Hi kids! Here's an english version of the first entry for all of you who have not been blessed with the ability to dicipher the Dutch language. Enjoy and till the next one!

Hola!

Whilst enjoying a Banano Loco (cocktail) we decided that a blog would be necessary. That way we can keep everyone informed of our amazing adventures and avoid too much computer time.

So it all begins....Schiphol (Amsterdam airport), delays, inflight entertainment, Houston, Starbucks, San Jose, sleep.

Day 2 haha: there we were in San Jose, not exactly a happening place. So we quickly boarded a bus heading south to Punta Banco, an end of the road destination about half an hour cycle away from a world famous (left breaking ;)) wave in Pavones. Unfortunately we can't surf and the ocean is too wild here for us beginners to start trying. But we managed to keep ourselves busy. Morning swims, hanging around in hammocks, cycling, waterfalls, viewpoints, watching surfers.

The highlights were the wildlife. Iguana on our toilet. Monkeys in the trees. Big blue crabs in the garden. Also an amazing slip 'n slide horseback ride through the jungle (diep in je jungle jungle) and the mountains. This last activity was undertaken under the watchful guidance of gardener Wilbur (also known as remover of iguana from toilet), who knew the jungle like the back of his hand. Halfway through the ride (2 hour mark) we were treated to a tropical rain shower, due to which some parts of the trails became to slippery for the horses and we had to disembark and slide down hill after them. The entire journey took about 5 hours and ended with a sunset on the beach. Conclusion: little bit loco, totally amazing! We were also able to stuff our faces in Punta Banco. Sina, the cook, made delicious meals for us which held their own somewhere between Costa Rican specialties and good ol' Dutch food. The hostel was managed by Dutchies; we even saw a box of hagelslag at some point (the chocolate sprinkles that were in my cupboard for ages yum yum).

We're really happy we started our trip in this far off corner. Peace and quiet. From Punta Banco we had a smooth passage to our next middle of nowhere stop, Dos Brazos del Rio Tigre (Puerto Jimenez). This 'village' lies on the border of Corcovado National Park. We wanted to kick back in Los Mineros Hostel. And when we came blowing up to gate (open-air taxi) we were welcomed like queens, with hammocks and coconuts and all; that is until the lady of the house came home, who also turned out to be a 'Dutchie' of the type old hippie no bra, not wollen socks (kinda warm here). She told us she was actually closed, but we could still stay the night. The 'village' (population 300) used to be a goldmining town (population 10,000) and our hostel used to be a combination of bar, whorehouse and prison (which was now the toilet). Thats why we decided to sleep in the newly built tipi's. Five minutes after we arrived we had already found a cayman in the garden.

Because Dos Brazos is just next to the national park, we could venture around by ourselves. The first day we didn't get further than the banks of the river. But after having won more info from the locals, turns out we needed to go through the river (uhm weren't there caymans?) and then follow the trail up the mountain. First we took some photo's of a cool little waterfall, when we turn around what do we see....a dog. Yuki, the hostel's dog, followed us this far and ended up guiding us around. We spent a few hours looping through the area: through waterfalls, over landslides and under attack of killer mosquitos. On the way back to the river Yuki thought 'haha this looks like a nice little path'. Half an hour later there was no more path and we found ourselves kilometres high on a mountain back caught in lianas. We decided to turn back and navigated our way through the wilderness back to the river. We checked with mister Bolita and the path we had found ourselves on turned out to be the emergency trail over the mountains in case the river floods (in other words...doesnt go anywhere for miles). A day of trudging through the jungle left us satisfied and ready to head back to civilisation.

We left Puerto Jimenez day before yesterday and are en route to surfer walhalla Peninsula Nicoya. The journey was going as planned unti 10.30 this morning. Thats when we ran into a greedy ATM. Tip for future visitors to Costa Rica: be quick removing your card from ATMS, very quick!. Isabelle's card is now spending the night in the care of Banco de Costa Rica. Tomorrow at 9 the bankmanager will be there and we can continue our journey.

Thats it for now kids!