This picture was after dinner and sitting outside on our porch.  Sebastien was a little tipsy…  He is so cute when he gets tipsy.  It doesn’t take much but when it starts he starts becoming a social butterfly.

I think that this was our last night at Bejia.   Sebastien had cut his little toe that day so you can see his little puffin toe wrapped up in toilet paper.   Poor Puffin.

]]> http://www.travelingpuffins.com/2009/04/26/dinners-at-bejia/feed/ 0 http://www.travelingpuffins.com/2009/04/26/the-long-walk/ http://www.travelingpuffins.com/2009/04/26/the-long-walk/#comments Mon, 27 Apr 2009 03:16:02 +0000 Tina http://www.travelingpuffins.com/?p=103 When we woke up the following day our plan was to rent a scooter to get around.  That way we could visit Anne, Kirk, and Cory and also go into town when we wanted.  We discussed that 20 dollars a day was what we were comfortable paying and that we could get one for three days.  Everyone out here rides around on quads or ATV’s (Alison- remember our camping trip in Pismo).  I have seen up to 5 people (mostly families with small children) on one quad.  ATV’s are pretty perfect for a place where the roads are really bumpy, narrow, and dirt is flying everywhere.  Actually that part of the roads make riding on one of these vehicles awful because you breathe in all that dirt.   But we wanted to experience Mal Pais as the locals do so we went out to acquire one of these vehicle.

We took a cab into town and went back to our old last hotel because the owner of that hotel also rented out quads.   We had seen a little scooter there and hoped that it would fit what we were looking for.  However, the cost to rent the scooter was 40 dollars a day.  Which I think is ridiculous.  We tell him that we would like it for two days but we could not afford this.  He sits and looks at the numbers for awhile and says that he could let us have it for 46.  This is much better!  The problem now is that we need to give him one of our passports, which we didn’t bring, to rent the scooter.  Thankfully the owner said that one of his guys could take Sebastien back to the hotel to get his passport.  So that is what Seb did while I sat and chatted with our old neighbor.  When Sebastien returned the owner started to fill out the paperwork and put the total to be 76 dollars.  WOW!  Sebastien told him that this was too much and that we were under the impression that he said it was going to be 46.  The owner said “no” and we told him that we didn’t have that much money in which he replied, “Don’t come here if you don’t have money.”  We obviously left after that.  I found it pretty amazing that people actually rent these out on a daily basis.  The quads were $70 a day.  When a car is $80 a day I just don’t get it.  We found out later that a bike was $20 a day.  Though you could find some for $7 a day.  Crazy!

So after that fiasco we ended up walking to Santa Teresa.  This felt like miles!  We luckily did this walk on the beach instead of the smelly dusty street.  I felt exhausted and crabby about 20 minutes into this walk.  Every step felt like I was dragging a 10lbs. weight behind me. But here are some pictures of that hell…

When we finally got to Esencia, where Anne, Kirk, and Cory where staying they were not there.  So guess what… we walked around to find them… We finally found them surfing.  Anne was coming in when we got there and so I took her board out just to cleanse myself from all the crabby energy I had been accumulating.  The good thing that came out of that session was that I found my next surf board.  Anne rides this fun 5 something fish that she rides.

So we finally spent sometime visiting with with Anne, Kirk, and Cory at their place.  Which was a little house fully equipped with kitchen supplies and had a nice home feel to it.  After eating some amazing guacamole, that Cory had made, we all called a cab and headed back to the break near our hotel.  Here is a picture of that beach.  Unfortunately we didn’t take any pictures of this break when it was breaking but maybe Anne did so I will check into that and post them if she did.

When we got back to this beach Sebastien and I went and grabbed our boards and headed out to surf.  I had a few fun left rides but I also  had a intimate relationship with a few jelly fish.  The jelly fish in this area are pretty small and clear.  So you don’t really see them and one of them (maybe more) got into my swim suite bottoms.  Luckily peeing helps the stinging go away.

