Travel With Betsy

On Sunday, Jody and I spent the day in San Isidro with our new friend, Diego, and his fiancée, Veronica.

We had lunch at Diego’s father’s restaurant (Frank’s Place), took a dip in the hot springs near Diego’s home and stopped for a unique snack on the way back from the hot springs. It was a fun day and a once in a lifetime type of experience that I will not soon forget. But, the thing I will remember the most about the day was the absolute bliss I observed between Diego and Veronica. It was obvious in the way they looked at each other, the way they held hands and the way they talked to each other. It was touching to hear them talk about their future plans and the babies they will have…..and the names the babies will have…… It’s been quite awhile since I have seen a couple so obviously in love. They were radiant with joy!

Their story also melted our hearts. They met when they were teenagers, set up a date and started out to get some pizza. On the way, Veronica, who was a little shy, told Diego that she didn’t want to go after all. He was heartbroken. Years later, he married someone else and had a son with her. There were problems, and it didn’t work out. Years later, Veronica found Diego on Facebook. They started connecting on a regular basis and actually did go out for that pizza. The rest is history!

Jody and I were so taken by their story that we are still talking about it 3 days later. A true love story!

You might recall from an earlier post that Diego was our tour guide on the “Segway” tour that we took earlier in the trip. We had such a good time talking together and spending the day, that he invited us to visit he and his family on his day off. We took him up on his offer, and on Sunday morning, hired a taxi to take us to San Isidro where he lives.

The drive there was spectacular, and the terrain was very different from what we have seen here at the beach. We went up the mountain on a narrow, winding road to get there…..it was kind of hairy from time to time when there was traffic coming our way.  But, we made it to San Isidro. Whew!

Diego picked us up at the bus station where we had been dropped off.

After a quick tour of the city, we were on our way to his father’s restaurant. The restaurant is closed on Sunday and Monday, but Frank, Diego’s father, opened just so he could make lunch for us…….and, his mother was our waitress. When does this happen?!

Diego’s mother makes the decorative bottles that you see above.  Of course, we each bought one! I see a  new suitcase in my future!  Otherwise, my bottle is staying here!

What a fabulous meal! We had an interesting drink with something called “soursop”, an appetizer of eggplant parmesan, a salad and a very fancy chicken roll with marsala sauce that was just great! Frank is a self-taught cook and, as Diego puts it, he “cooks from the heart”. I would have to agree.

We met the whole family to include Diego’s 2 brothers and his uncle. His little brother, pictured here is a budding guitarist.  He wants to go to the Ellen DeGeneres show.  We’re trying to figure out how to get him there!  Let me know if you have any ideas!

After lunch, Diego and Veronica took us to the hot springs……

…..and then to a fun restaurant (not that we needed any more to eat…YIKES!) where everything is made from corn. We had a sweet corn beer (he likened it to moonshine) and a sweet corn tortilla type of thing with sour cream. It was yummy!

What a great day! The only glitch was at the end. Diego suggested that we go back to Quepos in the taxi of his friend, which we were happy to do. We drove for over an hour, which we expected.   As we approached Quepos, we began to see things that we recognized. But, the driver didn’t make the turn where we thought we should. HMMMMM………..

We went a few more kilometers, and I said to him in my best Spanish, “We are going to Quepos”. What I got back was the deer in the headlights stare and a shoulder shrug. He didn’t know where Quepos was, and he didn’t speak English….and, didn’t understand my Spanish!  Really?! Uh oh!

Jody got on her phone to call Diego and the concierge here where we are staying to see if either could help the driver. I turned on my cell phone roaming (which I never do while traveling in a foreign country….very expensive…) got my trusty iTranslator open and tried to find the words we needed in order to give him directions. The only one he could understand was “recto”, which I think means straight (but, honestly, I’m still not sure)!  There was a lot of banter (and laughter) in the back seat of the Taxi as we tried to solve this slight dilemma. But, 3 phone calls with the concierge later and 2 stops to ask for directions, we finally made it back……exhausted!

