Couchsurfing the Beach!!!

We spent last weekend in Mochima National Park in Venezuela with a group of 15 couchsurfers, mainly from Venezuela, and a couple of Europeans. We had a blast on our secluded island camping, swimming, basking in the sunshine and sharing yummy foods. Here´s a couple of pics from our wonderful beach weekend:


This is the big group, energetic group before we loaded up the boats to head to our private oasis.

At the beach: Ricardo, me, Ricky, Deby and Alexandra.

This is our amazing host and couchsurfing friend Aarron! He hosted us at his family´s home and every time we turned around they were showering us with overwhelming kindness. Their house was a gorgeous array of his father´s artist talents from paintings, sculptures, big, airy open spaces and antique collections hung on the walls. We stayed in the daughter's room, who was away in India for three months. Her bed was a pre-colonial antique bed and her room was adorned in Indochinese decorum. We felt like we were staying in a museum! The garden was incredible with everything from jungle plants, parrots, mosaic benches and orchids. What a treat to stay with such genuine, giving people!

Ricky´s favourite Venezuelan cervesa! Solera by Polar Inc.

We are currently in gorgeous Merida, a mountain town far from the Caribbean coast. We´ll be here until Monday celebrating Carnaval! Viva Venezuela!!! We are Columbia bound next week. Hasta luego. xoxo

Venezuela: a land of contradictions

Caracas is my first South American capital, a love-it-or-hate-it kind of city, a place where terracotta slums expand up the surrounding hillsides met by stunning valleys and prominent modern architecture. Dizzying political tensions infiltrate every aspect of daily life, yet the weekend brings throngs of Venezuelans to the gorgeous coastal beaches to party and relax.

I traveled Central America alone last year and I am now psyched to continue my Latin American adventures, this year with my boyfriend. Life on the road certainly has its trials - the sight of devastating poverty, the arduous task of finding a cheap, safe hotel and continuously asking for directions, all the while wondering who is trying to rip you off and who is genuinely being helpful. Traveling over the last several years has allowed me to test my limits, to seek out cultures and habitats alien to my cushy Canadian way of life.

My first week here has left me with mixed emotions and a whirlwind of questions. It seems like for every delightful experience or kind-hearted person I encounter, I am met by an equal amount of sneering glances and crooked intentions. When I first arrived at the international airport I was bombarded by a crowd of frantic taxi drivers and money changers, all shouting their services at me, competing for my foreign funds. I had four hours to wait for my boyfriend to arrive and I felt timid amidst this sea of intimidating men. Luckily, I met a kind, English-speaking Venezuelan woman, who helped me exchange my US currency, book a hotel and figure out the frustrating vending machine system. I was incredibly grateful for her help and unabashed friendliness.

However, the following evening, after a delightful dinner downtown Caracas, I quickly learnt not to expect such genuine kindness around every corner. At 6:30 pm, one block from our hotel, we were stopped by a policeman, who was quickly joined by his two cohorts. They interrogated us about where we had been and why we were not carrying our passports. Hungry and unaware that corrupt officers were looming, we had ventured out for dinner and had not thought to bring our documents. They fired more questions at us and even searched us for drugs! We anxiously lead them down the street to our hotel where we showed them our passports and awaited our verdict. Before leaving they demanded all the cash in my boyfriend’s pocket. We felt violated but we were not about to argue with three hostile, gun-carrying policemen. What is happening in a country when the supposed law enforcers rob your trust and hinder your security?

These two incidents demonstrate the polar opposite vibes I am experiencing here. In the last two weeks every experience has either been exceptionally positive or particularly negative. I have seen the prominent scars of neglect and corruption on the streets, yet I have also met some extraordinarily compassionate people who have opened their hearts and showed me the splendor of Venezuela.

Adios Costa Rica!

It's hard to say goodbye to a place, it doesn't exactly hug back...

Before our alarm clocks ring, while we are still snug in our beds, the world is alive right outside the window! After missing the early bus Monday I managed to rise on time and catch the 5 am bus Tuesday, to the capital of Costa Rica. Feeling heavy with sleep and sadness I shuffled to the dirt road to meet the bus. My head felt fuzzy and my heart ached, but Mother Nature could care less! She is fully awake and more vibrant than ever! I couldn't believe how much activity was going on, that early, right outside my door. Nature is grooving at 5am, marvillosa!

