Journal by Justin Mounts

Hello everyone,

Today is the 43rd day of the LONGITUDE expedition. It’s hard to believe we’ve been gone for a month and a half and that Christmas is 12 days away. We are continuing through Costa Rica, on our way to Panama and the Wallenius Wilhelmsen ship that will take us to our second continent and our eighth country. This morning, we met Michael Cranford, a local artist and rain forest conservationist for breakfast and a hike at his house. Michael has purchased and helped preserve approximately 200 acres of primary and secondary rain forest. During the hike, Mike pointed out many of the animals that are regularly found in the rain forest. We were lucky enough to see both toucans and scarlet macaws. These birds are not only beautiful because of their multi-colored plumage, but also because they are so graceful when they fly. The toucans were perched near the top of a papaya tree where they could easily access the fruit for food, and the scarlet macaws were incredible to watch, as they would swoop across the sky effortlessly. Surrounding the house, Mike has added feeding perches for monkeys. They are simple platforms mounted to the trees where he leaves bunches of bananas gathered from trees in his lawn. It is not uncommon, he said, for monkeys to come right up next to the house to eat the bananas both in the morning and in the evening. Unfortunately, we did not see any monkeys today, and Mike swears we are his first visitors to have that happen.

The Peninsula de Osa contains the second largest area of biodiversity, second only to the Amazon Rain Forest. The majority of the peninsula is contained in the Corcovado National Park. Through Mike, we were invited to a meeting for the International Campaign of the Conservation of the Osa Peninsula. The International Campaign for the Conservation of the Osa is a multi-institutional effort to raise funds for biodiversity conservation in the Osa Peninsula, in Costa Rica. Organizations participating in the campaign include the CR-USA Foundation (CR-USA), the Ministry of the Environment of the Government of Costa Rica (MINEA), Conservation International (CI), and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), together with local partners. The Campaign seeks to raise $31.5 million to consolidate protected areas, create biological corridors, and work with communities, local organizations and private landowners on the conservation of forests and wildlife on private lands. We joined approximately 50 local land and business owners to discuss the problems facing conservation efforts in Costa Rica. During this two-hour meeting, we met with Alvaro Ugalde, the Director of the Osa Conservation Area. He informed us that the greatest threats to the region are illegal forest cutting for the purpose of wood production and illegal hunting of large game animals, such as the puma. It was a very interesting meeting that allowed us to participate in a forum discussion on how the citizens of Costa Rica can band together to ensure that this unique natural habitat can be preserved and enjoyed for generations to come. Alvaro, we came to find out, is the man singularly responsible for the creation of Corcovado National Park.

After the meeting concluded, we were introduced to “Crazy” Mike Boston, an Irishman who was born in Trinidad/Tobago. Mike is a renowned biologist and conservationist, and he is famous for taking groups on nighttime tours to find crocodiles in the lowland waters. Mike invited us to join him for a night hunt. Everyone went to their vehicles to grab headlamps and flashlights to follow Mike into the swamp. It was incredible! Within ten minutes, we had seen over a dozen crocodiles ranging from 3 feet in length to 8 feet in length. At one point, we were even feeding the crocodiles from the shore. The largest one was no more than 3 feet away from us at the edge of the water. Mike taught us that the best way to spot a crocodile in the dark is to shine a beam of light right along the top of a body of water. If you are patient, you will see the reflection of the crocodile’s eyes glowing in the distance. After spending about an hour spotting crocodiles, raccoons, and other things that go bump in the night, we returned to Mike’s house to prepare for tomorrow’s drive. It’s our last border crossing in Central America—to Panama, and you know what that means…up at 4:45 and on the road at 6:00.

I hope you are all well.

