Having already started panicking the night before about the border crossing to Costa Rica we decided to take the easy route and book a shuttle ($27 USD/34.40 AUD) to Puerto Viejo across the border. I woke up anxious and there was nothing much that could really be done to calm me down...what was I panicking about you may be wondering? The lack of onward trip anywhere. I had done a lot of research into traveling into Costa Rica and almost everything I read stated you must have a return ticket out of there or proof of onward travel elsewhere. Having decided to risk it, I was almost paralytic with anxiety (anyone who knows me knows I’m terrified of customs and border crossings at the best of times, despite having been to 51 countries and it’s completely irrational). Well, it turns out my panic was all for nothing. They were really friendly at the border, and the only question they asked me was what my occupation was. I’m not saying that you won’t get asked more questions, or be required to provide evidence of future travel arrangements, but we didn’t and I did read that the more stamps in your passport the less likely they are to question you as it is apparent you stick to visa rules. The process was really easy and the shuttle driver even stopped to let us look at a sloth on the side of the road. The process I would imagine is fairly similar independently where you take a water taxi to Almirante, a taxi to the bus station, a bus to the border go through panama customs, walk across the bridge (it’s a new bridge so the stand by me bridge you may have seen online is no longer an option), go to Costa Rican immigration, then get on another bus either to San Jose or Puerto Viejo. Puerto Viejo is a great place to chill and party if that’s what your into but it wasn’t really our scene. We did find a cheap room at The Lion Fish Hostel ($25 USD/31.85 AUD) which unfortunately turned out to be really noisy and resulted in two predominantly sleepless nights. However, Puerto Viejo’s saving grace was the wonderful soda (Costa Rican local restaurant) around the corner. It didn’t have a name but it was on the first street on the right past Lion Fish towards the beach. It was the second block back, next to the lavanderia and the lovely woman there serves huge plates of food for 3000c ($5.25 USD/6.70 AUD). Other than eating and wandering, Puerto Viejo served very little purpose or held any further appeal to us, so after our two restless nights, we moved on! Our next stop was Tortuguero but it turned out getting there was not going to be simple if you didn’t want to take the shuttles available. It was going to be a 5 stage journey but we decided to give it a go. We arrived at the first bus stop at 7.30am and bought our tickets from the shop opposite the bus stop. This first stage cost 1,825c ($3.20 USD/4.10 AUD) and was an easy hour and a half to Limon. Now, at Limon we needed to change bus stations which is quick and easy…provided you know where you’re going. Follow the green exit/salida signs out of the terminal you arrive into and head out onto the street. Turn right and then take the first street on your left. Follow this up until you find the big green bus terminal called Carribe Terminal on your left hand side. This is only about 500m and multiple people were willing to help show us the way when we simply informed them we were heading in the direction of Guaplies. Once here we were immediately directed to the bus to Guapiles. This cost 2,200c ($3.85 USD/4.90 AUD) and took just over and hour and a half getting us into Guapiles before the 11am bus to Cariari. The Cariari ticket window is away from the other ticket windows and is actually opposite where the bus leaves from so look for the sign over the bus parking spaces then look directly back and you’ll find the window (alternatively you can just ask for “bolito para Cariari” and you will be pointed in the right direction). This bus is only 500c ($0.85 USD/1.10 AUD) and took just over half an hour. Up to this point in our journey, all our ducks had lined up perfectly and each journey was seamless…that was until we reached Cariari! We pulled into the bus station at 11:37 and had thus just missed the 11:30 bus, which had frustratingly actually left on time! The next one wasn’t until 3pm and a 3 1/2hr wait in the middle of a long day at a dusty and uncomfortable bus station did not seem appealing! Lucky for us (and by this stage Michelle who we met in Guapiles) we were approached by Owen, a guide on Tortuguero, who was heading home. He offered us a shared taxi to the port. This ended up costing us 2500c ($4.40 USD/5.60 AUD) each, which although double what the bus would have cost, was much quicker and meant not hanging around. We know Owen was able to get local price for the taxi at 14,000c ($24.60 USD/31.35 AUD) but even then if there’s a group of you it may be worth forking out the extra for a quicker transfer (we passed the bus we missed on route). Owen was also kind enough to help us get a local boat across to Tortuguero instead of the public boat, which actually costs more. The reason this was