WE WERE ROBBED

Our routine every time before leaving a place is for Justin to completely go over the truck and look for anything wrong and get it ready to go.  It was the morning before everyone was due to leave when Justin went out to the truck to do his thing.  At first glance everything appeared normal.  He unlocked the drivers side door, got in and noticed a sliver of light coming from the back door.  He then got out, went to the door and noticed that the key tumbler was in the wrong position.  When he reached for the handle the door opened on its own.

Not Good.

Inside he found the locks on the steel boxes were gone and the latches to the box were open.  Upon looking inside of the box that holds all things land rover, he realized that the large tool box was missing.

Not Good At All.

At this point he hurled out a very loud string of curses and slammed the door which brought out the neighbourhood.

So they got our tool box that contained pretty much everything needed to assemble and disassemble a land rover and to service a mercedes engine.  They also stole our highly coveted gearbox oil.  Anyone who regularly reads our blog, knows that this oil was excruciatingly hard to find.  They also stole Justins body board bag - probably to carry everything in.  (Luckily, the night before he brought his board inside because he was going to use it the next morning.)

They cracked the back window - it is now being held together by the window tint.  They bent the back door - it doesn't close properly now.  The canopy and the box of the truck don't line up anymore and they put a series of gouges and dents in the rear panels inside the truck.

After adding everything up we lost well over $2000 worth of professional grade tools, about $200 worth of oil (replaced in San Jose), who knows how much in repair work needed for the land rover and the worst of all - time.

Anyone doing a trip like this knows how important security is.  You have your life in your vehicle.  When you're travelling one of the top priorities is keeping your vehicle safe.  You find secure parking lots, gated hotels, make sure theres guards and ask around.  If a spot doesn't feel right you move on.  Even when we go into a restaurant we sit in a spot where we can watch the truck.  When planning this trip we tried to think of the different ways we could be broken into and what we could do to minimize the risks.  Everything is either locked, chained down or difficult to access.  We left knowing that a break in was a definite possibility.  We knew that if someone really wanted to get in, they could, so we made it as difficult as possible.  But as much as we would like to, we can't drive in a Brinks truck.

So the rest of the day was spent dealing with the condo owner, the security company of the condo complex, the manager of the unit, the general manager of the complex, dealing with the police and talking with other residents of the area.  It turns out there were other break ins that night and some attempted ones the next day.  We've learnt a lot about crime in tourist towns and how crime rings work in Central America.  These are things we have no interest in knowing about. We figure this was either an inside job (there was a security guard on duty and he had a clear view of the parking lot and as well the complex is tiny) or the security here just really sucks.  One of the security guards here was arrested last week after he was found inside someones unit.

So it was a really crappy day, filled with lots of yelling and lots of swearing.  I was called very vocal by the property manager here - he may of meant loco (ha ha!).  It is so frustrating that we thought our vehicle would be okay because there was security here, but it wasn't.  When we think back to all of the places that we've stayed, we are really surprised it happened like this.

So now we are still in the same condo in Tamarindo (the owner is being really amazing to us and letting us stay here for free until things get worked out).  We have oil being shipped to us from San Jose and tomorrow we have a meeting with all parties involved to possibly be compensated by the security company for the loss of the tools - not holding our breath but worth a shot.  We don't want to leave until we have at least some tools because as you know land rovers do sometimes need attention.  We've had a lot of support from other over landers and travellers that has made us feel better.  We are especially thankful for the fact that our family was here to support us.  We're sorry your last day here was spent listening to us rant!

We know its just your run-of-the-mill vehicle break in.  Nothing unique about it.  It won't change our trip at all except for time and money.  Just another part of the adventure - okay venting is now over.

THEY'RE HEEERRRREEEEE - PART 1

left to right - Vee (moms friend), Mom (mom), Rod (brother), Alli (Rods girlfriend) and us

After almost nine months of being away from home, part of home came to us.  Our relaxing lifestyle came to an abrupt end with their arrival.  It has been a whirlwind of activity and we've had a lot of fun.

Our first adventure was an estuary tour.  Our guide took us along the river for a 5km boat ride, that brought us up close and personal to crocs, monkeys, crabs, birds and mosquitoes.

The next adventure for the family was a trip to Nicaragua.  We didn't go on this one.  We stayed back and worried about them, feeling a little bad that we sent them off to another country.  But all was well, they made it back armed with stories and misadventures to tell us about and a hug from a monkey for my mom.