Justin
Justin@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 13th
Start: Puerto Jiminez, Costa Rica
Finish: Sombra de la Lapa, Costa Rica
N: 8* 33.060'
W: 83* 23.442'
Mileage: 8
Notes: Team toured primary and secondary rain forest. Attended meeting with
the International Campaign for the Conservation of the Osa.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

[Above: Drive Around the World Land Rovers are parked at a dealership in San Jose, where they underwent some routine maintenance.]

Journal by Nancy Olson

The team had an early start today, because today is Drive Around the World vehicle maintenance day at Land Rover San Jose. That’s right, we drove for forty-one days, only to end up right where we started: San Jose (Costa Rica, that is.).

We arrived at the dealership at about 7:30 in the morning and were greeted by an enthusiastic and excited staff of employees. They had the entire mechanics’ bay cleared and ready for us.

Todd had a list of items that needed to be addressed for each vehicle. It was basically routine stuff, such as condition the windshield wipers, adjust the headlights, balance the tires, and check the brakes and fluids. Our next opportunity for service would be Chile, and we wanted to make sure everything was good to go. The Number One thing you learn at a Land Rover driving course is “vehicle preservation.” These vehicles have to get us all the way around the world, and we depend on them for everything. They are our most important equipment, and we treat them well. Not surprisingly, they have performed swimmingly. After all, they are Land Rovers; they were born and bred for this sort of stuff.

We stayed at Land Rover all day, and we were just blown away by the hospitality extended to us, especially by Rodolfo Echeverria, the chief of Land Rover Café, whose office is co-located with the service center. He worked extra hard to ensure we had everything we needed, and he even helped us with non-Land Rover errands, such as buying an inverter and picking up a package at customs. He is absolutely amazing, and I’m privileged to be able to call him my friend.

Rodolfo is a man who has found his true passion and is now making a living doing what he loves. He knows and understands the science and the art of producing the finest coffee in the world. His family has been in the business for more than 100 years. He is a go-getter, and I admire people with his integrity and work ethic. He’s what I refer to as “good people.” You should read more about Rodolfo and our trip to the coffee plantation at our education website.

At around 6:00 p.m., we were overdue at a reception at Motores Britanicos, which is the Land Rover building that houses the dealership. It’s located only about six kilometers from the service center in San Jose. Well, it was rush hour, and that six kilometers took almost an hour to drive. I was having a blast, though, because driving in San Jose is akin to driving bumper cars. I got to use my most aggressive defensive driving skills. We poked and prodded our way through crazy intersections and bumper-to-bumper traffic like George Costanza playing Frogger (Seinfeld reference; my apologies.). Suffice it to say we did well, and no buses, trucks, pedestrians, motorcycles, or micro-machine-style vans could slow us down. I was feeling pretty stoked.

When we arrived at the dealership and saw the spread they had laid out for us, we felt even more stoked. The other three vehicles had arrived more than an hour ahead of us (Nick, Chanda, Todd, Rodolfo, and I had been delayed by additional business.), and they were parked inside the building in their big showcase room. We pulled right in behind them, and all four expedition vehicles were on proud display for the evening. An amazing chef was manning the barbecue, and he served up beef, chicken, and sausage tacos until we couldn’t stand to eat another bite. I seriously don’t know how he made them taste so good.

By 9:00, a pretty severe food coma was beginning to set in, and the employees had to get home to their families, so we had to wrap things up. It was no fun having to bid our new friends goodbye, but I feel pretty certain we’ll see them again, perhaps in the States. Our host, Oscar Echeverria, owner of Motores Britanicos, and each member of his staff, are the type of people you just want to keep as friends forever. They are good people.

It was easy for me to sleep that evening, with the contentment of a full belly, new friends, and the anticipation of the next day’s journey to the wilds of the Osa Penninsula wafting through my mind. Life is good.

Logbook for December 11th
Start: San Jose, Costa Rica
Finish: San Jose, Costa Rica
Mileage: 11
Notes: Visted San Jose Land Rover dealership for vehicle maintenance. Attended a BBQ with Land Rover employees.

