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Austin Macauley Publishers - Adrian Clark

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53 pages

English

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The lives and travels of a middle-aged couple, who are old enough to know better, but naive enough not to know it.

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Memoir

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Publié par	Austin Macauley Publishers
Date de parution	31 mars 2020
Nombre de lectures	1
EAN13	9781528954969
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

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Pura Vida
Adrian Clark
Austin Macauley Publishers
2020-03-31
Pura Vida About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Preface An Introduction to Costa Rica Chapter One From Little Acorns Chapter Two The Journey Chapter Three San José Chapter Four Tortuguero Chapter Five Why Did the Banana Cross the Road? Chapter Six Volcanoes and Waterfalls Chapter Seven Flying High Chapter Eight Riding the Ponies and Riding the Rapids Chapter Nine Homeward Bound It’s All French to Me Chapter 1 Going North to Brittany Chapter 2 St Malo Chapter 3 Dinan Chapter 4 By the Seaside at Bénodet Chapter 5 Royal Roscoff Chapter 1 We Are Sailing… Chapter 2 On the Open Seas Chapter 3 Gran Canaria Chapter 4 Day at Sea Chapter 5 Funchal, Madeira Chapter 6 Happy Anniversary Chapter 7 On Yer Bike! Chapter 8 What, No Lunch? Chapter 9 Puerto De La Cruz Chapter 10 Loro Parque Chapter 11 Lost and Found
About the Author
Adrian Clark was born in East Sussex and was raised by a foster family. Educated in Bexhill-on-Sea. Left school at sixteen, with no formal qualifications. An ordinary man from an ordinary background, which goes to show that there is a book inside all of us.
Later, Adrian moved to Devon, where he developed a love of people and human nature, along with travel and a sense of humour.
Dedication
Dedicated to my wife and travel partner, Sylvie, who is
my inspiration.
Copyright Information ©
Adrian Clark (2020)
The right of Adrian Clark to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.
ISBN 9781788488815 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781788488822 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781528954969 (ePub e-book)
www.austinmacauley.com
First Published (2020)
Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd
25 Canada Square
Canary Wharf
London
E14 5LQ
Preface
It has been said that everyone will get their 15 minutes of fame. It has also been said that inside everyone there is a book.
Here, I am putting it to the test, although that is not my reason for writing this book.
Before going to Costa Rica, there was very little written about the country, apart from the usual rough guides, which I find quite difficult to navigate.
I dedicate this book to my wife Sylvie for her support and her sense of adventure that made this book possible.
An Introduction to Costa Rica

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Costa Rica is one of those countries that are on the peripheral of our consciousness. It’s not one of those you hear about on the BBC.
Costa Rica is part of the narrow strip of land that makes up Central America. It lies between Nicaragua and Panama.
It has a population of 4.5 million people, a quarter of whom live in and around the capital, San José.
At the mention of Central America, you might think that Costa Rica is a third world country, full of poverty and revolutions. If so, you are very wrong. With its export of bananas, coffee and cocoa, and its boom in eco-tourism, it is a very wealthy country.
What does it do with this income?
Since 1949, Costa Rica has no military force, no army. It is in a pact with other American countries. If you strike Costa Rica, the other Americans hit back they are very well defended.
This means that they can spend their income on the infrastructure, especially their education system, every child has access to schools and universities.
The country is made up of tropical rainforests, volcanoes (Arenal is the most well-known and active), raging rivers and lakes (Arenal being the largest).
It has a year-round tropical climate, which means a lot of rain. Around 25% of the land area is in protected national parks (which is the highest percentage in the world).
The wildlife of Costa Rica includes big cats (look out for jaguars), tapirs, four species of monkey, including white-headed capuchin, the mantled howler, spider monkey and the squirrel monkey. Add to these the varieties of sloth, turtles and river otters.
There are over 840 species of birds in Costa Rica including the national bird, the quetzal. Other species include the macaw and the toucan.
Then, to conclude the list, there are hundreds of varieties of lizards, snakes, spiders and insects.
For excitement, adventure and wildlife on every corner, Costa Rica is the place to visit.
Chapter One

