Our Favourite Places in Bocas Town, Panama

Posted on February 4, 2014 by katez

After bouncing around from place to place the last several weeks, having five days in Panama felt beyond luxurious.

Not only were we able to fully unpack, but we were able to explore lots of awesome local businesses in Bocas Town.

So, without further ado, I present the next instalment in our series of favourite places, check out “Our Favourite Places in Bocas Town”

If you see this door in Bocas Town, go inside…you won’t be disappointed!

Random Art: I can safely say, without a doubt, this is the coolest place I’ve visited throughout our entire adventure. Random art is a tiny art studio nestled amongst the restaurants, and tour companies on the main street of Bocas Town.

The owner, Christin, welcomed me to her studio with open arms and showed me around. I was overwhelmed with how amazing this place is. The studio is small but covered in art, and art supplies. The atmosphere feels like it would spawn creativity.

Christin offers a variety of classes for people of all ages. I had the opportunity to pop into one of her children’s art classes on our last day. I was amazed by the art work that these kids were producing.

The studio

Each class they focus on a different technique, artist, or style. She is passionate about helping children learn to look at the world through a different lense, and embrace their artistic abilities at an early age. On Friday nights, Christin also runs a free art class for the local kids of Bocas. These are the kids whose parents wouldn’t be able to afford such a luxury for them. I was disappointed that we left Friday morning as I would have loved to watch the magic of that class unfold.

Working on the skill of “perspective” note the boat in the background of this amazing masterpiece.

Christin also offers a variety of classes for adults, including some that involve wine tasting. I don’t know about you, but nothing gets my creative juices flowing like a little bit of vino!

One of the primary reasons I am so thankful to have stumbled upon Random Art, is the fact that I am now decked out with all the art supplies I need for the rest of the trip. I’ve been sketching like mad since I got to Costa Rica, and have been dying to get my hands on some paint.

The artists hard at work

Thanks to Christin, I now have a set of acrylics, a large sketch pad, and some brushes. I can’t wait to set myself up on the beach, and get started.

Random Art is truly a must visit location in Bocas Town. Whether you are artistic, or have never picked up a paint brush in your life, Christin has artistic wisdom to pass on to you.

The store front

Super Gourmet Bocas del Toro: If you’ve read any of my previous favourite place posts, you know I’m a sucker for a health food store. And, although Super Gourmet has a wide variety of products, the amount of unique, and healthy food caught my eye.

Not only do they have natural peanut butter, but they carry almond butter as well. I certainly haven’t seen any of that during my travels through Central America!

An amazing selection

In addition to nut butters, they have a variety of organic, gluten free, and kosher items, as well as imported items that simply can’t be found anywhere else.

Local chocolate-delicious!

Super Gourmet also stocks the famous Island Cacao chocolate, as well as many other varieties of locally produced chocolates. If you have a sweet tooth, and want to indulge in these local delicacies, I highly recommend taking a tour of their selection.

Nestled in the back of the store is a deli that offers a variety of fresh goodies that you can take to go.

I probably visited Super Gourmet Bocas del Toro, three times during our five day stay, and still feel like I didn’t see it all. I highly recommend stopping by, and checking it out.

It’s pretty unassuming from the front

Frozen & Creamy– What would a favourite places post be without an ice cream shop! We stumbled upon this place one night completely by accident. We had finished dinner, and were trying to decide whether to go for a night cap, or grab a treat. We opted for dessert, and started poking around the grocery stores trying to find something involving ice cream. Everything was looking pretty lacklustre, until I glanced up at a sign hanging over an alley. “Frozen & Creamy”, it was like it was destined to be.

A multitude of delicious treats to choose from.

We creeped down a little back road, and found Bocas del Toro’s only Ice Cream Parlour. It was fairly late in the evening, so their selection was limited. Luckily, their cookies n cream was in full stock. Normally in these situations, Shaun and I would share a cup of ice cream, but after a lacklustre dinner choice, we were looking for some indulgence. We each got a scoop in a waffle cone. I seriously thought I had died, and gone to heaven. This homemade ice cream was so creamy, and full of huge cookie chunks. Needless to say we both buzzed home on a sugar high.

