Pura Vida en Costa Rica

After leaving San Juan del Sur Nicaragua, we headed south on CA 1 and crossed into Costa Rica.

There is only one border crossing for vehicular traffic, which makes things pretty chaotic. The Nicaraguan side of the border was horrible. We had to pay a guy to help us, because we couldn't even find the people we needed. At every other border there is a line and a door or window or desk under an awning, but in this case you just walk around and look for a policeman and then walk around and look for a customs official. After you have found one helping someone else you have to get them to come with you when he is done. Then you go and stand in a line in a building with power that switches off every 5 minutes or so, for immigration. Finding the roaming officials required a seasoned pro. Additionally all the buses, trucks, and personal vehicles are in the same area, adding to the chaos.

The Costa Rica side was quiet and everyone was friendly and in a designated place.

Parque National Rinconcito Viejo
We headed up to Parque Nacional Rinconcito Viejo. We stayed at the Rinconcito lodge near the entrance, it was quiet and not dry or windy, a very nice change from Nicaragua.

The next day we drove the 10 minutes into the park. With the exception of the park ranger, no one else was there. We took a great hike through secondary growth forest to some oak forest where there were some aguas thermales. You could smell them way before you got there, up close the sulfur was so strong it made my nose itch. We decided to pass on taking those waters.

Instead we stopped at a small waterfall on the way back to the ranger station.

The water was pins and needles cold, but it felt great to drop the core temp. We enjoyed the cold water, clear air, and the sounds of a band of howler monkeys making their ways through the trees.

We liked the park so much, we decided to spend the night there and to pass the remainder of the afternoon reading and playing cards. After paying the camping fee, we were attacked by biting gnats. They were vicious little creatures. I'll take mosquitos any day, but please not these things. The bite was so forceful it created a tiny blood blister. And they itched! Boy-howdy did they itch and swell!

The good news was that they didn't bite through clothing, so we changed into loose-fitting long shirts and pants and put on socks. Then put deet based repellant on our hands, necks, ears, and edges of our faces. Of course we didn't think we needed to put repellant on our ears actually, wouldn't it be enough to put it on our necks? No. Dave and I both got bitten on the ears, then put on repellant. I also received four bites to the face, prompting the ONLY time I have ever put repellant on my face. The good news was at dusk they all disappeared, and the mosquitos were hardly noticeable.

What was noticeable was this guy, known to Ticos as a pizote, aka coatimundi.

He busted into a food bag we had set on the top of the car, eating the bread we had planned to use for sandwiches the next day! Then he stalked the campground hoping we would let down our guard again, but we knew his little tricks.

It was an uneventful night, minus the multiple ticks Dave had to pull. We each had two ticks attached and found more crawling on our clothes. I am pathetic when it comes to pulling ticks. Ticks gross me out, big time. Cockroaches are fine, snakes are fine, spiders are no worries, scorpions I don't want to be on close terms with but they don't give me the creeps. Ticks are another story. I can't hardly pull them off Louiedog, let alone pull one off of me! But that's why I travel with Dave. He takes it all in stride, sticks a hot lighter on its butt and gives it a tug. My hero.
**Just to give credit where credit is due, Mom and Liza are my heroines. Mom has helped me out more than once when I had a tick trying to make a meal of me or one of my pets, and without Liza, Louie would have had to stop going to Elk because he always picks up ticks there. Also, once Liza rushed home when I thought I had a tick between my toes. Ends up it was just a scab. But she still rushed home after I called her totally disgusted and freaking out just a little. **

In the morning we got up, my feet were attacked by more gnats when I walked to the bathroom without socks, Dave made his coffee and we were on the road fleeing from a lovely park and some horrid insects!

We spent the next afternoon and evening in Heredia. It is about 10 minutes from the airport. The San Jose airport isn't really in San Jose, but 30 minutes outside of it. We bought Acerito, hung out at the mall. I was reminded that malls are the same in Malaysia, Thailand, Costa Rica, Texas, California, Mexico... But the mall had free wifi and we had a new computer. Plus in Costa Rica where everything costs as much if not more than it does in the USA, sitting in the food court using free wifi is a very economical way to pass your time.

On the way to the mall, we saw a sign that might explain why some people like to visit Costa Rica.
I think the only worse name would be Esposas de Comprar.


Playa Guiones
The next day we picked up Robbie, Dave's friend from way back, and Ele, Robbie's girlfriend. Then drove 6 hours to Playa Guiones on the Nicoya Peninsula. You might look at a map and wonder why it took 6 hours, but if you were to look at what Ticos know to be CA1 you would understand. Most county roads in the states are better than CA1 is in Costa Rica. No shoulder, not even a gravel shoulder in most places and never a paved shoulder, no dividing line, no passing lanes, nothing. By far the worst condition for CA1 in all of Central America. Because Costa Rica is a more prosperous country than the other ones we have been through, there is a noticeable increase in the amount of cars on the road. Costa Rica is also very hilly, some might even say mountainous although I wouldn't. To top it off, even if they wanted to widen the ''highway'' to meet demand, politically it might be difficult because everything is built right up to the edge of it, meaning thousands of businesses would have to be moved to accommodate even the adding of a shoulder.

