Category: travel

Have been robbed for the third time on this holiday.

rob #1
rob #2

Robbery #3
Travelling from San Ramone to Costa Rica´s capital San Jose.

The set up
Girl comes to sit next to me from the front of the bus.
Think nothing of it.
I am a good looking bloke..

After normal girly wriggling, girl goes to sleep waking up just as the bus is approaching San Jose bus station.

The sting
Pulling into bus station in San Jose.

Bus is alighting, people are standing ready to get off.

Money is heard bouncing on the floor under seat, girl turns around looking for her dropped coin.

I allow the girl under my seat to look for it.

Two onlookers gather and gesticulate that I should move to let her find it.

I look for the coin myself, I can’t see anything, but let the girl look again, this time standing off the floor completely on my seat.

The onlookers, an old man, and a youngish man, gesticulate that I should come out of there completely.

Having had no luck myself, I let the girl go about her business grovelling on the floor..

This I do moving out into the isle and sideways into an empty seating bay.

We watch the girl look for her coins.

Old man trys to push past me, which I think is stange.

a) because he is old.
b) because there is not really anywhere to go because the girl and I make up pretty much the full breadth of the isle.

I won’t move.

He has to struggle past.

I become aware of a movement in back pocket around the wallet region, turn to see younger bloke turn away.

Missing coin issue is rapidly cleared up, girl thanks me and walks off.

The realisation
20 minutes down the road its raining, I go to catch a taxi and realise that the cash in my front pocket has been stolen.

About 20,000 collons. Just over 20 quid.

The trick

Trapping you in the isle

whilst

Getting you to watch the girl find the money

then

letting the old man past, getting you to turn to a different postion allowing access to more pockets.

Had I turned to face the front and let that old man past, I would now be minus a wallet rather than just 20 quid.

Very clever.

The moral

When girls come and sit next to you on a bus, it is likely she is after your money.

Not forgetting the baths @ La Fortuna, Baldi Baths.
Apart from Caño, this is perhaps one of the coolest things to do ala La Fortuna.

Hot Bath
Volcanically heated, the bar staff will provide free beer if you manage to stay in the hottest pool for longer than 20 seconds.

They recon its over 100 degrees, one guy said 400 (Canadian), but I managed to get a foot in there and not remove a stump.

There are another 11 pools and a series of winding pathways, lamp lit and paved to keep you wandering round.

Best pools
I thought the smelly ones round the bottom were best.

Although you might venture up to the top area where there is a better view of the volcanous mountain and the odd lava flow.

The bar
Barman didn’t know what a Mojhito was, then didn’t want to bother so I left it.

This is a picture of the Rio Frio so packed with life.

Met this guy.

Pretty friendly.

For those that make it to La Fortuna and are into your naturism, there is no better place in Costa Rica than the place they call Caño Negra.

An area of wetland gaining it´s name from the black volcanic dust tinged water it leaks into Rio Frio which flows on the border between Costa Rica & Nicaragua.

This place you are gauranteed to see animals like:
Caimen
Howler Monkeys
Sloths
Storks
Turtles
Jumping Fish
Bats
Kingfishers
and sometimes the Jesus lizard running across the waterway

For the $30 dollars, it was a sure thing.
You could spot wildlife until you could be bothered to spot no more.

Here are some pictures.

This one is showing a smaller version of the Crocodile named the Caiman which you will find throughout the Amazon and tropical regions.
Lively little buggers they are, there are too many opportunities to see them.
Our boat was able to pull right up to within a couple of meters allowing us to take pictures.

Obviously, this must have given the impression that they were ‘friendly’ and one of the Canadian tourists asked if they bite (?!)
You know what the Americans say about the Canadians.

We must be some of the luckiest tourists alive.

While we were out, we spotted this Albino Howler monkey.
Our guide had never spotted one of these before and he had been 19 years on the job.

In addition
Got a great tan.