Sunset in Jaco.
Here's a quick video of the crowd gathered for the sunset and (of course) the sunset. This was at the north end of Jaco, almost in front of Clarita's on the beach.
Watch the beach sunset video in HD!
Posted on Friday at 7:12 PM on December 5, 2008.A refreshing rest during a long scooter ride...
Taking a break from riding the scooter all over. I'm somewhere south of Jaco but north of Quepos, Costa Rica. Looking at a map, maybe somewhere near Parríta. Just a beautiful ride and a great day! I think I did about a 120 km and it was a blast.
Watch the video in High Definition.
Meals I've had in Costa Rica
Just some photos of some of my meals from the lower Nicoya Peninsula. I thought they looked and/or tasted nice.
Sesame Chicken (Chicken dipped in Lime and Honey and rolled in sesame). La Narango resurant in Montezuma, Costa Rica. $7.50-ish
Big breakfast from the Soda Monte Sol in Montezuma, Costa Rica (2200 colones, just under $4). There is cheese in them Scrambled eggs! Server very fast!
Shrimp and Rice (Camarón y arroz) from a place in Cobano, Costa Rica. It was delicious, had lots of shrimp and it was cheap ($5 if I recall).
Click for larger versions of the food photos (I may add more photos to the album later).
Posted on Sunday at 8:53 AM on November 30, 2008.
Cobano, Costa Rica
So Cobano is a nearby town of Montezuma it's about 7 km away. It's kind of the centralized place for the bus transfers, a few more restaurants, way faster Internet and some larger stores. Also it's the nearest bank, ATM, pharmacy, gas station, hardware store, appliances, bicycles, etc. Even with all that, it's pretty small. I was waiting for the bus the other day and shot this time lapse footage of the main intersection.
Here's the direct link to the above video.
I also shot this photo of the sky as the sun was setting. I thought the colors were great!
I wish I had a few more photos from around town...
Dial-up speeds
It's a great ad, but I'm wondering if everyone looking at it knows what the dial is for? Click for the full ad.
When I talk to younger kids at school they don't actually know what "dial" means since all their phones have buttons. Sometimes I'll find a kid who says their grandparents have a phone like that (actually they usually say "Grandma").
Posted on Friday at 11:33 PM on November 28, 2008.Taking the Bus in Costa Rica
So riding the bus in Costa Rica is cheap and it'll take you anywhere. The problem is figuring out when the bus is going to be running.
In the bigger cities this doesn't appear to be a problem, if you miss a bus another one will be by soon and if it's not the right bus it's still heading in the correct direction, just hop on. In the more remote areas (such as Montezuma) they probably don't come more than every two hours so if you miss the bus it's a pain.
The people closest to the bus stop seem to have the most reliable information. Restaurants and internet cafes have it written down, but they wrote it down ages ago. My trickiest problem is asking "when is the next bus?" and they tell me "it's in 20 minutes" but that's too soon for me so I try to find out about the bus after that and it's no good; I have to come back in 25 minutes and ask again to get the info for the bus after that :)
The appears to be no schedule posted, even at the bus station in Cobano (a central town in the lower Nicoya Peninsula). I did notice the bus that goes from Montezuma to Cabuya to the National Reserve does have a schedule taped to the window (4 trips a day) with pricing and everything; as an added bonus, it generally seemed to be leaving Montezuma at the correct time! More info below.
Pricing is cheap though. In San Jose I took a bus for about 150 colones (28 cents) but honestly I don't know far that would have taken me, it was in front of me heading the right way and it kept going once I got off. In Montezuma, it's 300 colones (55 cents) to go to Cobano which is 7 km. away (a very hilly/dusty walk).
You can get a direct bus all the way to San Jose from Montezuma, but you might not get a seat and there isn't any A/C but I think you can do it for about $8-ish (maybe $10 including the ferry ride).
Montezuma to Cabuya to the National Reserve info: When I saw the schedule it said 600 colones to the Reserva and 500 colones to Cabuya (just over or under a $1.00). It leaves Cabuya for Montezuma at 7:20 am, 9:20 am, 1:20 pm and 3:20 pm (not sure what time it actually leaves the park). It Montezuma for Cabuya at 8 am, 10 am, 2 pm and 4 pm. Obviously they get a long lunch hour or maybe it doubles as a school bus?
Posted on Friday at 2:41 PM on November 28, 2008.Me Jumping in at the Montezuma Waterfalls
Just me getting into the water and climbing the big rock in the background and jumping into the water. Nothing ultra-exciting but should give an idea of the pool and jumping area...
I'm not the first person you see. I'm the guy who walks in front of the camera a few seconds into the video (and gets in). There is a larger version of the video if you go to the direct link (below). It's not the best quality, it must have lost something in the encoding to YouTube :(
Here's the direct link to the video of me.
Child-Like Learning
So I think part of what makes Costa Rica (and other places I've traveled to in the world) so interesting to me is the learning that's going on. Just going into a restaurant is a new experience, almost like when your parents let you order your own food for the first time. And many other basic things becomes a learning experience.
In Costa Rica if you don't ask for the check (la quinta) they'll never bring it to your table. In England, in a pub, you have to go up to the bar in order to get drinks or food and many places will let you sit until you figure it out. It's part of the fun at least to me it is.
When I travel, I don't just want the sights, I want the learning that goes with it. I'll hit the local places off the beaten path specifically to figure things like that out. In Costa Rica, taking the bus (the bus another post to come) or getting a driver's license is an experience that lets you figure out how things work in that country. I find all those parts particularly interesting and enjoyable...
UPDATE: Usually, I don't update a post as much as I'm about to...
But I'm reading a Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson, a humourous book about traveling in Europe. And he said.
And I just thought that kind of exactly fit what I was saying a few days ago.
I'm going to change the date on this so it floats up to the top, so if you saw it already, you'll see it again for the new content...
Northern Beach Waterfalls in Montezuma, Costa Rica - Part Two
Here's part two of the video from the waterfall video from last Saturday (Nov. 22, 2008). This is the view from the top of the falls taken a few minutes after the first video.
Here's the direct link to this waterfalls video (sometimes the embed codes don't work); be sure to notice that under the right-hand side of the video you can "watch in high quality".
Official Bus Schedule for Costa Rica
Does anyone know where the Official Bus Schedule for Public Busses in Costa Rica is? A million sites list bus schedules but they're all different (and mostly wrong).
I understand the busses don't run on time. But there isn't any reason for me to be at the bus stop at 11:30 if the bus isn't until 12:30 (especially if it's going to be late), it's certainly not going to leave early.
Posted on Thursday at 10:40 AM on November 27, 2008.Happy Thanksgiving!!
While my life has been pretty cRaZy this past year it's been awesome lately. I'm very happy with most parts of my life and I am looking forward to the future. It's looking very promising with lots of things to be thankful for :)
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!