We arrived to Playa Guiones to spend a week relaxing and enjoying being in a house. We rented a great little house. New construction (everything around there is) and it even had a little pool!

Dave and I were so excited to get out of the car for more than a day or two. I was thrilled to have a kitchen. I made, and we ate, three big batches of cookies in the week we were there!

The first day we were there we got stuck. Shortly before getting stuck we saw this giant pissed-off bull.

Thankfully we were a few minutes delayed while Robbie and Ele took a picture, otherwise instead of meeting him, and the two cowboys wearily escorting him on long ropes, in a big riverbed crossing we would have had to share a small dirt road.

That evening Robbie had a little run-in with his surfboard. Not wanting to risk infection or a scar he sought medical attention. Being that it was after hours he had to go to the local redcross, they didn't quite appreciate his concerns and only did a little alcohol swab followed by a plain old bandaid. He made it out alright though, considering the medic traded services for a cocacola.


The Playa Guiones/ Nosara area is a total surf scene. Ticos, gringos, and other Central Americans flock there. It was dry, a little greener than Nicaragua, but not that windy.
We had a much needed rest, which included lots of pina coladas, reading, and cribbage. I tried surfing a little more. Ele taught us a new card game, Scopa Scientifico.

I wouldn't recommend Playa Guiones unless you a) like to surf and don't mind sharing the line up b) you are going to a yoga retreat at what appeared to be a first rate yoga center across the street from the house we rented or c) are taking a rest stop and want a nice quiet place to cook, sleep, read, and swim in a small but lovely pool. The beach was salt and pepper sand with no shade and poor swimming and the town is all new and a scene for wealthy Ticos and gringo surfers. The upside is that with the down economy and the off season coming up, you can get a good deal on rentals like the one we had.


Headed to Panama!
After a week of homecookin' and rest we were on the road again. This time we headed to the Caribbean coast. Unfortunately we had to go back through central Costa Rica, but the highway to Puerto Limon is much nicer than CA1. It was still a long drive with hours spent behind a few semitrucks that insisted on going under 20 coming down the mountains. It was a pretty drive through forested volcano peaks and dropping down to the antithisis of the Pacific coast. The Caribbean is green, lush, and humid.

We spent the night in the small town of Siquirres. Nothing remarkable, but a clean room only cost 15 usd, and that is something to smile about.

The next day we were at the Sixola/ Changuinola border ready to cross into Panama. The crossing is mainly used for bananas headed into Panama for export to Europe or the Pacific coast of North America. It is a one lane train trelis bridge high above the Sixola river.

Traffic crosses by taking turns in about half hour increments, or whoever gets there first. There was no one directing traffic when it was our turn to cross. We peered to the end of the bridge and proceeded cautiously. The main hazard was the pedestrians walking across. There is no seperate place for pedestrians for about 20 yards, so everyone is on the bridge together.

We had heard it is a quiet and easy crossing. I can see this being true on a normal day. But this was not a normal day. It was Maundy Thursday. In addition to the banana trucks and the normal trickle of tourist vans, there were lots of Ticos heading to Bocas del Toro for Semana Santa.

The paperwork on the car was the fastest and easiest yet, on both sides. The Costa Ricans issued us an extension/ re-entry pass and the Panamanians, were gracious and quick. Immigration was another issue. Neither side is equipped to handle mass amounts of people. We had the unfortunate luck of being behind TWO tourist busses on the Tico side. One group going in and the other heading out. On both sides of this border the incoming and outgoing are all lumped together. The Tico line seemed long, but it moved quickly because all they did was stamp your passport and take the form you had filled out. The Panama side was another story. We waited in line, in the sun, next to the fumugation station, which was used on every vehicle that came through it, for THREE HOURS! Well we waited for two and a half, Robbie and Ele were in the line the first half hour we were dealing with the car. Because of the waiting in the hot sun and being sprayed with a mix of chemicals the FDA and EPA most likely strictly limit human exposure to, this was the WORST border crossing.

Once across we headed 15 minutes down the road to Chinguanola to get the ferry to Islas Bocas del Toros...

La Mizata and the Costa de la Libertad

After leaving Antigua, we drove to the El Poy boarder crossing between Guatemala and El Salvador. It was about two hours from Antigua, on the best roads we saw in Guatemala. The drive was nice, a total change from the mountains I had gotten used to. We left the milpas and other steep fields and dropped down to the coastal plain. We drove past fields of sugarcane, and pastures grazed by sinewy cattle. The only peril on CA-2 was the sugarcane trucks. Semitrucks towing double trailers stacked precariously high with cane.

The crossing was uneventful and took about two hours. On the Guatemalan side I sat in the car. I noticed a calf wandering around right by the little office building. Gives you a sense of how laid-back it is, no one really minded or even noticed.