even better was the local boats don’t charge you for your luggage. It was 2000c ($3.50 USD/4.50 AUD) per person and left again earlier than the public boat. All up our journey took us 5 hours and despite all the changes it was pretty easy (thanks to Owen!!). It was totally worth it when we arrived in what can only be described and untamed paradise. Owen had also recommended a guesthouse called Meryscar, which is towards the beach backing onto the second soccer pitch (ask at the orange tourist information centre at the arrival dock and everyone will know where you are asking about). Meryscar is run by a lovely Spanish/Nicaraguan couple, who have recently taken it over. They clearly love this place and made us feel so at home right from the beginning. They even brought out some ice-cold young coconuts to welcome us. It was $20 USD ($25.50 AUD) for a double room and had a great chill space out front with hammocks. It was through the woman at the guesthouse that we met Jungle Jon who would be our guide in the National Park during our stay. We chose to do the canoe tour early because it gives you the best chance to see wildlife. It was totally worth the 5.20am wake up as we watched capuchin, spider and howler monkeys swing through the trees and iguanas sunning themselves in the morning light. Jon was a great guide and really had a passion for what he was showing us. It really is worth the $35 USD ($44.60 AUD) it cost us including the park entrance fee ($20 for Jon and $15 for one days park entrance). The rest of the time was spent wandering around town. There are a few free walks you can do which give you some pretty good wildlife spotting opportunities. You can wander down the beach from 4-6pm before it is closed to the public without a guide. It is around this time that you may spot the baby turtles making the mad dash to the sea. We just missed this twice while we were walking, but Michelle managed to see them on her walk. You may also spot the Green Macaws that fly around town as well as some gorgeous coloured frogs in the banana trees just after dusk. All in all we absolutely loved Tortuguero and it turned out to be the Caribbean Island paradise we had been looking for in Bocas de Toro! So, it transpires that nothing about Costa Rican transport is easy. Having made the decision not to head to La Fortuna or Monteverde due to the recent hurricane that had done a lot of damage, the border town of Los Chiles seemed the closest/easiest place to cross in to Nicaragua. Well, just because something is close in Costa Rica does not mean it’s easy. I had done a lot of research into this little used border crossing and discovered that although there is a boat that will go from Los Chiles to San Carlos (Nicaragua) there is a newly opened land crossing that for all intents and purposes was supposed to be an easier and quicker option. I set about trying to find anyone else who had done the route from Tortuguero to Los Chiles in the bloggersphere and came across one guy who had done it…in 2013! He explained that it began with the reverse journey from Tortuguero to Guapiles and to give us the best chance of arriving before midnight we decided that 5am ferry to La Pavona was going to be our best bet. Here’s where the lovely woman in our guesthouse proved yet again to be amazing as she called her friend Quimi who does a private boat/shuttle transfer to Cariari all for 4000c ($7 USD/8.95 AUD). This would also mean not having to wait for the slower public bus at 7.30am as this shuttle would leave the port as soon as we arrived. We were in Cariari by 6.40am and then were on a bus to Guapiles (500c/$0.85 USD/1.10 AUD) by 6.50am. The next bus was to take us to Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui and was leaving at 8am, which left us 20 minutes between arriving in Guapiles and getting on stage 4 of our journey. This Puerto Viejo is not to be confused with the town we started at in southern Costa Rica. This bus cost 1220c ($2.15 USD/2.75 AUD) each and took us just over an hour. It was here we ended up with our longest wait of the day because our connecting bus to San Carlos (know as also Ciudad Quesada - 1155c/$2 USD/2.60 AUD) was not leaving till 10.30am. One thing we can say is that despite awkwardly regular requirement for connections and round about routes, the buses are efficient. At 10.20am the bus pulled in and at 10.30am, we were pulling out of the terminal. This next leg was slightly longer and we didn’t arrive in to San Carlos until just before 1pm, at which point, we were ushered very quickly onto the final leg of the journey to Los Chiles (2500c/$4.40 USD/5.60 AUD) and it left within minutes of us jumping aboard. After nearly 12 hours on the road we pulled in to Los Chiles at 4.15pm, ready to drop, but triumphant that we had made it! Finding a guest house in Los Chiles wasn’t as easy as we had imagined in the tiny little border town but we were lucky enough to stumble upon Jabiru Villas that cost $25 USD ($31.35 AUD) a night and they upgraded our room so that it had aircon/a kitchenette and private bathroom for the same