If you are looking for an amazing ice cream treat, check out Frozen & Creamy. It’s pretty fabulous!

Want more of “Our Favourite Places?” Check out the rest of our posts. And as always, if you are visiting any of these areas, and have questions, or are looking for recommendations, feel free to leave us a comment or come visit us on our Facebook page.

Pura Vida!

Kate

Follow me on Twitter: @caketress

Exploring Bocas del Toro, Panama

Posted on February 3, 2014 by katez

Things in the land of Hostels and Hot Rollers are picking up speed. With a couple free lance articles due this week, I found myself a little overwhelmed with keeping up ALL of the Panamanian themed blog posts I want to write.

I’m pretty thankful that my fabulous husband stepped up to the plate to write this post about Bocas del Toro in Panama. Shaun’s going to give you a run down about what Bocas del Toro is all about, and clear up some serious confusion about it’s name!

Take it away Shaun.

Bocas del Toro can be a bit confusing at first as it seems to refer to a multitude of places. Translated to “Mouth of the Bull”, Bocas del Toro can refer to a town, a province, and an archipelago of islands.

Bocas Town from the water

Bocas del Toro, the province runs along the Costa Rican border on the Caribbean side. It includes an archipelago of islands that is, funny enough, also named Bocos del Toro. There are nine main islands in the archipelago, the most developed being Isla Colon which is at times, although rare, referred to as Isla Bocas.

The town of Bocas del Toro is located on southeast corner of Isla Colon. It is also the province’s capital city and often just referred to as Bocas Town. Confused yet? Don’t worry we were too.

An example of some of the cool buildings in Bocas Town

Bocas Town is sweet. It has a few main streets and a nice downtown core with numerous bars and restaurants literally right on the water. Much of the buildings on the water side are built on piles and extend out over the water. Most have small docks so boats can just pull right up. We spent a fair amount of time during the afternoons just chilling in the bars enjoying a few beers and watching the ocean and the various boats cruising around.

The buildings are all mostly wood clapboard style built in the early 20^th century. There is a distinct colonial look to them. It reminded me a lot of New Orleans, but also like nothing I have ever come across. It has that older well established feel to it that we haven’t seen a lot in our Costa Rican travels. If you are in the area, a visit to Bocas Town is well worth it.

One of the many beaches on Isla Colon

The majority of the water shuttles from the main island go the Bocas Town and then you can take water taxis from there over to the neighbouring archipelago islands like Carenera and Bastimentos. I really regret not spending a night or two on Carenera which is only a short boat taxi from Bocas Town. You can apparently hike around the island in about 1.5 hours. It also has some fairly impressive waves on its Caribbean side.

On Isla Colon, we stayed about a 15 minute walk from the main town in an area called Saigon. It was perfect for us because it was nice and quiet and closer to the beaches and surf spots on the northern part of the island.

Our bike’s Dolly, and Ralph. They’re in love.

Our stay included bikes so we would bike all over the place. We have done so much walking this trip that the bikes were a welcome change. I loved riding all over the place. We would cruise up and down the main town streets and bike to the north side of the island where it was much less developed.

Bocas Town is only a very small portion of Isla Colon. There is a large beach called Bocas del Drago, on the west side of the island, which can be accessed by taxi or a long bike ride. There is also a road to the north, which is exposed to ocean. This is where the main surf spots of Playa Bluff, Playa Paunch and Dumpers are located.

Enjoying the surf at Paki’s Place

Kate and I biked out to Playa Paunch, and stopped in at a super chill bar called Paki’s Point. The bar was sweet, there were a ton of lounge chairs and tables facing the surf break right out front. We chilled there for a drink and watched the surf, it was a good time and well worth the trip. I think it only took us about 20 minutes on bike from Saigon. With more time I think we could have spent a whole day there.

Some cool beach art work in Bocas

Dumpers and Playa Bluff were further down the road. I rode all the way out to Playa Bluff one morning to check the surf. It is an amazing beach. Surf was bad when I was there, but the beach was impressive. The sand seemed almost orange and the water was so blue. I was bummed I didn’t have a camera. On a bike I would say its about a 30 to 40 minute ride without stops.