You know what?! It was worth it! I can’t say that I have had a more enjoyable or a more unusual day. I feel such joy as I continue to think about this experience and the people we met!

I have said it before in my blog posts, but I will say it again. Sometimes it pays to take a chance. This is one that paid off!

The animals do…..maybe we should, too…

Last week, we took a guided tour of Manuel Antonio State Park.  As I watched the leaf cutter ants march along with their pieces of green leaves, I wondered where they were all going and how they knew to go there. Instinct, of course!  They just know that their job is to carry these leaves to a nest somewhere that could be miles away.  On our walk through the forest we saw and learned about many great examples of animals using their instinct to survive and be more comfortable.  The monkeys, for example, rub the juice of one of the plants that is a natural insecticide to prevents bug bites  I thought it was fascinating!

Our day started early….7:30 am……UGGHHHH…..I have become a later morning person on this trip.  But, somewhere along the way we learned that the early morning walks are better for spotting animals. As the day goes on and more people come to the park, the animals tend to go into hiding. Made sense. So, we decided to go early. We were glad we did! We also debated on whether or not to take a guided tour or tour on our own. After some deliberation, we decided on a guide.   Again, a good decision! There’s that instinct kicking in……and also some research!

Our guide, Roy, was fabulous. We saw quite a few of the native animals to include monkeys (of course), sloths, iguanas, lizards, bats, butterflies, leafcutter ants, and all kinds of birds….we even saw an anteater!  We wouldn’t have been able to find them on our own. Many times, their colors blended into the spot where they were perched and were difficult to pick out. And, sometimes they were tucked far away from the walking paths. We would not have had the expertise to find them. Roy used his eyes, nose and also some instinct to find them.

Roy also had a telescope attached to a tripod that he would set up when he was able to identify something that we should see. We all took a turn at taking a peek through the lense. We could also take pictures through the lense, which I had never done before. I thought that was fun!  I have a few great shots of the animals….. and some flowers (that are not taken through the telescope) that I am including here.

We ended our day at the beach located inside the park. The beaches that are inside the park are said to be some of the best in the area.  I would agree.  The water was beautiful, calm and warm.  Jody decided to take a dip in the water.  I opted to just walk along the beach…..still getting over the ear infection.  As, I walked along, I spotted a log near the water that was occasionally being slapped by a wave or 2.  I thought it would be a good place to sit for awhile.  Just as I was getting comfortable, a huge wave splashed up against the log…..and me…and I was wet up to my neck!  HA!  So much for staying dry!  As I was looking around at the sand, I began to feel dizzy, which made me think my fever was kicking in again!  Oh no!  Then, I realized that the log I was sitting on was moving into the water…..with me on it!  Needless to say, I beat feet to get off of the log and get back to my towel on the sand that wasn’t shifting.  I don’t need the movement of the water and some shifting sand to make me dizzy.  I can do that all on my own!

After some time on the beach, we headed into the town of Manuel Antonio to get some lunch before heading back to our house on the public bus, which I always find interesting!

So, it was a day well spent.  I will add here that it is still quite hot and humid here and were, once again, drenched in sweat after all the walking at the end of the day.  I probably went through about a dozen bottles of water as we walked along.  Instinct tells me that hydration is key and that it’s OK to not care about the sweat in February in Costa Rica!

Ciao!

……..but, it wasn’t.

It was someone else that you see paddling in the surf in the kayak. Instead, Jody and I took our lives in our hands to take a turn at jetting down a very high slide into the water off of a catamaran during the “Sunset Catamara Tour” here in Quepos. We really weren’t risking our lives, but it was a bit hair-raising and quite a different experience than we were expecting when we signed up for the tour.

On the first day here, our friendly concierge, Elias, made some suggestions on tours that we might like. This was one of them. The sunsets here are spectacular, and what better way to see it than from the water! It sounded very appealing, especially because Elias told us that we would also do some kayaking along the way. Neither Jody nor I have ever done this, so we decided to give it a go. We are all about adventure.