cost as their basic rooms. After an ok night’s sleep we were ready to tackle our 3rd border crossing in just over 2 weeks. This one was supposed to be simple so I didn’t have my usual pre-border meltdown. We arrived at the bus station just after breakfast and waited for the next bus to the border (“frontera”) to come through. Most of these buses are from San Carlos (Ciudad Quesada) but some are coming from San Jose. We were lucky again and only had to wait for 10 minutes for the next bus, which was just enough time to change our remaining Costa Rican colones into Nicaraguan cordoba. The bus to the border only took around 15 minutes and we were quickly lining up to pay the tourist exit tax out of Costa Rica. Everything I had read said that you could only pay this by card at the border but this is no longer the case. You can pay the $8 USD (4,500c/$10.20 AUD) fee in either currency and in cash. Being stamped out of Costa Rica was relatively easy and after a little confusion we found our way to the first Nicaraguan checkpoint. There were 2 men (one asleep) in a little shack as we crossed who asked to see our passports. After a short friendly interrogation (us answering as best we could in broken Spanish) he ushered us towards the more official looking building. We were 2 of about 6 people crossing at the time and we quickly realised that they don’t see many gringos passing through here. We had a similar, but this time more intense friendly interrogation here and both of us simultaneously became awkward when asked if we were married (we answered no as we are not legally married in Nicaragua) and finally were stamped through. The bag check was non-existent and the man behind the counter handed us a ticket to say he had checked both our bags (he hadn’t). Make sure you hold on to this ticket, as you will need it to get through the gate to the collectivos to San Carlos. It was at this gate that our passports were checked for the 3rd time and after another thorough inspection of our passports we were finally allowed into Nicaragua and onto the collectivo. Our passports were checked for a 4th time on the road out of the border zone at a police checkpoint. The whole process was difficult as our Spanish is basic but at all stages it was friendly and now we were ready to explore the next country. So that’s our journey across Costa Rica in 12 easy steps and on to Nicaragua! Just to recap if you’re going to do the independent route from Puerto Viejo to Tortuguero: Puerto Viejo to Limon Limon to Guapiles Guapiles to Cariari Cariari to La Pavona La Pavona to Tortuguero…and should cost from $14-16 USD ($17-20 AUD) From Tortuguero to Los Chiles or La Fortuna (as it is the same route until the last bus): Tortuguero to La Pavona La Pavona to Cariari Cariari to Guapiles Guapiles to Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui Puerto Viejo de Sarapiqui to San Carlos (Ciudad Quesada) San Carlos to either La Fortuna or Los Chiles depending on where you are going next…should cost around $17 USD ($21.90 AUD) all up. Budget Time $$$Prior to us arriving in Costa Rica we had read a huge amount about how expensive it was as a destination and that in fact a lot of the same landscape and wildlife for which Costa Rica is famous could be seen in Nicaragua for a fraction of the cost. This resulted in us limiting our exploration of Costa Rica too intensely and meant we spent relatively little time there given it’s size. These days Costa Rica is basically a dual currency country using both the local colones and USD. In the places that we visited this duality was almost universal, from hostels to restaurants to supermarkets and even buses. It is definitely wise to carry colones as you may encounter times when spending the green back will not be an option or may result in an unfavourable exchange rate but our experience showed us that for the most part either currency can be spent anywhere and almost always was exchanged at the days rate. The rumoured hyper-expense turned out to be largely untrue in our experience. That’s not to say that it was a cheap destination, but the prices of accommodation, transportation, food and excursions were comfortably contained within our $40USD/person daily budget. This may have been partially due to the fact that we were travelling in shoulder season (October, before the peak started in November at the end of rainy season) but timing of travel is something that should always be considered, especially with longer-term travel and in more expensive destinations! One nice thing that we did notice was the fact that in a lot of the accommodations the prices offered for dorms or private rooms were per person rather than for the room itself. On that basis it would cost a solo traveller the same to stay in a private room for the night as it would for us as a couple. Like we have said, independent travel around Costa Rica is not easy (although it is surprisingly efficient). As with Panama, there are direct tourist shuttles that offer quick and easy transportation between all desirable tourist destinations but these are unbelievably