On this holiday note, I have no idea what I'm having for dinner today. Probably not turkey since there doesn't seem to be any in this part of the country :)
Posted on Thursday at 10:09 AM on November 27, 2008.Just some photos from the Beach
Haven't been doing much the last few days. I've been experiencing the other Montezuma so I've been under the weather. Here's a few recent photos all from the Montezuma, Costa Rica area.
This was my view from where I sat and had my lunch.
One of the water outlets to the Pacific Ocean.
I always like trying to catch photos of birds flying, but I'm never close enough.
A new canyon that I found :)
The waterfall two hours up the north beach.
You can't click to enlarge these, larger versions will probably show up in some other album later...
Posted on Tuesday at 10:53 AM on November 25, 2008.Costa Rica Blogger - From my feed reader
So one of the many sites I read is the Costa Rica Blogger. It's humorous, has great tips and interesting reads. In particular, today I read a post titled Legal Ages in Costa Rica which lets you know the legal age is for drinking alcohol, buying cigarettes, etc. And related to that he talks about the issue of him trying to get his son into see the latest Batman movie.
In general it's a blog about Costa Rica covering all sorts of useful information and humorous anecdotes. For example recently they've talked about pricing for a dental cleaning, trips to the national park, cost of living and more...
Posted on Tuesday at 10:31 AM on November 25, 2008.Northern Beach Waterfalls in Montezuma, Costa Rica
So here's a photo of me at the waterfalls North of Montezuma, Costa Rica. The walk to get there is to walk along the beach of the ocean (maybe this is technically the bay?).
This was a long hike, about 2 hours each way with stops, snacks and quick swims I was gone about 6 hours. I brought seven bottles of water, gatorade and Fresca (the one bottle of Fresca for when I ate my sandwich) and drank six-and-a-half bottles so I judged that pretty good. Although I cheated and when I was 20 minutes from the hotel I stopped at the Ylang Ylang on the beach and got a mucho frio (very cold) Coca-Cola in a glass bottle (the rest of my drinks were pretty was pretty hot by then) so I still had a 1/2 water and a gatorade; Ylang-Ylang is the last stop on the beach so don't expect much after that. So my bag kept getting lighter but it felt like it was getting heavier.
This is a 20-30 foot waterfall there is a waterfall/stream you get to early (after 45 minutes?) that some people think is "the" waterfall but it is not the waterfalls you see here. Here's the longitude and latitude that my GPS gave me when I got to the final destination this was about 6 km from the center of town as the bird flies (I'm sure I walked farther since it wasn't close to a direct route, plus it was on the sand and rocks). It's N 94°41.157' and W 085°01.530' (actually I was about 100 meters away in the shade when I made the marker on my GPS).
Here's some video that I shot when I got there.
And in case the above embedded video doesn't work, here's the direct link to the Montezuma Beach Waterfalls video; be sure to notice that under the right-hand side of the video you can "watch in high quality".
Tips for this hike: Lots of liquids; comfy shoes for water, rocks and sand; some uphill climbing in the woods; take a swim when you get hot; it's totally deserted so tell someone where you are going. I liked going in the afternoon because as the sun went down it cooled off. Be sure to check when high tide is, you don't want to get trapped out there. Bring a flashlight, if the sun goes down it gets dark quick. If the beach area looks hard to pass, look for footprints (or horseshoe prints) in the sand since they probably lead to a path in the woods.
Beautiful Day Out
It's beautiful here and it's an awesome day. I've been reading "The Time Traveler's Wife" down by the ocean. What a great book!
But sitting still for that long made me lonely for home, my family and friends.
And probably a little burnt too :)
I'm waiting for some pizza slices to get done and then down to the smaller beach for a slice of that and a glass bottle of Coca-Cola!
Posted on Thursday at 2:00 PM on November 20, 2008.Power Loss.
The power has glitched off and on the last few days. Just for a few seconds generally but it's enough to turn off the A/C unit in my hotel which kept waking me all night long when it kept kicking off...
Today we lost it for a few hours but it eventually came back on. But it's always a worry that it might not come back on (most hotels with A/C don't have windows that will open) that means no A/C and no hot water (it's electric).
Boring post, but that was out of the ordinary part of today...
I hiked up to the waterfalls too! It's such a nice view!! But since I do this almost every day it's really not out of the ordinary any more :)
Fire-Dancing Video
Here's a video of the fire dancing from the other day in Montezuma.
And (of course) the direct YouTube link.
View of a park in the middle of the San Jose shopping district
I meant to post this earlier when I posted some photos of San Jose, but it looks like it got cut off (I'm not sure if it that it was never there or I just recently deleted it or that it was never there). Sorry if it's a rerun!
If the embedded video doesn't work, here's the direct link! From the direct link you can watch it in High Quality (just under the right hand side of the movie).
Riding the Bus
So I "needed" to go to Cobano today. They have "real" internet! It's really fast but I had to get there and come back. It's only about 5 miles so I needed transport. I planned to take the public bus. As I went downstairs at my hotel to check on the times I saw the owner leaving to take Roger (another guest) to the local airport. So I hopped in the car with them, I forgot my Spanish book but otherwise I was good.
So I spent the afternoon in Cobano. Used the 'net, ate lunch, walked around used the 'net some more, ate dinner and tried to catch the 5:30 bus. Turns out it was a 6 PM bus, I had bad info...
But the bus was even later. And the locals were getting pretty annoyed about it. It finally showed up at 7:12. For a hyper guy, I'm a pretty good waiter. The problem was that I already finished my book and my laptop was dead by this point so I was pretty bored. But the ride is only 10 or 15 minutes so at least it was over pretty quick.
The price was amazing, I'm not sure how much change he gave me back but it was no more than 60 cents for the ride. I could have taken a cab for about 7 or 8 dollars, but that wasn't the point. It was for the experience...
I also went to the bank to try to make a withdrawl but that's another story...
Fire Dancing in Montezuma
So I'd really been looking forward to the fire dancing in Montezuma. I haven't seen it done as much the last few trips and I knew it was on the schedule as entertainment for the Film Festival. It wasn't the local group that I've seen do street shows but they were excellent. Most had some kind of costumes or makeup on which added to the whole effect.
It's hard to capture but I think these turned out pretty good. A few of the ones in the woman in costume I pulled from video I took so the quality might not be so great but I wanted you to see...
I only show a few photos here, the other dozen are here (including larger versions of them all) or click for the fire dancing slideshow (same photos).
My New Digital Camera is NOT Waterproof
This is a problem!!!
Someone else dropped something into the river and I made a grab for it an my camera fell out of my pocket. I meant to only leave it in that pocket for a minute when I thought the water might reach my pants pocket and I forgot to move it back. I'm am so bummed...
