Instagram is still the most confusing of the three.

So let’s get down to the obligatory stats for 2015, in descending order:

Miles Flown
32086 (wow, lower than I expected but I guess Central America is closer than Asia)

Number of Nights Spent in Hotels/Lodges
33

Number of Flight Legs
26

Number of Missed Work Days
25 (I had a lot of comp time…I took maybe half of these days off work)

Number of Nights Dog Spent in Kennel
18 (sorry Toasty…we’ll do better in 2016)

Airlines Flown
6 (American, British Airways, United, Jet Blue, SafariLink, TACA)

Number of Days Pup Enjoyed with Dogsitter Extraordinaire
5

States Visited (> 2 Days)
5 (Virginia, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Florida)

Countries Visited
4 (Costa Rica, Jamaica, Kenya, Peru)

Number of Legs in Business Class
4

Number of Loyalty Statuses Held
3 (by year end: United, Marriott, Starwood)

Number of Times I Traveled Without DH
2

Number of Flight Delays > 1hr
2 (at DCA)

Number of Free Hotel or Flight Upgrades
1 (Hotel)

Number of Barf Bags Used
0 (This, for me, is shocking)

Number of Forced Bag Checks
0

Here’s to an exciting 2016! I’m going back (hopefully) to more routine posting after the holiday season is over. And let’s leave 2015 with some of my favorite memories (not favorite photos–choosing those is way too hard).

1. There are both two-toed and three-toed sloths. They actually are not that closely related (in completely different families). It is thought that they evolved separately (after a certain point of divergence, of course) into creatures with similar habits. Crazy, no?

2. Three-toed sloths can swim. Say what? Yes, these little fellas can swim, and swim well. I would die to see a swimming sloth.

3. Sloths (both three and two-toed) have weird numbers of cervical vertebrae. Three-toed sloths typically have nine, two-toed typically have five. This makes these animals a total anomaly in the mammal animal kingdom–other than manatees, all other mammals have seven cervical vertebrae.  Evolution does some funny things.

4. Two-toed sloths prefer to descend from trees head first.  Three-toed sloths prefer to descend feet first. Both obviously prefer trees, all the time, and rarely visit the earth (only to mate and to poop, I’ve heard).

5. And back to the vertebrae issue, three-toed sloths can actually turn their head up to 270 degrees due to their vertebral additions. I wish I could do that!

Do you like sloths?

2. Ema Dhatse (Bhutan)
Who can’t love a national dish that is like an extra hot queso but better? I’ve long been a fan of queso, so ema dhatse was an exciting find for me. I’m not sure where you can find ema dhatse outside of Bhutan, so if anyone has spotted the stuff on a menu, let me know. It’s very flavorful, with a tang and a zap of pepper. But it’s also really, really hot. I was barely dabbing it on a full plateful of rice and still chugging water. If you go to Bhutan, don’t be afraid to ask the chef to dumb it down–even those that are super tolerant of heat may have a hard time with a whole bowl of this deliciousness.  Is it a meal? A condiment? Probably a bit of both.

EMA DHATSE, BHUTAN

3. Pumpkin or Squash Soup (Tanzania)
I can be weird about food, and when we first went to Tanzania I totally turned up my nose at squash or pumpkin soup. Yes, I know this is not an inherently Tanzanian dish, that I could have ordered in many U.S. restaurants–but I wouldn’t have, until I tried it in Tanzania. It has quickly become a new favorite of mine, and I make it frequently in the winter. It doesn’t take much, and you can dress it up with some ginger, smoked paprika, garlic, or whatever you like. I think the pumpkin soup we had freshly cooked in the Serengeti will always hold a special place in my heart, but this has become a routine rotation in our home eating. Just please don’t put sugar on it…

4. Linzertorte (Austria)
A dessert person I am not, but Linzertorte is one of my favorites. It’s classically made with red currants, which give it this wonderful snappy tart taste with the sweeter dough. It’s definitely not overpowering, and is the perfect combination when you get it into one bite. I’ve also seen it with raspberries, which works just fine as long as too much sugar isn’t added to the berries. While I’ve perfected my raspberry pie (why does no one sell raspberry pie regularly….why), I have yet to tackle the beautiful lattice overlay found on a linzertorte. Someday.

