent a couple more days in the surf town, paradise beach spot of Santa Teresa. Within the first few days here we met some pretty cool guys that we befriended over the last week which made it even harder to leave. But in the end we knew we had to go.

Our last day on the Nicoya Peninsula, as planned, we drove over to the Montezuma side where the waves seize to exist and tried our luck at snorkeling. Unfortunately when we arrived the tided was way out leaving the rock reef exposed to the hot sun and no fish in sight. Bound and determined we walked 200 ft. out over the rocks and slipped into the not so clear water. ---For those of you who don’t know I am super uncomfortably afraid of unclear water especially in the ocean. Anytime I am in the ocean I need to have someone at least 10 ft. close to me or I freak out.--
So when we got out there and the water had no visibility and was a brownish color from the sand getting kicked up off the shallow rocks below I told myself to be brave. I made it off the rocks and into open water but within a few minutes small waves starting coming in and pushing us back toward the rocks. That did it. I couldn’t see anything below me or around me and started to panic. Ryan yield at me to calm down, came close to me and directed us to swim toward the clearer open water. Surprising he said I regained calmness right way and we swam and swam but didn’t get very far. The tide was coming in at this point so the waves were pushing us in with it. Instead we turned around and went in to shore. A failed attempt at snorkeling. Bummer.

Oh well the rest of the day turned out good. We went back to the van got out a sheet and our books and spent the rest of the afternoon reading on our beautiful secluded beach. When the sun went down and we couldn’t read any longer we built a fire and sat watching thousands of hermit crabs crawl out of the forest directly behind bound for the ocean. It’s the craziest thing seeing the sand floor pretty much come to life. When you see what you think is a shell just sprouts legs and starts moving. That night we slept in the van on the beach.

The next morning we woke, drove to Montezuma for a cup of coffee (Ryan´s first request of the day) then headed out for a day of travel east bound to San Jose.


permalink written by  ryan & debbrial on February 2, 2010 from Montezuma, Costa Rica
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Setting up Shop for the Daily Grind

San Jose, Costa Rica

We got a lot accomplished today. Our agenda: 1. look for a place to live 2. Ryan's first day of work at Tranquillo Backpackers 3. Me to finish my book so I can concentrate on school next week
After a quick breakfast and coffee at the hostel we set out to find a place to stay for the next 3 months. Prior to coming to San Jose we searched on Craigslist for apartments but found the prices to be just like at home $800-1400 for a one bedroom apartment, way out of our travel budget. So instead we resorted in find a room for rent in a house or apartment. The best option for the price (within our travel budget while being able to save a little bit of money especially on Ryan's $2.00 an hour job at the hostel) and location (some what close to my school) ended up being a room in a guesthouse or mini-long stay hostel.
We went to check it out this morning. Within the first minute it took me back to college years reminding me of the several residential illegally converted "dorm houses" around San Diego State University. Like when landlords took a three bedroom, two bath house and turned it into a nine 10x10 bedroom house by adding walls in the living room and master bedroom. That's pretty much what this place is like but with three bathrooms, two kitchens, two living rooms and a central garden area. Although I don’t think it is illegal here and the people staying in the house aren't party college students. In fact most of the people in the house are foreigners working aboard or people who come for major dental work and stay for their recovery time. Anyways after looking around we decided this place would work just find. It will be quite enough and has space for me to study, is close to my school and Ryan's work and best of all the landlady actually dropped the price than what was posted online. Even better.
So with that accomplished all that was left for the rest of the day was Ryan to start work while I finished my book and dilly dallied around the hostel.
• **Ryan says about his first day of work, "This is stupid simple. I can’t believe people go to college to do this job (referring to Hospitality & Tourism) Ha-ha." As he kisses me and laughs. He also said, "I like this. It’s chill. I get hangout, talk to people, show them their room, DJ the music in the lobby and do little misc. errands around the hostel." I guess that’s why its $2.00 hour. j/k




permalink written by  ryan & debbrial on February 4, 2010 from San Jose, Costa Rica
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Life in Costa Rica

San Jose, Costa Rica

I finally got a break. It has been two weeks since I started my, CELTA teaching English courses, and this is the first time I have had time to stop and write a blog. Well that and we just got our computer back from the IT guys virus free. A BIG YEA YEA to that!!!!!

