So, where do i start. The tie between when i last posted and now has been filled with events, of both the good and bad kind. I believe i was about to hit Corcovado national park in costa rica last time i posted, so i will pick up from there.
Shannon and I woke up early and jumped on the bus (an ex american school bus) at about 6 in the morning. We then had a slow 2hr bus ride to the park. Yet by just saying that it by no means tells the whole story. This bus was, in short...unbelievable. The road that we were driving on was only really fit for landrovers and panda 4x4's, but this full schoolbus was driving through rivers, up huge inclines where the wheels would start spinning, and my palms would start sweating, taking it all i its stride, it was quite amazing. Not to mention, very fun.
Anyway, we got to the stop for the park and had to make an hour hike down the beach (that is where the photos that i emailed are from), apparently this place was used to shoot some of jurassic park, and its easy to see why. Although amazing, the backpacks were starting to become an issue, so we stopped, had a cheeky splee and carried on...and what a difference that made. The whole environment seemed to be so absorbing that i didnt even think about what i was carrying. We saw scarlet macawas, by the dozens. loads of coatimundi and heard monkeys constantly, and this was before we were even in the park.
So we got to the rangers station and the guy asked us whether we had a reservation, which we didnt so he said we couldnt camp inside the park and would have to pitch outside it and only spend the day inside. Was a bit rubbish, but what can you do? So we ditched our stuff and started trekking through the forest, where we saw bigger trees than i knew existed, more macaws, and lots of monkeys. Highlights of the trip were also swimming in completely secluded waterfall pools. A welcome break from walking. I have to say though, that we smoked again and being stoned in the rainforest was a damn good idea. Everything is even more interesting than it usually is. We camped in the rangers station that night aswell, kindly sharing our pitch with a colony of ants and a family of crabs. Not such a highlight.
So we headed back the next day and travelled all of that day, making our way up the coast to a town called la palma. Where we stayed in one feckin weird hotel, called the hotel osa. The owners words were..."I give you room ten, room not so good, but bed very good hor he hor he". He wasnt lieing either, the bed was rubbish aswell though. So we moved to a place called Uvita the next day, Uvita, that is supposed to be a seaside town, except is split into two parts, one by the sea, the other inland. Foolishly, we got off the bus at the inland part. Here you had to have either a rental car or a bicycle to get to the sea, and nowhere hired bicycles which is a bit fucking stupid, seeing as it is a tourist destination. Yet in this appearingly useless yet hot town, there was a little hidden gem. Take a 1 km walk from our cabinas and you reach this bar/waterfall. Bunch of chilled-the-fuck-out homies kicking it around this bar smoking weed and charging people 600 colones (60p) to go down to the waterfall. Fuck me it was worth it though. It was incredible. Huge deep pools which you could jump off rocks into, and generally just drift about and relax in. I cant explain how beautiful it was though. Huge forest canopies above with light breaking through every now and then and an amazing stream of water coming down from the main waterfall into multiple pools below. It was brilliant.
So from there we went to dominical, a big surfers hang out on the pacific coast, and apparently a popular holiday destination for us residents. Where we stayed was budget, nothing very interesting but we met a good bunch of people there, two danish girls and an american guy, who, on the first night we drunk with and went out partying. Which was incredibly fun. I was pretty fuckin bladdered but when we got to this party it was ace, sort of an open air club that was packed out to the max, yeah ther music wasnt great, but its never stopped me before. Apparently in this town there is one club every night which is THE party and its not worth being anywhere else. This night it was here.
So we stayed one more night, alot more low key though, shannon had to go and see a woman who is going to help her get some work for a month or so when she comes back here, after i have left. She came back very happy, i think it was just waht she was looking for. I was chuffed for her.
So we woke up and got to the bus stop for 8 o clock to catch a bus to a place that i have forgoten the name of, but we had to go there to get to san jose (it was the day that i was leaving). So we got to the bus stop and found out that the only buses were at 7 o clock and 2.30. My flight was at 5.30 so they were no good, as we were 4 hours from san jose. On our last 10 pounds, our only option was to get a taxi to stop at a cash point and take us to this town, for the san jose bus. And that is what we did, i drew 40 dollars out of my account and we paid the man. Then got on the bus in this town and arrived in San jose. It was only when we were on the bus that shannon realised she had left her ipod, on the pavement where we were sat. Major booboo.
So we were in san jose, both only with a small amount of money, i was judging it just right, so that i could catch a bus to the airport and have a couple of pounds left. Shannon also had to go to somewhere in san jose to pick up a new credit card that had been sent to her. Otherwise she was pennyless. We caught a taxi to the bus station and said our goodbyes, which at the time didnt seem real, and there was this part of me that was like..'i will see her again soon, whats all the fuss' but the reality is i dont know when i will see her again. Anyway I got to the airport with three pounds in my wallet. I was then told that Costa Rica charges a departure tax of 26 dollars....Fuck. Nevermind, its ok, i will pay with my visa. I go up to the desk, looking through my wallet. Where the fuck is my card??? Mind starts racing and tracing back, then i remember, the cashpoint at dominical...We were in a rush, and those atm's give your money before the card, i grabbed the money and ran. My head started spinning and al of a sudden i felt very alone. I had no money to get out of the country and no way of drawing it out. I bought a phonecard with the last of my money, phoned my parents and asked them to cancel my card. Then phoned the place that shannon was going, because i thought i might be able to get her to spot me some money. Yet the guy at the end of the phone told me that they had sent her card to the caribean town of cahuita, where we had been a week ago, and she was on her way down to pick it up. Now i started to worry, what do i do. So i talked to the airline people and they said they couldnt help and i should get someone to spot me the money. All i knew was, that having no money in LA was better than having no money in San Jose. As missing a flight would add cost to my trip. So i waited around the departure tax desk, until this buiness looking man came along. I stopped him, told him my predicament and told him i would pay him back. He asked me which airline i was on (it was TACA) then he handed me 26 dollars and his buisness card. He just happened to be the regional manager of TACA airlines.
So i managed to board the flight with no money. I sat and decided to try and not think about it for the journey. Then this chap sat next to me, stereotypical traveller/surfer image going on. We got chatting and he asked about my travels, i told him about my crisis and he was only to happy to help. He said the same thing happened to him once, and someone helped him. So he spotted me 50 dollars for when i got to LA(where i was going to be for 24 hours and then flying to Fiji, supposedly. Looking back on it, i was very lucky that day, someone was keeping their eye on me.
So i arrive in Los angels at around midnight and decide to save money i should sleep in the airport. So i went to the domestic terminal and tried to get comfortable. Which wasnt happening. So i wandered around and finally found the international departures which was like a hotel compared to the domestic terminal. I slept on a bench for about 7 hours then woke up and bought some 10 dollar phonecards. Called the folks, sorted out a western union money transfer, which can be picked up at any branch, there happened to be one in the airport in Fiji which was nice. So until then i had 30 dollars and i ate macdonalds and similar quality meals. Made friends with the woman in the newsagent in the terminal and generally found out everything about the international departure terminal in LA. It was bloody boring though. I boarded my flight at around midnight and arrived in Nadi, picking my money up, no problem.
My travels were back on track, after a momentary disruption.

To be continued..........