Day 18 - Dia Por Los Ninos

Elliot and I were up early as usual and we were playing a new game on the iPad together until the girls got up. The fiesta provisions were still be dismantled in front of our building. Downstairs at the restaurant, we enjoyed the free buffet breakfast. Then we grabbed a few things from our room before heading off to the Museo de los Niños. We arrived just after 8 am and were told it opened at 9 am, but in fact it opened at 9:30 am. While we waited I had Tegan perform her Irish dance video in front of the Museum. The crowds slowly grew as we waited including a Scout troupe of Castores (Beavers). I would say there were at least 300 people waiting to get in when the doors opened.

Inside we spent time dressing up in various costumes, playing games and puzzles, exploring space, the body, the environment, history and agriculture among other things. The hours quickly went by and without any real food comida on site we had to eat a couple of small bags of corn tortilla chips and share a pop. It was a pretty exhausting day and by 1:30 pm we were outside hailing a taxi for the hotel. On the way back, we asked to be taken to the Walmart instead. The Walmart was guarded by security gates which right away suggested this was not like home. The other differences were the food court inside as well as the aisles of liquor. We were here to get something to eat and some things for on the bus to Nicaragua.

Immediately outside we stopped the 3 wise men for a photo and then proceeded to go in and do our shopping. After buying our things, Tegan and I ended up eating at a Chinese food comida while Elliot played it safe with McDonalds. We Should have done the same, the Chinese food was rubbish. Outside we hailed a taxi and went back to our hotel. The kids went again with Mom for a swim while I worked on some blog updates etc.

The rest of the night was dinner at the restaurant, the Smurfs movie, popcorn and packing again for the next day.

Day 17 - Off to Get a Gold Crown

This morning everyone was back into routine... basically, Elliot up while it was still dark outside and playing his video games on his DS or iPad while the rest of us slept. I woke up a few times during the night and just stared at all the stars that were bright and filled the sky. Elliot returned to sleep when the sun still hadn't risen after an hour awake. Finally morning came and we were all up and ready to get some breakfast from downstairs. The 3 parrots downstairs greeted us with holas and whistles. Breakfast consisted of eggs, fruit, beans and rice and toast; a typical Costa Rican breakfast.

I packed up our things and then we were off in the SUV for Liberia where today I was getting my gold crown fitted. Arriving in Liberia, we set to work looking for the dental office. The instructions were to head west 450m of the Bank of Costa Rica, but there were no dental offices located there. I worked the street for some more info and ended up work with a helpful gentleman and a police officer who said I would find a farmacia east of the bank with the name I was searching for. Correen argued with me which way East and West are and we were still not locating anything referenced in the emailed instructions. I sat next to a man on a park bench and asked him for help finding the farmacia. He told me that it was 100m away and we made short work of reaching or destination.

Correen and the kids went for a walk while I went and got my crown. An hour was suggested as a time to return and meet me. As soon as I went inside I told them, "no es oeste, es oriente", with a smile on. Finding things in Central America with no road signs and misinformation is challenging, but humourous. The fitting of my gold crown took only about 15 minutes, so I thanked them for the work done and left to find Correen and the kids.

I met them about 5-6 blocks down and we returned to the car and drove to Burger King for some lunch. After lunch our plan was to return to San Jose, see if they had a room available for tonight, and have a day in San Jose to tour some museums, etc.

Driving in Costa Rica is very different from Canada. The majority of cars on the highway are driving between 40 km/h and 60km/h on a posted 80 km/h road. The other drivers are the ones passing these slow moving vehicles usually on solid lines and sometimes on blind hills and corners. I even had a police car speed past me on double solid line. So the norm is to safely negotiate passing whenever you can or add double the time to your trip. Well today, I got stopped by two motorcycle cops and they informed me of my offense, passing on a solid line and the officer said it would by a $600 usd fine. Say What?! An officer returned and asked me to step out to talk to them and they asked if I wanted to pay the $600 fine or pay $200 to them right there. In hindsight I probably could have negotiated this amount down, but I paid the $200 bribe and got out of there. There wasn't anymore double line passing by me on the remainder of the trip, but everyone else on the highway was still doing it, including huge 18 wheelers.