Help support our cause: The LONGITUDE Expedition is the longest journey ever attempted with a focus on Parkinson's Disease. The Drive Around the World team aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by driving four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-kilometer via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. 100% of donations received go directly to Parkinson's research and all who donate $10 or more will be entered into a raffle to win an expedition-equipped Land Rover Discovery.

[Above: Todd Borgie learns the art of bean-picking at a Costa Rican coffee plantation.]

Journal by Todd Borgie

We have just spent the last couple of days in Manuel Antonio. It was nice to get a break from driving, but there was still much work to do. I faced a computer nearly everyday, but I feel a bit more caught up but still feel kind of ragged.

The wake up call was early, but we had coffee on hand to make the transition to wakefulness much easier. We were all occupying the same suite therefore we were all competing for the one bathroom that was available.

Without to much delay we packed our stuff and were on our way through the windy sloped roads that led to San Jose, the capital of Costa Rica. The drive was nice, with bananas to our right and left. However, due a late start we were unable to stop for breakfast, so we had to satisfy ourselves with little scraps of crackers and other snacks that we had squirreled away.

We arrived in San Jose a little after 11:00am and pulled into the Best Western. David Homa and Mary Hill, our support team in Los Gatos, had rounded up a box of stuff that we needed and sent it here -- or so we thought. We soon found that we were at the wrong Best Western and that the box had indeed arrived, but was stuck in customs. A company offered to help spring the package in a timely fashion for the modest fee of $300, but we had faith that our friends at Land Rover might be able to help us.

Since we were pressed for time, the team ducked into Denny’s for lunch, as Nick and I were tracking down hotel details and contacting the Land Rover officials we were supposed to meet 30 minutes prior. We contacted Rudolfo, who was heading up Land Rover’s newly founded coffee business, and he was our guide for the day. He decided he would come and meet us where we were, because it was on the way for him to go to our afternoon activity, a Costa Rican coffee farm.

His friend and fellow coffee colleague, Benecio, led the way to the coffee collective in the Naranja province of San Jose (named for all the orange trees in the area. It is interesting to note that the oranges here are green, as are the other citrus varieties, because it does not get cool enough for them to change to their final color).

We arrived at the finca (farm) and immediately went to work. The workers put a basket on Chanda, and we tried to fill what we could with coffee beans. Although an average worker fills a basket within 40-45 minutes, and gets paid less than a dollar for it, 5 five us couldn’t come anywhere near this rate of one worker. They showed us all the steps of coffee harvesting and milling which is described in the educational section of this web site.

After driving through the coffee fields with the old and new Land Rovers, we ended up at the coffee mill, where we dropped off our super-caffeinated payload. Nick was in heaven as he drove a 1959 Series II Land Rover, pulling a load of coffee beans to the mill. Costa Rica is really Land Rover heaven. In fact they used to make them in Costa Rica, and Land Rover sold many of them to the coffee farmers here. Their mulit-purpose slender design made them perfect for working in the fields.

When we arrived at the mill with our beans we saw at least 5 other Land Rover Series 88’s. In fact there is an annual Land Rover parade in this area. After touring the mill, I was allowed to drive the '59 Diesel back to our coffee-tasting venue. I jumped into the driver seat and Royas (our coffee farm guide) was at my side. I started the vehicle, and was ready to back up. However, before I was ready, Royas took off the emergency break and the car rolled forward. Unfortunately, the roll forward put us over the edge of an embankment. What was left of the edge of the pavement collapsed, putting me in further jeopardy. I was able to stop the car with the weak brakes, but the e-brake was certainly not strong enough to hold the car. Adam was immediately in my face with a camera to cover the drama. So with one foot on the clutch, a toe on the break, and a heel on the accelerator I was able to back up out of this threatening position. After driving to safety, I learned that this vehicle was the family’s beloved vehicle, which they had bought new in '59. Whew, that could have been disastrous!