So catching up for the last two weeks. It seems like a long time with how busy Ryan and I have been but actually we haven't done all that much to talk about. Like I said I started my CELTA course which has totally been taking up all my time. To sum it up I am at school 8-10 hours a day (M-F) this includes six hours of lectures/doing homework/preparing lesson plans for teaching, then two hours of teaching practice either teaching a class myself or observing my classmates and other experienced teachers. Then after that most nights I go home and do more homework/preparing lesson plans. It is quiet a lot of preparing and paperwork but all in all I am really enjoying the course, the teaching and experience.

For the first two weeks half of the class taught the beginner level while the other half taught intermediate level adults. Now we are switching so I will be teaching intermediate now. Anyways Friday was the last day with our students at that level so we (CELTA teachers in training) invited all our students (Ticos) out for beers. It was a great way to get to know some of our new students since both the beginner and intermediate students came. It was a lot of fun and a good release from all the hard work we have been doing. Here are some pictures.


Me, Claire and Anna CELTA friends

Drinks with CELTAees after week two


Anna and the Grammar Bible (at least for the past few weeks it has been)

Claire with our Grammar books

So while I have been super busy with school Ryan has been doing the daily grind. He works six days a week at the hostel and has been spending the rest of his time doing maintenance on the van so it is all fixed up when we are ready to sale it. Works going well for him. Still just as chill as the first few days. Sitting back hanging out with the guest, serving beers, checking people in and running errands around the hostel. He really likes it and has become good friends with his co-workers and manager.

In the past two weeks we have also moved into a guesthouse in San Pedro, outside downtown San Jose and closer to my school. We really like the house because we have our own room again, its quite and clean, all the people are living there are really cool and its ideal for long-term staying. We are not sure yet but we have been talking about staying in Costa Rica for about six months. Not quiet sure yet but we will keep you posted.

Well that's it for now. I will probably be back in another two weeks or so.



permalink written by  ryan & debbrial on February 20, 2010 from San Jose, Costa Rica
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Getting back to sight seeing

San Jose, Costa Rica

So I finished my CELTA course last Friday. It was a relief to finally be done but now I need to look for a job. I HATE applying for jobs. Its so uncertain. Sending out tons of resumes, doing interviews and never knowing where is the best fit for me. The worst part of it all this time is that Costa Rica doesn't exactly have clear addresses or street names so I really have no clue where I am going to drop off resumes and do interviews. But got to do it and hope for the best.

Besides that we are talking about staying in San Jose for a year now. Mostly for me to get a good years experience teaching, Ryan to get a years experience working in the hostel (and hopefully become manager) and to save up money for South America. Oh how we both want to move on to South America but again got to do what we got to do to keep this adventure rolling.

Today we went to the Costa Rica Gold museum in San Jose. It was interesting. The first level display is all about Costa Rica's currency. From the first coin and paper prints to the currency in circulation today. They explained how all the currency designs are based on agricultural income of the country and the bio-diverse floral and fauna found in the countries forests.

The second level was all about a native artists. Mostly abstract geometrical line paintings. Some of it was pretty but we had the typical lame mans question, "how is this art? A five year-old could do that." Shows what we know.

Anyways the third level was our favorite. It was about the daily lives of the indigenous people and how they made figurines and jewelry out of gold. Most of the figurines were based on animals such as toucans, frogs, jaguars, turtles, crocodiles, etc. The figurines ranged from the size my hand to the tiny size of my finger nail. And so many of them are so detailed. The indigenous people designed wax models of the figurine shapes then surrounded the models with very high heat resistant clay. Next they paned for gold in the local rivers, melted it into liquid form and pour the melted gold into the clay bowl with the models. After the gold dried they cracked open the clay bowls to reveal the scared gold figurines. How awesome is all that. And there are hundreds of these gold pieces in the museum. This last level made it worth visiting the museum, as it should since it is called the gold museum.


permalink written by  ryan & debbrial on March 8, 2010 from San Jose, Costa Rica
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Surfing and Partying in Santa Teresa

Carmen, Costa Rica


Santa Teresa Sunset
After our little bit of site seeing San Jose last Monday we didn’t do much of anything else until Thursday. Ryan had to work and I just hung around the house. On Thursday morning we left for a mini-vacation back to Santa Teresa on the Nicoya Peninsula and stayed at Backpackers Tranquilo (the sister hostel of the one Ryan works at in San Jose). Our time in Santa Teresa consisted pretty much of the same old thing that always goes on there. Surf or lay out on the beach during the day and party at night.


