I have discovered why I couldn’t upload the videos and some photo’s in the previous blog – it seems that the plan that I had subscribed to did have not sufficient space. I have upgraded, hopefully it works. The ferry crossing from Paquera to Puntarenas was a slow and enjoyable trip of an hour, and …
Author Archives: Mellamadness 2
4th Aug 2026 Extraordinary Experiences
I apologise for the abrupt ending of my previous blog. Maybe it was an attempt at a cliff-hanger? Or maybe I was just tired after writing on-and-off for three days, and I just posted it. Back to Tamarindo. As usual, I met some interesting people in the hostel, most notably a Russian woman, Olga, who …
29th July 2026 Pura Vida
A friend sent me an article about the South African rugby player, Joe van Niekerk, who lived in the Costa Rican jungle for 7 years after retiring from professional sport in 2014, starting out on a whole new holistic lifestyle, as well as establishing a retreat. In the article he spoke about the expression ‘pura …
9th July 2026 Back on track
The month at BongO and Planet B was a good break in travelling, but the night before I had to leave, I was overcome by apprehension, fear, uncertainty and scepticism. Recapturing the rhythm of travelling was going to be a huge effort, I thought, but after a few days on the road I was back …
20 June 2026 Two coasts, Caribbean and Pacific
Crossing the border from Panama to Costa Rica by foot was just so much easier than going through the rigmarole of airport exists/entrances – hassle-free and quick, no checking in/out of luggage, scans, or passport control checks, just a quick stamp in one’s passport at both ends, and voilà you’re through. Arriving at Puerto Viejo on …
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1 June 2026 Hou bene, hou (Hoping my legs last)
After the cooler weather of Valle de Anton, I decided to stick to the mountain areas and booked five nights in Santa Fe, a small town that not many people know of, but I found intriguing as I had read on a website about the clean-up and beautification that a group of people were doing …
Continue reading “1 June 2026 Hou bene, hou (Hoping my legs last)”
20 May 2026 Chilling in La Chorrera
Back in Albrook, the bus station in Panama City, I knew exactly where to go and what to do to catch the bus to La Chorrera, where I was doing a Workaway job at La casa de Ito, a hostel owned by two brothers, Raul and Mario. Raul had told me where to get off …
7 May 2026 Buses and places
When we flew into Panama from Bogotá, approaching from the Pacific Ocean, I was surprised to see we were heading northeast past Panama City and within minutes ended up almost over the Caribbean – Panama is a very narrow ‘bridge’ between South and North America. The eastern part we were flying over was mostly forests, …
26 April 2026 Glorious Cultivarte
Two weeks of living in the most beautiful environment, doing volunteer work on a farm called Cultivarte, 20min by local colectivo from Anapoima, Colombia. Eyal and Natalia have spent about 15 years planning, and 10 years implementing and fulfilling their dream of creating a space where they can live and propagate their healthy, natural and …
15 April 2026 Pests and perks
Gnats have been having a field day on me here in Colombia – the welts keep itching long after, and every new bite causes the old ones to itch again. I’m slowly becoming immune, and have bought some ointment which helps for a few hours. Other than that, I am surprisingly healthy, strong and fit, …