Dumpers was just past Playa Paunch. I never surfed there but it looked like a fun reef break with good lefts. Playa Paunch was the only spot I surfed. It was fun but got fairly busy.

Our time in Bocas del Toro seemed to fly by. With all the different islands to explore, the many surf breaks, the beaches, the snorkeling, all the neat beach bars, and their $1 beers, we could have handled a much longer stay.

Whew! That’s a lot of information, got any questions for Shaun?

Pura Vida!

Kate

Follow me on Twitter:@caketress

Beers of Panama: Taste Test

Posted on February 2, 2014 by katez

Sometimes having a blog requires us to make some major sacrifices.

Like today for instance, Shaun and I were forced to sample several Panamanian beers in order to write the blog post.

It’s a tough life…

One of the first things we noticed when we got to Panama was how CHEAP the beer was. In the grocery stores beers were around 65 to 85 cents. At Happy Hour you could get them in restaurants for $1, and any other time they were $1.50. We thought we were living the good life with our $3 dollar beers in Costa Rica. Needless to say, our beer consumption increased dramatically in the 5 days that we were in Panama. The thought of going home to $5 dollar beers is very sad!!

Since we knew we would be imbibing in a few Cerveza’s, we figure we needed to take the time to sample what Panama had to offer. So, we popped into the grocery store, and grabbed the 5 main Panamanian beers.

Hello Homemade Happy Hour

So here we go, Shaun and I’s not so expert opinion on the beers of Panama. Keep in mind, this is exactly what we wrote down as we went, so the comments may get more creative as we progress!

Atlas: Alcohol percentage 3.8%

Kate: Light, slightly yeasty, watery, very drinkable,and soft. It’s a light beer, like a Coors Light. I would definitely drink this, and love that it has their Social Media links printed right on the can!

Shaun: Light Lager, reminds me of a Bud Light, not too bad, could easily drink a few

Balboa: Alcohol Percentage 4.8%

Kate: More bubbly then Atlas, caramel hints, heavier then Atlas, and tastes like it has a higher alcohol content. Probably couldn’t have more then one or two before I felt full. I wouldn’t order this in a restaurant.

Shaun: Medium strength beer, sharper then Atlas, yet quite easy still to drink, Reminds me of Okanagan Springs 1516 which I’m not a fan of. Not a beer I would typically choose, more of a “filler” beer.

Soberana: Alcohol content 3.8%

Kate: Super light in colour, compared to the others. *takes sip* DISLIKE, coppery, sharp metallic taste, very hoppy at the end. Smells like the last dregs of a warm cup of beer. My first, and last Soberana

Shaun: Light beer with a bit of a fruity taste. Reminds of a somewhat flat Grasshopper from a beer garden back home. Not a beer I would buy but if offered I would not turn down. Hopefully it was just a dud can.

(it should be noted that Shaun and I dumped this can out)

Panama Light: Alcohol Content 4.2%

Kate: Way more my speed. Not yeasty, refreshing, light, slightly citrusy. Really surprised by how high the alcohol content is for a light beer, and for only being 109 calories. Good to know as they could be deadly. More bubbly then Atlas, but less then Balboa. Social Media on the can as well.

Shaun: Light lager, easy to drink, stronger then Bud or Coors Light, but not quite a Lucky Lager. Good beer for a hot day in the sun.

(it should be noted that Kate made Shaun stop drinking this one, so she could finish it herself)

Panama: Alcohol content 4.8%

Kate: Seems drinkable at first sip but has a heavy finish, too much malt. I find it amazing how different this tastes from the light version. Reminds me of a Rickards Red, which is a beer I am not a fan of.

Shaun: Strongest tasting of two beers, reminds me of Rickards Red. Good, but not great. A beer I would order for myself

(it should be noted that Kate let Shaun finish this one by himself since she hogged the Panama Light)

So there you have it! We are by no means experts in the land of beer, but know how to have a good time doing a taste test!