5. Rondon (Costa Rica)
Rondon is one of those things that really just tastes better than it looks. If you get hung up on food appearance (and particularly color), rondon may not be right for you. It’s pretty much a fish/seafood stew, with some Caribbean spice added. We tried a few different restaurants in Costa Rica, and each put their own spin on it. Some added more crab–some added more crab legs that you couldn’t get the meat out of. Sometimes there was a lot of fish, sometimes there were more onions/broth. Nonetheless, grey school-lunch looking appearance aside, rondon is flavorful and delicious. A perfect soup, even for a hot day.

RONDON, COSTA RICA

What have you found when traveling that you love to eat?

We went with Florentino, a very popular local guide.  I think the cost was $30 or $35 per person, plus a tip if you enjoy the guided walk. Florentino is well known by locals and everyone at lodges/hotels–our hosts at Korrigan recommended we wait for Florentino rather than go with another guide on a different day. We thought the walk would be 2 hours or so, but Florentino spends essentially the entire morning with you–we started at 8:30 and were done around 1pm.

It is super muddy during the rainy season, particularly when it poured the day before for probably 6 hours. Fortunately, Florentino has you covered there too…he has rubber boots in nearly every size!  I definitely would highly recommend wearing the boots. Otherwise you will be one muddy mess.

Florentino starts at his house, where he has planted a crazy collection of trees, including starfruit! I’m a huge fan of starfruit, though after trying to eat one in my drink while I was there, I learned there are two types of starfruit. The sour varieties are typically smaller, and well, very very sour. They may be great for garnishes, but they certainly aren’t great for eating.

In Manzanillo there is also black sand on some of the beaches, which has iron in it. That makes it magnetic, which is pretty cool! Just probably not a great idea to drop your phone in it…

Florentino is really knowledgeable on all things Manzanillo, and is great at spotting things and knowing where to look.  My husband was pretty obsessed with finding a bullet ant (Paraponera clavata, which we did see) after Florentino warned us about them. Bullet ants are relatively common in much of the rainforests of Latin America, and while not fatal, can cause extreme, extreme pain for 24 hours throughout your entire body (yes, of course DH wanted to find one immediately).

If you are in Puerto Viejo or the area, Manzanillo is most definitely worth a stop, particularly if you are interested in flora and fauna! Here are some of our favorite creatures from the jungle hike/walk with Florentino! (Also, bring bug spray, the mozzies are ferocious in some of the wetter areas.)

Now, I’m not a huge snake person. I grew up with a healthy fear/awareness of rattlesnakes, since I saw both Mom and Dad chop the head off more than one with a shovel. Rattlesnakes are no good around dogs…or kids…or horses. But I’m not that scared of snakes, on land that is. Now, put me in water with a snake and you will see a girl that probably won’t ever enter that body of water (or any body of water) for a good 10 years.

My Mom spent lots of time in Baja, Mexico, and in our garage was the skin of a yellow-bellied sea snake. Of which I am now terrified. She has tried to convince me “they don’t have those there”, or “I never saw one”….to which I now say, “of course not, that skin just swam itself all the way from the Indian Ocean?” Speaking of all things crazy, check out WhyWasteAnnualLeave’s post and recent photo (just scroll down). Holy shit. That’s all I can say. And that I will likely never, ever snorkel there.  Yes, I realize this fear is totally irrational, thanks.

Back to Manzanillo.

It takes a 20-30 minutes of wandering and looking at things to get from Manzanillo, the town, to Gandoca Manzanillo, the wildlife refuge. Florentino, our guide, stopped all of us (we were in a group of 5), as soon as we got to the entrance, and had to move from a wide walking trail to a path. “Look, if you are going to fall, you fall on the ground. Ok? You do NOT grab a tree. There are a lot of eyelash pit vipers and you won’t see the brown ones. So you grab on a tree–which isn’t a tree–and they bite. Do we all understand?”