Brilliant flowers and birds burst around me. Grey clouds turn pink, while chickens peak at the yard and my puppy friend plays at my feet, not aware of our rapidly approaching separation. The little, chubby yellow birds that I see everyday are perched along the fence, a regal salute before I wave down the San Jose bound bus. I can also smell citrus and cilantro rising with the sun. And was that a faint whiff of pinto, I caught, being prepared by the great mothers of Sandalo? Mi comida favorita!

Scarlett macaws and parrots squawk above while howler monkeys growl in the distance, a sound I was longing to hear, one last time.

The nine hour bus trip is long and intense, but I fought off sleep to take in the glorious sights and to breathe in the rain forest that was my home for a season. Layers upon layers of green, a blur from my bus window seat. It has rained all day, almost every day in October and the jungle is now in full force. Today the sky is steel blue, while a light fog rolls off the mountains in the distance, clinging to the surrounding cloud forests.

Costa Rica is a very hard place to leave. The last 4 months have been bliss and I will greatly miss all the wondrous sights, tranquilo way of life and all the loving people who have touched my soul.

While explaining where I lived to a woman I traveled with in Panama, she remarked, "You live in a magical place at a wonderful time, soak it in!" And I did. This magical place and time will forever live with me. If you fancy a glimpse, just ask.

Tonight I will be couchsurfing with my good friend Cyril, the ambassador for Costa Rica. Tomorrow I am Nicaragua bound, another land and people with so much beauty to offer. I will then be making my way Northeast to explore El Salvador and visit an orphanage. Lastly, on November 15th I will arrive in Guatemala City where I will be surfing more couches and partying at a big music festival in Panajachel! November 21st I will be flying home, a week in Toronto and then up to The Soo to try and make some money and join in the family festivities before continuing my adventures in Latin America.

Adios Costa Rica! Te quiero mucho y pura vida!!!

Sloth Action!

Meet Buttercup, a 15 year old 3-fingered sloth. She was the first sloth to be rescued by the owners of the sanctuary. She has lived with them for a decade and has met hundreds of thousands of curious tourists. Buttercup is a big showoff and dreams to one day escape to join the circus!



Meet Millie, a sleepy two-toed sloth who likes to cover herself with a towel to block out the light during her 18 hours of sleep a day.




This is Toyota, a lucky 3-fingered sloth who lost an arm when she was badly burnt by an electric wire. Sloths often climb telephone poles because they look like trees. Luckily, Toyota was taken to the Sloth Rescue Center in Costa Rica and now lives a life of leisure and fame.



Sloth babies are adorable! I spent 5 hours at the Sloth Sanctuary and fell in love with every one of these fascinating creatures. Since we are in Central America we got to play with them. It was bliss, I didn't want to leave. Some of them have lost their Moms, fallen out of trees, been found on the highway or have been tormented by kids who don't know any better.
The babies don't have Moms so they are put together to comfort each other. There aren't any teats to suck on so they suck on each others ears while they sleep! It is so CUTE! This is Taz suckling on Annie´s ear.


Sloth contact! Meet my favourite sloth, Taz! He was super soft and very playful.


Crazy claws!



Ricky hanging out with Piffany, of the 2-fingered variety. Piffany was eagerly awaiting the return of her friend who was being fed lunch close by. The vets figured out that, while sloths are solitary creatures, they really enjoy each others company and when they grow-up together they cry and become depressed when they are separated!



Oh, it is a good life! Sloths are the only animal I can think of that always have a smile on their face! I gots to get me a sloth!!!

COUCHSURFING

¨As a community we strive to do our individual and collective parts to make the world a better place, and we believe that the surfing of couches is a means to accomplish this goal. CouchSurfing isn't about the furniture- it's not just about finding free accommodations around the world- it's about participating in creating a better world. We strive to make a better world by opening our homes, our hearts, and our lives. We open our minds and welcome the knowledge that cultural exchange makes available. We create deep and meaningful connections that cross oceans, continents and cultures. CouchSurfing wants to change not only the way we travel, but how we relate to the world!¨

