CATCH THAT BUS! (one last adventure?)

I woke up at 4:30 am, tired, stressed, in the dark, on a top bunk in a full dorm.

I scrambled down trying not to wake anyone and pulled my mostly packed bag into the bathroom.  I took a quick shower / rinse off in anticipation of a long day of travel, got dressed, and tried to pack everything smartly into my backpack and day bag.

I had a cup of coffee, was told that the bus to the airport was going to pass by the hostel and I could just wait for it, but I got too stressed out that I'd miss it and miss my flight so I got a cab to Quepos at last minute instead.

I got down there and bought some gatorade.  Waking up after 4 hours or less of sleep is rough.  I still had my cupcake.  I waited for the bus, and the Collective bus to San Jose showed up around 6 am.  I had a seat on the Directo.  I checked with the bus driver anyway, and the ticket lady.  No, mine was coming.  I sat there staring at the Collectivo, fixing the straps on my backpack, and the next thing I know, as it was pulling out of the bus station, there was another bus in front of it that I hadn't seen.  It must have parked behind the Collectivo, or not even pulled in all the way.  I had a hunch based on the missing people who were previously standing around with suitcases, that this was my bus.

I rushed over to the ticket window and tried to say in Spanish to the girl, did I miss my bus.. She gave me a look that said "YES".  She motioned a pirate taxi friend of hers over from the sea of guys offering non-legitimate taxi rides to bus patrons.  She told him that I'd missed my bus, it just left, and that since it was a Directo bus the only / next stop was in Parrita, about 25 KM away, and we had to hurry. 
I ran and threw my things into this guy's car and we took OFF.

He didn't speak hardly any English either, but all he had to do was drive.  If I missed the 6 am bus, how would I get to my 1 pm flight in San jose, which was 3-4 hours by bus away?? That was the last feasible bus until 10 am.  So he FLEW down the road.  This guy was a rally driver!  I agreed to pay him 10,000 colones ($20) if he could catch the bus...  We fortunately caught up with the bus just before Parrita (man those buses go fast!), and I jumped out, paid the guy, who was very nice, and hopped on my bus. 

The bus ride was fine, we had assigned seats on this one.  Ironically the bus ticket I bought was only $7, but my cab to catch it cost $20.. oh well.  We had one stop for snacks, and got to the airport by 9 am... way too early for my flight.

I shopped, had nail scissors confiscated (oops, I always do that), had some food, and bought too much alcohol in duty free.  The guys told me I could bring 4 bottles, of up to 750 ml or more, whatever, and small bottles didn't count, into the USA. It seemed sketchy but I bought 4 bottles, one was in  a  set and came with one more small bottle, so really 5.  It was more than 3 liters.. more like 4 probably total.

They packed it in a cardboard suitcase labled DUTY FREE and 3 LITRES and taped it up and got it on the plane for me.

When I got off in Houston, I realized I was going to have to pack these bottles in my big rucksack, since I'd have to check them.  You have to collect your bags to get through customs.. and I still had one more flight left to Baltimore.  On the way through immigration, though, the guy asked me if I was bringing any alcohol in and I indicated to the 3 liter box, and said this much.  He goes, "well, that's a little excessive," which I thought was a jab at me, but then he said, "you're only allowed 1 liter per person."  Shit, I said, the guys at the airport shop told me I could bring 3 liters or 4 bottles.  He said well, they were wrong, but maybe customs won't say anything and you'll be lucky.

BOO.  I grabbed my bag off the carosel, and literally unpacked the whole thing on the floor, ripped open my cardboard, overly-taped suitcase of liquor and started quickly but carefully shoving bottles into my soft bag, trying to pad them with clothes and such.  In less than 3 minutes I'd repacked the bag, hoisted it up, and gotten in the quickly growing customs line.  I handed my form to the customs officer and they hardly glanced at it.  No sweat.  I smuggled liquor in, go me.  Luckily none of it broke.

It was a long day of travel but I got home after midnight, safe and sound, to my little Laki, a yard that will take months to weed and some overgrown veggies.  It was a wonderful trip, and I'm sad it had to end!!

My last day in Costa Rica.. food, drinks, beach, boogie boarding, and dancing!

I got off the bus in Quepos and walked straight to the Wide-Mouthed Frog hostel where I'd stayed first.  I already had my 6 am bus ticket from Quepos direct to San Jose airport for the next morning and wanted to be able to just walk to the bus stop.  Unfortunately they were completely booked up!! What??? I guess since it was Friday, there are a lot of people who go traveling for the weekend, so I was out of luck.