Correen checked with the front desk at the hotel and there was a room available. We parked and the whole place was decorated for Christmas and they were setting up for a huge staff party, immediately in front of the main entrance of our hotel. Correen and the kids went to the hot tub for a swim while I worked on the blog. When they returned, Elliot stayed with me while Mom and Tegan went to order Pizza with the front desk's help. About 30-40 minutes later the girls returned with Dominos! The have Papa John's and Pizza Hut as well here. So at 8 pm, with the disco music playing outside at the fiesta, we were eating slice after slice of pepperoni pizza, drinking orange Fanta and Coca-Cola while watching episodes of Friends and Two and a Half Men on TV.

Day 16 - Bugged Out

Correen didn't get a wink of sleep and she tried to sabotage my sleep as well. The kids and I had a decent sleep; but the insects, dogs, birds, noises and the entire structure we slept in we just too much for Correen. My suggestion was to get out of Dodge immediately, so we were packed and in the SUV by 7:45 a.m. We even had to wait 15 minutes for the manager to show up so we could check out. A quick scan of some destinations while packing had me settling on Playa Coco and a well recommended Hotel called Casa Blanca.

The drive out of Playa Negra had us passing by many accommodation options that likely would have suited Correen better. We were looking for a restaurant for quick breakfast stop and found one about a half hour into our drive. The kids both had cereal and Correen and I both had eggs. We enjoyed people watching on the side of the road in this small town. As we ate our breakfast we had a really scrawny looking dog next to us, eyeing up the food we were eating. It was a sad sight to see. Costa Rica has an abundance of canines, most walk the streets like strays.

An hour later and we had arrived in Playas del Coco. The website said that the Hotel was in town, but after driving around a bit we decided to just go down the tourist strip for a walk and a break. We hoped in and out of a few shops, Correen bought a headband that reminded me of the purse she bought in Guatemala 10 years ago. I got suffocated by a guy promoting tours and vacation condos. I asked for information on our hotel and was told it was at another beach. Really? Why not say you are located, well, where you are located! We would look for the hotel in a bit, time to listen to s spiel about ow we may have won a $1000 or a vacation or a free stay in a hotel along with free wine and our lunch for free too! Too good to be true you say? Well, likely it was and we never wasted more of our time to find out.

Tegan needed to find a flag of Costa Rica and we found one in a shop we drove by early. Playas del Coco was extremely touristy and not the sort of place I wanted to stick around. So, we went on to see if we could find the hotel and to see if they could put us up for a night. We drove over to Playa Ostonal and located the beach. We drove back and and made a right to a guard house for a resort and were given some directions that I comprehended about 50%. A U-turn, then a right and a right again and there it was.

I dropped Correen and the kids off at the office and went down to park. The first thing the kids were aware of were the 3 squawking and talking parrots. They were very entertaining and the kids were endeared by there presence and vocal abilities.

Lucky for us, there was a room for us. It had a double bed and they were going to bring in a futon for the kids, but while I was grabbing our bags from the car, Correen must have showed a little cleavage and got us upgrade for $15 to a bigger room with the futon already in the room and the room had a tub as well. Correen was just happy to be in a place with no bugs; she even checked with the manager and he said the hotel was fumigated last week.

The kids immediately went for the pool and I joined them for a swim and play. After about an hour in the pool we went for a walk down to the beach and some lunch. The beach was just ok, there was a swimming spot to the right were families were and a little further past the swimming area was some tidal pools. The tidal pools were filled with water and it was very warm from sitting in the sun stagnant all morning, Many of the locals sat in the pools soaking like a hot tub.