From Little Acorns
Who would have thought that watching a game of football could be so life changing? The game in question was in the world cup of 2014 in Brazil. It was a group match between England and Costa Rica, which ended as a 0-0 draw.
There I was in the zone, passing the ball, putting in the tackles, and scoring the goals, from the comfort of my sofa.
Sylvie, my long-suffering wife, although sitting beside was in an entirely different zone altogether, suddenly jumped up, and made her way to the bookcase.
Armed with research books and tuned into the internet, she started her homework.
“Did you know that Costa Rica is about the same size as Wales?” says Sylvie, “Costa Rica is translated as Rich Coast, and is one of the most developed countries in Central America. It is covered in the tropical rain forest, and is full of wildlife.”
We have been married for 18 years, so I knew what that meant. Further investigation was needed so off we went to the travel agents. We picked on Virgin Holidays as this was quite a unique holiday, not our usual two weeks on the beach.
We told them what we wanted, they told us what they had, which seemed reasonable, at a price we liked. So for now, all we could do was save.
A few months pass, when suddenly, out of the blue, on my home from work, our plan changes. There in the window of a major high street travel agent, were pictures and an advert for Costa Rican tours.
Going to Costa Rica was to be a special holiday, so it had to be done properly. As a result, the 11-day adventure tour seemed perfect. So now we had a plan. Therefore, we kept on saving.
Costa Rica is rugged rain forested country in Central America with coastlines on the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west.
It has two seasons, the wet season, from May to November, and the dry season (it still rains, but not as much) from December to April.
We decided in February 2016. Okay, so now what to pack. Our Adventure Tour would include volcanoes, rivers, beaches and rain forests.
When on holiday in the med we usually unpack at the hotel. On this holiday, we would be moving on every couple of days, lugging suitcases behind us.
Sylvie brought herself a new suitcase with a pretty butterfly pattern, very Costa Rican, which she fills with sensible, practical clothes.
I, on the other hand, have an ordinary suitcase, which I fill with a new bush hat, a new bush jacket with so many pockets I kept losing things, and the loudest shirts anyone could find. I had turned into a Del Boy.
At this stage, Sylvie brings health issues to the table. More research needed. After a visit to the doctors, Sylvie decides to take anti-malarial tablets. Me? Oh, I’ll be all right.
Hold on, we’ve forgotten about the money. We need some cash. What is their currency?
In Costa Rica, they use the colon, as well as the American dollar. So a quick trip to the post office to arrange our pocket money.
So packed and medicated, the adventure begins. Oh! By the way, we are not as young as we think we are.
Chapter Two

The Journey
The day was fast approaching, the excitement was building. What have we let ourselves in for?
It started quietly enough with a train journey from Newton Abbot to Heathrow Airport, and a night at an airport hotel. A very pleasant experience, which meant that we felt refreshed and ready for our long flight.
We started with a nine-hour flight to Houston, Texas. (No dream liner for us.) We were flying with United Airlines with all the mod-cons.
We passed the time keeping a check on the flight map.
When we flew over Canada, it looked bleak and barren. We also watched some in-flight movies (I lost count of the number of James Bond films available), interspersed with eating, drinking and the occasional walk-about.
Sylvie is a very strict vegetarian, and so ordered a veggie meal. Unfortunately, she ordered one for me (a meat eater) as well, although I don’t think it would have made much of a difference, nobody knew what they were eating. Animal, vegetable or mineral?
Eventually, we landed at Houston. Part one was completed. Time for an intermission. The only problem was, one man’s intermission is another man’s culture shock.
Whilst on the plane we filled out a customs questionnaire, as to what foods and cereals, or other plant life we might be bringing into the country.
As we disembark and go through the customs hall, we are separated from the other passengers because we were travelling on.
We now approached a machine that asked a lot of questions, photographed our faces, and took our fingerprints.
A short walk saw us face to face with an American customs officer. Same questions, same fingerprints, and same photograph, only with a sense of humour. I think I preferred the machine. None the less, we could now enter the United States.
It’s time now to experience some American cuisine. For large people, they have small portions. I went for something meaty, washed down with root beer. Sylvie, of course, had a salad.
If getting into the country was difficult, leaving was even more so especially for Devon country bumpkins. Shoes