expensive when compared to the local alternative and if you are willing to put up with a few changes and a bit of extra time then this is unquestionably a more financially savvy alternative! At this point we were beginning to learn that consideration needed to be given to the wether we valued time, ease and comfort or money more. At this particular stage it was certainly the latter for us, but that was not to say that at later points in the trip we would not bang for the former! What it Actually Cost: 7 Days = $495.45 USD for 2 people Accommodation: $200 Food: $145.16 Entertainment: $91.83 Transport: $86.84 Drinks: $63.74 Miscellaneous: $38.77 Souvenirs: $23.59 Daily spend: $35.60 USD per person LGBT:Again Costa Rica is an open minded country and we didn't face any problems. We even managed to meet another married lesbian couple in Puerto Veijo. As far as the law goes homosexuality is legal in Costa Rica and has been since the 70's (pretty progressive for Latin America). Unfortunately trans recognition is also non exsistent. Transpeople in Costa Rica are not able to legally change their legal gender to match their identity.
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The day had finally arrived...we were catching our return flight to Panama after 5 months in Europe. After a sleepless night we jumped into a cab and set off for Heathrow. One of the things that had kept me up all night was the mild panic of now being on a one-way ticket. Technically the airline has the right to refuse you if you don’t have an exit booked and I had read that this had been an issue for some travellers coming into Panama. Luckily for us the guy at the airport didn’t seem to care and when the sign at the self check in popped up with proof of exit he just waved it through (just in case you are worried and want a cheap option for an exit the bus to Costa Rica from Bocas Del Toro is only $33 USD/42.10 AUD). Step one complete we got ready to leave the UK for the final time this year. The flight to Panama was going through Houston and the first 10-hour leg of our journey went relatively quickly. I’m not a great sleeper on planes so only managed to get two 30-minute naps in, but Dani got a few hours. Our only concern was that we only had 2 hours between flights and also knew we needed to clear customs in Houston. This, for the second time, on this trip was a breeze. There were no queues and we ‘flew’ through. Even security was pretty quick and we had over an hour to get to our next gate. Boarding the final flight felt a little like torture (getting a little old for these roundabout routes these days) but we managed to take off on time and even arrived in Panama City a little early. Turned out I had been stressing over nothing because they didn’t ask to see exit evidence either. I think we’re going soft in our old age though, because with the best intentions we headed out of the airport toward the bus stop to get to the city and the first cab that stopped had us in in seconds (to be fair we had been travelling by this stage for 20hrs and it was getting late). A handy tip though is that if you can get to the main road by following the signs to the Metro Bus, cabs will be a lot cheaper. We paid $20 USD ($25.50 AUD) from the bus stop but would have paid at least $30 USD ($38.25 AUD) from outside the airport (Uber is also a great and cheap option if you have access to the Internet). Our cab driver was wonderful and gave us a quick tour and information about the canal as we were crossing it. It was a relief to realise, despite the lack of sleep, our Spanish was still ok and I could understand almost everything he was saying to us. We were both relieved when we got to Lemon Inn ($28.35 USD/36.15 AUD) and there was someone there to let us in. We had booked a private room with shared bathroom and we were shown a room in the building next door to reception...the only problem was it had no working light. After a quick call to her manager she decided to move us to a different room which turned out to be an upgrade. We ended up in a nicer and bigger room with a private bathroom for both nights. Panama we’re liking you so far! Exhausted, we drank a cup of tea and then passed out for the night. As a major sufferer of jet lag I was pleasantly surprised that I made it through the night and woke up at a pretty acceptable 5.30am. We weren’t really sure what we wanted to do in Panama City but we felt a walking tour would be a great start. Having discovered that our adaptor had blown overnight we made it our priority to find a new one and then head to the old town for the walking tour. Getting to the old town was easy once we knew what we were doing. You can’t pay in cash on the bus so what we were advised to do was get someone to tap us on and then give them the 25c USD (30c AUD) fare. As it turned out, a really lovely gentleman swiped us both on and then refused to take our money. The bus took us to the fish market and from there it was a really easy walk to the old town. The walking tour was excellent and also turned out to be a private tour as it was down season. This