We've spent a lot of time on the beach watching the surfers and playing in the ocean - even Mom was out in the ocean playing in the waves!

playing in the waves

One of the bonuses of the family coming down is the FOOD.  We have been eating like kings.  No more   cheap taco stands for us - we've been eating at places with tablecloths and cloth napkins.  We've had pan seared tuna, mahi mahi, shrimp, delicious pastas, desserts and on and on.  Our clothes might start fitting us again if we keep this up.

enjoying some mojitos 

we've had a few really good meals in as well except...

we had some dish washer troubles

We also went deep sea fishing, something that most of us have never done before.  I have to say that the boat ride out to sea was terrifying, there were huge swells and it was a really rough ride.  But the excitement of the guys catching two sailfish and seeing dolphins and sea turtles made it all worth while.

Part 2 with our visitors from home coming soon.....

WELCOME TO THE JUNGLE

When we booked our month long stay in Playa Grande, we had no idea what we were getting.  All we knew was that it had a kitchen, hot water, wifi, was cheap and most importantly close to the beach.  As we followed the signs into Playa Grande we wondered where the hell we were going, suddenly the jungle was closing in, the road was turning into rutted mud and was only as wide as the truck.  We thought we were staying in a town, boy were we wrong - we're in a gated ex-pat community, nestled into the jungle.

We ended up getting a whole lot more than we thought we would.  It had everything we mentioned above and one thing that we didn't know about - a MICROWAVE!  This meant popcorn.  Its these little unexpected things that makes us happy.  Annas even happy here, we haven't seen her relax this quick before.  We think its the couch.

This place has two rooms for rent and is attached to the owners home.  A three minute walk away is the beach and behind us is the jungle.  There are a couple of hotels and restaurants down the street, a very expensive corner store, some homes and thats about it.  This is not what we're used to.  Wheres the garbage, the stray dogs, music playing around the clock and just plain hustle and bustle.  It is so quiet.  Our first day we wondered if we would last a month.

our path to the beach

The first day here we heard the familiar roar of the howler monkeys and later saw them playing around in the trees.  (of course, we didn't have our camera)  Then that night, we experienced one of the most insane storms we had ever been in.  It all started with a clap of thunder and then the skies opened up and produced golf ball sized rain drops.  A massive tree fell on the neighbours house and then all we heard around us was trees falling in the jungle.  Suddenly, we both felt the hairs on our arms stand on end and then BOOM. Lightning struck somewhere close and turned night into day.  It made our hearts stop and took our breath away.  This particular storm turned into tropical cyclone Dora, when it got farther up the coast.  We can't imagine what it must be like to be in an actual cyclone.  As far as a tropical storm is concerned, this was nothing.  We don't ever want to find out what something would be.

after another rain storm - thats about 4" deep

We have seen and have been forced to interact with more creatures and insects than ever before.  Collisions with frogs happens daily, yesterday we had to get one out of our room after he hopped through my legs.  We had to give a wide berth to a six foot long big black snake.  We have run away from a cloud of strange iridescent mosquitoes.  We spent one day fighting off the mud wasps from nesting in our sliding patio door and we have to work around the spider community in our bathroom.  As well, we have been eye to eye with raccoons outside our door as they come investigate the recycling bin at night - they do not scare away.  In the morning, you can see the carnage of these cute halloween crabs that the raccoons have been feeding on. Not all of the bugs here scare us though.  When the power is out and the jungle is twinkling with fire flies  - it is the most amazing sight.

halloween crabs - they are so fun to watch

One morning we were awoken to a large boom.  Three seconds later, the bed started shaking - it felt like the room was moving a foot back and forth.  It was earthquake number four, for us.  This one only registered as a 4.9 but it felt more aggressive then the 5.5 one we had in Liberia.  I know these are small scale earthquakes but for two people from the prairies, they sure don't feel like it.

this picture is for our seashell loving, great niece, Kayla

taking the boat across the estuary 

We have travelled to Costa Rica twice before, both times in the dry season.  It was beautiful but it was brown.  To see this country in the rainy season is an entirely different experience.  It doesn't rain all day, everyday just here and there.  Its actually really refreshing and usually welcomed.  After the rain it does get really humid though and our clothes are always wet - whether it be from the rain or from sweating.  So if your ever planning a vacation to Costa Rica don't write off the rainy season - it is so incredibly beautiful this time of year.

So at the beginning of this post we wrote about wondering if we would make it a month.  We have been here over three weeks now and we are loving it.  Beach and surfing everyday and the odd itunes movie at night, fish from the fish guy and baked goods from the bakery that come right to our door - we just can't complain. And its not quiet here, living in the jungle is anything but.  We may not be getting much culture and our spanish is suffering but its really nice and relaxed here.  Good thing - we have four very important people on their way to see us and we have a feeling that they are going to be keeping us very busy.

we sit on this log every morning with a coffee and every night with a beer