After negotiating the traffic at the mill, the Land Rover train made its way to our tasting venue. Benicio and Roya's mother Marta put out a spread for us. She opened her house to us and sat us down in her kitchen, serving coffee, tortillas, sweet bread and regular bread. Colin sat down next to me and asked me for the sugar. Much to his dismay, I passed him the salt dish, which looked like sugar to me. Colin was a bit perplexed when he took a sip, but we soon figured out the mistake as laughter spread across the table.

One of the best things about traveling is the people you meet. We had never met these folks before, yet they invited 8 strangers into their house and served us with warm hospitality and coffee. It doesn’t get much better than that.

After about an hour we packed up and headed back into San Jose, and to our hotel -- Rudolfo guiding us the whole way -- through the rainy traffic-tied areas. We have a date with Land Rover tomorrow. Who knows what exciting things will be in store for us then!

Logbook for November 10th
Start: Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
Finish: San Jose, Costa Rica
N: 9* 56.308
W: 84* 04.904
Mileage: 263
Breakfast: Coffee
Lunch: Denny’s bacon cheeseburger
Dinner: Coffee, sweet bread and quesadillas

Help support our cause: Drive Around the World aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by taking four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-mile via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. Everyone making a pledge of $10 or more to raise money for the Parkinson’s Institute will be put in a raffle to win an expedition-style Land Rover.

[Above: Two different angles of vehicle D1, which got stuck on a precarious bridge in Costa Rica.]

Journal by Adam Burgess

Manuel Antonio has been a well-received time-out from driving and filming. Neil and I have surfed everyday and at night we were guided by Neil-io into meeting some interesting characters. Late nights have turned the week into a more draining dose of entertainment than massages and suntanning (which were just what the doctor ordered).

The place is not an attractive town, and is rather cultureless in comparison to any of the other Central American towns and cities. There's a heavy dose of the ol' gringo here. Expatriates from the US, England and Australia seem to linger around, having never left since their exodus in the '60s and '70s. Week-long trips turned into decades, they set up shop on land that cost hundreds of dollars an acre and built homes for $15K with teak and almond-lined floors and ceilings. This has become a current bewilderment of mine and has lead to an obsession with the affordability of exotic hardwoods in the country. A few summers ago I was restoring my sailboat. Spending summer days and student loan leftovers, I quickly discovered the extortionate cost of teak, an oven-dried hardwood known for its resistance to the elements. After pondering the cost of $35 per foot of 1 inch by 8 inches, I decided to buy mahogany, a slightly cheaper option at $25 per foot. So, when I stared up at the thatched hut/roadside cafe and asked the owner how much one of the twenty, 30 foot long beams of teak cost he replied, $12,000 Colones -- $30. I never got over it.

The last day in Manuel Antonio we actually shot some video. Todd discovered a 15 year old who had started up a "save the rainforest" campaign when she was 9 and has been running it since. From a few dollars here and there it's grown into a very involved little campaign. She now has a small shop that sells souvenirs whose proceeds go towards rehabilitating injured or castaway monkeys and other tropical animals. She pulled out a box of two baby sloths that resembled "Animal" from Sesame Street. They spent most of their time hugging and smooching each other. We shot a quick interview with her and headed out to her parents' property for a little nature walk. She later revealed that the BBC and National Geographic had shot her before.

Later, Neil and I went surfing for almost 4 hours, and that evening we went back to the Mimo's hotel and discovered an excited Todd and Nick. Apparently they were off driving around the local hills in one of the Land Rovers, playing explorer. They had come across one of those little roads that Nick loves to venture onto and got into a little trouble. While traveling over the bridge, part of it collapsed under the weight of the vehicle. However, with three wheels firmly in place, recovery was as simple as gently backing up. I guess the lesson is to always be careful on the narrow country roads.