meant that we had Diego all to ourselves and he was able to tailor the tour to us. We learnt a lot about Panama and about the canal and if you only have a day in this city I would recommend this tour. Diego even helped us get back to the hostel by sharing a cab with us. We were eager to get out of the city but were unsure about how long we wanted to stay in Panama. We knew that Bocas Del Toro was where we wanted to end up but weren’t sure if we wanted to add another destination. We decided that as Boquete in the mountains is a day journey away we would do that and then finish up in Bocas. This involved catching an Uber to the Albrook Bus Station and then getting on a bus to David ($15.25 USD/19.45 AUD). One thing to note is that you do have to use a metro card to exit the bus station. If you do not have one of these just explain the situation to the guard and they will help you find someone to tap you through who you can give your 25c to. The bus to David is pretty straightforward. It took us 6 hours to get there and once we arrived at the bus station, it was an easy transition to the Boquete bus (just look for the yellow American style school bus, $2 USD/2.60 AUD). We arrived into Boquete in the early evening and went about trying to find a guesthouse. After checking out a few that were way above budget we stumbled across Palacios Hostel on the main square. We were welcomed by a nice man who spoke a little English and after promising a hot shower and “goooood WiFi” we settled on the room for $10 USD ($26.25 AUD for a triple room). Given the fact that it was pretty late, he seemed a little overly-energised and in hindsight he was most likely as high as a kite, but the room was decent and the rabbits in the garden were a definite plus. Boquete has been described as a town full of expat Americans but it certainly didn’t have that feel. Other than the occasional foreign accent and a supermarket stocked full of “gringo” products it was a very authentic feeling place. There are some great hikes around and are easily got to without an expensive trip (offered by tourist agencies). We chose to do the pipeline trail and catch a collectivo to the entrance. This cost $2 USD ($2.60 AUD) and the entrance fee was $3 USD ($3.80 AUD). From here, it’s a steady climb up to a little waterfall. There are chances of seeing the rare Quezal bird but we didn’t have any luck (we heard going early in the morning is your best bet). We were ready to get going to Bocas Del Toro and had to seriously weigh up taking the $30 USD ($38.20 AUD) shuttle to get there with no hassle. After a little research though this proved to be twice the cost of the local way, so it was back on the school bus to David ($1.75 USD/2.25 AUD…and no, we’re not sure why it was cheaper this way either) then on another bus to Almirante ($11 USD/14 AUD). We were also asked on the bus if we wanted to buy water taxi vouchers to get to Bocas. This turned out to be a great deal as we were dropped at the exact port stop and only cost $5 USD ($6.35 AUD). This was another seamless transition and was all going swimmingly…until a protest was blocking the road. Now both Dani and I have functional Spanish but this did not extend to understanding what was going on or what we were expected to do. We were quickly kicked off our bus and with gestures, were shown we needed to cross the line of protesters (what all travel advice sources tell you not to do)! This actually turned out to be fine and waiting on the other side was another bus to carry on our journey. At Almirante, there was a taxi waiting to take us to our water taxi and the deal was $1 USD ($1.25 AUD) per person no matter how many people you had. Within 15 minutes we were off to Bocas Town. Bocas Town was not quite the island paradise either of us had in mind and in hindsight we should have headed out to one of the outer islands like Bastimentos…but hindsight is a wonderful thing! We headed off the main drag and found Hosteluego, which offered us a private room with air con for $25 USD ($31.85 AUD) and it turned out to have a great sunset viewing point on the rooftop deck. Back on the main drag we stumbled across a lovely cantina to eat at, that had good meals (read rice and beans) for around $2.50 USD ($3.20 AUD) a plate. Having discussed the options of what to do the next day we decided to head up to Playa Bluff where we had been told we could see quite a few monkeys. We went to the local information centre and booked a tour for the following day and went to sit at the bus stop with our timetable. It turned out to be a pretty useless venture as almost 45 minutes after the scheduled departure the bus still hadn’t arrived. Luckily for us there was an Australian couple also waiting who were willing to share a taxi ($15 USD/19.10 AUD), which only worked out mildly more expensive than the bus ($3 USD/3.80 AUD) each. The beach was beautiful, but there were no monkeys to be seen, so after a couple of hours sitting and chatting to our new friends we headed back to Bocas Town. We were lucky enough to catch the bus back to town even though we were