I figured I'd go back up to Manuel Antonio backpackers and just grab a cab in the morning, even though it cost more and all that, but whatever.   Before I did that I wanted to eat some more local food.. so I went searching for a place I'd seen as the bus was circling the town, called "Soda y Ceviche".  I wanted ceviche again.. I walked in and got a few strange looks; this wasn't a touristy place, just a hole in the wall with a few locals.  Here I had my huge pack.  I asked them if they had ceviche and indeed they did.  I have great spanish.. I know how to say "Do you have <food/drink>" and "I want it.".

Fair enough, I sat down, had a coca cola in a glass bottle which they unforunately helpfully poured into a plastic glass with a straw, and went to town on a HUGE portion of delicious fish ceviche.  I couldn't eat half of it!! They put the rest of my $3.50  ceviche in a styrofoam to go box and I made my next stop--the bakery.

I got a couple muffins, a chocolate and a fruit one, and a little pork empanada, which unfortunately went to waste as my eyes were bigger than my stomach.

I went to the bus stop and was climbing on the bus when who did I see but Mike and Courtney!  They jumped on the bus with me and I told them about my farm adventure and we agreed to find each other on the beach in a little while, after I'd checked into my hostel and all.

I checked back into the hostel in Manuel Antonio (on the hill), and found my room had 8 people in it! Wow! I saw some of the same people who were there a few days before.  After unpacking I got my swimsuit on and jumped back on the local bus to the beach.  Yay! One last swim.

I quickly found Mike and Courtney on the beach relaxing in some rented chairs and I took a few swims before I got jealous of a kid with a boogie board and decided to go find one to rent.  I walked over to a group of guys near a sign and a truck that said chairs and surf boards for rent, and asked if they had boogie boards.  I was swarmed by like 10 ticos asking me my name and where my husban was and where is my boyfrien and am I famous and I have a latin body and maybe I need to have some latin sex.   EVENTUALLY I was able to find out who had a boogie board and rented one for $5 (kind of expensive) for an hour and got the heck out of there.  It's kind of hilarious, actually.  It seems harmless to be honest, but it's a bit much.  I don't want latin sex, thank you, just the boogie board will do.

It was a blast, I caught a bunch of waves and really enjoyed my last nice swim in Manuel Antonio. 

The sunset was probably the most gorgeous one I saw the entire time, setting over the water, so colorful and vibrant.

I said my 3rd goodbye to Mike and Courtney and bought some souveniers at the shop, and then went to HAPPY HOUR.  I sat at a place right along the beach and ordered my 2 for 1 pina coladas (YUM, but small) and a plate of calamari.  It wasn't as good as the Barbera Roja though.  My waiter was very distraught with the fact that I was sitting alone though I really enjoyed it.  There's something so much more relaxing and meditative about spending time traveling alone.  You really get to observe other people, interact more with people you don't know, collect your thoughts, and enjoy the scenery.  My waiter wanted me to go out dancing with him that night but I told him I had to be up at 4 am so this was my night.  Apparently I lied, I went to the same place he'd asked me to go, later on, but luckily he wasn't there yet.. haha.

After my pina coladas I wanted to order a margerita, just one, but they come in twos.  I had to take the second one in a to-go cup back to my hostel on the bus!  A few more guys wooed me while I waited for the bus.  One told me he'd wait for me until next year when maybe I wouldn't have a boyfriend or a husband.    How nice.

I went back to the hostel and immediately ran into a few of the guys from the night before.  The one guy was going back out dancing and I was supposed to possibly meet up with the American girls we'd gone out with two nights before, but I couldn't get in touch with them.  I figured I might as well have a good last night, so I got dressed and went back out!  I didn't bring my camera because I had no purse and was wearing a dress.  Next time I'll bring a purse.  We went to Mambo Jam and met some people there but it was latin night, with a live band.  People were doing the salsa and it was so beautiful and amazing to watch, they were so in tune with each other I loved it.  I couldn't have danced to that.  After a while we went to Quepos town and tried another bar, I can't recall the name.  It was okay, but I suggested stopping by to see if the bartender at Wacky Wandas was there to say hi and try cacique one more time.  We got over there and it was a different bartender, but I got a cacique anyway, rimmed in a shot glass with salt and a sour orange.  It still didn't taste bad! 