Adam
adam@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 9th
Start: Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
Finish: Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
Mileage: Rest Day

Help support our cause: Drive Around the World aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by taking four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-mile via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. Everyone making a pledge of $10 or more to raise money for the Parkinson’s Institute will be put in a raffle to win an expedition-style Land Rover.

[Above: Surf's up!]

Journal by Neil Dana

Wow, it is so nice to be back in Manuel Antonio! I spent about 2 1/2 years living here, and it was a spectacular time. To come back and see my old friends and experience the Pura Vida lifestyle of Costa Rica is a treat. I have been able to surf everyday and spend time with some good friends here. And of course, we have gotten some work done here as well.

Today, we awoke and went down to the beach upon sunrise and surfed for a few hours. The waves were small, but fun anyway. It feels so good and refreshing to be back in the water, especially water that is 80 degrees. Adam, Colin, and I surfed for a few hours at a beach called Playitas. It is a small beach at the north end of Manuel Antonio and has some fun waves. The coastline here is very dramatic, with palm trees, mango trees, guayaba, banana, and all kinds of tropical rainforest that literally comes down the mountain and touches the coastline. The palms actually lean over the beach as if they are trying to touch the ocean and drop their fruits right into the sea.

Amongst the rainforest here, the squirrel and howler monkeys come up to the beach as well. It is truly beautiful. You can see sloths, coatamundis, raccoons, anteaters, and all kinds of vibrantly colored birds. There is an abundance of wildlife. The sea-life is wild too, with crocodiles, hammerhead sharks, and many other wonderful sea creatures.

Manuel Antonio is also one of Costa Rica's largest tourist attractions, due to its famous national park and the picturesque location. So in the last few years, I can see huge developments going on around town. The banks are bigger, there are more houses being built, and everything is growing. It is a bit sad to see the pristine environment slowly dwindle away. Manuel Antonio does a much better job at maintaining their environment than many other Costa Rican towns I know, so that is nice.

Anyway, after we surfed in the morning, we went and ate breakfast at a beachfront restaurant called Marlin's, where a bunch of my friends work. One is a good friend of mine, who's name is Willy. I remember teaching him to surf when he was only 14 years old, and now he is 19 and competes and is a fantastic surfer! He is a great kid.

After breakfast, we went to go film a girl named Janine, who is originally from New York, and has lived in Costa Rica since she was four years old. She is now about 16, and when she was 9 years old, she started painting small rocks and other items to sell and save money to help buy and preserve local rainforest. So at 9 years old, she started an organization to help preserve rainforest. Seven years later, she has an office and a sanctuary where they help rehabilitate injured animals. She has also purchased a 5 acre plot of land nearby to set up an education center in the future.

In her sanctuary, she showed us some baby sloths they rescued, and also a squirrel monkey and some raccoons. She has to keep the squirrel monkey for a while, since once a monkey is out of a troop, they are not allowed to enter another. So she will slowly acquire a few more monkeys and form a troop, and then they can all go release into the wild together and live back in their natural environment.

It was really inspiring and sweet to see someone so young who has taken action to help preserve the rainforest. Children back home will hear of her through our education program and hopefully be inspired to do similar things and realize how much influence one person can have in a community, and how you can be any age to go for it!

Now we must all realize something extremely important here, and that is while we are filming and doing other fun things in Manuel Antonio, Nick, Chanda, Rolf and Todd were all locked up in their hotel rooms working on our website and various other writing and technical projects. In fact, the entire 4 days we were in Manuel Antonio, Chanda only saw the beach on the last day we were there. Todd as well, didn't see the beach, nor had desire to go, I guess he is not a beach guy. Justin was also in the internet cafe nonstop dealing with all kinds of public relations and logistical information. These guys are on top of it, and it should go noted that they work and work and work and work!!! It amazes me how focused they all are. Nancy, on the other hand, just drinks Pina Coladas and runs around the beach in her string bikini all the time (ha ha, just kidding, but if that ever does happen, I'll be sure to let you know).

