Down to Quepos and the Pacific Coast

Saturday, May 21, 2011.

So I guess the Rapture didn’t happen today. At least not in San Jose, CR. Am here with Danny and family; last night when I got back from Bocas, my first thought was “it’s good to be home,” That’s how I feel about staying with Danny.

I’m making a new commitment to keeping my place visitor-ready. So many people have extended so many kindnesses to me throughout the world that I need to be able to return the favor.

So we got up and Danny made coffee in the traditional Costa Rican style. Sort of like a French press, but without the press. He made soft scrambled eggs with onions, garlic, and red peppers. We had a tortilla each. The workmen came to start putting in the new fence around his house, and Daniela and Sylvia came to supervise that. They were spozed to be going to Quepos with me, but that didn’t happen. Sofi and Chris went out last night, and neither of them had stirred by the last time I left, around 11:30 am.

We went out earlier to get the ticket, and a good thing we did: the bus was filling up at 10. So I got a seat and am now on the bus to Quepos by myself. Bless his heart, Danny has contacted a friend there to be my escort, but I’m pretty much on my own for the next couple of days. Daniela and Sylvia think they coming down, but they’re doing the fence thing, which is spozed to last a couple of days, so I don’t know how that will work.

I’ll go this afternoon and find a hotel – I saw a couple advertised, but I want to check them out in person first. The bus goes to Manuel Antonio, and that’s where Danny’s friend will meet me. Not sure if I want to stay there or in Quepos, but they say Manuel Antonio is more reasonable.

It’s a 2 or 3 hour bus ride’ direct. Not much to see, say, or do --- CR is lushly green, and I’ve taken enough photos of greenery from a moving bus. So we’ll see what adventure awaits from the Manuel Antonio National Park.

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So I got here about 3, 3:30, and Mario actually came on the bus and called to me. He’s delightful. Danny didn’t tell me Mario spoke very little English – so we spent the night with him practicing his English and me practicing my Spanish – which was good for both of us. People usually still think I grew up speaking Spanish.

Long story short: I went ahead and checked into the Coco Beach Hotel. It’s a motel, IMHO, but it’s got two pools, AC, a secure place to store my things, a shower with decent water pressure, and free wifi. I think I paid $35.00 for it. It would have cost me another $5.00 per night to have TV, but since at the last hotel we disconnected the TVs to plug in our computers, I decided I didn’t want to do that.

Mario and I walked along the Playa Primera, right before the entrance to Manuel Antonio Park. We saw the entrance, but the Park closes at 4, and the tide was high (you have to enter at low tide to avoid walking through water. It was nice to see Isla Damas, which is where Danny and Sylvia met. Mario lives on Isla Damas, which is like a nature conservatory. There’s one road in, he eats whatever he can pick or catch, and he’s a carpenter, which services he barters for other things.

So I checked into the hotel, we walked along the beach, and we took the bus (like 240 colones, or about 50cents) back into Quepos. There are a couple of interesting things: a restaurant made from an airplane fuselage, one made in the shape of a train, and stuff like that. I’m finding this is a very touristy, college-y town, and am not sure I like that. I mean, I’m on the 50 cent bus listening to an Asian Valley Girl blabber loudly about I don’t know what, while I was watching the melanoma-in-waiting-tanned blonde guy who’s got to be a surfer. And it turned out he was.

After putting my things down, Mario and I tried to sort through all the suggestions Danny has given me and prioritize them by what I want to do. Danny called a coupla times (there’s no reception in the hotel, btw. The great attraction of it is its location. It’s about 100 meters away from the entrance to Manuel Antonio Park). Danny gave me the name of a travel agent friend of his, and Mario’s friend wasn’t sure of what his schedule was going to be. I was kinda thinking that I’m old enough to just pay for the convenience of tours (the whole being at the entrance to the rainforest is good, but it is a looooong way away from, well, anything.

So here’s the plan: it’s 10 pm on Saturday evening. I’m going to crash, and have paid to be picked up at 7 am tomorrow for my zipline tour. I am not to bring my camera (too big), though I can bring my small camcorder (if I remember to plug it in and then to take it). After the tour, which should last about 3 hours, if it’s not raining I may come to Manuel Antonio, or I may go lie on the beach. I’ll play that one by ear. Then at 6:50 on Monday morning, I’ll be picked up, again by Igauana tours, to go on a boatride. I’m spozed to see alligators and monkeys on the boatride. It should last a couple of hours, and I guess I need tomorrow afternoon to find out when there’s a mid-day bus to San Jose, since I’m scheduled to leave on Monday night/Tuesday morning. But that’s on Spirit Air, so it’s anyone’s guess whether it will happen or not.

I’m here at the entrance to the rainforest, all by myself and am loving it! I’m getting ready to go on a coupla tours that are the reason I came here. I may also get to go see the biodiversity of the rainforest.

Oh, and Danny suggested we go to this restaurant called The Great Escape. It was pretty much al fresco, but under a tent. A sudden downpour happened while we were in the tourist office, and it was still raining as we ate. The lights actually went out for a minute (to which some American voice commented how “scary” it was. How is a power failure in the middle of a city a scary event?). I wasn’t much hungry, so I got appetizers: Fish ceviche (as opposed to shrimp, to which I’m allergic), calamares, and a crab dip. Mario got arroz con pollo. Each of the orders was enough for a complete meal, and Mario’s arroz con pollo came with arroz con pollo, pollo, maduras, black beans, a salad, and probably gallo pinto, though I didn’t see it. All the above plus his Seagram’s Ice came to about $40.00 – and remember, this is the tricked-out tourist town. Four adults could easily have made their meals off this quantity of food. I took the leftovers home, and probably won’t have to buy another meal while I’m here. I probably will, but I shouldn’t have to.

The AC is cranking (even though I see brownouts occasionally), and I have an early day tomorrow, so I’m gonna try to post this and turn in. The ride from SJ to Quepos with the ocean breeze, and a quick dip in the pool tonight after dinner should allow me to go to sleep quickly. One of the pools is right in front of my door. They said not to use it after 8 because they put chemicals in. I got home at 7:30 and went for a quick dip, but it felt to me like they’d already put the chemicals in. Either that, or they’re using an older form of chlorine. Whatever it was, I didn’t bring goggles, and it bothered my eyes. It didn’t seem to bother the guys who were hitting on the girl in the corner, but it bothered my eyes.

It’s been another great day. One of the cool things about Costa Rica is that the people who live here genuinely love their country. It’s not like in the US where we love our country’s power; these people love their land, which unites them in their shared love. It’s very nice.