Santa Teresa Sunset

Santa Teresa Sunset

Last time, over a month ago, when we were here I tried surfing but wasn’t very successful. I got tumbled by the waves since the sets in Santa Teresa are so close between. Plus I hate the salty water. But this time I decided to try again. Crazy me. So Friday morning we got up and hit the beach for some early morning surf when the wind is not so bad and the waves are a little calmer. Ryan found a long board for me to surf which as most everyone knows is easier and better for beginners. Anyways to make a long story short I caught like 6 or 7 waves (kinda white wash but hey), learned to turtle dive and practiced sitting on the board and turning it around. Overall a successful lesson. After I was done Ryan took the long board out and had some really fun.


Santa Teresa Cabana

Santa Teresa Cabana
At the hostel there is a private cabana specifically for the San Jose Tranquillo employees / administrator. On Thursday and Friday our friend / the administrator, Chafic, was staying in the cabana but on Saturday day he went back to San Jose so we got to move into the cabana for the next two nights. Even though it is a hike up the hill from the hostel, especially difficult at night with no lights, it was kinda romantic. The cabana reminds me of a tree house. It is open on three sides but surround by trees for privacy, has a small kitchen, bathroom with shower and a small dining table with two chairs. The best part is the four post queen size bed with mosquito netting. Just like the movies but on a hostel budget.


Chill'n in the breeze in the Santa Teresa Cabana

Relaxing and Reading in the Santa Teresa Cabana

Since it was so hot and humid at the beach we spent a lot of time in the cabana relaxing in the cool breeze up on the hill. Saturday day we just chilled and read our books. Saturday night though we went out to an awesome house party with Lila, the Tranquillo Backpackers receptionist in Santa Teresa, and her friend. The party was at this huge beautiful house on the beach decorated in a Crate and Barrel style. They had an open bar and DJ. After the house party we went to D&N the local night club that everyone goes to. A couple hours there then we went back to the hostel.


Sleeping In on Sunday
Sunday was a RR day after all the partying the night before and Monday morning we head back to San Jose to met up with my uncle Steve and cousin Brandon. They were in Costa Rica for a business fishing trip and decided to stay a couple extra days to spend time with us. After 6 months this will be the first time we see family. Looking forward to it.


permalink written by  ryan & debbrial on March 14, 2010 from Carmen, Costa Rica
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Puff, Puff Costa Rican Cigar Factory Tour

San Jose, Costa Rica

What to do in San Jose? Hum?? Yeah we could do a walking tour around town and visit all the museums or go to the nearby volcanoes, Paos or Irazu, which usually have very little visibility because of the heavy clouds by mid morning. But what else, what would be interesting, unique and fun for three guys and me? First thing that comes to mind is zip lining, a coffee tour or hey what about a cigar factory tour. YEAH, that would be fun. So I searched around on the internet and found a cigar factory only 45 minutes drive from San Jose. Perfect.

On Tuesday morning Steve, Brandon, Ryan and I drove west from San Jose and up into the mountains to a small town called Santiago de Puriscal. The drive was beautiful. Lush green trees, rolling grass covered hills and mountains and one small traditional Costa Rican pueblo after another. Even though Chiquimula was wearing down from the steep incline we finally arrived at Vegas Santiago Cigar Factory


Vegas Santiago Cigar Factory
just as our tour was scheduled to start, 1pm. Our tour guide Antonio came out to greet us. The tour started with a display and explanation between the different types of tobacco leaves at the factory: Costa Rican, Honduras and Cuban. Then we entered the mid-size workshop where there were people sorting the tobacco leaves by size, color and thickness; de-veining the tobacco leaves; forming, cutting and pressing the tobacco leaves into cigars; and finally wrapping the cigars with carefully selected leaves cut to size and hand rolled into the final product. It was so interesting seeing the people move so fast and with perfection.


Costa Rican and Honduras tobabbo leaves

Sorting the tobacco leaves by type, color and size

De-vining the tobacco leaves

Forming, cutting and pressing the cigars

Wrapping the cigars

As part of the tour they let us try to roll our own cigars. I tried the forming, cutting and pressing stage but my cigar ended up looking like a giant messy medieval torch. Brandon on the other hand did the final stage of hand wrapping the cigar which turned out very well I might add.


Debbrial selecting, forming and rolling a cigar from scratch

My lose rolled tourch cigar

Brandon doing the final wrapping of the cigar

Brandon's finely hand rolled cigar

After our debut as cigar rollers the tour guide led us into the cigar storage room. Woohoo! Boy does it smell strong in there. There were thousands of cigars big to small, thin to fat, strong to mild. It was so impressive and we were in awe but after about 6 minutes the sinking in our eyes and nostrils was about unbearable.


Steve with a handful of Cuban cigars

Oh our eyes and noses are stinging. Just take the picture

Ryan sortying and smoking the cigars

We left the store room for the last part of the tour: hand selected packaging. After the tour we sat down for a good cup of Costa Rican coffee and a Puff, Puff on our souvenir cigars.


