finally got to cartago and chose the most ghetto hostel in town. please all go and stay in hotel dynastia and find out for urselves ;)....naaaahhh, i'll give you the info anyways...here we go: 1. there's deffo no windows. 2. walls are basically non-existent. 3. if you're wondering: the shower does indeed electrocute you. 4. this is where every tico goes to get some. no, not just some: a LOT. ok. so now u're in the know, too. checked out volcán irázu. sucked, don't go there. just a crater, look it up in ur little picture book!
hopped on a bus to turrialba, an area known for its great rafting possibilities. busride was - fortunately - relatively short, but, again, absolutely wonderful! i still cannot believe how every time we reach another area we get to enjoy a completely different landscape. got into hotel interamericano, again, being the only ones there (plus pretty much the only tourists in town, it's hilarious). us, the ticos and the terrential downpours...
today we went white-water rafting on the río pacuare. according to lonny p this is arguably the most scenic rafting in cr, if not central america. and i fully FULLY agree. o my word, it was one solid ride (tho too bad the beginner's one, i'm so excited about going again sometime from the upper pacuare): 28 km through rocky gorges and isolated canyons, past an indigenous village (and those little kids you read about in books - on their little treeboats in not so much clothing). it was amazing, even more so since we were adviced to take a local agency (tico's, don't go w/ any other organisation or u'll be punished sitting in a boat with 4 other tourists and at least 3 other boats floating nearby). it was just the two of us, two trainee-rafters and the first rafter. plus the photographer, who was constantly trying to pull stunts in his kayak and failed miserably trying..hehehe... anyways, we were pretty much the only ones on the river and made absolute SICK rafters according to our tico friends. all i can say is: i want to go again!!! we even got to witness some rafterstraining: bootcamp...the tico-way. who can say that? seriously, my trip in costa rica is sooooo cultural anthropology!!!!
