Friday, May 27 2010

We just chilled in the morning. It was raining so I decided I didn’t want the city tour. Dona Olga made breakfast of something like a western omelet but scrambled, and gallo pinto (which everyone eats all the time). I took a turkey and cheese sandwich with me and got on the bus to Liberia. It was a direct bus, with one rest stop. The busses are really interesting in that sometimes they don’t actually stop so much as slow down and the folks jump off.
But I took the bus to Basgaces. No one was there to meet me, but thankfully there was a guy on the bus named Kerry. He used to live in NJ, now lives in GA, and was coming back to CR to do what he needs to do to get his US citizenship. He let me use his cellphone to call Danny, and we hung out and chatted until Daniela, Sylvia, and Brian all came. Turns out that not only was he was from Basgaces, but he actually knew Daniela. Basgaces is a very small town.
Silvia and Daniela took me to their place. They made a wonderful dinner of salad (tomatoes, onion, lettuce?, cilantro, lemon, and salt) and pollo a la peruviana: grilled chicken cooked with grated garlic, sliced red onions, some sweet peppers, and a little soy sauce. Silvia and Daniela cook on a wood-burning stove, and they prepared this dish, beans, and rice in about 30 minutes.
After dinner, Tony, el cielo, came to visit. He had some kind of retinal infection when he was a child and it has left him blind with an aversion to light. The girls were teasing me that he was interested in a US girlfriend. He’s cute, but even if I were interested, he’s 23 and smokes pot. When I was in CR 25-30 years ago, I loved smoking pot here, but I’m not the same person. Now all I notice is that when I smoked pot I never had much money. I don’t smoke pot any more, and I have more money. The people I know who still smoke pot also never seem to have much money. Which makes sense; you use money to buy pot, and then you burn it up. It’s like torching your money. I suppose you pay for the pleasure, but someone once told me you’ve never done something til you’ve done it clean. I’ve done CR stoned and I’ve done CR not stoned. Not stoned was WAAAAY more fun!! I just don’t see an up-side to smoking pot.
So anyway, we came to this thermal springs place. The water is warmed by volcanos and there are all these natural springs. We went into one last night, and have already spent a couple of hours in one today, and it’s not yet 10 am. We’re taking a rest for now, but will get back in the springs later in the day. Dany wants me to go on a canopy tour, but it’s raining outside. He says it’s more interesting then, because it’s more dangerous. We’ll see. I’m going to nap now and we’ll take it from there.
Got up at 11, like we agreed, but can’t get a response from Silvia and Daniela. Went to the front desk and bought some of the volcanic mud. Just a couple of hours in the water seems to have made a positive change in my skin, so I’m getting some to take home. This place is called Thermo Mania, and here is their blurb: located on the beautiful mountainside of Miravalles volcano, only 5 minutes from downtown Guayabo, Bagaces, Guanacaste. Attractions include 11 thermal pools (Hot springs), a water slide, rustic bungalows, wet bar, spa with sauna, Jacuzzi, volcanic mud, in-room massages, and treatments. Also own farm with different animals, and they offer tours to Miravalles Volcano, can visit the blue lake, fumarols, and the geothermic project. We met Yiyi Arrieta, the owner. He’s a friend of Silvia’s. www.thermomania.net.