Vegas Santiago Costa Rican Cigars in the storage room

Vegas Santiago Costa Rican Cigars in the storage room

permalink written by  ryan & debbrial on March 16, 2010 from San Jose, Costa Rica
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San Jose zip lining

San Jose, Costa Rica

The next day Ryan had to work so it was just Steve, Brandon and I. And at the guys request we went on a canopy zip line tour. Since we didn’t want to drive the 4 hour round trip to [[Costa-Rica/Monteverde]], where the good zip lining is, we were limited to the local San Jose zip-line companies.

I can’t remember what the company was called but it was out toward Tres Rios. The tour started with an awesome off road drive in their old Suburban truck. The drive was crazy but handled it. Then we had a tiring 25 minute hike up the hill to the start of the zip lines.


Me, Brandon and Steve zip lining
There were 12 zip lines and 2 rappels. Steve and Brandon totally dug the rappels. After the zip lining we had a typical Costa Rican casado lunch at the really nice restaurant; part of the tour. To my Surprise it ended up being a really good tour and fun day.

Me zip lining with Tres Rios behind me

After the tour we came back to San Jose and I took the guys on a walking tour around San Jose. We went to the artisan row were the guys bought souvenirs for the family. Next I wanted to take them to the National Museum, which has a wonderful ornate neo-classical design on the inside, but it was late in the afternoon and the museum was closed for tours.


Steve and me Park Espana in downtown San Jose

Brandon in the bamboo tree in Park Espana in downtown San Jose

Instead we just walked around the city and enjoyed the various tropical central parks (one of my favorite things about San Jose) and the few worthy architectural building in San Jose; there’s not many compared to Los Angeles or Europe for that matter.


Architecture in San Jose

Park Morazan and downtown San Jose

Anyways after all our sightseeing and tours we were all exhausted. We went for a delicious dinner at a Peruvian restaurant called Inka then meet up with Ryan for farewell drinks when he got off work. All in all I think Steve and Brandon got a good taste of “touristy” Costa Rica. And we all agreed we really really enjoyed the time spent together. It kinda made me miss home, family and friends BUT not enough to come home yet. Haha.


permalink written by  ryan & debbrial on March 17, 2010 from San Jose, Costa Rica
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An update of our lives....its going pretty good

San Jose, Costa Rica

Not much fun going on lately. Ryan’s been working his butt off since he got the manager / administrator position at the hostel. Which of course is a good thing but he has had so much to learn in a short time. The owner wants to start more construction at the Santa Teresa location and leave Ryan in charge of the San Jose location. In order to prove himself Ryan has had to be available almost 24/7 so he can be prepared and ready by the end of the month. On the other hand this means a pay raise. YES more than $2 an hour!!!

Ryan is loving it though. He likes not being stuck behind the desk all day long and the extra responsibilities. Now he is doing things like paying bills, managing the employees’ cash boxes and inventory, doing handy-man maintenance, and all the other odds and ends it takes to run a hostel. He says it’s a great experience for learning how to run his own business one day.

On the down side once he gets off work he hasn’t had much of a break because we are trying to sell Chiquimula and she needs lots of love before that day comes. He put her in the shop to get the rattling and shaking taken care of but now it seems there is an electrical problem. He says he can fix it himself it’s just trying to get the American part down here. I wish I could help but like I know anything about working on cars. Here's a picture of her current state.

Well what have I been up to? Ummm….working on sorting out documents needed for my work visa, which has NOT been easy since all the documents need to be certified copies from California including my finger prints for police record. Can’t I just tell them I’m a good girl and have never been arrested? No don’t think that will fly. Let’s see what else. I’ve been practicing my Spanish and started an aerobics class with one of my roommates. The aerobics class is at a park up the street from my house. It’s funny cause it’s a lot of older stay-at-home ladies and of course the class is all in Spanish. So most of the time I am one or two beats behind cause I have to watch everyone else to figure out what we are doing. Not that am completely coordinated when it comes to aerobic and dance moves anyways. But it’s a good workout and another way to practice my Spanish.

That’s pretty much it for now. We’ll check back soon.


permalink written by  ryan & debbrial on March 26, 2010 from San Jose, Costa Rica
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We met through a mutual friend in college about 5 years ago. We were friends for about 4 years and dated for a year and half. We recently got married on Sunday, May 24, 2009.

Now for the fun part... We decided not to do the typical buy a house and settling down, instead it was sell...

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