We went to Father Rooster for lunch and had a pretty good meal of fish & chips, cheeseburger, chips & salsa and Elliot had a shrimp cocktail. After lunch we went down to the water for a swim and we collected heaps of coral and unique shells. The water was so warm. Tegan, Elliot and I went over to check out the tidal pools and saw many cool creatures within the warm waters; sea slugs, hermit crabs, fish and spiny sea urchins.

We walked back to the hotel for some more time in the pool, while Correen went to the room for some sleep. The kids and I got another hour or more in the pool before heading to the room. A bath for the three of us and then we were vegging out; Elliot with the iPad, Tegan and I watched Friends, Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory as they cycled through on the tele. Well it was now nearing 9 p.m. and no one had complained of hunger until now and Mom was still sleeping, so I decided to skip back too Playas del Coco for Subway. It was worth it as the subs were enjoyed by us 3 and we brought back a 1/2 sub for Mom in case she woke up hungry.

Correen didn't feel like the sandwich so we placed it in the fridge and then got ready for a good comfy sleep.

Day 15 - Costa Rica Highway 160

We slept in a little more this morning and when Elliot complained he was starving and couldn't bare it anymore, we went to the same restaurant as the night before for pancakes. Then when the kids complained they couldn't stand the restaurant anymore because they were having swimming pool withdrawal, we went back to the hotel so they could swim. I stayed inside the room and worked on the blog update while Correen and the kids were outside swimming and iguana-watching.

When we were nearing the check out time, we had to get packed and load the SUV for our next destination, Playa Azul. We started off following the gps and it led us out of town and down a road and then we were prompted to turn left down a rough patch of road that looked more like a farm pasture access than the Highway 160. When we decided to not take the route, the gps kept suggesting a u-turn to rectify our error in navigation. I bowed to the gos gods and did the u-turn as prompted and returned to the cow pasture access road. Well, it was a rough road and we passed an older man on the corner near the river harvesting deadfall and burning some brush. When we rounded the corner, we could see no more road and only a river to cross, suggesting that if we needed to go further, this river was the way to go. The gps concurred.

Well Correen would have none of it. She demanded to go back to the civilized road and we backed out of the access road back to the main road. We only managed to make our way down that road about 1-2 kms before reaching another river crossing. We stopped to question the reality of the situation and during this time, 2 big trucks and a couple of smaller SUVs crossed the stream, the last one being a group of tourist like us. We shared the same humour on the event and then we actually went for it. Correen none to optimistic or approving of the idea.

We made it!

As we continued on with our trip we made an additional 3 river crossings. At Ostonal we stopped to look for a nature conservancy center that was suppose to be open to the public and sharing information on sea turtles; however, we did not locate it. We ended up at some kind of university research center instead and they were not helpful. The place we were aiming for in Playa Azul ended up being very difficult to locate. We staggered up and down the road slowly honing in the location. You would think if you wanted people to find you, that you would put up a sign on the highway and further more not advertise that you are established on one beach, when truly you are located on another! An hour wasted and there wasn't even a sole there and plus we would have had to pay high season rates for a facility with none of their amenities even opened yet. We stopped at another resort down the road and it looked just as deserted and expensive.

So on to Plan B: Playa Negra. By the way this Highway 160 is all gravel with tons of mini SUV swallowing holes. Hopefully the kids aren't experiencing any kidney bruising. We arrived at Playa Negra and were looking for a place to stay. We found a place. It was a little pricey for a Cabana with only a private washroom and shower, but no hot water or A/C. We ate a meal that was a little disappointing, meat was rare for Correen and sending it back twice did little to improve it. My hamburger was on the pinkish side even though I asked for "cocinar bien". The beer was 150% what we usually paid and I kind of felt we might of entered a twilight zone episode. I can't imagine any of the guest were enjoying the food there... but there they were eating the rubbish.

We went down to the beach so I could get some sunset photos and the kids played a little on the beach. The waves were the best I had seen and the surfers were riding them for a period of at least 30 seconds each ride. After the beach the kids wanted at the pool; so in they went swimming after dark. Back at the cabana and readying for bed, Correen was loathing the place she was in. Sure there were ants, dogs, a cockroach, some dead spiders, probably some live ones too, a door of wood that was weather shrunk and provided a loosely secure fit to its frame and finally the noises that happened throughout the night. It was much like sleeping in a tent, except I think on this night, Correen would have preferred the tent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 14 - Up, up and away!