I want to let everyone know that we will be toiling away on a beer taste test for both Costa Rican, and Nicaraguan beers as well.

The things we do for our readers 😉

What’s your favourite foreign beer?

Pura Vida!

Kate

Follow me on Twitter: @caketress

Border Run to Panama Part 2

Posted on February 1, 2014 by katez

So, when we left off, we were on the bridge crossing over into Panama.

I am happy to report, that we made is safely across, and neither Shaun nor I fell into the water. Success!

The next check point was Panamanian Customs. Essentially a small room, with a man at a desk who was collecting money,and giving you a sticker for your passport. Today the fee was 3 dollars are person, but apparently these fees change frequently.

There wasn’t really a line up, everyone was just cramming their way into the room, and jostling to be next. You can imagine how fun that was with backpacks and our surfboard. We heard the guy at the desk mention something about immigration around the corner.

I had also read about this on-line. Once you’ve gone through Panamanian Customs, you have to turn a corner, and go into a separate building to go into Immigration. It would be SO easy for someone to just keep on walking, and enter the country. I’m just taking a wild guess that this would be very bad.

Once leaving customs you need to take an immediate left, and go down some stairs, and straight down the first side street. There you will find the line for Immigration. We made it there without incident, and there was even some guy there who had our names on a list. That was fairly comforting, as by this point we felt like we were flying solo.

We stood in line for another 25 minutes or so, and finally made it up to the counter. This seemed like the “big” counter. That one that ultimately decides whether you are getting in or not. We watched lots of people ahead of us having difficulties understanding what the border officials wanted. All we had were our passports, and a copy of our return flight information. We made it to the counter, and after much scrutinizing, our passports were stamped again, and we were on our way. I’ve heard that sometimes they require you to provide proof that you have at least 500 dollars cash, but today, our documents seemed to do the trick.

We exited this second line up, and a guy stopped us. He said he was a friend of the bus driver, and told us to wait with him. He was pretty aggressive, telling one of the guys in our group to give him a cigarette, and making Shaun give him an extra 5 dollars for the surfboard. As he stood there spitting, and doing pushups, we all kind of looked at each other, wondering whether we should just give up on the shuttle, and take a taxi.

About 30 minutes went by, and another man came over, and said they were ready to go. We walked down the street about 100m, and there was a van, with a couple people from our original group waiting for us. We never did figure out what the confusion was, and why we were left waiting for so long, but either way, we now had a ride.

Leaving the “ferry” terminal

We piled in the new van, and headed off to the boat to Isla Colon. We picked up another Panamanian man on the side of the road. He spoke a bit of English, and was obviously in charge of getting us onto the boat. After about an hour, we got to the ferry. We sat in the terminal for about 30 minutes. I enjoyed a Pipa, while Shaun went to pay the additional fee to get his board on the boat.

So happy to be on the home stretch

The boat arrived, and we piled on. It was a beautiful ride, and a welcome breath of fresh air after line ups and shuttles all day. After about 30 minutes we pulled into Isla Colon, and it looked fabulously funky. We grabbed our stuff, and trekked into the middle of town to look for a taxi to our place. It took us a while to track one down, but finally got into the back of a pick up truck.

I will laugh at this picture for the rest of my life

A man, and a women sat in front arguing for the entire drive. I couldn’t help but take this picture. Here they are, yelling at each other with a small Yoda figure perched in the middle on the dashboard. After such along day, you have to appreciate the little things.

We arrived at our hostel, Panama’s Paradise. Although no one was home, there was a little note with my name, on the door. It had everything we needed in it to check in.

Keys on the door, thank goodness!

Our arrival did truly feel like paradise. We stripped off our sweat drenched clothes, and I settled in for a BIG siesta. Before falling asleep I glanced at my phone. It was 12:30. The entire process had only taken 4 hours, but it felt like it had been a week.

Keep tuned in this week because I have some great content coming up. This week I will be recapping our entire adventure in Bocas del Toro, Panama. You won’t want to miss it, this place is AMAZING!

What are your border crossing experiences?

Pura Vida!