So, we boarded the bus to the marina late Saturday afternoon. We paid our money to the very friendly boat crew and climbed aboard. Once on route, the head mate gave us the life jacket demonstration, and let us know the plan for the outing. We would head to a beach off of Manuel Antonio National Park. Once anchored, they would pass out the snorkeling gear, spend some time looking for exotic fish and then they would set out our dinner and we could watch the sunset. WAIT A MINUTE……….snorkeling? No one mentioned that there would be snorkeling. Where were the kayaks?!

Alas, there were no kayaks. Elias had given us the wrong information. This was a snorkeling event, not a kayaking event. You can imagine our disappointment, especially because neither Jody nor I like to snorkel. But, it was too late to turn back. So, we decided that we needed to make the best of this four hour tour and took a dip in the water. Then, we noticed that the crew was preparing a slide from the top deck of the catamaran. That looked like fun!

It wasn’t. I hit my head and Jody swallowed about 10 gallons of water. UGGHHHHHH…..

The sunset was very delightful………

…….and so was my visit on Monday to the Quepos doctor. As it turns out, my carefree frolicking in the ocean enhanced an existing sinus infection that I didn’t know I had. Oh……and I was also able to add an ear infection to the list as well. I won’t go on and on about how frustrated I am by my inability to fight the sinus infection/flu/allergy situation that I have been dealing with since I left home in October. But, I will tell you about the visit to the doctor.

When I could no longer stand the pressure building in my head, I went to the office here at the apartment where we are staying and let them know about my situation. They immediately called to the local doctor and called me a taxi. We picked Jody up at the apartment and were on our way. (I will take this moment to tell you that Jody has been a great sport about my illness and very reassuring about my recovery. I am grateful.)

There was no waiting at the doctor’s office, and the doctor was incredibly nice. She checked me out, announced my prognosis, and gave me a prescription for an antibiotic….and, instructions to get back in touch if I wasn’t feeling better after the third day. We learned that the doctor runs the clinic herself and lives upstairs. She is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for those of us who pick up germs while on vacation. I think she said that she works something like 30 days in a row, and then takes a few weeks off to regroup. Of course, she is not needed all of the 30 days. But, I’m guessing that she works a good chunk of them. So, a periodic break is needed. I am not glad to be sick again, but I am glad to have made her aquaintence.   But, honestly, I hope I don’t make it again. I am feeling better, but not quite there yet. I’ll keep you posted.

I am happy to report, though, that this has not stopped us from getting out. I will tell you about our fun tour of Manuel Antonio National Park on the next post. I have also learned to play “Banana Grams”. It’s a word game that is kind of like “Scrabble” without the board. It’s really fun and I have beaten Jody twice, which is also fun, since she is the expert!

So, friends, I am signing off for now. Keep your fingers crossed that I will soon have a day without sinus pressure in my head and trickling in my ears. I’ll keep you posted!

Jody and I were out busting broncos on Sunday night!

Well…..we weren’t actually doing the busting. We were doing the watching and some local cowboys were doing the busting……with bulls…..at the local rodeo. It was quite exciting!

We decided early in the planning phase of our trip that we wanted to find and participate in as many of the “locals” events as possible, so that we could really understand the Costa Rican culture. So, when the concierge here at our apartment complex called to say there was a” bullfight” (loose translation for bull riding) going on, we jumped at the chance!

We headed out at about 7:00 pm for what we thought would be an 8:00 pm start. After we gave our tickets and had our shoes checked for ants (not sure what that was about!), we found a great seat on the bleachers directly across from the gate where the bulls would be released. We watched patiently as the other spectators filed into the arena. There were a wide variety of people in attendance…mostly locals, I think, and also a few tourists like us.

Then, we watched the food vendors come around. I have never seen such an odd variety of things being sold for consumption at a sporting event. They did have beer, which we expected to see. But, they also had things like churros, pizza and an interesting shredded salad (complete with dressing options) that we couldn’t identify. They also had an interesting mix of music to get you in the mood…..remember the theme from “Rocky”? Are we in Costa Rica?