We then all tried Republik, another night club.  Unfortunately it was only about midnight and no place was really hopping.  We all danced for about a half hour there, but the dance floor was mostly empty except us, so that was kind of lame.  After a while we went and got pizza and watched some people sing kareoke.  We could see the video screen from the street so we decided to sing along.  hahah, I can sing in Spanish.

We cabbed back to the hostel and I turned in by 1 or so.  I had to be up at 4:30 to leave. UG.

Canyoning! And a monkey drop..

Elena drove me about 5 minutes down the road to a house where two people were eating breakfast outside at a picnic table.  Apparently this was the base for the canyoning adventure I'd signed up for.  I also learned that whomever books the tour for you gets a $20 commission, hence my free stay and the high cost for all the tours in this area.  It cost $70, ug., but I got a free breakfast and night's stay from it so I guess that's okay.

The other two eating were from Argentina, and I have to send them some photos and videos from the trip that I took with my camera.

We got in the van with three staff, two of whom were brothers, and drove 10-15 minutes through streams and over dirt roads to get to the base of the waterfall path.  We hiked up a short ways, all the while the group leader was warning us of horribly deadly snakes.  Tour guides love to mess with you and joke around and scare you, so you can never tell if they are serious. 

We got to the waterfall and it was beautiful, and there was a good amount of water.  Depending on the season it could be very calm or ridiculously massive to try to climb it.  We seemed to get it in a middle point, which was great.

They set up the ropes and strapped us into harnesses.  We were given clampy things that only go UP the ropes, and we basically rock climbed straight up the face of the waterfall, water spraying in our faces, trying to find good footing and move our hands up the two ropes with each step to pull ourselves up.  It was kind of difficult but not nearly impossible!  Sometimes it was hard to see where to put your foot on the next step, or it would be a really high step, but in general it was just a lot of fun and a great work out for your arms and legs!

Once at the top, the three of us took turns rappelling back down.  They hooked a rope in a figure 8 piece to our harness, you lean back, keep your legs straight, put one arm below you holding the rope and one above the figure 8 just for balance, and sort of walk straight down the middle of the waterfall.  Sometimes the guy at the top would throw buckets of water in your face or block the falls for a few seconds then stand up suddenly so you'd get hit with a wave of water! Haha, he was loving it!  The water force sometimes would cause me (and I guess the others) to swing wide out to the side which was a little nerve wrecking but I was able to get all the way down.  We did this whole thing twice, each, and by the end of the second time my arms were almost shaking a little bit, being physically exhausted.  Great fun!!

I was eaten alive by mosquitos unfortunately.  The staff fed us pineapple, cookies and juice, which was a welcomed snack.

The other girl from Argentina somehow gashed her leg open on some rocks on her second climb.  She didn't feel it on the way up but once she got to the top it was really hurting and she saw all these bruises and a big gash.  The tour guide went out and picked some plant, which was kind of like a natural ben-gay, smashed it on some rocks and applied it to her leg.  I asked if they had some plant to prevent the mosquitos from eating me and later on the ride home they jumped out and picked me what they seemed to be saying was citronella berries.  It didn't have any juice really but they indicated you could rub it on your body, just avoid the sensitive parts because it's so strong.

The last part of the tour was the best.. the MONKEY DROP.  There were another set of falls and they had a zip line go straight across the very top, over the pool at the bottom.  They'd hook you on, shove you out to the middle of the rope, and a guy at the bottom had control of your tether rope and was belaying, essentially.  Once you were stabilized in the middle, they'd blow a whistle, you'd lean back and tuck up your knees and put your hand behind your head and they would spontaneously drop you in almost a 100% freefall all the way to the bottom pool and just as you hit the water slow you down, so you were dunked.  It was so much fun, and for the first time I actually really screamed, I loved it!!  They let us do that twice, too :).

After we got back to their house, they showed us all these neat plants, including their coffee plant, lemongrass, spearmint, peppermint, and a lot more.  I love how everyone has such great gardens full of so many useful herbs and fruits!

I got dropped back off at the farm by our tour guide, had to let myself in (since Elena was in Quepos accompanying the other couple to a mangrove boat tour), and had a nice cold shower, tried to wash a few things and hang them on her line (not very successfully), and read for a bit.

Elena came back and fixed me some tamales, which I'd never had before.  These were costa rican tamales, apparently ("better than Mexican tamales") and they were pretty good.  I had more ginger cinnamon tea and took some mangoes for the road.  We were waiting for my bus to go by, northbound, and then I was to walk to the end of the driveway to catch it on it's way back, 10 minutes later. 