Trust, friendship and a couch or a similar space to crash for the night-these are the fundamental ingredients for any Couchsurfer. I have found an amazing community of travelers with a group called Couchsurfers. I heard about CS from a guy I met in a hostel in Mexico. I logged on to www.couchsurfing.com to check out what the fuss was all about. I was amazed to read profiles and stories from people who had traveled the world as a couchsurfer. I was even more intrigued by the people who rarely traveled but loved hosting other travelers in their homes.
CS was started by an American guy named Casey Fenton, who got a cheap ticket to Iceland for a long weekend. There was one problem: he had no place to stay and no desire to rot in a hotel all weekend and play Mr. Tourist. So, he came up with the 'brilliant' idea of spamming over 1500 Icelandic students in Reykjavik and asking them if he could crash on one of their couches. After exchanging emails with many of the students, he had several groups of friends offer to show him 'their' Reykjavik. So, after spending an amazing, crazy weekend just south of the Arctic Circle, Casey decided he would never again get trapped in a hotel and tourist marathon while traveling. From that point onward, it was all about crashing on exotic couches and cultural exchange. And, thus, the CouchSurfing Project was born.
When I first discovered this interesting community, in Mexico, I was a little hesitant. I started slowly by emailing people and just meeting up for coffee or a meal. I didn’t feel comfortable going into a strange home. It was great to meet local people, get suggestions for things to do around town and even practise my Spanish from time to time. It wasn’t until I arrived in Costa Rica that I really dove in and started staying at people’s homes and surfing couches.
The mission of CS is simple:
"CouchSurfing seeks to internationally network people and places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness, spread tolerance, and facilitate cultural understanding."
I have met so many wonderful people in San Jose through Couchsurfing. Last month I stayed with the CS Ambassador of Costa Rica and he introduced me to his couchsurfing friends. His job doesn’t allow for him to travel very much but he says he feels like the world comes to him instead as couchsurfers share his home, space and social life for a few days at a time.
Is CS safe? This is a very common question with many answers. There are several precautionary measures in place for surfers and hosts. There is a verification system and a strong network of references. Also, everyone wants to be able to be part of CS and if they abuse the system or act outside of the CS mandate then it is the other couchsurfer´s duty to post a bad reference to warn other surfers.


I know there are many communities out there like CS, groups that open their hearts and minds, to share a part of themselves and provide a safe space to learn, love and grow. You probably have many similar types of groups and foundations in your very own hometowns. It could be the local farmer’s market, a church, a school, a sports team or your local coffee shop hang out. I feel now, more than ever, we need to join and reach out to these types of communities in order to ground ourselves and find ways to renew our conviction in human trust and friendship.
Travelling can often be lonely and it seems harder to find true friends. Couchsurfing has provided me with a neighborhood of like-minded individuals who want to promote genuine friendship and an open door policy. They have renewed my faith in the human race! For many years I have cursed technology, stubbornly refusing to adapt to the rapid changes around me. But now I can see how, even in a small way, the Internet and technology can provide me with an opportunity to get closer to people and meet some really caring individuals. I am looking forward to couchsurfing throughout South America next year.