Finally, after about 30 minutes, the “ringmaster” came out to get this show on the road.   I have never seen such a build up to an event of any type. First, the cowboys riding in the event came out, lined up on the field and were introduced. Then, there were some plain clothed fellows that came out and lined up beside them and they were introduced. There was a girl there that was introduced as well. I still don’t really understand what her role was. Then there was some praying for the cowboys…and maybe the bulls, too… who would risk their lives so that we could have a fun evening. It was all very interesting…….. and long……almost one full hour to set everything up! After all that, it had better be worth it!

It was definitely worth the effort! First, they released a bull into the ring and several people from the audience that had been sitting on the railing around the arena dropped into the ring with the bull. I guess their goal was to taunt the bull into chasing them. Just as Jody and I were looking at each other and wondering why someone would do that, a bull pinned one of the “taunters” against the railing. They took him out on a stretcher. Someone was injured already and the match hadn’t even started. YIKES!

Then, they released the bulls that had riders on them……not all together of course….. but, one at a time. We, along with everyone else in the crowd, were yelling and whistling while we cheered the riders on! WhooHoo! There was a lot to cheer about. As each of the cowboys fell, the bulls chased them (if, indeed, the cowboy was able to get up and walk). Those boys were mad! After the riders fell, the spectators that were hanging around the railings came into the ring and further provoked the bulls, making them charge even harder. Finally a “cow poke” came around, roped the bull, and led him back into the pen. Whew! I was exhausted at the end of each round!

We watched about three of the riders. None of them were able to stay on very long, but certainly longer than I could have done if I had wanted to do this, which I don’t. One out of the three was butted on the head by the bull as he fell off and was carried off the field in an unconscious state. He looked like a rag doll.   The announcer said that he was OK. We’re not sure what that meant…OK as in he is alive, but broke his neck and is now a parapalgeic? Or, OK as in he’s up and moving as normal. HMMMMMM……..Another cowboy was trampled by a bull after being tossed off. He was not hurt. We could see him walking around! So, we felt very good about this!

After this, we decided that we had our fill and made our way back to the apartment. It was an exhausting evening. You would think we were doing the riding.

Jody and I are both retired and work part time jobs that are fun. We decided in the end that we would stick to our fun jobs and let the cowboys do the bull riding. We don’t want to work that hard! HA!

Literally….

Saturday, Jody and I took a tour of Quepos on a “Segway”! I have to tell you this….even though I work out regularly when at home, I am not that athletic…I am also not that coordinated. Honestly, I haven’t even ridden a bike since I was 10. But, when we were walking by a storefront that offers this tour, I just couldn’t resist. As we talked about it, Jody was beside herself in anticipation of observing my learning curve on this. She had a vision of me on my “Segway” laughing uncontrollably as I ran into the back of her “Segway”. I had a vision of the wheels going out from under my feet and cracking my head open! HA! I am happy to report that neither of these things happened. As it turns out, anyone can learn to ride a “Segway”. (Trust me, if I can do it, anyone can!)

We opted for the morning tour, thinking it might be a little cooler in temperature. So, we were up and out and at the “Segway” store at our appointed time. And, guess what?! We were the only ones on the tour! Score!

I have to give the company that does these tours a hand. First, they have you sign your life away just in case the wheels do go out from under you and you crack your head open. They don’t want to be responsible. Then, they do what I would call a very thorough review of how to use the equipment…..and, all of the bad things that can happen to you if you don’t follow the instructions. I think this is the way they weed out the “weenies” that might be afraid and the “trouble-makers” who are too confident! HA! All kidding aside, the instruction they give you is really outstanding.

Anyway, after the video instruction, Diego, our tour guide gave us some hands on training and helped us don some very stylish helmets.  I went first, as I had never done this before. He instructed me on how to hold on to the handlebar, step onto the bike and move the bike forward and back, left and right and in a circle. Then, he looked at me and said, “You also need to breathe.” Oh……the video didn’t cover that part! OOPS!

