We
met Cara and Polly in the city of San Jose and it was all very
exciting as I hadn't seen Cara since we left England in July. After a
quick catch up they jumped on a bus to head to Puerto Viejo, on the
coast, where Matt and I would be joining them the next day. We spent
the rest of the day in San Jose, where we had found ourselves a
really lovely hostel. That was about all that was lovely about San
Jose to be honest. We spent a further 4 days there at the end of our
stint in Costa Rica and it didn't really get any better. It is not an
attractive city and is lacking in any real culture, it is very busy
but you can't walk anywhere at night as it is too dangerous. Other
than going out for lunch and dinner, which is very expensive, and
visiting the few random museums there isn't much else to do.
Puerto
Viejo is a surfer/traveller town on the Caribbean coast of Costa
Rica. We were very kindly being put up by a guy called Edwin, a
friend of Polly's family. I must just dedicate a little time to
describing Edwin as he was such a feature of our time in Costa Rica!
He is a mid-forty year old, ex pro-surfer - he was actually the
first person to surf in the Antarctic. He originates from Argentina but, after spending time in
various different parts of the world, has now been settled in Puerto
Viejo for many years. He is a great big bear of a man, not fat you
understand, just big and very kind and gentle with a very soft voice.
He lives in a gorgeous bungalow that he had built in the jungle,
about 15 minutes drive from the main town, that has completely open
sides.
Known
to make comments such as “No don't turn it on, I'm done with light
for today” and “surfers love sushi, it helps them connect with
the ocean” and even “the economy is like malaria man – you've
got to ride it out”... he is basically a hippy, but intelligent
with it as he can speak about 5 different languages. Anyway, he also
has two other bungalows in the jungle, complete with open sides but
these ones have netting round them, one of which he was very kindly
allowing us to stay in for the duration of our stay.
That
first night we headed over to Edwin's for supper where Cara and
Polly, both chefs, were cooking the first of many delicious meals
that me and Matt were to enjoy over the next couple of weeks. We also
met Mika, a 20 year old Russian princess who was travelling round Costa
Rica for 3 weeks and was staying in one of the rooms in Edwin's
bungalow.
After
much drinking by us and some excellent chat over the course of the
evening, Mika persuaded us to head into town to go dancing. We were
all having a great time in a little salsa bar, the rum and cokes were
flying around, we were all confident that our form was great, Mika got her little dance ... then decided she wanted to go home. With
only enough money between us for one taxi ride home and no chance of
getting us out of the bar at this stage, not to mention the fact that
the whole thing had been her idea, things took a small turn for the
worse. The rest of this night is probably best documented in the
photos we have of us looking exuberant, raucous, and probably a bit
rough, whilst Mika refuses to even look at the camera.
The
next day the rain started. It was torrential and it didn't stop for
our entire stay. We hung out in the bungalow until it seemed like it
had eased a bit and then donned our waterproofs for the long walk
into town. We had decided to rent some bikes as a means of getting
around. Our bikes were old and simple but effective – they even had
little baskets on the front to keep things in. They don't have
brakes, you basically have to pedal backwards when you want to stop.
On
day two, the rain seemed to ease slightly so we decided to go for a
lovely long bike ride to the next town along. So, looking like Elliot
and his friends from ET, we precariously set off down the bumpy,
rocky track that lead to the road. After no more than 3 minutes the
heavens opened and we were soaked through within 30 seconds, no lie.
We looked like we had jumped into a swimming pool with our clothes
on. After pointlessly taking shelter at the end of the track we came
up with the only possible solution – we would go to the shop, stock
up on some food and loads of booze and head back to hang out in the
bungalow. And this we did... for the next four days, interspersing
our time with a lot of cards and retro games, eg consequences.
Our
plan was to go from Puerto Viejo to Bocas del Toro in Panama but, due
to the rain, the boarder crossing had washed away. Instead we headed
over to Jaco on the Pacific Coast where a friend of Edwin's was going
to give us a reduced rate at his yoga retreat. The one thing we all
agreed on was that we needed to be nearer the town. Jaco is a
formally beautiful beach location which is now so overdeveloped you
can't even see the beach anymore. We got off the bus and hopped in a
taxi to the address Edwin had given us – 10 minutes later, we
arrived in the middle of nowhere. But it was a lovely little place
with a pool and a bar and we were only going to stay for a couple of
days ... so we decided to stay despite our earlier agreement.
We
spent a couple of days relaxing by the pool, enjoying the sun and
warmth – at least me and Cara did. Polly and Matt became a little
restless and while Matt could fill his time playing in the pool or on
the internet, Polly would frequently disappear, complete with massive
headphones, on long, punishing walks.
We
did have one night out in Wacko, as it came to be called, but
predictably this was fairly dreadful.
Our
next and final stop was Montezuma, a little hippy town further down
the coast. We took a boat trip over there, during which we were lucky
enough to see some dolphins. They were swimming around the boat and
it was really lovely to watch them.
Our
main aim in accommodation this time was to definitely be walking
distance from the town, and if possible have access to a kitchen so
we could save some money by cooking. After finding a couple of
possibilities, we were put in touch with Heraldo who had a little
house, just up the hill, that was in our price range. A little walk
up and down the hill each day sounded fine, good for us in fact, plus
we would have all the amenities of a house. 15 minutes later when
Heraldo had driven us up a vertical hill we arrived. It was really
nice and we were here now, and it would be easy to get a taxi ... we
decided to take it.
The
next few days were spent lazing around on the beach, enjoying some
yummy home cooked food, avoiding the crazy eyed, hectic, paranoid
Heraldo and, the highlight, indulging in our daily happy hour
cocktails at the smart little hotel, Ylang Ylang.
After
Montezuma it was back to San Jose for Matt and I and on to Panama for
Polly and Cara. Costa Rica itself is pleasant but nothing much to
write home about, however, our time will become another highlight
because of the good times we had there with Cara and Polly.
