We’ve learned a little something about all the gear we thought we’d need during our voyage. Originally we had planned to spread everything out, take a picture and enrich the internet with the umptieth list of backpacking gear even before we left Germany. At least we had some insights to share from our previous journeys e.g. to Romania or Jordan. Somehow we didn’t find the time for that then but since we’ve arrived here we’ve found out a few things.

Yesterday Costa Rica provided an opportunity for us to come to some conclusions about our rain gear. When we were at the beach to swim and snorkel a tropical summer rain surprised us. Well, the mere word rain doesn’t really bring across the true experience. It was a thunderstorm with an otherwordly downpour and quite some wind, too. Rain can happen here anytime but wind we’ve haven’t had before.

It was quite beautiful to witness a thunderstorm hitting a deserted tropical beach! The rain was so intense that it literally felt like standing under a shower but still it was well above 20° Celsius so it wasn’t all that bad really. Our little amphibian friend on the picture above hopped around in front of our door later that night and seemed to like the weather as well. We decided to get out of the wind anyway and walked some 5 kilometers along the road to get back to Manu’s place. We had set out to explore that distant beach on foot that day. Trying to wait out the worst bit of the storm would have proved futile since the rain didn’t let up until the next day.

Getting back to the neccessary travelling gear we now have to mention that we had brought an umbrella to be prepared for unexpected rain. It was so good to have it since it at least gave us the feeling that we went down fighting. We actually had brought rain coats to Costa Rica and that way we learned lesson number one – if you bring rain coats always bring them along! They’re really sweaty in this hot and moist climate here though. It makes absolutely no sense to invest much money in coats made out of fabric that’s supposed to guarantee some exchange of air. It just doesn’t work here! So that’s lesson number two – a poncho is an even better choice. We hadn’t spent much money on the coats really but ponchos are even cheaper. In addition to that they’re smaller, lighter and achieve more than a coat.

There’s also a lesson number three – bringing a simple plastic bag from the supermarket proved essential in protecting everything that wasn’t supposed to get wet, e.g. money or our dictionary.

So one could say we’ve gained some experience and leveled up to the next stage of being backpackers yesterday. What has also proved itself to be really useful are our Fenix flashlights. They work for up to 13,5 hours and we’ve not had to change the batteries once yet. When there was a power outage the other day we’ve also noticed for the first time how bright they are, too.

Another good idea was to bring our trusty swiss army knifes. Janina had alway wanted one for years already and shortly before our journey I had got her one. It was a pretty good one I thought and I had planned to give it to her as a present during a nice dinner in our favourite restaurant – the Anno Pomm. When the moment came I cunningly asked Janina what she had wanted for a long time now which could also be handy during our journey. She promptly  answered something like “Oh no, don’t tell me you’ve got me a swiss army knife! My colleagues already gave me one today as a parting gift!”

“Well…shit!” I thought at that moment but in the end now the both of us have one with us. So it turned out pretty good!

What we did not use at all so far is our newly bought tent since we’re provided with shelter by our host Manu. The cheap and compact summer sleeping bags we are using are great too. Last but not least we’ve confirmed that pyramide-shaped mosquito nets are rubbish and the cube-like ones are way better.

As a general information we can only add that the decision to restrict ourselves solely to what we really need proved to be right. Our backpacks weigh 15 and 10 kilograms now and that’s 10 kgs less each than back in Romania a few years ago. That makes a world of difference and we also only carry one backpack each. When we need additional bags we use some small fabric shopping bags we’ve brought from home.

It remains to be seen which pieces of our equipment turn out to be essential or useless during the next year.