The lens was closed, it was under water for just a few seconds, I wiped it off with a dry towel immediately and pulled out the battery. Needless to say I didn't take any more pictures, I had a few from today of the ocean and monkeys but I bet those are fine. I hope the monkey shots are, I got a monkey (with a baby on it's back) that managed to snatch a shaker of parmesan from a restaurant and were eating it up in a tree!
Now the camera, the chip and the battery are in a zip lock bag with some dry rice (to soak up the extra moisture). I'll leave it for a day or so and see how it is. Kitty litter is supposed to work well too, but I didn't need a 25 pound bag of it in my tiny room.
It's a great camera, I'd definitely recommend the Canon SD1100 with image stabilization. It's been in my sights for ages and I recently found a great on-line deal for it from Dell (that's where I bought my SLR Canon camera too).
I'll definitely be adding the WP-DC22 Waterproof Case to my wishlist (assuming the camera still works). It's good for 40 meters underwater (130 feet) and is supposed to also be great for "beach, rain and on the ski slopes".
Later: Oops, it's more expen$ive than the camera was!!!
Made it to Montezuma !
Weather great!
Internet is extra awful (I guess an actually satellite the good places use are broken). So it's computer labs sharing two dial-in phone lines.
Don't expect much in terms of posts and photos the next few days. But scroll down because I did get a few things posted in the last 24 hours...
Posted on Thursday at 5:30 PM on November 13, 2008.
Interbus - "Really Good"
So I scheduled a shuttle bus (a large van) from San Jose to Montezuma. Last night I confirmed all the details:
The "Really Good" is their actual motto. I'm not sure if it was originally translated strangely and it stuck or if it's how they were really rated on a survey or what, but I laugh every time I see their signs...
They were actually there early. And of course there was someone else on the bus. And we were picking up 3 more people (2 stops). But, it turns out they were going to different places. Here's the process on how it worked:
All in all it was a great value! Only $39 (it's $150+ for a cab). I didn't wait anywhere, even the ferry was ready to board when we got there (not sure how long the Tambor people waited for me, but they then would have had to wait for the ferry). Air conditioned vehicles in pretty nice shape (each time I changed busses they got a little more worse for the wear).
And I think I arrived at around 1:30 (maybe a little sooner). If traffic would have been worse out of San Jose (and it wasn't great), it probably would have been a lot later since the next ferry probably wouldn't have been for hours.
I opened a bank account in Costa Rica
This is trickier than it sounds. Imagine trying to open an account in the US without a Social Security card and without a mailing address...
I got all my paperwork in order:
Once I got all that in order I went to the bank, got sent to another building, waited, got walked back to the first building to the person who sent me to the second building. Then I bet I sat at his desk for 90 minutes while he keyed in all sorts of things in the computer kept leaving the office and coming back again. All the while I'm intermittently signing things for the accounts, on-line banking, an ATM card and I think a debit card (built into the ATM card).
I have to go back for my ATM card and I can't set up the on-line banking until I have that card. I'll come back to the bank to pick up the card next month. They possibly could have sent it to another branch, but they seemed hesitant, so I wouldn't chance it (especially since my schedule is a little grey still).
So now as I see some other branches I'll do a few tests depositing a check and making a withdrawal to see how it works. Better to know now then when I have an emergency.
No one could really explain to me if I should open the accounts in Dollars or Colones. Most people said both but couldn't say why. It seems like I can deposit into either account in either currency and withdraw in either currency also. It's never seemed to bother my US bank if I withdraw in Dollars or Colones. If I'm in CR, I'm only going to take out Colones (unless maybe I'm at the airport leaving the coun
Posted on Wednesday at 8:33 PM on November 12, 2008.I can't find my umbrella
I swear I packed it. I thought I saw it when I got here. I've searched everywhere and I had to switch rooms so I had to move all my stuff and it never turned up.
So I broke down today and purchased a new one. It's larger than the tiny collapsible one that I brought so I'm better off. Of course it hasn't rained a drop since then, so it's money well spent!!!
Tiny UPS Truck
I thought the tiny UPS truck was interesting.
I haven't seen any other 3 wheeled vehicles this trip.
Getting My Driver's License in Costa Rica
So went to get my driver's license today. What a bureaucracy! The only plus was that it wasn't very busy.
I knew this was going to be a hassle so I hired someone to take me there and work me through the process, it was $35 well spent. I would have spent that on cab rides alone.
Here's the process we took: 
Throughout this process I showed my US license, passport and the copies a million times. At some point in the process they did let us leave to make a copy of the doctor's medical test (all the way back to the front and down the street to the doctor's) and then they stamped it certified so I don't have to get another test ($10).
The $35 for the escort well spent, especially since I speak barely speak Spanish. But if they had known a little more I could have gotten the paperwork I needed to get the motorcycle endorsement and gotten both. I've heard they are making license's harder for non-residents so maybe I should get it now (I'm assuming they'll let me renew it even if they change the rules) that was part of my motivation in the first place. I can go back myself but like I said before, if I don't have a car it's going to cost that much for cab fare. If I have a car at the end of my trip when I come back to San Jose to leave I'll do it...
We Flew By Contrails!
Wow!!! I was just looking outside the airplane window and and there in the sky were contrails from another plane that must have flown by recently. It looked very cool and I had never seen any from the air before. I hope the pictures came out okay! Yes, I know it doesn't take much to excite me :)
Contrails are the cloudy streaks that an airplane sometimes leaves behind in the sky, right? That's what I saw, even if I got the name wrong.
On a side note - I need a good dictionary for my MacBook that doesn't need me to be on-line to use it. Just a big PDF would work fine. Anyone know of anything semi-recent in the public domain or something? Or if I can purchase one somewhere? Something old enough to have copyright expired probably would not have "contrails" in it...
Posted on Monday at 11:16 AM on November 10, 2008.In Flight...
So the first thing I head this morning as the alarm went off was all about the icy roads in the Detroit area. Specifically between me and the airport. Not a good sign, especially since I didn't have that much extra time allocated since it was a morning flight and I didn't know about the weather before had. But all was fine, a little slow on the roads but I got the airport fine. The airport was dead, I've never seen it so quiet there.
Got checked in, got me a morning McSandwich and got to my terminal with just a few minutes to spare. Someone took the seat next to mine so I moved to the back row, no reclining but i'll live. I've got an empty spot next to me, an adorable little 8 month old boy on his Mom's lap that I was pretty excited about, he had been pretty friendly the few times I had run into him. I thought he was going to be a lot of fun but he passed out a few minutes into the flight (boring!).
It's beautiful up here in the clouds. We're just above them and the sun is lighting them up perfectly. Looks like snow, maybe more of how I'd picture it in Antarctica (or some other vast snowy land). My cell phone photos just don't do it justice at all; should have pulled out the real camera.
