On the Subject of Super Moons
Won herself a pass to some far off moon
It was second class but what’s to lose
Tar Creek Hike, Sespe Wilderness
I woke up with a wild hair this morning & decided it was high time for a new adventure! So we packed up the backpack and headed out to Fillmore, CA to check out the Tar Creek waterfall hike. Generally, I can make & execute plans pretty well, but this was not one of those times. The directions I had on my phone seemed good enough, but they really explained nothing & since I didn’t have a signal, we were lost 80% of the time. We fumbled our way all over the back country and never even found the purpose of the trip: the waterfall. FAIL. Better luck next time?
Getting the Lay of the Land
We rented bikes from Banana Azul and went exploring first thing the next morning. The town of Puerto Viejo is probably 2km from the hotel, but you can ride all the way to the end of the road at Manzanillo – about 20km one way. (Which we did on this day!) We were really hoping to go snorkeling, but as we rode around it was obvious that the ocean wasn’t in snorkeling condition: fast sets on rough seas… Either way, we had enough to keep us occupied with beach scouting and scoping out the little shops along the way.
Travel Day: La Fortuna to Puerto Viejo on Interbus
The drive from La Fortuna to Puerto Viejo takes approx 5 hours, so we were picked up by the Interbus bright & early to set out on the road. Since all of the roads are two-lanes and not very good for passing, when a semi drove across our lane and landed in the ditch, it added an extra two hours onto our drive. The joys of the road!
La Fortuna Waterfall
After another fantastic breakfast at Hotel Arenal Manoa, we took a cab over to check out the La Fortuna waterfall (approx $15 each way). Apparently I was too excited to read anything about this hike and just jumped straight to the photos, because I didn’t know about the major stairmaster workout ahead of us.
Afternoon at the Hanging Bridges
We arranged for a tour over to the Hanging Bridges in the afternoon & two other couples from our hotel went along with us… we had all been at the pool together all morning so we were fast friends!
Morning by the Pool at Arenal Volcano
We woke up with the sun at 5:30am and promptly jumped out of bed to take thousands of photos of Arenal in all of its morning glory. Waking up with a view of a volcano is pretty surreal, especially with such a crazy hellacious day of travel trying to get there. Where am I?!
Virgin Atlantic Flights First Class
To London & Back – Upper Class on Virgin Atlantic
The only thing I could have wished for on this flight that it was going to South Africa – flying with a bed is the way to travel! I was headed to London to watch a Chelsea vs. Arsenal game and spend a little free time in the city, so I got in touch with a couple people who knew some people and next thing I knew I was checking into the first class cabin on my way to LHR. The food was nice, the drinks were better, but the bed was best!
White Shark Projects, South Africa
One of the most exhilarating experiences I’ve had to date: shark diving!
I woke up in Hermanus before dawn and drove the long, dark stretch of road over to Kleinbaai to meet up with the White Shark Projects team for a morning dive. Even the drive there seemed a little eerie, with bicyclists and people on foot popping up out of the darkness on the side of the road, making the drive pretty harrowing. I was lost in thought imagining all sorts of scary shark scenarios and they were forcing me to pay attention to the road! Thanks for keeping me present, roadside people.
Rovos Rail – Cape Town to Pretoria, South Africa
Last spring I took the luxurious Rovos Rail from Cape Town to Pretoria, traveling across the Karoo with pitstops in Matjiesfontein and Kimberley. The trip took two days, slowly traversing the vast and varied land that is South Africa. We embarked from the station in Cape Town midday and made it to Matjiesfontein by sunset, which created a pretty stunning backdrop for the train! Matjiesfontein is a random little town without much going on, but it was fun to explore and get a drink at the local pub.
