Right now, it’s raining, hard, as we sit in the open air hotel lobby waiting for our private bus back. There’s a big cockroach dying on the floor next to me.
Thursday night we ended up skipping the group dinner and hung out with the Aussies eating food from the supermarket and drinking Imperials and Pilsens. Quepos is a bit more seedy than the other Costa Rican places we’ve been, and Alberto warned us about not walking around at night, but Cheryl and I broke that commandment when we saw fireworks in the distance. Following them, we caught the local football team winning their shootout, and also the local carnival like festival – at which we were the only tourists. They had apparently universal favorites like churros, cotton candy, rides and karayoke, and also a stage with dancing girls in skimpy outfits. Cheryl and I discussed our mutual adoration of “walk-about”, and this one ended up being a classic.
Friday, we caught the sketchy public bus for a 20 minute ride to the beaches and Manuel Antonio National park. We had to walk about a mile into the park on a road to get to the beach, and then extended the trip with a walk on the point through the primary rainf orest. A brood of while faced monkeys came by, and we got some great pics. We spent the rest of the day on the park and public beaches.
Update – now in San Jose, slowly uploading pics. Movie editing and captions will have to wait.
The hotel recommended “Soda Sanchez” for Friday night dinner – “Soda” means something like “diner” in Costa Rica – the place was the size of our dining room and we ended up being seated literally in the parking lot. Service was also glacially slow – like 30-45 minutes for the first round of food and our drinks to come – and that was for only 3 of the 5 dinners – the last two (including mine) came out serially on 15 minute intervals. Food was great though – I had pasta mariscos with crab, shrimp and fish in a cream sauce. After dinner, we stopped at the supermarket to grab snackfood and beers, and then pre-partied with the Aussies again before heading to the club. Bambu Jam was packed and had a live music – we merangued and drank the night away, and I had college flashbacks on the dance floor when surrounded by five beauties. The joint closed abrubtly at 1am and we called it a night.
Today, we decided to skip excursions and just took a cab back to the beach with the Aussies. It was a pretty standard beach afternoon. I rented another boogie board for $2 an hour, but the surf was a bit smaller than Cancun. This ended up being perfect for Cynthia, who could actually ride and enjoy things instead of being overwhealmed. We left the beach about three, caught the bus back (it arrived at the stop just as we did), and got drenched in the pur rain that had started on the ride as we sprinted 50 yards back to the Hotel.
The ride back to San Jose was an adventure – rain, curvy mountain roads, and a Costa Rican NASCAR bus driver. There is a certain thrill to passing motorcycles on blind curves that you just can’t get stateside.
We made it back to San Jose about 9:30, and took a group picture. I had a couple drinks with Lou at the hotel bar, and smoked the fake Cuban cigar I bought at the beach today. It ended up being complete crap – rolled too tight, messed up draw, uneven burn, bad flavor – not worth $4. Then, Amanda asked to play chess and I obliged (and won), and now it’s bedtime.
Flying to LA tomorrow, then back to Sac on Monday. This adventure may be over, but there are still some to come. Cynthia and I have decided were going to take a spontaneous trip to Yellowstone, so we’ll have to flesh that out (I hope I’ll find a fixed fly rod waiting for me at home) and the Aussies are talking like they might visit us in Folsom late in the month when they swing through Norcal.
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Anna Moscicki · July 13, 2008 at 11:49 AM
Look us up if you take that “spontaneous trip” to Yellowstone. We’re still in Dubois – still on the Wind River, if you get that fly rod fixed. MLC told me about your pages. Get in touch…