I already know at this point that Sebastien is going to write a post about planning vs. nonplanning.  I am not completely sure what it is all about but I feel the need to tell the readers about my “planning” issues.  It is not so much the process of planning that I NEED to do.  It is more of just the process that I go through to expend the excited energy I have about going on a trip.  When I know I am going on a trip I get all this excited energy.  When I was younger, when my family use to go on cruises every Christmas, I used to pack a month before and then I would repack several times until we actually left.  Now, instead of expending my excited energy packing, I plan.

Back to Beija Flor, after packing and asking the owner of Cabinas Blancas to get us a cab, we were on our way to find our next hotel.  As we traveled farther and farther away from town Sebastien got quieter and quieter.  When we got to the hotel we checked in and learned that Anne, Kirk, and Cory had been there 5 minutes before looking for us.  They had left a message stating that they were going to surf in front of the restaurant across the way.  YEA!!!  Friends!  Another bonus was that the owner (which we find out later) said that he wasn’t sure if our room was ready so he would and see if there was an upgraded room available.  SWEET!

This is a picture of our bed.  The bedroom was really big and it had netting over it to keep the bugs out at night.

So we quickly unpacked our stuff and went down to see if we could find our friends.  Unfortunately, we didn’t and we noticed that the only surf break was this jagged rock reef that with a peaky break.  Again, Seb was pretty quite.  It definitely looked pretty sketchy.  Maybe that is why Anne, Kirk, and Cory were not there.

Seb and I wanted to go surfing so we ended up getting a cab and heading back to Playa Carmen (200 meters from our old, cheaper hotel).  As soon as the cab pulled up to the beach we saw that it was closed out and shitty.  So we do what we do best.  Walked.  It is how we spent our first hours together so we enjoy every step of it.  A few miles later we reach the beach near Beija Flor.  At this point I am feening for waves and so I head out to the rocky unknown and catch a few.

Later that evening I take a yoga class which I enjoyed.  There were several children and families practicing.  There is something very different about doing yoga in an open air, bamboo made, space in nature.  Following class I walked back to find that Anne, Kirk, and Cory were sitting talking to Sebastien.  That evening we all went out for a nice dinner.  It has been nice to go out to dinner every evening.  Though, and I can’t believe that I am saying this, I miss cooking.  When they dropped us off that evening we made plans to meet up with them at their place the next day.

The waves were big and fast. It was a struggle to get out there and I feel a few times trying to stabilize myself after I had caught a wave. There were also a few really big sets that scared us both. Seb went in first and I was out there waiting for the “perfect” on to take in. Two ticos started talking to me in Spanish which makes me nervous. The one guy thought I was a tica and was explaining to me why he thought that when I see a huge wave lining up right behind him. I pointed it out and figured that this was my chance to go in. I turned to go for the wave when this Tico cuts in front of me and snaked me out of the wave. But I was already to far inside to paddle out for the next one so I did my usual and ditched the board and swam underneath the next wave. When I didn’t feel my board drag I started to freak out. The little black tie thing unknotted and my board was heading in without me. The tico asked if I was ok which just pissed me off because I would have been if he wouldn’t have stolen that last wave. So for the next 5 minutes I swam feverishly towards the shore hoping that my board didn’t hurt anyone on shore nor get busted. When I got on shore I asked a few people in the water if they had seen it and one guy had thought he did. I looked for Seb and thought that I saw him with a board but when I ran up to him I realized that it wasn’t him. I panicked a little at this point. Seb ended up finding it in the hands of some old guy who had made some remark about being glad that I was alive. I was fine and so was my board. Thank Jesus!