We got it. It’s strange how second nature it is to grab on to a tree when you are losing your balance…needless to say, Florentino’s words rang through my head every time I slipped in the mud. But seriously…how many pit vipers is one really going to see? Snakes are so hard to find sometimes.  However, eyelash pit vipers are pretty common in the jungle and we saw quite a few. From a beautiful yellow, to a crystal green, to yup–one that completely blended in on the tree. They are incredibly pretty to look at–from afar, of course. Unless you are my husband, who may not have a particularly healthy sense of snake-fear. He kept trying to get closer…and closer…and closer.

Eyelash Pit Viper (Yes, I’m Using My Zoom)

A Little Eyelash Pit Viper

I Blend In! Don’t Grab Me…

The most poisonous snake in Costa Rica is the Fer de Lance. When you read about the Fer de Lance, it inspires a healthy caution. Most snakes: you don’t bother them, they don’t bother you. Now the Fer de Lance can be a bit territorial, and is known to be unpredictable and a wee bit agressive. So, while I was looking forward to seeing lots of things in Manzanillo, I wasn’t really looking forward to seeing a Fer de Lance.

So, Florentino starts walking slowly and poking around in trunks and leaves. Slowly and slowly…pretty soon he turns around and says “so, the last few times, there has been a huge Fer de Lance here. But I don’t see him today. Sometimes I walk past him and the third person sees him, but that hasn’t happened yet either.” I couldn’t decide which was worse–to not see him (and therefore not know where he was), or to see him right beside the trail. Either way, it was too close for comfort.  As we continued walking, I started to think that we weren’t going to see a Fer de Lance in the jungle.

And then we happened upon a baby. He was not particularly happy. Even with my zoom I really couldn’t get a good shot. As he went off the trail a bit, Florentino told us we could come a bit closer. But I was good. DH on the other hand, hopped off the trail and went to snap pictures of the Fer de Lance. So thanks to DH for the Fer de Lance photo! He doesn’t even have much zoom on his camera, but he still got some good photos.

DH’s Fer de Lance

We also saw one cute little harmless snake; DH must really like snakes, as they had a little bonding session. He didn’t mind being held and didn’t really try to escape. I’m sure there are far more of these cute little fellows in the forest than the Fer de Lance.

Happy (or at Least Not Angry) Salmon Bellied Racer

I’ve never seen so many snakes in the wild–in fact, I’ve never really seen any snakes when I’ve traveled except for a black mamba in Zimbabwe, which was quite far away. That’s probably a good thing. I’m all about leaving snakes where they be and enjoying their pictures in wildlife guide books, really. But it was a great deal of fun to see all these snakes on our hike in Manzanillo (thanks Florentino!).  Those eyelash pit vipers are truly stunningly bright.

Have you seen snakes in the jungle or on safari? What kind?

Why We Chose the Caribbean: We chose the Caribbean coast rather than the Pacific because we wanted less people, no huge resorts, and the possibility of some snorkeling. We were interested in something a bit more off the beaten path. Though I get the impression that not much in Costa Rica is really off the beaten path, at least not when you compare to other countries in both Central America and the rest of the world.

I would be remiss in noting, as we experienced, that snorkeling in Costa Rica is hit or miss around Puerto Viejo due to both currents and murky water due to weather/rain.  None of the tours offshore were running due to the rough surf when we were there (and hadn’t been for a few weeks).

Where to Stay: Once we had settled on the Caribbean coast, I started looking for a place to stay.  Initially, I was really interested in Banana Azul in Puerto Viejo, in part due to the fact that they had an operator on-site to run snorkeling tours.  There are a bajillion people on TripAdvisor asking about Banana Azul, and what it’s like, so it’s pretty easy to get impressions from both the reviews and the forums.

I’m sure Banana Azul is a great fit for many people, but I didn’t think it was a great fit for us due to some of the reviews about the lack of privacy between the rooms, including some shared balconies, etc.  I’m not trying to turn people away from Banana Azul by any means, but it wasn’t the type of experience we were looking for: more secluded, no need for any services (Banana Azul has food/drink service on the beach), and more glamping.