Bonus! They just brought us a bowl of cereal (Total) and a banana, don't know if I've ever gotten that for a non-international flight. I'm a much happier flyer if I'm snacking and staying hydrated, it really makes the flight more comfortable for me. On a side note, I can't believe the number of people drinking mixed drinks already!
Sunsets of Costa Rica
I uploaded a album of sunsets to FaceBook. These are from my last two trips to Costa Rica. There are a few dozen and I think all of them are labeled where and when they are from.
If you are a member of FaceBook be sure to add me as a friend while you're there. Just click on "Gary's Profile" at the top and then "Add as a Friend".
Posted on Friday at 1:34 PM on September 19, 2008.Tamarindo, Costa Rica
So I like this town, it's a tourist town so it's missing some of the remoteness of some of the other towns, but it's got every thing you might need. Lots of restaurants and hotels, a beach with surfing so it's a got something for everyone. The beach could be bigger, especially since the tide comes up pretty high but I've never been very far up or down the coast from to see what else there is, maybe the next trip.
Since it's a tourist town, it's got lots of parking so it's generally not a problem parking right where you want to be. This is a big bonus if there's a huge downpour (or you're really sick).
A lot of the people in Costa Rica scoff at Tamirindo because it is a big tourist town (especially the smaller towns on the coast some of them are just rude about it) but it's completely different from the smaller towns so (to me) it shouldn't be compared, you might as well as compare it to New York City; but if you're looking for surfing NYC isn't the place and if you're looking for theatre Tamarindo isn't the place, so the question is "what is it that you are looking for?" and this might be it...
Here's the Tamarindo Photo Album I put together. I'm trying this with the MobileMe service, so if it doesn't view very well for you let me know and I'll put it in the old format. 
Notice the buttons at the bottom of the photos for Grid, Mosaic, Carousel or Slideshow; be sure to check out how they work.
San Jose and La Sabina Park in Costa Rica
So I enjoyed the San Jose area on this trip. Next trip I plan to spend a little more time in the city area to check it out more. It seems many people who relocate move to the middle of the country; while that seems anti-intuitive to me, the coast seems more obvious, there are a lot of conveniences there that I need to consider.
When I was in San Jose, I chose my first restaurant based on a few things: It wasn't an American chain, it wasn't Chinese and it had hightop tables (had I known they had WiFi I might have gotten my laptop and factored that in too). It was a local little sports bar with food so I thought I could get a feel for some local "stuff". But the people who ran this place spoke English so well I have to assume they weren't locals. Even some of the people who appeared to be regulars conversed in excellent English with each other so it wasn't really the experience I was looking for.
But since the food was delicious and they wrapped the napkins around the bottles all cute and fancy it was worth it.
Most of these photos are from the park but that's because I was busy during most of the daylight hours while I was there. I'll get some more next time. So here are the photos from San Jose at the La Sabina Park.
Posted on Saturday at 11:59 PM on September 13, 2008.Liberia, Costa Rica - My short stay
So I keep saying I was trapped in Liberia, but it was a really nice town. When I started to build this album I thought I had taken more photos, but I guess I didn't, so it's kind of a mish-mash. Here's a map of Liberia, the place I stayed (the El Punto) is just south of the Santa Rosa Mall.
Next time I fly to Liberia I'll definitely be spending the night and checking out the town some more, the nearby African Zoo and the Rincon de la Vieja volcano (which I had gotten a recommendation for).
Here's some photos of Liberia that I took.
El Punto Hotel (B & B) in Liberia, Costa Rica
So when I got trapped in Costa Rica for the few extra days I ended up staying at the El Punto B & B. It turned out to be an excellent place, it only has five or six units with a theme of colors, it might be the cutest place I've ever stayed. My unit had A/C, a ceiling fan, a very hot shower (but I never could get that much heat from the two sinks), two beds, two tables, three chairs and something I'd call a kitchenette but there wasn't a way to cook anything but coffee (had a sink and medium refrigerator). I had found huge very comfy towels and a washcloth, made me feel very civilized. Outside I had another chair and table with a hammock. There was free internet but only up by the office and they also had what appeared to be a community area with couches, chairs and a television. There was also a nice double-sided page with info about the area (such as suggested restaurants), how to access the WiFi and useful info that all hotels should mimic.
Breakfast was amazing! A mini loaf of bread with jellies and jams and watermelon and pineapple and eggs with coffee and juice. My only real complaint is there just isn't enough space to unpack (but I have that complaint quite often).
Here are some photos of the room at El Punto and of breakfast (breakfast included coffee and OJ which didn't get shown in the photos).
It's right around the corner from a nice outside mall, across from that is a Burger King/Papa John's/Church's Fried Chicken and down the street a bit (easy walk) is the downtown area. I'll stay there again sometime (on purpose). I think they're pretty close to the Zoo (that's supposed to be excellent) and a nearby Volcano that was also recommended to me. Plus if I'm flying out of the Liberia airport it's pretty convenient (I think during the busier season they might provide airport transportation?) and a cab was about $15.
Posted on Wednesday at 2:39 PM on September 10, 2008.ChocoMenta Ice Cream!
So my favorite ice cream bar to get in Costa Rica is ChocoMenta by Dos Pinos (Twin Pines). It's is good sized mint ice cream bar cover in chocolate on a stick. It's a generous size, especially when you consider the price, they were generally only about 75 cents! You can see in the image (click it) that it's a decent sized stick, and I think that helped the ice creme to not fall off the stick in the heat and humidity (not that I had a lot this trip).
Occasionally, I couldn't find them so they were a welcome treat when I found them. At at 75 cents it was an awesome treat!
And for my older readers: "Milky the clown says, 'What's the Magic Word?'"...
Posted on Tuesday at 11:30 AM on September 9, 2008.I'm Home!!!! (from Atlanta)
I did make it back to Michigan (via Atlanta) problem free. Although it took forever for the luggage to start coming out in Detroit and that was after the 15 minute hike across the airport.
One of the annoying things about missing that flight was that the whole crazy vacation timeline revolved around me getting to that relocation seminar in San Jose and flying back to Michigan in time for my Mom's birthday. And since I ended up missing her birthday it was just digging at me on the way home since I had many many hours to dwell on it. I could have just as easily left a few days later, landed in San Jose and then headed to the coast and come home later. This would have resulted in a lot less running around and not a crunched time-line (since I could have stayed later), isn't hind-site great!?!
It was a disaster trip: lots and lots of rain, getting really really sick and missing that flight (which resulted in two more days there) but while I'm so glad to be home I'm already looking forward to my next extended trip in the next few months...
Over the next few weeks I will be posting many more blog posts that I've already half-written and posting photos...
