Category Archives: Guided Tour

Where we paid for someone to guide us.

Book Coming Soon!

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Volume 1, of the yet untitled book covering San Diego to Australia will hopefully be ready to purchase soon. Many people have asked us why they should buy our book if they can read our blog for free. Here are a few good reasons:

  • Prologue: How we formed the dream and the early planning stages.
  • The entire 21 day passage from San Diego to Nuka Hiva has been re-written. At that point, the blog was in real time and we didn’t want people to worry about us. But the truth was that it was tough!
  • Many new stories from the journey – And there are some really good ones!
  • In Retrospect sections with great insights — so you can see the situation through the eyes of a newbie as we learn, while simultaneously seeing the same situation through the eyes of experience.
  • Streamlined stories – some complained our posts were too long and detailed, and the book is a condensed version they will enjoy more.
  • Formatting is first person, through Christi’s eyes – Some complained they didn’t like the third person format, so they will enjoy the book more.
  • Actual dates on each post. On the blog, the dates are not real time, which is a significant piece of information for anyone hoping to follow in our footsteps.
  • All profits will go to our cruising fund. The more books we sell, the sooner you can start reading about our next journey! So, buy one and get all your friends to buy one, too!

ATV Rides, Huatulco Tour & Tacos al Pastor

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Continued from yesterday”¦ When we were done, it still was late morning, so we decided to do another activity at the ranch. We picked ATV riding. A few minutes later, we had bandanas wrapped around our faces to protect us from the dust, and we were ready to go rob a bank. Er we mean ready to go riding. And, maybe we’ll pass a bank along the way”¦ just kidding. Maybe.

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We had a different guide altogether this time. We followed him along a small trail, probably a horse trail, to a dry river bed. We bounced back and forth between Continue reading →

ATV Tour of San Juan del Sur

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This morning we were at the ATV tour company office promptly at 0900. We think they were surprised to see us on time, expecting us to be late. We waited a few minutes while they got the vehicles ready and then we headed out. Here is Eric getting ready to go.

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It was just the two of us. We love it when we get private tours! At first we followed Continue reading →

White Water Rafting in Turrialba

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Today we were up early and back at the bakery for breakfast. The white water rafting company was supposed to pick us up at 0830 in front of the hotel, so at 0825, we were outside and waiting. Every time a vehicle came around the corner, particularly a truck, we all thought “Oh, that must be them”, but invariably it wasn’t. At 0845, a van rounded the corner that had a big inflatable raft already inflated strapped to the roof. OK, this has to be them.

We all piled into the van and met everyone else already inside. We were surprised to find out there were 5 staff for 5 only passengers. Two were to be in the raft with us, one was the van driver, one a rescue kayaker, and one a photographer who would be kayaking around us and taking photos.

Turrialba is supposed to have some of the best white water rafting in the entire world. So, we expected it to be a short drive over to the river. At first we were on a nicely paved road, and the scenery was much the same as we have seen the last couple of days. Here are a couple shots we took while driving.

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The three of us were surprised at how far away from Turrialba we had driven when we finally turned off into a national park. The driver paid the entrance fee. Ah, we thought, we must be here now. But we weren’t. It was Continue reading →

The Tarzan Swing and Drive to Turrialba

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Continued from yesterday”¦ Of the three of us, this time Christi went first. Being strapped in was scary in and of itself because they have you hanging over the edge while they strap in the harness. There were three people holding onto Christi as they worked, but still, hanging over the edge before the harness was on was a little heart stopping. Even when the harness was secure, it still didn’t feel totally safe. With the zip lines, there are two cables you are strapped to, so if one breaks, you still have the other to keep you from falling. But with the Tarzan swing, you are only attached to one feeble looking rope. OK, actually, the rope is pretty solid looking, but still, there is only one.

Christi took a deep breath and waited for the signal. They said go and nudged her a little. She thought “This is insane”, and suddenly she was in the air, screaming at the top of her lungs as she initially swung down towards the ground, then went flying up towards the highest branches of the trees surrounding us. She clutched onto the rope for dear life, praying it didn’t break right then. The staff had a hard time getting her slowed down and stopped. She kept flying back and forth for much longer than most everyone else. Finally, they got her stopped and unhooked.

Then it was Eric’s turn. Out of nowhere, the wind picked up and it started to drizzle a little bit just as he was getting harnessed in. When he jumped, he let out a loud yell that resembled George’s scream from “George of the Jungle”. It was a bit garbled because he had a hard time overriding the instinctual scream that rumbled up from his gut. But most everyone in the group knew what he was attempting and it got a laugh from the spectators. As the staff grabbed at his feet to try to get him to slow down, they yanked one of his shoes off and it went flying into the jungle behind us. That got another laugh from the crowd.

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Then it was Mike’s turn. And it right then, Continue reading →