Choosing a Lodge: So many reviews on TripAdvisor about jungle lodges stretching from Cahuita to Manzanillo are negative, so I was getting worried.  I’m not one of those people that go by the overall rating; I carefully read a lot of reviews, good, mediocre, and ugly. I read reviews from people who travel a lot, and I focus on things that I know I do/don’t like. For example, thin towels and inconsistent hot water really bug me. But I totally laugh at/disregard silly complaints about having the occasional gecko in the room when you are in the jungle. And I don’t do dirt. In rooms. By that I mean human dirt, I’m not squeamish about leaves and such. Ending tangent/ramble.

Geckoes Lodge had great reviews, but it was a bit beyond what we wanted to spend. I looked at Le Cameleon, but it seemed like we could stay at a place like this in Europe, and we wanted something more “Costa Rica-ish” for lack of a better word.  So the one place I kept coming back to was Korrigan Lodge.

Korrigan Lodge: Korrigan has great reviews, and deservedly so. Yup, there are bugs–but no mosquitoes, which is really my concern. And for goodness sake, you are in the jungle: there will be bugs. The breakfast is delicious, the bungalows are clean, and the towels are fluffy. It’s set back into the jungle a bit, and they did a fantastic job at not disturbing the canopy, so there are lots of howler monkeys, iguanas, birds, etc.

I’m Five Feet Long and Just Fell Twenty Feet From a Tree–But Don’t Fret, I’m Still a Fine Iguana

Ingrid and Erwan (the owners) will help you arrange whatever you want (like a hike in Manzanillo), and give you suggestions on food, etc.  We came out the first day to see a baby sloth crawling on a branch just in front of the breakfast area!  The breakfast is more than I could ever eat, and filled me up for most of the day which is really nice.

Our Awesome Little Bungalow At Korrigan Lodge

Tourists/Atmosphere: After driving through Puerto Viejo on the way to Korrigan, I was SO thankful that we were farther away. Puerto Viejo has lots of people, and lots of tourists. And lots of “free souls” and rastafarians. If you know me, you can only think….that is definitely NOT somewhere Heather would want to spend time. It can be loud, with lots of music and plenty of drunk/high people, even at 6pm. In fact that initial impression turned us off so much we chose not to go back and visit. Sorry Puerto Viejo.

Instead, we stuck to Cocles, Punta Uva, and Manzanillo. Sure, there are some tourists around but not that many, particularly the farther you go from Puerto Viejo. There are a lot of locals enjoying the beaches. Oh, except the mal-dressed, shoeless, individuals going to work on the organic farm in Manzanillo. I’m not making fun of poor people–these were travelers/free-spirits/whatever.  (To each their own Heather, to each their own).

Beaches: I definitely think the beaches are the best either north of Puerto Viejo or around Punta Uva. I can vouch that the beach near Punta Uva is absolutely stunningly gorgeous and clean. It is that beach you see on a postcard. No one ever tried to sell us anything the entire time we were there. We never felt unsafe. Manzanillo is much busier and not as clean as Punta Uva.

Absolutely Beautiful Punta Uva

Overall: If you are looking for quiet time, some seclusion/privacy, more nature, and a relaxed vacation without nightlife, I’d strongly suggest Punta Uva and Korrigan. Puerto Viejo isn’t far if you want to visit, and there is plenty to eat within biking distance of Punta Uva. If you are looking for friends/socialization, fellow partiers, drugs, or lots of late-nights, head to Puerto Viejo.

Hope this is helpful! Happy to answer questions about Korrigan or Punta Uva as we really enjoyed our time there.

Our itinerary was flexible, due to high surf and chance of rain: I think this is key for visiting. While you can make tentative plans, make sure you can switch around your activities if needed. Fortunately, most things don’t require much advance booking (maybe the night before).

Note on snorkeling: We really wanted to go off of Cahuita, as it’s one of the more recommended snorkeling spots. Unfortunately, tours were completely cancelled and had been cancelled for some time due to the rough surf. Be prepared for unwelcoming sea conditions in this area; we knew it was a risk when we booked. And if you are surfer, you obviously have the opposite concern!