Posted on Sunday at 1:02 PM on September 7, 2008.Made it to the Liberia (Costa Rica) Airport
Made it! Way early and on time. It´s so hot here, I´m only paying for Internet since I want to hang out in this air conditioned room (I´m standing at a terminal in the gift shop).
And they didn´t charge me a $150.00 change fee for my flight!!! I didn´t even get a chance to ask about it. The woman at the counter was the woman that I talked to on on Thursday and they had already decided it was an "Act of Nature" and they waived the fee for me...
It´ll be a full flight since multiple people would have missed, one guy guessed half the flight was probably trapped on the other side of the bridge. He might be overestimating but even if half that missed the flight, that´s a lot of people considering there was no Friday flight.
Posted on Saturday at 2:17 PM on September 6, 2008.Just so you can see where I'm headed...
So you can see, I'm pretty much at my low peak for things under my control. The problem is most of the things that have gone wrong haven't been much under my control. As long as things start to get better I don't care how the chart looks, but I'm really looking forward to working my way up to the 20th!
I used a desktop widget for my Mac to generate this, I like this one since it shows six cycles. If you'd like you can try an on-line Biorhythm generator but it's only got 3 of the more traditional lines (I ran mine on-line for fun and the three do match up pretty good).
Later: I just found this web site that calculates the primary and secondary biorhythms.
It's the little things that make you cRaZy....
So I'm at a pizza place and they don't have bottled pop and I'm not drinking any fountain drinks if I don't know where the water and ice is from. So I order a bottle of water and then I realize the place next door (a very nice restaurant that I ate at yesterday) has bottled pop so I went to get a Fresca.
I didn't realize I'd put the place into such a tizzy! I walk up to the area where the bartender (not a bar), the register and two waiters are standing and order a Fresca. They all appear to understand me, I know they all know the word Frsca, but they don't know what to do (I guess since I'm not at a table?). I'm stunned, they must do take-out, the BK across the street has a drive-thru, but they're stuck. It's not like they're busy, I olny make customer number five. They ask me two more times what I want and I clarify that I will bring the glass bottle back to them (and I know this waiter knows I'm the guy sitting outside next door). Then he mentions that it'll around $2 and I've been holding a 2,000 Colones bill ($4) most of the time I've been there.
Here's how it ends: I hand him the bill and he has me go sit down outside and a few minutes later brings me the drink and my change. It's just the little things like that which make life fun...
In hindsight: I should have just walked over to the grocery store and got a Fresca or maybe since the pizza was pretty boring I probably should have just gone to the restaurant next door again tonight...
The Attempt at Flight
So I left Tamarindo with more than enough time to spare to get to the airport. That's it. The rest of the story pretty much writes itself doesn't it? It's clear I don't make my plane but why? There's the obvious like car problems and the not so obvious like I was abducted by aliens; I wasn't abducted but it was certainly closer to that end of the continuum.
When I left Tamarindo it was raining but everything was fine. About ten minutes into the ride I get a few cars flashing their lights at me, usually a sign of a speed trap so I slowed down. A few turns later I see there was some kind of avalanche but I'm not sure if it's from the rain or the earthquake from last night. There are some huge items about a meter in diameter but I'm not sure if it's rock or mud either way I drove around it. I did pass a few more mini-avalances but some I probably could have just driven through and been okay.
But as I drive I notice the water is getting deeper on the sides of the road; I hadn't noticed much at the start but I was much closer to the ocean so it has lots of options for drainage. Then I notice the fields are flooded on both sides of the road and while I'm not certain how tall the crops are I know the backs of those tires are under at least a dozen inches of water. Then it starts covering the road! What's really nice is the few times that I can't see what's under the water (hopefully road) there are other cars so i just follow them along. The worst was probably about three-hundred feet(?) long. Many shorter ones but there were a few deep dips too; these weren't wide but I didn't know about flash flooding coming down these roads. The flooding is worse for the homes much of them are in water that is knee deep at parts but some are waist deep (some of these homes are on cement platforms but I don't think many were more than 18 inches and most were less than a foot). No one seems panicky and some people were relaxing on a bench on a porch, it was really sad to see.
Then I see a quantity of people walking towards me on both sides of the road and now I'm in a traffic jam and I can't see the other end of it. What's going on? I'm still thinking I might catch this flight so I'm trying to get around everyone and this bus seems to know what he's doing so I'm following him; we're in the wrong lane at this point but there is no oncoming traffic. There's a lot more people on the road, Should I be heading into the "fire"? The a traffic cop stops us, lets the bus through but tries to explain in Español to me and then leaves me for other problem; when I see he's busy I leave and then I see the problem so merge back into stopped traffic.
The problem is there's a bridge ahead so there has got of be some kind of a problem with it. But there are still refugees people coming off the bridge so it's not collapsed. By very illegally parking and then walking to the bridge (it's two bridges: an old one and a new one) and talking to a partially-English speaking officer and some others I determined I need to ditch my rental and cross the bridge. Oh, and at this point I'm pretty sure I'm not getting on that plane today.
Because the bridge will not be open until tomorrow and maybe not until the afternoon! But I guess even though they are concerned about the lower supports it's okay for people and not cars. Did I mention it's only 7 kilometers (4-5 miles) to the airport at this point?
Since then I've done some research, I believe this was the Guardia Bridge over the Tempisque River, 've read on-line (nothing official or I'd quote that) that's it's 50 or 100 feet down. When I was on the bridge I'd say the water was 8-12 feet below but I'm not the best guesser at those kinds of guesstimates. Notice on the map that this is the main road to get from the Nicoya Peninsula to the Liberia Airport. Zoom out and you'll see it's the only road to cross the river when it has any depth of water. That's not really try if you zoom out farther you'll see the huge Friendship Bridge (image) but since another trapped person told me she was going to San Jose (the long way) and she was avoiding that bridge for some reason that didn't translate but I knew it was going to add hours (4-5?) to her trip it must be a good reason. And it turns out that this Tempisque River is the same river that forms the start of the Nicoya Bay (which, with the Pacific Ocean, makes the Nicoya peninsula).
Back to getting off the peninsula: I think I can get a ride on the other side but I gotta get rid of the car. I can't find a phone that takes change and I don't know how to use these phones since I never make local calls and I normally use the computer. I try the hardware store but they're closed, they have no power (I assume no power in this area). As I start to try to get a person to lend (or rent) me their cell phone an American woman (who just dropped her husband off at the bridge for the same flight) takes pity on me and lets me use her mobile to call the car rental place.
The phone bounces between several people that that can't help me and I hear them conversing between each other and I know they don't fully understand the problem. Finally I stick to "This has had to have happened before. How can I leave this car here and have you retrieve it later?" and repeat that to someone else and I get an answer: "Leave it at the hardware store and give the keys to the shuttle driver at the airport" plus he tells me there is no charge for this retrieval! That was pretty simple! But since the hardware store is closed the gate is locked so we settle on the gas station two kilometers down the road.