Then, there was a driving test before we could go along on our merry way! Really?! A test?! Doesn’t he know we are on vacation? We had to demonstrate our ability to do all the turns, stop, go as fast as we could in the forward direction (backward is not allowed) and then stop quickly, drive through an obstacle course and then complete the “Segway” equivalent of a three-point turn. You remember those from high school Driver’s Education! It was my most challenging part of learning to drive a car. The “Segway” version is to drive the “Segway” into a square made of plastic cones, keep the “Segway” in the middle of the square and turn in place in a full circle. WOW!

It took me a few times to get this, but I am happy to say that I did it and passed the test (Jody, of course, got it first time around) We were then given full privilege to take the “Segway” off premises. What a relief!

Our tour guide, Diego, was a delightful host. He took us on a practice run to a small fishing alcove at the marina where the shop is located to see some unbelievable scenery. As in all of my travels in the last months, I have been overwhelmed by the color of the water against the sky in these types of areas. This was no different. The colors were just spectacular.

After we mastered this small trek, Diego announced that our “Segways” were in low speed mode and we would need to put them in high speed now for the rest of the tour. I was, again, reminded to breathe……As it turns out, it’s easier to use the “Segway” in the higher speed mode, so it was full speed ahead for us.

We rode our “Segways” on a variety of terrains…..dirt roads, gravel roads, sand, you name it, we went over it. They encourage you not to go over large objects on the road, as it increases the risk for falling. (Really?! ) I did my best, but I did manage to go over several larger rocks, which made my feet rise off of the “Segway” for a second or two.   YIKES!

Along the way, we went on a dirt road through a part of town that was what I would call somewhat primitive. There, we met lots of little children who ran alongside the “Segways” calling out “hola”!” and reaching their little hands out for us to “high-five” them. Fun! Then, we got on a small boat, crossed a tiny river and headed to the beach.

One of the best parts of the tour was getting to know our guide, Diego. He was very personable and just a really nice guy. We learned all about his family, and that he is a trained chef. He worked as a chef for awhile, but not any more. He didn’t really care for the atmosphere in the kitchen. Understandable! His father is also a chef and as Diego describes it, “cooks from the heart”.  He just opened a restaurant in San Isidro. When Diego learned that I like to cook and that Jody and I both like to eat, he invited us to visit with him next Sunday when he is not working to check it out. There is a hot springs there that he would also like to show us.

So, we have a plan on Sunday to take the bus to San Isidro, have coffee at his Grandma’s house (because she makes coffee the old fashioned way, whatever that means), go to the hot springs with he and his girlfriend and then have dinner at his father’s restaurant. I’m guessing this will be one of the highlights of the trip for us! Jody and I both love people! Can you tell!?

So, I’ll keep you posted as we “segway” into our next adventure. There’s one waiting right around the corner!

There might be something better than the last few days here in Costa Rica, but if there is, I don’t know what it would be.

On the second morning, I was having coffee on the veranda of the cute apartment that Jody and I rented in Costa Rica and heard a strange noise.

I looked out to the mango tree, that is situated right in front of our veranda and close enough to touch, and noticed that it was moving.  I walked over, looked up and guess what was there?

A little monkey having his dinner.  My first animal sighting here in Costa Rica….very exciting! When I saw it, I called for Jody to come and take a look.  We were both peering up at him from the edge of the veranda.  The monkey saw us, got startled and began to run through the trees and eventually across the roof of the veranda.  All of a sudden, the monkey came to the edge of the roof just where we were standing and poked his head over the edge and looked at us. We were face to face with the little fellow!  Jody and I, brave souls that we are, both screamed and ran back into the house practically tripping over each other to get away.  In the safety of the apartment, we looked at each other and Jody said, “Do you think the monkeys are rabid?” Then, we started laughing (which we have been doing  a lot of, by the way).  You will be glad to know that we did eventually muster up the courage to go back out and get a couple of pictures and make peace with the monkey.  But, I have to say it was touch and go for awhile!

On the third morning, I was walking across our living room and just happened to look out the window.   There, sitting on the back of one of the chairs on our veranda was a Toucan. I’m not kidding….it was right there, close enough to touch!   When does that happen?