Here we go!

Arrive: Kind hosts drive us to eat at El Refugio (because it’s downpouring) and I discover the best octopus ever. Immediately dream of going back.

Day 1. If you are traveling from the United State via San Jose, it’s hard to get to Punta Uva much before 6pm (unless Nature Air opens up more flights from San Jose into Limon). So we had a relaxing morning on Day 1. Headed to Punta Uva Beach and spent the entire morning into the afternoon playing in the waves. Stopped at tiny tienda for some beer (even Costa Rican beer is close to $10 for a six-pack).  Hiked/slid in the mud around Punta Uva (the actual point, behind the beach) and saw a sloth hanging on a tree high above the cliffs! Ate Caribbean food at Selvin’s, just down the road.

Just Hanging Here.

Day 2. Head to Jaguar Rescue Center for 9:30 tour, which lasts about two hours. After the tour ends, it was almost lunchtime, so stopped at La Casita Azul for some real Spanish paella made by a wonderful chef de Espana. Rolled home slowly on the single-speeder, put on a suit, and headed to the beach for the rest of the afternoon. Returned to El Refugio and obviously ordered the exact same thing: pulpo (octopus)!

This Paella was Legit. And Gone in 10 Minutes Flat.

Day 3. Tried to go to Manzanillo to take a hike and see wildlife. Biked to Manzanillo….in the rain. Guide says to postpone. Biked home…in the rain. Tried to dry in the jungle (impossible) and read for 3 hours until rain stopped. Headed to beach! Snorkeling actually strangely decent today–DH saw lots of fish, include sergeant majors, stoplight fish, and urchins. Head back to Selvin’s for some Caribbean lobster. Try the Caribbean style…absolutely delicious.

Not Belize, but Not Bad!

Day 4. Go back to Manzanillo, for a hike we thought was going to be 2 hours. End up spending 5 hours in the jungle with Florentino. Forever fear accidentally grabbing on to an eyelash pit viper nearly invisible on a tree. Grabbed a beer at Maxi’s before the bike ride home. Too rough for good snorkeling around Punta Uva, but worth a hop in the waves. Relaxed at the beach with Bassam (the dog), and did more reading. Pit-stopped at Chocolart’s cafe, for a fruit smoothie and brownie (good!). Headed to Jungle Love, for a delicious last dinner! Ate the Tokyo Tuna and a shrimp pizza. And some weird, coffee, cream, alcoholic milkshake that was amazing.

I Drink the Dark. DH Drinks the Gold. Obviously?

Depart: Leave Korrigan Lodge on the shuttle at 6am…which turned out to be the transfer from hell due to a mudslide on the main road. Thanked DH who demanded I put on a motion sickness patch the night before.

And, of course, return to winter.

We loved our time in Costa Rica and would definitely return.

Have you been to Punta Uva/Puerto Viejo/Manzanillo? What did you think?

I’m a sucker for animals. In fact, it’s a running joke that I only show affection to horses and dogs. So it should be no real surprise that an entire blog post is devoted to a dog.

Bassam, that is.

The Korrigan Lodge, where we stayed in Punta Uva, is owned by Ingrid and Erwan, who have a dog named Bassam.  Bassam’s name appears in many a TripAdvisor review, and when I was looking for a place to stay in the area, I sort of rolled my eyes. No dog could be that great. They must be exaggerating. Throwing in little white lies.

And now I’m writing an entire blog post about Bassam.

(Fodor’s 2015 guide book kindly notes as a con of the Korrigan Lodge “dogs not for everyone”. Fair enough–they aren’t. But he’s the sort of dog that pretty much ignores people who don’t want company and goes to those who do, and not obnoxious or pestering if you are on the fence).

Bassam loves to go to the beach. I know a lot of dogs like to go to the beach. But Bassam loves to go with YOU to the beach. And by YOU, I mean any guest on his property. He waits in the morning for someone to invite him (if you tell him to stay, he does). Then he leads the way, checking back periodically to make sure you are keeping up which you are surely not.