Woke up early this morning to the iPod alarm, however the iPod was playing tricks on me. For some odd reason it decided to change its time on its own and it was now an hour earlier without me knowing. We had asked for a 7 a.m. breakfast, but we were now at the office for our breakfast an hour early. Randall and Leticia made us a typical Costa Rican breakfast of eggs, fruit, beans and rice and toast. We went back to our room to kill some time until 7:30 a.m. When we returned for our shuttle to Extremo Zip Line tours. We were the first ones there and paid our fee of $140 for all 4 of us, then they started to get us into our gear. There were about 12-14 people in our group and after a brief safety debriefing we were on our way up to the first zip line.

Elliot usually went tandem with one of the guides. Tegan was eager to do as many zip lines on her own. The zip lines were great fun; however, the hoofing it up the hills in the war humid weather was challenging. Towards the middle of our tour, we were taken down a rappelling area and then onto what is called the Tarzan swing. Tegan went first and she even did a the Tarzan yell. I went next, it was just like free falling from the plane for the first 100th of a second and then I just went swinging for a while until be manhandled by an inner tube to arrest my movement. Then Elliot was next and I was worried about the boy as I didn't think he would be able to do it, but he did. He didn't enjoy it, but he did it. Mom went after Elliot and she was a superstar and perhaps an adrenalin junkie. Elliot kept asking others in our group if the were "freaked out".

The last run returns you to the start and it is the 1 km long zip line. If you paid an additional $5 you were allowed to go down face down like superman. Tegan and I were the only ones that went down like this. It wasn't scarier, it was just a different approach to zip lining. I even got a video of the trip down with my camera, the end was the best part, when you are speeding along and then quickly brought to a stop by a breaking device on the wire line.

We had a quick snack at the cafe located on site and then we were whisked off to our next location; the canyoning tour. We were persuaded by the staff not to make Elliot do the tour and so it was just me and Tegan going on this one. We all hiked up to the gear up shed and then Tegan and I were led down to the first 2m rappel down a waterfall. I went first on all of the waterfall rappels. The water was super refreshing, enough to make you gasp for air when the water first douses your body. Actually, I had the same reaction every time I was drenched by the waterfalls.

The second waterfall was to me the most challenging. The tallest one wasn't as difficult, but I had to take a couple of breaks on the way down as it was tiring on the legs especially after all the walking up the hills at the zip line tour. Tegan was given a few alternate routes that didn't get here doused by the waterfalls like I did. Also there was a little trick that they throw at you that is somewhat static, but equally deceptive and cruel. The rappel ropes are actually cut a little short on a couple of the rappels so that you end up dropping into the pool when you run out of rope. Of course, I made a complaint about the short rope the first time we met, however the complaint conjured little reaction of the guides.

On the large waterfall rappel, Tegan was allowed to do a little zip line to bypass the falls and land directly in the center of the pool. She was belayed down from below, but her weight was too little and she basically just hung there. It was mostly do to the effort Tegan put in to work the rope up into the belaying device that allowed her to descend. It was pretty cool to see that she worked that out on her own. We were both happy with the canyoning tour and we met Mom and Elliot down at the office where we collected our cd of photos and then shuttled back to the hotel so we could checkout and be on our way. We highly recommend staying at Belcruz B&B and Monteverde in general. We packed in a lot of adventures in a very short amount of time.

Now we were off for Samara a little surfing town 4+ hours away. We had lunch in town, stumbled along and back tracked a little when following the gps, but we eventually arrived in Samara after nightfall. It was the second place that we stopped at that we settled on staying. We unloaded our gear and then went into town to have some pizza and then back again to get some sleep. Tomorrow we were heading north to Playa Negra or Playa Azul.