Kate

Follow me on Twitter: @caketress

Our Border Run to Panama Part 1

Posted on January 31, 2014 by katez

Border hopping…it’s one of those things that every traveller has to go through…and turns out…I’m not a fan.

As we were planning our trip, we knew that we would need to leave Costa Rica at least once to meet the Visa requirements. A Visa in Costa Rica is only 90 days, and since we are here for 5 months, we would have to leave the country in order to get ours renewed.

Although we originally thought our border run would be next month through Nicaragua, so many people told us how wonderful Panama was, we to do it early to see the sights.

I had done a lot of research about border hopping, and it all seemed like quite the ordeal. Since we are fairly laid back travellers, and like to avoid stress as much as possible, we opted to book a tour to take us from our hotel in Puerto Viejo in Costa Rica, to Isla Colon in Bocas del Toro, Costa Rica.

You can certainly take public transit to the border, walk across, then catch it again on the other side, but that seemed far to adventurous for us.

We woke up bright, and early to catch our shuttle, and by the time it made it to our hotel it was VERY full. It was lucky there were no tunnels to go through, because all of the backpacks and bags were piled sky high on top of the roof of the van. We were given wrist bands to wear so we could be identified by the shuttle driver and began our journey. We slowly winded our way through the endless banana fields, until we reached our first hiccup.

woops, road block!

Yes my friends, that is a tree, right across the road. I am pretty sure that every shuttle we have taken through Costa Rica has involved some sort of strange occurrence, and this one was foliage based.

The shuttle parked, and everyone got out, while a maintenance crew worked away trying to clear the tree.

man down…he was actually just watching ants, but this picture looks tragic

As you can see, Shaun was thrilled. It seemed like we were going to be stuck for hours, but they worked fast and It ended up only taking about 25 minutes. We all hopped back on the shuttle and carried on. Shortly there after, we arrived at the border.

This is where the my stress levels started increasing a little. Unlike Nicaragua, cars are not allowed over the border into Panama. Our van stopped just before the archway of the border, and we all got out. We were handed our bags, and an immigration paper. Our shuttle driver left, and we assumed we needed to find our next shuttle driver on the other side. Some of the people on the tour just started walking towards the archway, while a few of us stood on the side of the road filling out our paper.

Rookie move.

By the time we had filled out our paper, and started walking towards the archway, our group was split in two, as the rest of the tour group was much farther ahead in the line up. The remaining few of us gathered together on the hot pavement with all of our gear, and waited in line. I had been cold in the morning, so I had put my sweater on. Getting out of the van had happened so fast that I hadn’t had the chance to take it off. Now with Tatonka, Titty Tonka, and our food back lugged over my shoulder, I was a sweaty beast.

After about 25 minutes we made it to the front of the counter. This turned out to be Costa Rican Immigration. They stamped our passport, took our paper, and we left.

This picture doesn’t even do it justice!

Now, in doing my research, I had heard a lot of talk about this supposed “bridge”, and let me tell you, it lived up to all my expectations. To enter Panama, you have to walk across this rickety old railway bridge. The slats are loose, and there are gaps that a 7 year old child could easily fall through. Did I mention you have to do this while carrying all your gear? It was impressive to say the least.

Did we make it over the bridge you ask?

You will just have to wait and see, because this my friends, is a two parter.

Tomorrow on Hostels and Hot Rollers, Our Border Run to Panama Part 2

Pura Vida!

Kate

Follow me on Twitter: @caketress

Leave a Little Sparkle Wherever You Go

Posted on January 30, 2014 by katez

A friend of mine posted this picture to my Facebook page the other day (thanks Michelle!) Normally these types of sayings make me smile, and then are promptly forgotten, but this one stayed with me.

I realized that this is something I’ve been trying to do a lot while travelling.

The people of Costa Rica have given us the gift of sharing their beautiful country with us. We’ve met so many people during these past two months, many of whom have gone above and beyond the call of duty to make our stay memorable.

If I can do something nice for them in return, then I’m going to do it. It’s all about the little things. Thinking back, these are some of the little things I’ve done to “leave my sparkle.”