I was getting nervous about missing it since it was supposed to come at 1 and it was 10 past 1, but based on those roads, it wasn't a surprise.  Anyway, the bus finally went by.. in the WRONG direction! I'd missed it... Elena just yelled "GET IN THE CAR GET IN THE CAR GET IN THE CAR GO GO GO!!!" hahahahh, so we ran out to her car, threw my things in, and she sped down the road after the bus.  She caught up to it a few kilometers down the road and started frantically beeping and flashing her lights at it, and then even pulled up next to it and told the driver to stop.  It was hilarious... I got out and got on the bus and everyone was staring at me like, what's wrong with this gringo?!!?!?  Awesome.

I was so tired once I got on the bus, I couldn't keep my eyes open.  I laid my head down and fell asleep for nearly the entire trip, waking up only as we pulled into Quepos (thankfully).

A unique farm visit

I met up with Elena in Quepos waiting for the bus to Londres, a small town 10 km west of Quepos where she owns a 7 acre fruit and spice farm and a small B and B. She had a deal with a free night stay for booking any tour through her, so I thought I´d give it a wildcard shot.

We took the 40 min bus to her town and she prepared me a snack, something with eggplant, which was quite good, as I hadn´t eaten yet.  She talked a lot about her farm, life in Costa Rica, and her plans or dream rather to build an eco village on her property.  The house was very rustic, made with all reusable materials I suppose, mesh to keep bugs out in some places, not in others, but a suitable mosquito net over my double bed, which was nice.  She unfortunately asked me to look at her computer because her internet wasn´t working, which really did not jive with me, but she comped me a delicious margerita so I couldn´t complain too much.  Later she accompanied me into the small one street town of Londres to go to a soda for dinner.

They had only two options, cassado de pollo or pork.  We got the chicken one, and I had a fruit juice that I can´t remember the name of.  Sounded like a mix between guava and banana.  Anyone?

Then we walked through the town (in 5 seconds) and saw a mini festival going on at the park, with trampolines and cotton candy.. kind of odd at 8 on a thursday.

On the way back we passed an evangelical church that was BLASTING the word as loud as possible on megaphones.

I went to bed early and had a good night´s sleep.  In the morning I woke up by 6 and she said, are you ready to go hunting for pineapple?  It´s time to pick breakfast! .. OK?

SHe gave me an old pair of her jeans to wear so I wouldn´t get stickers on my pants and she was wearing a long floral dress with a pair of knee high rubber boots which was a trip. We trampled through her gardens her pointing out vanilla bean, cinnamon trees, ornamental ginger, and pineapple.  She cursed the neighbors for stealing her good pineapples and leaving the tops behind as an ´f you´ to her.  We finally found a few, a couple were partially eaten by animals but she salvaged the good halves.

We also collected oranges that had fallen from the trees, mangoes, and a grapefruit.  It was pretty cool to see the farm and it was very wild.  She grew plenty of other things there, including starfruit and tumeric, saffron, lemongrass and other spices.

She prepared a huge plate of fruit and a cinnamon and ginger tea for me for breakfast with sweet rolls.

Then I headed to my Canyoning adventure, around 730 am....

Manuel Antonio national park again, and more sloths

I was up 5.5 hours later, pretty exhausted, but managed to cook myself a free pancake and swallow down some coffee.  I jumped on a bus to Manuel Antonio and met up with Mike and Courtney in the super mini market (yeah... good oxymoron).  They were pumping club beats in there just like the bus station in Santa ELena was at 5 am, so of course we all thought we needed to buy some bus tickets, STAT.  Unfortunately the cashier did not sell bus tickets, so instead we got water and snacks and headed into the park.

We were able to see a lot more monkeys in the trees and a sloth way up, but we headed to the main beach and just so happened to see a sloth climbing down from a tree right near the edge of the beach.  It was within 10 feet of us at one point but some ignorant girls were taking flash photos inches from the sloth´s face, and it retreated back into the tree.  I guess he´ll have to try next week to do his business.

I watched that guy for ages, so cool!

After a swim a swarm of monkeys descended upon the beach as they did before, stealing a small child´s juicebox and fighting over it in the trees.  I got some good photos .. I hope, with my crappy new camera. I was glad I bought it though!

I rushed through town, grabbed a cab back to my hostel, packed up and waited for the next bus to Quepos in the sweltering heat.  I was to meet up with a very interesting woman who ran her own farm.....

TBC...