So the rest of the day was spent eating, working, and surfing. It was a great day and I am so grateful to have the opportunity to be back in Costa Rica. It is like coming back home in a sense. It is so familiar and was such a large part of my life. I definetely will be spending more time in Central America in the future.

Neil Dana
neil@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 8th
Start: Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
Finish: Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
Mileage: Rest day

Help support our cause: Drive Around the World aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by taking four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-mile via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. Everyone making a pledge of $10 or more to raise money for the Parkinson’s Institute will be put in a raffle to win an expedition-style Land Rover.

[Above: Drive Around the World Land Rovers cross some Costa Rican rivers en route to the town of Manuel Antonio.]

By Colin "Corndog" McAuliffe

Being the jovial gent that I am, it recently occurred to me that someone is occasionally going to have to go out of their way to make sure that our little group is enjoying our journey as much as possible. It was with this theory in mind that I appointed myself to two new positions; secret Santa coordinator and vice-chancellor in charge of mustache wearing.

First and foremost, and of the most urgency, I have appointed myself to the exalted role of secret Santa coordinator. I’m sure everyone’s heard of secret Santa, the yuletide game where everyone picks a name out of a hat and then has to buy a gift for that person. Anyway, at the Costa Rican border, in my most beautifully scripted calligraphy (cough), I wrote down the nine illustrious names for our nine illustrious team members on beautifully folded origami-esque pieces of paper (cough) and carefully placed them in a green and white baseball hat. The rounds were made and within ten minutes, every member had chosen his or her gift target. It had occurred to me that it would be extremely amusing if I just wrote my own name nine times so that everyone ended up buying me presents, but that was against my better judgment and only because I knew that not everyone would keep their secret Santa person a secret and I would get caught. However, all you kids should keep that in mind for next year when the holidays come around. So now all that’s left is for everyone to buy gifts, and come Christmas morning, the yuletide joy will be spread.

I’m sure everyone is curious as to what exactly a vice-chancellor in charge of mustache wearing does, and the answer is simple. My new job is to make sure that by the time we get to Ecuador, all able-faced male members of the Drive Around the World expedition crew will be sporting a full-fledged soup strainer of a mustache. Now some of you would say “Colin; you, Todd, and Nick already have mustaches.” Well, if you said that, you’d only be partly wrong, because I have scruffy beard, and Todd and Nicholas have goatees. Which are completely different than mustaches. The plan I have devised ensures that “if possible” all the men will have only mustaches and no other facial hair. Mainly I just want to do this because mustaches are funny and I want to take some pictures of me and all my buddies sporting cheesy mustaches. I realize that mustaches aren’t “cool” and that they're not exactly in style in America, but they are in style down here in Central America and when in Rome…

I do think mustaches look stupid, but for some reason sometimes I like looking stupid -- it amuses me. Unfortunately, Rolf and Justin do not have the capabilities to grow proper facial hair so they can‘t enjoy this facial merriment, however Rolf has sworn he will attempt to grow what is know in certain circles as a “gobbler” which is basically a neck beard, and I guess that’ll do. Anyway, I’m hoping we’ll all have sufficient facial hair around the Panama canal because I think it would be funny if we all bought Panama hats and aviator sunglasses and did a proper photo shoot.

So, all you people out their in computer land, this is my message to you: Life is about one thing, and no, it’s not money, and no it’s not love, or sports, or crocheting, or collecting butterflies, or any of that crap. Life is about enjoying yourself. If it puts a smile on your face when you have a silly t-shirt or baseball cap on, or even when you glance across the room and remember that you have a ridiculous looking mustache perched atop your upper lip, more power to you. But then again, who would ever take advice from a guy whose traveling companions call him the corndog?

Happy Holidays,

Colin McAuliffe
AKA Corndog
AKA Spongehead
AKA El Gringo Loco
colin@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 6th
Start: Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
Finish: Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
Mileage: Rest day

Help support our cause: Drive Around the World aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by taking four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-mile via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. Everyone making a pledge of $10 or more to raise money for the Parkinson’s Institute will be put in a raffle to win an expedition-style Land Rover.