Painting faces for free in Playa Coco
Leaving hand drawn cards for housekeepers with their tip
Baking cookies at Christmas for local businesses
Drawing up new signs the restaurant in Matapalo
Buying candy for the local kids outside the supermarket
Always offering to take photo’s of people who are taking selfies
Refusing change for people I buy Pipa’s or bracelets from
Leaving drawings in hostels to hang on their bulletin board
Getting blog posts about local businesses featured on town newsletters
And of course, lots, and lots of smiling!

How do you leave your sparkle?

Pura Vida!

Kate

Follow me on Twitter: @caketress

Coco Loco Lodge, Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica

Posted on January 29, 2014 by katez

After our long shuttle from San Jose, we were so happy to arrive safe, and sound at Cocoloco Lodge in Puerto Viejo.

The entry to Cocoloco Lodge

The first thing I thought when we pulled up to the lodge was how calm it felt. It was like they built the the lodge but left the jungle intact.The property is built around the enormous existing trees, many bearing incredible fruits, and gorgeous flowers. My favourites were the calabash. Although I had seen these fruits before, the ones at Cocoloco are gigantic. They look like huge watermelons hanging from little small trees. A calabash is similar to a pumpkin, and although most of the time you do not eat them, you often find them carved into lamps and candle holders in local souvenir shops.

The main reception area for Cocoloco is in the front of the property. Here you can book tours,

Banana’s hanging outside the reception for the birds to eat. Such a great idea!

look through their enormous book exchange, buy water, and borrow games. For an additional 7 dollars, they also serve breakfast there.

Cocoloco offers both rooms, and bungalows. We opted for a bungalow, and were pleasantly surprised with what we got. Each bungalow has it’s own bathroom, porch, hammock, safe, fridge, TV,coffee maker, and even a hair dryer! To bad we were only there for one night otherwise I would have definitely taken advantage of that! There are also several WiFi routers throughout the huge property. It was pretty amazing to have a perfect WiFi signal in the jungle!

The main reception house

The lodge is located on the far end of town, but is within easy walking distance to the beach, to restaurants, and everything else you would need for your stay. If you wanted amenities that allow to stay put at the lodge, they also offer one bungalow that has a full kitchen.

Not only is the location, and amenties great, but the staff at Cocoloco Lodge are amazing.

Our cute little room…first time with mosquito netting!

They helped us SO much with trying to book all of our shuttles. I can’t even tell you how many emails I’ve sent back and forth to them.They were extremely patient as we tried to figure out the logistics of travelling with our now infamous surfboard (but that’s a whole other post). I’m so grateful for their knowledge, because I would not have been able to navigate this portion of our trip without their help.

We feel pretty fortunate to have found Cocoloco Lodge, so much so, that we are staying there for another night on our way back from Panama. If you are looking to spend some time to Puerto Viejo, or just looking for a place to stay before heading to Panama, we would highly recommend Cocoloco Lodge.

Stay tuned for another post, all about the town of Puerto Viejo! I’ll write this one on our way back through

Have you ever seen a Calabash?

Pura Vida

Kate

Follow me on Twitter: @caketress.

Culture Shock in San Jose

Posted on January 28, 2014 by katez

After two months of being beach bums, we finally made the move inland to San Jose.

We were on the fence as to whether we were even going to venture into this area, but a couple things made us decide to stop for a visit. Firstly, the thought of taking a shuttle across to the entire country to our next destination of Puerto Viejo, seemed like a long daunting day. Second, and most importantly, I really wanted to opportunity to meet, and connect with the extremely fabulous Maribel from Stroller Adventures.

So awesome to meet amazing friends in person!

Maribel, and I connected months and months ago, when I stumbled across a blog post of hers about shopping for groceries in Costa Rica. Having recently moved to Costa Rica from the US, she has been an invaluable resource for us while we’ve been travelling. If you are looking for a fabulous blog, I would highly suggest checking her out!

It was so nice to have Maribel as the light at the end of my tunnel, as the journey to San Jose was exhausting. Our shuttle didn’t leave Domincal until 3:30, which meant we had a long sweaty 3.5 hour wait between when we checked out of our hotel, and when we got on the shuttle. Needless to say we were a hot sweaty mess by the time we got on board.