So I park there and the guy at the station speaks no english but somehow I'm truly confident he understands what I'm doing. Now I need a ride to the bridge, I can't get a taxi or a phone to call one (or a bus) so I end up taking an illegal (which was parked near the bus stop but I didn't know that's what it was). The taxi driver is reading and has no idea where I've come from (this is important later) and knows he can't cross the bridge so he doesn't understand but I get him to do it for $2. So as were get to the traffic I bully him to drive around it and the traffic cop (I make it clear that he's just "an hombre" not "a taxi"). The cop really yells at us and I can't figure out why, but then I get realize why! I guess it's tomorrow already because the bridge is open!!! I wasn't going to argue about it!
So here's the new problem, the taxi driver wants to take me across the bridge, he has no idea I have a car back there. This did no communicate so well but I finally got him to make a u-turn and take me back, we almost made it to the bridge before I convinced him. I put my stuff in my 4x4 and got across the bridge ASAP!
I've got six bridge photos posted (not the best I've ever taken) and I realized as I did it that it certainly looks significantly lower than an hour before. Wow! I'm definitely lacking in the earth sciences area so maybe that's normal...
Wrap up - Obviously it was too late for my flight. No other flights I could find until Saturday. Delta made me pay $150 to rebook. Why doesn't act of God ever benefit me in these circumstances? It's the only way there!!!
I'll tell you about Liberia and my way cute hotel later...
Posted on Friday at 12:51 AM on September 5, 2008.I found the drugs
I found the medicine that I purchased at the farmacia the other day in San Jose that I couldn't find later. I really have no idea why I put them where I found them, it was definitely a stupid spot. The powder is similar but the pills are different (I guess they could be the same).
Although, if I had remembered, I'm sure be have been thinking it was an excellent spot.
This might not seem like a monumental post, but had I found it, that might have been enough to prevent me from my hospital visit a few days ago...
LATER: Actually, I've taken another look at the powder I found and it's not the same. The one is electrolytes and the other is an anti-diarrhrettic. I'm not saying it wouldn't have helped, just that I now know it's different...
Posted on Thursday at 10:02 PM on September 4, 2008.I'm still in Costa Rica
Severe flooding kept me from getting to my flight today. They closed the bridge heading towards the airport and said it was going to be closed overnight (maybe until mañana afternoon); please note I did say "the" bridge and not "a" bridge. Surprisingly, they opened it after I abandoned my car and was going to walk over the bridge (pedestrians were allowed).
Anyone have any contacts at Delta? They still want to charge me a $150 change fee (I've called two different numbers at this point US and CR). If this wasn't an "act of God" that should cover my fee then I don't know what is. Once they get my $150 here at the airport I'm sure I'll never see it again...
I'm booked in a hotel for the next two nights (no flights on Friday) and I want to be here (8 kilometers from airport).
I'll do a "flood blog post" later, it's gonna be a long one (home come this never happens when it's sunny?). Wish I had taken more pictures now...
The Ground Shook!!! Costa Rica Earthquake!
Something just happened. I'd say a huge semi-truck or two just drove by too fast and went through the crazy potholes (or something) but that's not really possible where I am let alone it would have had to had been a 180 wheeled truck since it lasted a bit. It really shook the place for at least 4-5 seconds (it seemed much longer but I'm guessing it wasn't) with a short ones a few seconds later about 22 or 23 minutes after midnight. Afterwards, it sounded like a few doors opened up at the hotel but no chatter of what might have happened. I don't know how common earthquakes are here. I know I've never felt anything like it!
I've been looking on-line and finally found some data! It was a 4.3 Magnitude earthquake!!!! Not sure how big that is, but I'm from Michigan so...
The event id for this is "us2008wnan" as it's official designation (I guess). This is the closest seismogram I could find from a drum recorder (are they still actually drums?) which happens to be the Volcano at Rincon de la Vieja, you can clearly see in the second block of 15 minutes after midnight the needle went a little crazy. Here's some info on reading the seismograms.
Looking at the attached right-hand image (the "A" is the estimated center), I'm guessing it centered about 25-30 miles from here (Tamarindo). The smaller left-hand image has some time/date info with location info (and no other earthquake boxes for the last week in Costa Rica).
This was at 10.490°N, 85.851°W, a 4.3 magnitude and 39.7 miles (63.9 km) deep. Could this have been picked up as far os New Mexico or Oregon? Or were those coincidental marks on their graphs? Finding this I'm going to say "yes" (I found this in the morning).
I'll keep adding data as I find it! It's been two hours I've been collecting info, I'm off to bed, gotta get up in the morning to catch a flight.
Posted on Thursday at 3:07 AM on September 4, 2008.Well the Power has flickered off and on today
The power has blinked off and on more than a few times today, but not during any of the storms so I don't know what's going on. I suppose there could be storms somewhere else (duh!). I did notice many more police out tonight than the last few days maybe they do that when there are power failures...
But now it's been off for a few minutes. So no fans, no A/C and I'm assuming no running water since I can't hear the toilet running any more. At least it's been cool this evening.
It's just surprising since there have been so many cRaZy storms this trip that I sensed no outage before today.
FYI - It was only out about 5 minutes....
Posted on Thursday at 1:24 AM on September 4, 2008.Montezuma Waterfall in Costa Rica
Here's a very short movie of the Waterfall in Montezuma! Click for the higher quality Montezuma Waterfall version. But people always have problems with the movie files from my Dimage XT camera for some reason so here's an YouTube version too...
I don't have much more to say (other than it was awesome) since I talked about it last week when I was there...
Is it "an YouTube"?
Posted on Wednesday at 11:24 PM on September 3, 2008.Early check-in for my flight
I was prepared to check in, looked at the time and tried it. But my laptop is still on Michigan time so it's not 24 hours before the flight so I can't check in. I guess that explains why they didn't e-mail me about it yet. But I can change my seats so I did that while I was there.
I did manage to plant myself in a big block of empty seats on the way up to Atlanta from Liberia. Not as empty as the way down but should be not to crowded (on the way down many of us had a whole row).
From Atlanta to Detroit I see they have this layout (see image) but right now I'm in the yellow seat. One of those double blue seats would have more room as long as no one else squeezes in. Otherwise my yellow seat seems better. Any thoughts?
They're pretty full so for now I think I'll wait until closer to the flight to check again...
Later: It's time for check in, but they wouldn't let me so I guess I'll have to do it all at the airport.
Posted on Wednesday at 1:48 PM on September 3, 2008.It's Raining Today but it's a Wonderful Day!