Once on the beach, you (and your stuff) are under Bassam’s care. He watches you, and your things when you are in the water, barking at any passerby that strays too close, and barking at you if he thinks you’ve been in the water maybe a bit too long (or he wants attention). He’s also happy to do a bit of body surfing and rolling in the sand, of course.

He’s also a teensy bit–strike that–very jealous. We had another sweet beach dog visit us. He only wanted pets and to curl up within arm’s reach, but Bassam wouldn’t allow it. It was sweet, even if a wee bit overprotective.

We took Bassam to the beach almost every day. He won us over (sorry, Toasty, we still love you the most of course), and of all the things we loved about Costa Rica, going to the beach with Bassam nears the top of the list.

Thanks, Bassam (and Korrigan Lodge).

I had seriously considered staying in Puerto Viejo, which is pretty hoppin’ these days. But as we drove through on the first day heading toward Punta Uva, I knew I made the right choice staying in Punta Uva instead.

Puerto Viejo is great if you are single, looking to party, and being around lots of 20 and 30  somethings taking a break from “real life”. It’s loud, it’s rowdy, and it sort of reminds me of Chiang Mai in a very Central American way. That is most definitely NOT what we were looking for.  There is one pretty nice hotel (Le Cameleon) that might fit the bill if you are looking for luxury, but in general, there isn’t much of that either.

The farther you get from Puerto Viejo, the quieter things are. Once you get to Cocles and Playa Chiquita, there are restaurants lining the street and great beach access, and you definitely see more and more families as well as more Costa Ricans enjoying their beautiful coast. It seems there are more Europeans and less Americans on this side of Costa Rica.

We stayed at the Korrigan Lodge, which was amazing. Korrigan is smack dab between Cocles and Manzanillo, making it about a 30 minute bike ride to both (leisurely bike ride at that). Korrigan has four small bungalows, gracious French owners, and a dog named Bassam that quickly won us over. They don’t have a restaurant, but a delicious breakfast is included.

Food is delicious…but not cheap. Even in grocery stores, stuff is expensive. Obviously produce and fruit like bananas are not, since they grow like weeds in Costa Rica. But if you want to eat at restaurants, be prepared–while the food is typically good to great, we were surprised to spend $60 on dinner almost every night. I’m sure you could go to cheaper places in Puerto Viejo, but in Punta Uva (and surrounding area), this was pretty much the going rate.

Be flexible–it rains a lot! While we generally lucked out with only one half day of rain, it pours at night. Technically January is the rainy season for the Caribbean, rain is still pretty common most of the year. It was a good excuse to finish a book.

All in all, the Caribbean coast was a wonderful place for us. It’s one of the few places that both DH and I decided we would like to return. It’s enough off the beaten path to still be authentic and quiet, while being developed enough to have common luxuries (good roads, wifi, etc).

And the sloth obsession has only just begun….

I can’t believe it’s only been a year since we were in Belize last January–time flies.

We are headed to the Punta Uva area on the Caribbean coast. I’m so excited to explore somewhere new, speak Spanish allthetimenoexcuses and enjoy some relaxing on the beach.
We chose the Caribbean coast for it’s relative remoteness and lack of lots of resorts. I’m sure it will be relatively busy this time of year, but I’ve read there are always lots of empty beaches to explore and enjoy.

I am beyond excited for my chances at sloth sightings. I’m totally obsessed with perisosos, and can’t wait to just stare at them awkwardly taking a billion pictures. Hi little slothies (said in creepy Home Alone guy voice)…DH is much more into tree frogs, and lucky for him, there should be plenty of those as well.

With some luck, the snorkeling may be decent off Cahuita. If it’s not, we may opt for some surfing, as neither of us have ever surfed before! Since I do snowboard, I’m eager to try it to out-do/out-splash/out-ride my husband in a bout of competitiveness. There also might be some hiking through the National Park or other outdoorsy activities–not sure what all is in store, and unlike many of our trips, I haven’t planned this one out in crazy detail.
I didn’t even buy a guide book! (I love collecting guide books).

We have four days to enjoy the area, so if you have any recommendations, please chime in!