On the El Salvador side it was even quieter because the trucks parked separately. It was a lot of waiting, a little looking at paperwork, and not even a glimpse at our passports. There is a visa sharing agreement between E.S. Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. I guess the Salvadorians just let the Guatemaltecos take care of things when given the option. As soon as we started waiting on paperwork people wanted to chat with us and were very helpful. In Guatemala, people are happy to help if you ask, in El Salvador, people volunteer help when you have a puzzled look on your face. They might not always give you the correct answer, but they sure do try.

El Salvador had grazing goats instead of a wondering calf.


The first town after the boarder is Cara Sucia. Dirty Face. I'm still laughing. I hope you join me in a chuckle. The only map we had was the Lonely Planet. But there is only one major coastal road, CA-2, so we figured we would drive til we found a good beach. We tried to get to Los Cobanos, but LP has a HORRIBLE lack of driving directions in general, and the Waverider surf guide had one marker for the turn-off and we missed it. Because I am obsessed with reading all available guides, I knew that La Mizata was without lodging and supposedly a great surf break. About 40 miles after crossing the border, I saw a little Pilsner Beer sponsored sign that said "Restaurante Playa Mizata" with an arrow pointing down towards the water. Dave braked forcefully and we turned down a very steep driveway. At the bottom was a boarded up restaurant and a few palm trees and the beach. To our right was a perfectly groomed coconut grove with a house at the back and a palapa on the side furthest from us. A cactus fence separated it from us. Just as we were wondering how to get to it, a woman walked across the grove. She said it was 5 dollars a night to camp and she could feed us for extra. After a tight three-point-turn we went back up the hill, turned around, and headed back down taking the right-hand fork by the hand-lettered sign "Se Vende Cocos"

We pulled into the spot closest to the beach. Esmeralda was very excited.

It was perfection. We had the place to ourselves, not even anyone else on the whole beach. We set up the hammock, said we would like dinner after sunset, and started relaxing. About two hours later we were joined by Paul and Zach, two surfers from San Diego who have been traveling in their truck with a camper for the past two months. They were great company and we spent the next three days hanging out with them. The guys surfed in the mornings. I slept in, read books, journaled, and just perfected lounging in the hammock. We also talked to the family that owned the grove. The guys had a fan club of locals, males ages 5 to 21, who were hanging around from 6am til we turned in for the night. Starting the second day, the locals would be there when the guys woke up. Paul and Zach loaned a couple of them boards, and a few had their own. Then in the evenings they would show back up and hang out. Throughout the day if they didn't have anything else going on, and on the weekend, there was always one Salvadorian in a folding chair.

One day they were doing coconut tree maintenance. Climbing the trees, cutting off dying fronds, bringing down coconuts.


Paul, Zach, and Dave enjoy fresh coconuts while talking with the Abuelo of the family.

Friday Justin, one of the Canucks, drove us into Sonsonate to restock on food and water. It was fun riding in the open-top jeep down the coast. Sonsonate was hot and busy, but had a good market and a good grocery. The highlights were 5 dollar a bottle wine and a cord for Dave's camera.

We enjoyed the weekend. No more gringos but some Salvadorians who came in and hung out for the day, and about 20 more Salvadorians on the beach, but not in our little coconut grove.

Monday morning we were brought back to reality when Dave and his surfboard had a collision.
Eric, one of the local kids who hung out with us daily, was around and told us their was a clinic in the puebla.
Dave put on his shades

Then we walked ten minutes down the road to the clinic. The nurses shaved off the hair around the cut, cleaned it, and closed it with butterfly bandages after the doctor said it wasn't deep enough for stitches. I bet if we were somewhere else he would have gotten staples, but I doubt this clinic had any.


The clinic was nonprofit, largely funded by USAid. There were lots of mothers, pregnant women, and children. Dave always receives stares because he is tall and blond, but with blood dripping down his face he got even more startled looks.

The board was also in bad shape. He hit the back-end so hard he left hair.

But Dave is resilient, and once he was bandaged up, went about getting the water out of his board.


After packing up camp, we drove the hour east down the coast to La Libertad so we could check essentials online and Dave could get his board to the Hospital de Tablas (surfboard hospital). Then because Dave had a broken head, we checked into a little hotel right on the beach in El Tunco. A real shower was greatly appreciated, as was a queen-sized bed and a ceiling fan.

Sunset on Playa Tunco


After a leisurely morning we headed inland to La Ruta de Las Flores and on a quest to refill our propane tank. The way propane works here is that central plants fill the bottles, which are then trucked to little stores and traded out with used ones. The only place to refill a bottle you don't want to trade is at the plant. We were told in La Libertad that there was a plant on the way to San Salvador before the turn off to Santa Anna, and we looked and looked but never saw it. Then we saw a sign for a different gas company, they couldn't do it either but we were told after the turn off there was one, but couldn't understand the description of where it was. We just gave up, and figured we would look around online and hopefully find some in Honduras. Then as we were nearing Sonsonate, the way to the Ruta de Las Flores, there it was right on the side of the highway. It only cost 1.50 and an hour of our time. Now we can again supply ourselves with light and a stove!