It's raining out today, pretty hard actually, but I've got my covered porch and my high-speed internet so I'm okay from an entertainment standpoint. I'd much rather it be sunny but it's rainy season and I knew that before I came here. It's nice and cool out so I don't need to even have the A/C on. Also, knowing there are a few places to go around here that I can actually park at helps me mentally with the rain.
Knowing how much better I actually feel mentally and physically makes me feel better:)
But it doesn't look like it's going to clear up soon (see below image). Clicking the image shows you a live weather view of Costa Rica. I'm around the "155" highway marker on the most left part.
Maps courtesy of Google Maps and Weather Underground.
Can you tell I'm feeling more "normal" today?
Posted on Wednesday at 10:50 AM on September 3, 2008.La Sabana Park in San Jose
Last Friday, I went for a walk during lunch and made you a video. I'm right across the street from where my seminar was. You got the first take since I was on a short time frame :)
I was standing at the East side of the pond about a quarter way up the pond from the road (see map below). I wish I'd had my sunglasses (squint!).
If it won't play above then you can go watch it at YouTube.
This is a map of La Sabana Park in San Jose. You should be able to zoom in + out and move about like all Google maps. Zoom out a few clicks to see how large it is!
View Larger Map
I shot a video of the guys on the Zip Line too (sorry about the glare).
So I had an "opportunity" to check out the Hospital in Costa Rica ...
So except for the last trip I've never had any "stomach issues" and on that trip it was very minor and passed in few days (no pun intended). This trip the same thing happened for a few days and by Friday I was feeling fine. But then Saturday came...
I think it was the water in something I ate or drank, I don't drink the water or take ice, but there are vegetables and juices and all sorts of stuff with water. It could have been the bottle of water I purchased from a street vendor on Thursday, the cellophane on the bottle seemed a little loose but the cap seemed sealed but it had crossed my mind enough to check and it seemed fine (but it's still in my head).
Let's just say Saturday morning I made a few too many trips to the restroom that I went to the farmacia before I left San Jose. I purchased some pills and some electrolyte mixture to add to water. Then I headed out to Samara still feeling lousy. When I stopped for lunch I couldn't find the medicine anywhere but then I got to my hotel I tore everything apart and still couldn't find the medicine. And, of course, all the pharmacies were closed by then.
My symptoms got worse as the day went on. That night I got up at least forty times during the night and it got worse as the night went on. The next day, Sunday, all the pharmacies and doctor's offices were closed so I head on out to the hospital in Nicoya. If I was leaving town, then I was going to see a Doctor...
The hospital in Nicoya was about what I expected not much of a building, no Air Conditioning (fortunately it had been raining and was slightly cool) and they said the Doctor's did not speak English. I checked in and sat down in the crowd. I starting translating words to Spanish so it'd go faster when I saw the Doctor. I expected to be waiting for hours but I'd say it was only about twenty minutes. The Doctor said he didn't know English but between what I wrote down and what he knew, we only had to look up a few words. He sent me for an IV and some tests; the IV was really a huge syringe and it as at least an inch-and-a-quarter around and five inches long. It wasn't too bad but it made me a little dizzy, which they didn't want to understand as they're trying to move me to the next room (when I plopped on the a chair and stopped, I think they got the hint).
All of these things had a very short wait except for waiting for the test results. The test results were at least two hours. Then waiting for the Doctor took a while which would have been fine if I could have sat down and not queued up where they had us. He prescribed what I assume to be a similar electrolyte mixture and some pills (more for the stomach pain I believe). Total time four maybe four-and-a-half hours.
The room for the IV was the nicest and I didn't even need to try and say "utilice por favor una aguja nueva"; it was a specific sentence in the Costa Rican Spanish book for the phrase "please use a new needle", I assumed it was in there for a reason. Some of the rooms were more warehouse-ish than anything with roofed cubicles in and around the building. FYI - the office for the Doctor and the syringe room were both air conditioned but that was it. I'm sure the building would freak many of you out :)
I got a receipt for the 40,000 colones (about $73) but it's lacking info so we'll see what Blue Cross does with it when I try to submit it...
So, I left there and headed towards the main highway, I would have sworn there was an "American Hotel" that I was planning to splurge for but I couldn't find it. So I drove all the way to Tamarindo (second largest city?) and grabbed the second hotel I tried (the first one was full). I was still sick for about a day and a half, but I was slowly getting better. Part of the problem was that I wasn't eating either, I normally graze and eat 4-5 times a day but I was averaging less than I meal a day. Monday night, I forced myself out for a second meal hoping only for some soup and a sandwich, and while I'd normally avoid an American chain while I vacation, the Subway fit that requirement for me. I took it back to my room and the soup was so good and I nibbled on the sandwich over the next few hours. From then on I've only been feeling better.
It's Tuesday and I'm not perfect but I'm way better. I'm eating (most of three meals I've had) and I got more of a similar electrolyte solution from the farmacia today. I've felt well enough to wander around town and the beach a few times and I'm in a hotel I really like so that makes it even better...
Posted on Tuesday at 9:02 PM on September 2, 2008.I hate Switching Hotels but I love the Hotel Domus Kahuna
I love the Domus Kahuna unfortunately they were full when I came to Tamarindo a few days ago. It's this small cute place a block from the main strip and we only found it by accident last trip (we pulled into the "driveway" to turn around and thought we'd check). Last time we had this tiny two bedroom with living room/kitchenette, I've just got a plain room this time but it's perfect and it's more than 1/2 off what I've paid the last few days. No view of the ocean but it's only 150 meters to town and the beach and that's better. I think it comes with a minimal breakfast (at least it did last time) and the free WiFi leaks into the room.
If you've been to / heading to Tamirindo, it's the last turn before you get to the circle at the end of "the strip"; go up one block and hang a left and it's shortly on your right (careful, the road is awful as soon as you turn off the strip).
I couldn't find this place in my GPS so here's the info N 10°17.917 W 085°50.401. I would hope that would get you to a few meters of the spot.
Beautiful Day in Tamarindo!
Sorry, I've been off-line lately, I haven't had 'net access or felt well enough to do it (I've been really really sick the last few days), but I'm feeling much much better today. I'll give you the scoop on my experiences with the CR medical system later.
I'm in Tamarindo the next few days, I couldn't get the little hotel that I liked from last trip, Domus Kahuna, but I grabbed a room at the Best Western Vista Villas since I didn't feel well enough to go looking for a room (wanted a safe bet); I'd normally avoid the US chains when in Costa Rica. Turns out my room has a view of the ocean and so does the pool/returant area (which also has WiFi), it's a little bit of a hike down to the water but it's a great view :)
This is looking like one of the top weather days this trip so far! I think I just need to take it easy for a little bit still. So I'll drive into town and pick up a few things and then head down and check out the beach.
Posted on Tuesday at 12:17 PM on September 2, 2008.Assorted Photos from the first week.
Here's a random batch of photos from the past few days in Costa Rica. These mostly have some titles or captions to go with them.