After that craziness we returned to our rooms and rested for a while. After gathering our composer we headed back to la playa to rest and enjoy our vacation. We looked for a spot that was partly shaded. There were a lot of people in the area where we sat. After a few minutes of settling in we were asked by a tico if we wanted a beer. “Cool” responded Sebastien. This guy in his early 50’s sat down and offered both of us a beer and started taking to us. At first this was all very cool and Sebastien kept saying, “wow this is really nice.” More so because, like I said earlier, we hadn’t been able to get alcohol because of Semana Santa. So we kindly accepted and tried our best to communicate to Christian. Even without knowing what he was saying it was pretty obvious that he was drunk. Not only was he drunk he was also very drawn to me and even when I was trying to read I could feel him look at me and want to tell me something. I engaged him for a while and then would go back to my reading. At one time his friends came and when he was introducing them to us one of his friends gestured that he was loco. Great. Now I know why he is being drawn to me. Christian then pulled out a bottle of whiskey and kinda forced Sebastien to take a shot. And then he pulled out the Vodka. NO way was I doing any of this! Christian then came and sat next to me. He started talking closer and closer to me and I swear he was asking me if I thought he was ok. I asked him, “Estas bien?” Which he looked at me strangly. I looked back at him strangely and then he touched the scar on my stomach. Sebastien sat up and gestured to him not to do that anymore but he did and we got out of there. It was pretty sketchy. when his friends where there I also think that they were explaining to me that he had Electric Shock Treatments. I will never tell others that I am a Therapist again!

We ended up surfing again that evening. We had a much better session. There were a few girls out in the water and its wasn’t as closed or fast. For dinner we ended up eating at this open grilled place which served me a fish with its head and skin still in tacked. This time Seb liked his meal while I was not happy about mine.

As soon as we pulled up into this place I thought Merry Beth would love it.  Sebastien asked about a room and we were in luck plus they had internet which sold Sebastien. I told him I was going to walk down and see if there were other things.  But nothing was very convenient so we figured we could handle one night at Tranquilo Backpackers. After dragging our stuff up a huge flight of stairs and taking in all the commotion that this place had to offer we ended up walking down the street to see what else there was in town.  I also wanted to see if we could find the place where Anne, Kirk, and Corey were staying.  We didn’t find them (though we walked about two miles, we did find a clean and cute cabinas place that may have a room for us the following night. With relief we checked la playa y las olas.

The first thing that stands out is the smell when walking on the road in Mal Pais. I don’t know if I can accurately describe it but its a combination of dirt dust, sewer, and rotten eggs.

We didn’t end up unpacking our surfboard the first night in Mal Pais because it looked pretty crappy.  We ended up eating at this vegetarian style place which had lots of American kids running around naked and families whom seem to know each other.  I though it was very good but Sebastien just thought it was ok.  During our meal a man with fire sticks man put on a show throwing these light fire sticks around.  It was pretty entertaining.  So were the kids and families.  After dinner we headed back to TB.

You would think that a place with the word Tranquilo in it would be calm and tranquil.  Oh no.  Not this place.  It was Spring Break 2009 and these kids were celebrating.  Nothing to crazy but it was just not what we were in the mood for.  OH and let me just add that it was/is Semana Santa and during this week on Wednesday and Thursday no one sells alcohol.  However, Lonely Planet didn’t include this their book so we were the ONLY people who did not have any alcohol for the next two day/nights.  Great.  Stuck in Spring Break without any alcohol.  I ended up putting my IPOD headphones on and turning on some nature/mantra music and falling asleep.  Sebastien didn’t sleep well and when the howler monkeys started at 4 am he was ready to beat them up.  I have to add that the night before Sebastien got up and reached for the IPHONE to use this application which creates a really annoying noise to scare or piss off animals.  I told him I didn’t think that the monkeys would like that very much and that I really didn’t want some howler monkeys to bust through the window and steal his IPHONE.  I kinda fell asleep after saying this so when I asked Sebastien if it worked the night before he said he ended up not using it.  I feel back to sleep again.  The next morning we quickly got up and headed down to check the status of the cabinas place.

Our driver didn’t speak much but when we got into the town of Playa Hermosa he light up and started telling us (in Spanish) how beautiful this beach was and how it was different from Manuel Antonio and Jaco and how there was a restaurant that light up the beach at night so that we could surf.  I didn’t understand that part but that is what Sebastien understood and translated for me.  Once we got into Jaco (which is exactly as I remembered populated, dirty, and American/Commercialized they even have a KFC) we picked up a few other passengers (two girls from Norway) and headed down to the boat site.