[Above: A Drive Around the World Land Rover camped out for the night at Playa Nosara, Costa Rica.]

Journal by Justin Mounts

Hello everyone,

Today, we are at Playa Nosara. It is a beach on nestled against the Pacific Ocean in Costa Rica. Today represents a homecoming of sorts. Today, we will be driving to Manuel Antonio. Manuel Antonio is a town that has experienced a great increase in popularity over the past few years. It has the unique distinction of being right on the edge of a rain forest, but also on the edge of the ocean. It is a very interesting climate combination that results in the balmy weather associated with a beach, but also the extreme humidity that you find in a rain forest. It is also a town where Neil lived for over 3 years.

This morning, I climbed out of the tent at 5 am so I could watch the sun come up and it's morning rays electrify the waves about 30 meters from our cars. It was such a beautiful morning, although it has been warmer than I care for. The heat and humidity continue to increase the further south we go, and right now we're about 8 degrees north of the equator. To put that into perspective, San Francisco is located at about 37 degrees. In order to take full advantage of this morning, I set up my video camera to record the sun rising and headed out to the beach to take some photos and collect some shells. After meandering for a good hour, I went for a morning wakeup swim in the ocean and bodysurfed for a little bit. Feeling refreshed, I returned to the beach and practiced my yoga. It was very peaceful to be the only person awake on the beach and have the ocean, the tropical forest, and the sunrise all to yourself. I have found that the constant state of flux and adjustment to living out of a Land Rover in new surroundings all the time can be quite draining. The team never really has a chance to adjust before we move on (we've been in 5 countries in the last week). As a result, I found myself reminiscent of the people I left behind. An adventure like this is an incredible experience, but most people don't realize that when you're this far from home, part of you tries to stay connected to home, even though you are trying to fully experience every country. On an expedition, you constantly have to adjust to news and events from home, though you’re not there to participate. For me, this morning reminds me of a Costa Rican phrase, "pura vida". It's a greeting used by Ticos (native Costa Ricans) daily, but it's meaning is much deeper. It symbolizes "pure life", and it's something to strive for every day. In our own way on this expedition, we are all searching for our pura vida, and we anxiously await the next experience so we can share it with those of you who follow from home.

So to all of you, “pura vida”.

Justin
justin@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 5th
Start: Playa Nosara, Costa Rica
Finish: Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica
N: 9* 27.059'
W: 84* 08.987
Mileage: 89
Notes: The team split up today. One did river crossings, the other went ahead to set up camp in Manuel Antonio.

Help support our cause: Drive Around the World aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by taking four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-mile via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. Everyone making a pledge of $10 or more to raise money for the Parkinson’s Institute will be put in a raffle to win an expedition-style Land Rover.

[Above: These Brahmans are actually a lot less threatening than Costa Rica's Number One road hazard: potholes.]

Journal By Nancy Olson

Today we woke up before the sun. In a few hours, we’d be crossing into the light.

My watch alarm beeped me out of my sleep at 0530. Our damp little cave of a room was just big enough to fit three twin beds and two bikes, carefully Tetris’d behind the door, but there was no space for our luggage. There were no windows, no A/C, and no escape for the foul odor produced by the mildew growing out of the walls, floor, and mattresses. The room stank when we checked in, and it stank when we checked out. Our static little environment had achieved equilibrium.

I rose before my roommates, Rolf and Todd, because I needed extra time to carefully place our two Santa Cruz mountain bikes onto our Bauer vehicle racks, and I wanted to have dibs on the shower. Today would be a border-crossing day, so our protocol called for a 6:00 a.m. departure.

