Finishing with friends

Fifteen years ago I came over to the USA on my first ever year away.  I was 18, had never been on a long flight before and saw the year as the biggest adventure of my life so far!  That year change my life and ignited my passion for travel.  I lived with an American family taking care of the twin girls.  Today, I am still friends with the family and usually make the hope over the ocean once a year to visit.  The twins are now 15 which makes me feel quite old! 

So that is how I have ended my year of travel, back where it all started 15 years ago.  We took our usual trip to the mall for some shopping but also ventured further north to the outlets this year.  My love of shopping is always well fueled here as Delaware has tax free shopping so it's always a little cheaper, which of course means, you can buy more things!!  We also visited the gym for a Zumba class and swim.  Supporting Kelsey at a hockey game and watching movies filled the evenings easily.

With all of our purchases after the
first trip to the mall.



Smiles all round after a fun Zumba
class with Jen!

After a lovely visit with my friends in Pennsylvania, I hopped on the bus to New York to catch up with my other American friend.


Maura and I met 5 years ago in Australia when we were both nannies in Sydney and have stayed friends ever since.  This year was an extra exciting visit as she is pregnant with twins!!  (The fact that both my American friends will then have twins is kind of funny!)


Here's what I got up to in New York...

Maura and I visited Wave Hill Gardens and
listened to a great Blue Grass band.

Met Minnie and Mickey mouse
in Times Square.

Went to see Mary Poppins and Sister Act
on Broadway.

Wandered around the museum of modern art.

These are the booties I bought in
Guatemala for Maura's babies!

And now the year is over, the blog is finished and it's time to go home.  Here are a few facts about it...

• Weeks away - 47
• Countries visited - 13
• Flights taken - 20
• Books read - 49
• Mile travelled - many thousand!
• Favourite Spanish word - ferreteria (which means hardware store!)
• Favourite countries visited - New Zealand and Guatemala
• Favourite food eaten - sweet plantain throughout Central America

I have had an amazing time this year and in many ways this has been the best of the three separate years that I have spent travelling around the world.  As always, I have the next destinations in my mind and plans are already being laid for the next holidays.  Now it's time to start a new chapter by moving to Colombia and teaching in an International School.  It's time to be a normal person who goes on holiday for 2/3 weeks, well in theory anyway!!

Farewell Costa Rica, farewell Central America

With the final week of volunteering finished, I said a very sad farewell to Lorena, Jorge and Mariela.  I had so appreciated everything that they had done for me over the four weeks and enjoyed living with them so much.  Talking to Lorena really helped me get more confident in speaking Spanish and I loved joking with her and Jorge!  I couldn't have wished for a better, nicer family to have had the pleasure of living with.


With 6 days left in Costa Rica I headed back to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean coast.  It had been a place that I had really enjoyed visiting previously and there were a few things in and around that area that I didn't have time to do before.  Arriving Saturday morning, I got a bed (forked out the extra expensive of having my own room as it's so much nicer!) in a lovely hostel, unpacked and managed to kill about 8 mosquitoes in the room within 15 minutes.  Spotting a few more, I ventured to the supermarket in search of 'Raid', the wonderful stuff that kills mosquitoes.  Interpreting what I could of the Spanish instructions, I sprayed the room and then vacated for the recommended 30 minutes.  On my return, the floor of my room resembled what can only be described as a mosquito graveyard!!  About 50 dead mosquitoes decorated the floor.  Having successfully ridded my room of the dreaded bugs (both alive and dead, and knowing that I would then sleep soundly each night) I went out for a stroll around town and found that this time round it was much quieter with much less people but still had the relaxed Caribbean charm and laid back feel.

The marvellous, mosquito killing 'Raid'!

With each afternoon of the 3 days I had there spent relaxing, reading and interneting, I made the most of the mornings and on Sunday rented a bike and cycled the 12km down to Manzanillo.  Jo, Amy and I had previously made it half way, to Punta Uva, but I wanted to explore a bit further.  The cycle ride was pleasant and relaxing, taking my own pace along the flat, gently windy road that lead through the dense jungle.  I stopped at Punta Uva (definitely the prettiest beach along this stretch of coastline) for a rest and stroll before carrying on down to Manzanillo.  I discovered a crowded, long expanse of beach and a few restaurants.  A leisurely lunch delayed the 12km ride back to Puerto Viejo.

Wildlife on the cycle ride
down to Manzanillo.

Playa Manzanillo.

Monday morning I ventured further north to the Aviarios del Caribe.  A sloth sanctuary where orphaned and injured sloths are taken care of and where possible released back into the wild.  Every since my first sloth encounter in Brazil in 2007 I have loved these adorable mammals and wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to get up close to them.  The sanctuary had both the 2 fingered and 3 toed sloth varieties at a variety of ages.  The babies were by far the cutest and although the 2 fingered blonde sloths are cute, I totally adore the 3 toed sloths.  They are always smiling, have the cutest little noses and groovy patches around their eyes.  The tour was informative and interesting and I loved that fact that I could watch the sloths for as long as I wanted.

Posing with the sign!

'Sylvana' having a weigh in.

Seriously, I just adore the cuteness!!

With 3 days completed, I decided to head back to San Jose to escape the humid heat and vicious mosquitos and spend my last day taking a tour of Volcan Poas.  There are so many volcanoes in this part of the world and this one is very easy to visit that I thought it would make good use of my last day.  The tour that I took arrived at 10am and I had read in the Lonely Planet that it clouds over around then, so I briskly walked to the main crater and luckily got a really good view.  The crater was pretty spectacular, with a bright turquoise pool of steaming water.  I was glad I made the visit, although think it would have been better if I'd had the achievement of hiking up to the top rather than being driven.

The impressive crater of Volcan Poas.

Central America has always a part of the world that I had wanted to visit and my four months here has not disappointed in the slightest.  I have had the pleasure of travelling with friends, begun the long, tricky road to learning a new language, discovered a serious liking for plantains, seen beautiful scenery and met friendly locals.  Along with the walking that I did in New Zealand, this has been my favourite part of the entire year away.


I leave Costa Rica tomorrow, heading to the USA for the last 12 days of my year away.