Crocodile infested rivers, fire breathing insects, wild pigs, poison dart frogs, four kinds of monkeys, all complete with the mythical jungle-roaming tapir. Welcome to the rugged Corvocado National Park, the Amazon of Costa Rica!
I spent the Costa Rican Mother’s Day long weekend in the National Park with my boyfriend Ricky. Despite some anxiety ridden moments we had a blast and enjoyed the three days of hiking and exploring this gorgeous rain forest reserve. Along with phenomenal seclusion and splendor the park is described by National Geographic as “the most biologically intense place on earth” and is listed in the book A Thousand Places To Go Before You Die!
Saturday we took a three hour collectivo taxi to Carate, an entrance town to the national park and then hiked 20 kilometers on primitive trails, through the jungle and along the Pacific’s coastal beaches towards the Sierna Ranger Station. We spotted many squirrel monkeys, spider monkeys and my personal favourite the white faced capuchin monkeys playing and eating high up in the trees tops. Later we came across a timid anteater, a dove, vultures, and dozens of coati (raccoon-like animals), a herd of peccaries (sharp-toothed wild pigs), bats, tons of scarlet macaws, and last but not least two enchanting tapirs. The tapir is a fascinating, ground dwelling, plant eating creature. The Baird tapir is a mixture of elephant, rhinoceros, pig and horse! There are approximately 200-300 tapirs left in the national park and are hard to find since they rely on concealment as a form of defense. They leave huge, three-toed tracks in the mud and on forest trails throughout the reserve, but after many tracking attempts over the second and third days we could not find any more. I feel privileged to have spotted, if only briefly, the adult and juvenile tapirs crossing the trail and running for cover back into the dense, wild jungle.
Unfortunately, the planned 20 km hike turned into 25 kms due to poorly marked trails and our constant searches for good locations to cross the high rivers. We were warned about high tides that made the rivers impassable because of water levels, crocodile activity and sharks that cruise the inshore waters… Needless to say I was a bit apprehensive. Luckily we crossed at waist-high depths just before the tidal waves flooded the river.
After a wrong turn I accidentally brushed up against a fern swarming with flame throwing ants! Ok, ok, a bit of an exaggeration, but those nasty inferno ants had a mighty, fiery bite that is still lingering three days later!
We lost our way several times but made it to the ranger station just as twilight became night and before the worry of predators, mainly snakes and big cats such as the jaguar, let our imaginations run wild. To top it all off, during a badly needed shower, at the ranger station, I was stung by a vicious wasp. It may seem like a horrible day to some, but I will look back on August 18th, 2007 with fond memories of amazing animal sightings and great adventures.
Needless to say after a 430 am start and an 8 hour day of hiking I was very happy to settle into our bunk house, change into dry clothes and scarf down some pasta salad before falling sound asleep beneath a mosquito-netted canopy.
The next day we went on some easy hikes around the ranger station and along the beach where we saw huge, beautiful trees entangled in thick, maze-like root systems, hundreds of different butterflies, tons of birds, lizards, screeching parrots, monkeys and a cute little agouti, a cat-size rodent related to the guinea pig. The third day we hiked out at a rapid pace through a torrential downpour that lasted the whole 6 hours of our walk. We didn’t spot many animals because of how much the rain obscured our vision, but we had lots of fun singing silly songs about rain, splashing through huge puddles/creeks and having our picnic lunch in a small cave by the raging ocean. What a fantastic, adrenalin charged weekend! Now I am back in my little wooden shack 50 kms from those bio-diverse trails but only 10 km from another entrance to The Corvocado National Park. Guess where I’m going this coming weekend?!

No Longer Homeless!

This has been a very exciting month, thus far. I now have a home in Costa Rica! I moved in Monday and have been busy cleaning and organizing my new place. I live in a little village called Barria Bonito, close to the main town of Puerto Jimenez in the Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica. I live beside the wonderful Valerin-Jimenez family. Jenny (Mom), Javier (her husband), and Jenny´s two daughters Tatiana (8 years old) and Elizabeth (7 years old). They have been very good to me, providing me with all the things I need and some that I don´t, like last night they dropped off some delicious fish soup!

My little cabin has a cute porch, a big kitchen, a little room + bed, a bathroom (with hot watter! a rarity) and a gorgeous yard surrounded by the jungle. Below you will find a picture of me with my little puppy Osita. I say mine because I am slowly manipulating her to come live with me! Her name means little bear in Spanish. Osita´s Mom was hit by a car a week ago and her brothers and sisters have been given away to other families nearby. She lives in a box in the garage and is very timid. People here don´t tend to keep house pets so it would be selfish of me to house-train her since I am leaving in three months. Either way we are quickly becoming good friends and enjoy reading and taking siestas together on my porch during the lazy afternoons.

I live in the jungle of Costa Rica, how cool is that! Nothing posh, but to me it´s paradise. I have also started teaching English twice a week to an 19 year old girl here who is best friend´s with my neighbour. As far as payment goes we are trading language for language. She is just starting off with the basics in English and I need a lot of practise with conversational Spanish, a great deal for both of us. Her name is Rosaria and she has a really cute, fat 3 month old baby named Natalie.

I need to make some money since my funds have become very thin. I am trying to get an art project started here. I want to make touristy cards, using my photographs, to sell to tourists. Once I get my project up and running I will write more and tell you of my progress.

If you have a week vacation coming up and would like to explore Costa Rica I would love to show you around. It is such a beautiful country, with wonderful people, relatively cheap and easy to fly to from North America. I live a 40 minute flight from San Jose, the capital, and it only costs about $50. In case any of you feel inspired to send me some snail mail or, even better to come and visit me, here is my Costa Rican address: Michelle Laporte, c/o: Jennifer Valerin-Jimenez, Puerto Jimenez, Golfito #35, Costa Rica