We were all loaded and ready to go on time, and we got to do a little filming as we left the street our hotel was on. We waved goodbye to the friendly people and the beautiful city of Granada, Nicaragua, as we drove out of town past the bustling market, the festive town square, and block after block of incredible old Spanish architecture. We’d had a fantastic few days there, but we were heading for Costa Rica and her pristine beaches!

It was a short drive to the border, but the crossing took several hours. Leaving Nicaragua was a breeze, but entering Costa Rica was pretty painful. The lines were enormous. I couldn’t believe how many people were there waiting to enter Costa Rica—and half of them were Europeans or Americans.

With a little “creativity”, we were able to speed things up just a bit, and we got all four Land Rover Discoverys and all nine team members stamped and cleared in about five hours. And we were off!

Costa Rica is indescribable to those who have never seen it, so I won’t labor too long in an attempt to explain a few of its details.

I was immediately struck by the contrast of affluence between Costa Rica and the rest of Central America. The dogs were fatter and healthier, the roads were wider, and the people seemed somehow different. It wasn’t better, it was just different. For whatever reason, there were fewer roadside food stalls, fewer people walking along the main road, and fewer roadside neighborhoods.

With fewer living obstacles and road hazards to navigate, I could feel myself becoming more calm, but we couldn’t really relax our driving at all for fear of the amazing Costa Rican potholes. They come out of nowhere, and they are everywhere. They are often wider than our wheelbase, and they can be deeper than the radius of our tires. It’s a good thing we’re riding on strong-walled BFGoodrich tires and steel ProComp rims. We haven’t had any problems at all with blowouts or punctures (knock on wood).

Neil from our film crew lived in Costa Rica for four years from 1996-2000, so he was in the lead vehicle. We were heading to one of his old surfing haunts to camp on the beach. The drive was bumpy, twisty, and beautiful. As a Texan, I felt soothed by some of the wide-open cattle fields and the big white Brahma bulls with their long, lop ears. Where there wasn’t a green cow pasture, there was rainforest.

We arrived at our destination shortly after nightfall, and we made a pit stop in town to eat at a restaurant across the street from Coconut Harry’s Surf Shop in Playas de Nosara, Costa Rica. Harry, like so many other Americans, decided to leave the states for the tropical paradise and “pura vida”, or “pure life”, of Costa Rica to open up businesses. You can see Harry’s at www.coconutharrys.com. In his display case is a photo of a home with a car in its driveway. Blanketing each is about four inches of snow. A hand-written caption reads “Why I Live in Costa Rica.”

After dining on a “casado”, which is the typical Costa Rican plate consisting of rice, beans, salad, and grilled fish, steak, or chicken, we headed for the beach. I had chosen the “pescado”, and it may very well be the best fish I have ever had.

We parked our vehicles on the beach looking out to sea. Behind us was the rain forest, filled with tropical birds, lizards, monkeys, and zillions of spiders. (I know about the spiders, because I saw thousands and thousands of little eyes glowing at me out of the dark. They were reflected by the light of my head lamp.)

I slept well in our Hannibal rooftop tent, even though the weather was hot and humid. There was just enough of a breeze to keep me from smoldering. I fell asleep with the knowledge that tomorrow would mean a quick swim or surf in the ocean before the long drive to more surfing in paradise in the city of Manuel Antonio.

Nancy
nancy@drivearoundtheworld.com

Logbook for December 4th
Start: Granada, Nicaragua
Finish: Playa Nosara, Costa Rica
N: 9* 56.29'
W: 85* 39.993'
Mileage: 229
Notes: Border crossing took 4.75 hours.

Help support our cause: Drive Around the World aims to raise money for Parkinson’s Disease research by taking four certified pre-owned Land Rover Discoverys around the globe following lines of longitude. Readers are encouraged to pledge small amounts of money per expedition-mile via a pledge form that can be found on our Parkinson’s page by clicking here. Everyone making a pledge of $10 or more to raise money for the Parkinson’s Institute will be put in a raffle to win an expedition-style Land Rover.