technically 15 minutes late. The tour we had booked for our final day on Bocas cost us $30 USD ($38.20 AUD) and had a wide range of activities. It took us dolphin watching, snorkelling, and wildlife spotting on Sloth Island (guess what you see there) as well as an opportunity for a walk/swim on Islas Zapatillas, which is a stunning uninhabited tropical paradise. We felt that the trip was well worth it for the cost and we had a great day. Budget Time $$$We came into Central America in the full knowledge that our first two destination countries of Panama and Costa Rica were going to be expensive compared to the rest of the continent. In Panama, this is mainly due to the fact that their currency is the USD and this almost always means inflated prices. Having said that, it wasn’t as expensive as it could have been. Obviously, this required us to only take local transport, eat at local places (of which there were plenty in both Boquete and Bocas) and stay in pretty basic accommodation, but none of this felt in any way difficult anywhere in Panama. The average cost of accommodation for the two of us was about $20-25/night and meals cost about $3/4 per person. Local transport from city to city was a bit more expensive than we had expected, the average seemed to be about $3-4/hour for a longer distance journey, but this was significantly less expensive (if also significantly longer and more complicated) than the shuttles offered around the country! Some of the tours offered in Boquete and Bocas were pretty expensive but it definitely pays to shop around. It’s worth giving some serious consideration to what you really want to do in a particular area in terms of what you want to see and experience (especially if you are travelling extensively in Central America as a lot of the flora and fauna is pretty similar in other countries and can be explored much more extensively for significantly less money). There are also a lot of free walks/treks and unguided explorations that can be exploited in lieu of pricier day trips and tours. What it cost: 10 Days= $539 for 2 people Accommodation: $244.91 Transport: $210.83 Entertainment: $95.76 Food: $91.04 Drinks: $30.41 Miscellaneous: $20.99 Souvenirs: $13.12 Daily spend: $27.08 USD per person LGBT:We faced no problems in Panama as a couple. We had no problems getting double rooms and there were no uncomfortable conversations. Panama is even looking in to legalising same sex marriage and has gained support from not only the vice president but also the Catholic Church who have said they will not oppose changes to civil law. However on trans rights and other LGBT rights Panama is still lagging behind. There are no protections against discrimination and transpeople still require surgery to legally match their documentation to their gender.
It was another 3-country day as we drove into Luxembourg starting in Germany and going via France (this will never get old for the little Kiwi in me). Luxembourg had been on Dani’s list since she had discussed a homelands tour with 2 friends at university that had never happened and with my new found interest in micro-nations it was a must go. Like all other micro-nations on this trip, Luxembourg is very pretty and pretty dull. The campground (Kockelscheuer €15.35/$22.90/18 USD) was another very nice campground but did lack in food facilities. It did however have an easy access bus stop to get into the city and although we’re not really sure why, we were told we did not have to pay any fare to get there. Luxembourg City is a strange mix between really old and ultra modern. More targeted at those who like high end shopping than those interested in a historical city although the museum is free and Mel said it was fantastic (we decided to wander instead). After 2 nights we were ready to push on but did face the problem of where to go next. Already ahead of schedule we weren’t sure where to use our extra time. We had wanted to go to Brussels but there were no viable camping options and Ghent had a massive summer festival going on so we settled on driving straight through to Holland. There was a town near to the Dutch/Belgian border that belongs to Belgium. This town is unique as it is entirely surrounded by Dutch territory and has 22 separate parcels of Belgian land. This means neighbours on the same street may have different taxes/laws to abide by and you can cross multiple borders just walking down the street. This greatly amused us and we posed for all the typical tourist pictures. Our problem began when we tried to find a campsite. None of the 3 we arrived at had anyone manning reception and we were then informed that no one would be coming until the following morning. This was seriously suboptimal and induced mild panic in the 3 of us, but luckily someone helped us contact the caretaker who agreed to let us in and register in the morning. The campground (Parc de Kievit €17.70/$26.35 AUD/20.70 USD) was surprisingly lovely and we decided to use the opportunity to break into the Alispacher keg that we had purchased to reward ourselves for finding somewhere to stay. Having