In La Fortuna, there used to be a little brewpub just out of the main part of town. On the right hand side of the road as you head toward Arenal. Pretty good, worth a stop.
Also, try Bavaria Negra instead of Imperial. All CR's mass-produced beers pretty bad, Imperial the worst though.
We're in Tamarindo now. I agree Imperial kinda sucks. I like Bavaria Gold. Haven't tried Negra yet. The drive around Arenal and Lago Arenal was incredible.
Nothing beats places like the American and Canadian West or Patagonia though. It's beautiful down here but it's just 90 shades of green. I'm not sure how much subject matter you can milk out of that.
Sounds like a lot of excuses! I do agree though, central America isn't gonna produce too many awe inspiring landscape photos. Fortunately there are other forms of photography out there
Also the forum will probably enjoy the fun 4x4 adventure I recently had down near the Darien Gap in Panama. As always it was stupid non-chalant parking, and then escalating dumb decisions. I wound up in the ditch at probably 40 degrees (ignore my commentary in the video, I was confused):
It rains so much, that ground is like the softest mushiest sod. Basically at some point I got pissed and just decided to back up as fast as I could in the ditch. Which ended up clanging against the drain and getting me fully stuck. But on the plus side I did re-dredge their ditch for them. Luckily a propane delivery driver watched the whole thing and immediately pulled me out with the help of my come along strap.
For the record - I was wrong about the right/left attitude. I was looking at forward/back roll. Looking at those pics the right/left was easily 30 degrees. Also as far as me being bitchy about Dan's interview technique - he'd been getting on me for being a dead interviewee. Which is true. Just saying there's history. Here's their blog btw: https://www.facebook.com/endofallroads/
We ended up drinking mucho cervezas with the guy who pulled me out, and staying at his hospedaje (cheap hotel) down the road, where be BBQed for us. And we saw the end of the Pan-Am highway in Yaviza - where it turns into a footbridge and then impenetrable jungle after that. Fun day.
The tree restaurant in Monteverde! Thanks for the memory, Suzzer. Hope getting the car on the boat to SA goes well and you both get back together quickly sand safely.
My last two Panama posts are up. These have the longer stories of checking out the edge of the Darien Gap, and crossing the Panama Canal in a small sailboat - really cool experience.
Just read the whole thread and many of the blog post and I enjoyed that a lot, what an experience!
May I ask why you decided to go back to L.A. and if you still want to do the rest of the trip?
1) My foot can't do more than 1 day of hiking and I really want to do a lot of multi-day treks in S.A. - like the Inca Trail, Lost City Trail, Patagonia treks. I want to come back when I'm ready.
2) My renter was moving out Aug 1 - and I didn't want to be completely broke when I got back.
3) 7 months is a great trip. The trick is just somehow getting that much time off every few years.
I'm back in my condo, second day at work on a new job. The whole trip seems like a dream. I almost have to remind myself it actually happened.
Good luck with the new job and transitioning back to "real life". While the desire to not be broke is likely a very effective motivator, it's not uncommon for people who've experienced the freedom of long-term travel to find it hard to re-acclimate to the monotony of "normal" everyday life.
Good day to all! I also love South America very much. Ranging from people, music and the atmosphere to natural beauty, colors and unusual travel routes! Now I am planning my longest journey by car that will start in early January. I am looking for useful applications on the phone that can help. Regarding the compilation of the route, maps, etc I found https://us.maptons.com here, but other. Maybe about languages I am looking for your recomemdation=)
Yeah I'm planning to quit sometime next year and head to South America, then probably Australia/New Zealand - then maybe the rest of the world. I want to see the whole world slowly - like I saw Mexico and Central America. Having the vehicle makes it a different trip with more adventure and chance to see more out of the way things than the backpacker routes.
I'm writing a travel memoir about leg 1 right now.
Bumping this thread in case the forum suddenly disappears. I'm about 4/5ths of the way through the first draft of the book.
The main theme of my book is the great Mesoamerican civilizations that most American high school history classes spend a day on, if that. But also a ton of the recent history of Central America (with CIA ****ery) is becoming a co-theme. The rest is me eating stuff and getting into stupid foibles. if you've ever read a Bill Bryson travel memoir or say Walk in the Woods - it's based on that format - hopefully funny, compelling and informative.
If anyone is interested in a discounted book when they come out - PM me your contact into (email, instagram handle, whatever) - and I'll put you on the list for when it comes out.
Or check in with http://ushuaiaorbust.com/ - I'll have a new blog entry when the book is ready. Unfortunately I never got the mailing list working. But if you sign up as a subscriber I will get your email that way. Just put some 2+2 indicator in your username so I can distinguish from all the spambots.