Just an assorted few that I enjoyed and I hope you will too!
Association of Residents of Costa Rica
One of the things I'm doing this trip is attending a seminar by the Association of Residents of Costa Rica (ARCR). They offer this the last Thursday/Friday of every month (but December) for only $65. I've had this on my to do list for a while but it just hasn't worked out previously, it is specifically why I chose now for this trip and not a few weeks later.
It's pretty much what I hoped for so far a bunch of short little presentations (about nine a day). Of course everyone who does a presentation passes out their contact info, but it really is more of a presentation on the topic not selling their business. The one topic I hoped for, but didn't really expect, was about working in Costa Rica. We have about 25 people in our group, mostly from US and Canada; mostly retirees or soon to be about five of us weren't near the retirement range but want to relocate.
FYI: Really good snacks for break: OJ, coffee, some kind of pastry and little crustless sandwiches.
I talked to one of the people, Ray, a few times beforehand via e-mail and telephone before coming and he was very helpful.
I'd definitely recommend this seminar if you are thinking of relocating or retiring to Costa Rica.
Posted on Friday at 9:52 AM on August 29, 2008.Photos from the ferry ride...
I have some photos from the ferry ride from Paquera to Puntarenas uploaded.
Posted on Thursday at 11:23 PM on August 28, 2008.
Catching the Paquera Ferry
So I heard that the ferry from Paquera to Puntarenas was at 12:30 PM and but I also heard 1 PM so I decided I should get there by 12:30 just in case. The ride was taking me a little bit longer than I thought but I knew (unless it was full) I was going to make it. I went a few kilometers past Paquera and I was the only one on the road (everyone had been rushing past me) which made me decide that I went too far so I turned around. A few minutes later I realized I hadn't gone too far in the first place and that it was too late for the 12:30 boat (the next was at 3 or 4 PM).
So I decided to go there and make sure I knew exactly where it was and get my ticket; then I'd go get lunch and see if there was and Internet access back in town. But when I got to the dock the ferry was still there!!! They must have just recently changed the time to 1 PM since I was one of the last cars on (I had gotten the 1 PM tine from a person, the 12:30 was from a June-December 2008 free travel booklet).
Had I realized that the Paquera Ferry was a location option in my awesome new GPS I'd have gotten there with no problem!! Duh!
So this is how they work the queue, you get in line and they give you a "pass" that says there is room for you and you can get out of the car, buy the ticket and get back in the car (I think it was $13 for me and the car a little more than I thought it would be). When they went up to the car in front of me they must have told him to go around the vehicle in front of him so he starts to back up towards me (my car is parked and off at this point) and I'm beeping the horn like crazy (he had so much room) and he hits the brakes but he still hits me at least it was really slow and there was no damage. It turns out he wasn't that great of a driver (at least not a stick) he had a heck of a time getting situated on the ferry.
It was the smaller ferry (the other one is way nicer and bigger) but it's not very busy so there is lots of room in the people area (the car area is packed). It was drizzling on and off but there is (sort of) a cover up top so I'm up there, but I'm really happy it's not a stormy ride. Looks like there might be sunshine for the end of the ferry ride!
I should get to the San Jose area in daylight so that's a big plus, maybe even to the hotel. BTW, my hotel is in the GPS so I should not have any problem! I haven't used the GPS for city driving yet so I can't wait to try that.
I took some photos, I'll try to get them posted tomorrow, the batteries are dying on the laptop...
Posted on Wednesday at 4:23 PM on August 27, 2008.Much Nicer Day
It was a much nicer day today! It was mostly sunny but drizzly on and off but looked stormy so I didn't want to walk up the the waterfall (a real hike) and get caught in a storm; later I hear the water that you walk next to (through at some parts) were pretty wild so some people turned around and came back, which must have been all the rain from yesterday/last night.
I got to spend some time at walking the beach and relaxing. It was nice to not be running around too much. I just walked for a while and read and talked to some people that I've run into more than a few times this trip. I started to go farther up the beach but it started to rain again and since there was a (fancy) hotel on the beach so I popped in there for a deliciou$ lunch (and stayed out of the rain).
I did try to catch the sunset but it just got cloudier and cloudier as I got closer so that was a bust. But on the way I did pick up a couple of guys from Argentina on the road and gave them a lift for a few kilometers they were interesting and spoke great english. Just to be clear, they were from Argentina, not on the road from Argentina...
It's pouring out now but that's okay since I'm inside and have nothing else to do but grab some dinner and sleep. If it's nice I'd like to get up early so I can play in Montezuma more before I head to San Jose tomorrow.
Posted on Tuesday at 9:21 PM on August 26, 2008.Rain, Rain, go away...
So this rain is making me a little crazy today. It's been pouring on and off all day. I'd use it as a day to stay inside and catch up on the internet but it's satellite and the rain goofs up the signal. So needless to say I'm a little bored today.
It's to be expected as it is the "green" season but I was just hoping for a little less. Talking with a few German women in my hotel they said this is only one of three really rainy days that they've had and they've been here six months.
Although, it's coming down insane right now and I'm in this restaurant with no walls and it's really nice with all the rain noise and seeing the rain pouring over the edges of the roof. It's not bright enough in most of the restaurants to read while you wait but the laptop lights itself so while it's geeky it's practical. Although a zip-lock bag would be more practical than the vinyl backpack I brought it here in...
I did get a chance to use faster Internet in Cabano today but it was so warm inside I didn't stay too long or else I could have hung out there longer. I did use the internet to make a few phone calls and Mom was on-line so I got to video conference with her; for some reason it's way more exciting to video-conference from Costa Rica than from 30 miles away.
With the rain it was too cloudy to go catch the sunset in Manzanillo, maybe tomorrow (I'll probably go there and eat even if it's raining).
Posted on Monday at 10:24 PM on August 25, 2008.Penne Pasta with Tomato Sauce
So Chico's Bar and Resturant has the best Penne Pasta with Tomato Sauce and it come with a small bowl of parmesan cheese. They were too busy saturday night and the restaurant wasn't open when I came by yesterday so I wanted to get a chance to eat this again.
Again? Yes, I had this last trip and loved it. We actually saw the waiter eating it at a different restaurant and it looked so good and he looked like he was really enjoying it so much Mark & I both tried to order it so he had to confess it was from down the street. So we came here a few days later to try it out ourselves. That's not how I usually get my restaurant recommendations but it worked.
I guess it's like the old barbershop brain-teaser: "There are two barbers in town, one has a great haircut and one has a bas one. Who do you go to get your hair cut at?" And you need to say "the one with the bad haircut, because he's the one who cut the other barber's hair (the one with the good cut)".
I just wished they had Fresca in a glass bottle instead of the can; I really like drinking out of a cold bottle...