examined the map and knowing the ultimate goal in Holland for Mel was Amsterdam we decided our next stop would be Gouda. This turned out to be a great decision for all of us as not only was it gorgeous but the cheese tasting locations throughout the town were out of this world. Armed with over €40 ($60.20 AUD/46.90 USD) worth of cheese we headed off towards the first campground. Here we stumbled across yet another problem…it was full. The woman at reception kindly gave us the name of another place and so we continued on towards it. Luck was on our side this time when we arrived (Boerderijcaming De Mulderije €13.77/$20.55/16.15 USD) to not only space but also a wonderful campground with a fantastic owner. Set in a field you have a small canal next to the field and it even has a windmill in the background. We could have stayed there forever but the debauchery of Amsterdam was calling. The campground we had booked in Amsterdam has a fantastic location. Less than 2km to walk to the free ferry that takes you over to the city centre and is really well equipped. Camping Vliegenbos (€19.35/$28.85 AUD/22.65 USD) caters generally to a younger crowd but is still nicely set up. We arrived and checked in before heading off to into the city to find a pint. We had booked the Heineken brewery tour for our second day, so Dani and I walked into town (Mel likes a sleep in so she caught the bus) wandering through all the canals. The Heineken Experience (€25/$37.65 AUD/29.40 USD) is a lot of fun despite the high tourist hype and we had a great day learning about the Dutch national beer. The tour included a canal ride, which we enjoyed and then we wandered back to the campground. Dani and I had been to Amsterdam before so were happy just ambling around and bopping from place to place. After a few heavy days it was time to make our way back towards France as our road trip was coming to an end. We had several options, however we had all loved Gouda so much we agreed to head back and do a Stoopwaffel making course (worth it for a foodie with a sweet tooth even though it’s in Dutch). Another wonderful night at one of our favourite campgrounds on the trip set us up to head down to Maastricht for one final stop. The campground there was sensational. Right by the river, it had a little beach for kids to play in and it’s own bar. Although 7km out of the city it was a beautiful walk along the river to get there (there is a bus should you want to catch one). We decided to do the walk and it was my misfortune on the walk to discover stinging nettles. Who on earth thought that wouldn’t be something you’d be warned about?! Trying to reach some blackberries growing along the path I pulled back my leg to find 2 large welts. Thankfully having an English wife meant she new what to do and asked me to find some dock leaves (for those of you who don’t know, dock leaves can be rubbed on the welts to soothe the sting). Unfortunately for me, my wife had yet to point out to me what stinging nettles actually looked like so while reaching for said dock leaves I managed to sting my arm! This was not a positive sequence of events. Maastricht is another beautiful historic town and we immediately stumbled into the main square to check out their wonderful antique market. While perusing miniature steins my other arm started to burn and I discovered that a bee was caught between my bracelet and my arm. I was seriously not having a good day! The only thing to cure this was the wonderful looking chip shop/restaurant on the corner of the square. It turned out to be a great choice as we had a delicious meal and soon my stings started to settle down.
This was a fabulous last stop and it was with sadness that we packed up for the final time to head to Dunkirk to catch our ferry back to the UK. We had decided to stay in a F1 motel (which seemed fitting since we had started the trip in one) close to the ferry port, as it was booked for very early the next morning. Now, Mel is not a morning person and we had tried to be accommodating of this despite both being really early risers which had resulted in more than a few mornings waiting for Mel to emerge from her tent like some sort of baby dinosaur. This had been causing us both some concern as we had to be up at 5.30am to get to the ferry on time. At 4.30am, Mel needed to get up to go to the bathroom and upon discovering it was so close to when we all needed to be up decided to stay awake…great in theory until she decided that we’d actually set the alarm for 5am. At 6 minutes past she panicked and decided to wake us up! So typical that the one time she’s up early we miss out on sleep because she got the time wrong! Drowsy and a little under caffeinated we piled on to the boat and set sail for the UK. A little sad to be saying goodbye to Hamster who had been our home for 2 and a half months we drove back into London. It was time for friends and family before setting off on the next adventure…see you soon Central America! |
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November 2018
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