As our full shuttle slowly winded it’s way inland, we left the calm, and beauty of our beachside paradise, and replaced it with the pavement and tolls of a major highway.

We rolled into San Jose around 6:45pm, making our first stop to drop someone off at the airport. We were actually staying on the outskirts, in a town called Santa Ana. We sort of assumed that we would be the first to be dropped off, but as the shuttle drove endlessly through the confusing and cluttered streets of downtown San Jose, we realized we were going to be last off. Finally, at around 8:30pm, we rolled up to our hotel. We had made it, and we were exhausted.

Although I knew we would be moving inland, I was not prepared for the culture shock it evoked in me. Pipa’s and playa’s were replaced with McDonald’s and Burger King. Suddenly I was immersed in a very western, and very busy city. I honestly wasn’t ready for it.

When we were planning the trip, I remember so looking forward to going to San Jose so I could get a Starbucks coffee, and go shopping in a mall. But yesterday, it was the furthest thing from my mind. Living in these little beach side towns, as forced me to stop relying on materialistic things to entertain me. Going to Starbucks or the mall has been replaced with beach walks, and reading.

It’s a change that I didn’t expect, and I didn’t even notice it had happened until we got here. It is a welcome change, yet I wonder how it will effect me upon returning home.

Ultimately I was glad that we drove around, and got to see what downtown San Jose is all about, but I’m also glad it’s over. One night was all we needed.

Now its off to the Caribbean coast, and then into Panama!

Have you ever had to adjust your lifestyle back home after spending time immersed in another culture? How did you handle it?

Pura Vida!
Kate
Follow me on Twitter:@caketress

A Quick Pit Stop in Domincal, Costa Rica

Posted on January 27, 2014 by katez

After our three glorious days in Matapalo, we headed down the coast a little further to check out the surf town of domincal

The town map of Dominical

Hotel Domilocos

For some reason I was expecting Domincal to be bigger. Most likely because of the challenge we had finding accommodation. Trying to find our normal, mid-range private hostel room was impossible. All the choices were either cheap dorm style hostels, or hotels.

We ended up booking into Hotel Domilocos. It was over our price budget, so that ultimately sealed the deal that we were only going to be staying for the one night. We didn’t mind though, neither one of us were really prepared to leave the coast. We were really looking for an excuse to spend one more day by the seaside before moving inland.

The Lonely Planet book describes Dominical as a town full of pot, and surf. After cruising around a little bit, that seemed fairly accurate. Everyone is pretty chilled out. Even the surfing I watched seems more mellow down here.

The second little road. Shaun is checking out the surf

The town is set up in two parts. The main road that runs through the town, then a small second road that runs between the beach, and the main road. This second road is set up with all sorts of vendors, beachside hostels, smoothie shacks, and a couple bars. This area also sells the biggest Pipa’s I had ever seen!

Shaun, and I cruised around a bit, but ultimately called it an early night. We had air conditioning, and WiFi in our room, and planned on taking full advantage of it. In case you were wondering, we watched the Butler on Netflix.

Lots of people out for a sunset session on our first night.

The following morning, Shaun went our for a surf while I did my workout. He said the surf was mellow, but good. It wasn’t too busy for Costa Rican standards, but compared to the previous days when he had the surf to himself in Matapalo, it was much busier.

Although we were there for the blink of an eye, I’m glad we got to visit Domincal. It’s another place that we can cross off our list of places we’ve seen. If you are travelling down the coast, and looking for a place to stop along the way, I would suggest Domincal. It’s a sleepy little surf town, but worth checking out.

The travel inland, and to the Carribean coast begins today!

Pura Vida!

Kate

Follow me on Twitter: @caketress

Healthy Hostel Meals Part 4- What do you mean there is no kitchen?

Posted on January 26, 2014 by katez

Well, after two months of travel, we’ve officially hit our healthy hostel life groove.

We have accumulated a little supply of spices, staples, and supplies, and can whip up some pretty great healthy meals in a flash.