So far, my trip to Costa Rica has been a great success!  I met Jody about 3….maybe 4 days (and several bottles of wine) ago in San Jose where we began our adventure.  As we were leaving the hotel on our first day, I met a very nice woman from the United States who was wrapping up her time in San Jose.  When I asked her for a recommendation of things to do, she said that she just loved walking in the downtown area.   But right now, she was heading off to the the National Theater to see a classical Latin American concert.  It had come highly recommended by her tour company…and, it was only $4.00.  We could see the inside of the theater and see a show.  What’s not to like?! So, we decided to go.

It was definitely not a professional production, but it was lots of fun and very colorful!  I am attaching a picture that I just about got my hand cut off to take so that you could see it.  In the end, we deduced that there were many “buxom” women in the production wearing very tiny outfits.  A lot of them were red….except for the attached pictures.  A little more material would have been welcome!

As I have been traveling for the last five months, I haven’t had much time to do a lot of planning for this trip, so I put much of the planning of this adventure in Jody’s hands…..and, she did a great job!  We decided that we would spend one day in San Jose and explore the city and then go to an apartment near Quepos on the western coast or the majority of our time here.  Quepos is about a three hour drive from San Jose.  So we, of course, needed a driver.  Jody checked in with the apartment people and they recommended Tony.  We spent the whole day with him, and I will say he was quite a character.  Among other things, we learned about hallway through the trip, that Tony had worked for Carnival cruise lines for three years and had been let go because he had an altercation with another staff member involving  a large kitchen knife.  HMMMMM….should we really be in the car with him?!   In the end, we decided yes.  He was just great and got us to our destination all in one piece….no knives.  (By the way, he’s also starting his own hotel that will be a working farm with access to local tours.  We loved the idea and agreed to help him pass the word along.  If you want more information, let me know.  We can “hook you up”!)

First, we made a stop at the cell phone store so Jody could get a Costa Rican cell phone.  Tony parked in an illegal spot and I was assigned to be the “lookout” for the police.  The coast was clear!  
I’m not sure what I would have done if there had been a policeman.  I’m glad I didn’t need to find out!

We made a few more stops along the way to include lunch with the locals, a look at some fierce crocodiles and a glimpse of some breathtaking vistas.  We also made a stop at a roadside stand where we tasted and purchased some watermelon, passion fruit (the fruit of love as he called it) and some mangos.  Now that I think about it, Tony did use a knife to cut some of the fruit for us to taste!  I’m happy to report that there are no incidents!

Our first days here in Quepos have been filled with lots of shopping, walking on the beach and eating. On our first day, we realized that the clothes we brought were probably going to be too warm. I am now the proud owner of two new very loose fitting sundresses….kind of moo-moo like, don’t you think….. and a wide-brimmed hat that will do a much better job at covering my face than the one I have….and, it’s much more stylish, too!  Always a plus!

On the food and entertainment scene….we have discovered the joys of deep fried plantains, which we bought in downtown Quepos for about .75 cents and have so far had a number of wonderful bean and rice dishes, the specialty of Costa Rica.  Last night, we went for dinner at an Italian restaurant to see the beautiful sunset and shared a pizza on the patio while we watched “Despicable Me” on a big screen that was set up at the wharf.  Apparently, there is a movie outside on the wharf every Friday night.  We plan to check this out again!  We also picked up some food at the weekly farmer’s market to cook for dinner in the next days….my favorite.

So, I can report to you that in Quepos, the wildlife is plenty, the food is good and the scenes are just stunning!  It’s also wildly hot.  I have never been so hot and sweaty in my life……and, I have also never cared less about it.  It’s a fruitless effort to worry about such things here in Costa Rica.  There’s really nothing to do about it, and, frankly, we are all in the same boat!

So, my job for the next few weeks is to stay as cool as possible and to stay hydrated…..and, to have fun of course.  If I drank as much water at home as I have been drinking here, I could fill Lake Nacimiento and my system would be totally flushed out!  Here, it’s a drop in the bucket!