That is, of course, until you take away a pretty essential necessity, a kitchen.

The vast majority of the hostels we stay in have great shared kitchens, with all the supplies we need. Other’s don’t have a kitchen, but we’ve got a little fridge. In those cases we just plan ahead, and bring some pre made meals, or stick with simple things like cereal or salads.

The most challenging places, are the places that have no facilities. No kitchen, no fridge, nothing. How on earth do you eat healthy, when you have absolutely no amenities?

Well let me tell you my friend, it requires some serious creativity.

If you are travelling short term, you could just go out for meals, but we’re on a budget. Homemade meals are a way of life here in the land of Hostels and Hot Rollers.
So today I thought I would share some tips on how I manage to stay relatively healthy when faced with the dire circumstances of having no food amenities. Let’s start with my supplies:

SHOPPING LIST

Peanuts, Almonds
Peanut Butter
Protein Powder
Canned Tuna
Canned Vegetables
Wraps
Bananas, Apples, Oranges
Oats

I usually try, and buy the supplies when I find them, and keep them on hand. It’s a pretty limited shopping list, so if we get to a town that doesn’t have one or two items, I’m pretty much out of luck.

Next up is meals. Shaun, and I will usually make something in advance when we know we won’t have a kitchen. That means, the first night we get there we will have something for dinner. Usually some sort of rice, veggie, bean concoction (stored in all the empty peanut butter jars we are accumulating!)

After that, the meals start getting pretty creative. Here is an example of what I ate during our last kitchenless day:

MEALS

Slop makings!!

Breakfast: Kate’s Magical Slop: Mmmm, doesn’t that sound appetizing? Don’t let the name fool you, this delicious concoction is both tasty, and will curb your hunger. I invented it by chance one morning by just throwing everything I had on hand in a bowl. So, my very precise recipe is: nut butter, oats, banana, almonds, protein powder, and a little bit of water. I like mine to look like a chunky cake batter. You can add whatever you want, coconut, raisins, granola…be creative! Be advised though, with all that protein, a little goes a long way with this concoction. A little bowl full can easily keep me going till lunch.

Lunch: Peanut Butter and Banana on (blank). Oh hello peanut butter, so we meet again. I usually smear some of this legume gold on rice cakes, and then slice some banana’s on top. Unfortunately, rice cakes aren’t always available. If all else fails I’ll use a mini wrap, or slice of bread, depending on what Shaun has hidden away in his carb stash.

I find preparing this delicacy in the bathroom really heightens the flavour.

Dinner: Tuna Vegetable Medley: When I first decided to try this concoction, I did not have high hopes. The thought of my entire dinner coming from cans made my stomach churn, but I forged ahead.

I was actually shocked at how much I enjoyed it! Maybe it’s just because it was a welcome change after a long day of peanut butter and banana overdose. Regardless, I actually look forward to this meal.

I always have a small can of light tuna in water on hand. One that has a snap open lid so you don’t have to deal with a can opener. Add in a can of drained vegetable medley (my fave is peas, beans, and carrots), a couple dashes of lizano, and some pepper, and you my friend have yourself a meal! If I’m looking to mix it up, I’ll put it in a wrap, or grab a small head of lettuce, and make it into a salad. Either way, in a pinch, this meal will do. (Full Disclosure I’m editing this post three days after writing this…and am sick of this meal now! Glad we have a kitchen tomorrow!)

To curb any potential Hanger throughout the day, these are the snacks that I keep on hand, or I’ll pick up, during our kitchenless times:

SNACKS

Carrots, and Cucumber- Buy and consume the same day
Nuts- Keep them in your purse, for emergency Hanger!
Kale Chips- If you’re lucky enough to find them
Buy a Smoothie-Add some of your protein powder to it if you’re really clever
Side salads- Nothing beats fresh greens

Eating like this is certainly forces you to be creative, and is not something I can sustain for more then a day or two. I feel fortunate that this moments are pretty few, and far between during our trip!

How would you eat healthy when faced with no kitchen??

Pura Vida!

Kate

Follow me on Twitter:@caketress

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