The pick up site was right on the beach which was basically a bay where tons of people hang out at with all their children and relatives.  Our Cubs guy told us that the boats will be coming soon and we will need to wait on the beach for them.  The pictures on the web of the boat appeared like a passenger vehicles but in reality they were just small fishing/speed boats that could hold about 8-10 people.

When I saw these little boats I was nervous about Sebastien getting sea sick and just hoped for the best.  When we finally got our paperwork settled and luggage put into plastic bags we got to “aboard” and made our way to Montezuma.

I was so excited to be taking a boat and the whole trip reminded me of my dad.  I totally though that he would love to taxing people from one place to another in a boat.  I don’t know why but I really thought he would like it.  The first 10 minutes we sat in about 20 feet of water waiting for the other boat to drop off people. Sebastien seemed fine but commented that he hope that we didn’t sit like this forever.  Then he would go into his little song, “Cows the size of schnauzers but they are cattle.)  Which is from a Jack in the Box commercial.  He has been saying it the whole time and has just gone into song again.

Finally we are off to sea and I can see where we are going so I think that it should take to long.  But then 25 minutes later I look behind us and where we came from still looks closer than where we were headed.  Sebastien seemed to feeling fine, which was a relief, so we both sat back and enjoyed the ride.  There were a few times that the boat driver slowed the boat and would troll for a second to point out a……… a………… sea turtle… we saw a few of these and one of them had a bird standing on it.  It was pretty cool.  I would have taken pictures but my camera was in one of the plastic bags. The other thing that the driver pointed out where a school of dolphins.  They seemed smaller than our San Diego friends.

When we landed in Montezuma we had to get off quick because the tide  was breaking right on the shore and the boat would have flipped.  One of the Norway ladies didn’t pay attention and nearly got herself killed.

The first thing that did on land was eat.  We hadn’t had anything all day and it was about 1 pm.  After that cheaper meal we hailed a taxi and headed to Mal Pais.

The flight from San Jose to Quepos (Manuel Antonio) was really short; just about 30 minutes. I think it was the first time I took such a small plane. The take off was a little sketchy and we felt like the pilot (a woman) was gonna crash the plane before even taking off.

Landing in Quepos was so trippy. We landed in the middle of palm trees. The aeropuerto of Quepos was so small that you could never tell it was an aeropuerto. At best, it looks like your Dad’s garage. Not bigger.

Looking for a place to stay

We then took a $5 each ride to Manuel Antonio. We didn’t really know where to go so we asked the driver if he knew of a cheap place. He dropped a few names and Tina recognized the name Piscis, a place where she stayed before. So we asked the driver to take us there. There was a room available for $40/night. We took it and went surfing right away.

First day in Manuel Antonio

Our first surf session was fun. There were a few local boogieboarders and a couple surfers. The level wasn’t high at all so I felt confident. The water is really really warm: about 84 degrees.

We surfed for a while and went to have lunch at an overpriced place on the beach. I didn’t like it much but that filled us up.

A little later we went back for another surf session but the tide was too low and it wasn’t as fun as it was earlier that day.

We could see a bunch of guys with surfboards walking a few hundred yards north of where we were surfing. It looked like there was a good spot over there but we didn’t check it out until the next day.

That night, we went in town to have dinner at what I guess is a nice place here. The service was great, and the food was pretty good too. We ate for $17 which to me was more than reasonable given the quality of the food and of the service. Turns out they forgot to count some of the stuff we ordered. I asked Tina if we should say something. She said no so I didn’t say anything and paid, then we left.

We bought a couple large cans of Imperial, a bottle of water and we hang out on the patio of our place. I was a little tipsy

Our second day in town

We had a good night sleep and although Tina got up a little before me, I got up around 9am. We went to town to get some water and inquire about the boat rides to Montezuma. We also had a nice breakfast and then we went home to grab the boards and go surf.

I asked the hotel guy what was the good spot and he confirmed that the spot where we saw a bunch of surfers walk to the day before was actually the place to be. It’s called Bajos. We went there but we didn’t have much fun. I actually didn’t have fun at all. the nose of my board kept digging in the water, making me fall like some beginner. The wave was really fast and closing out a bit. It was about 4 to 5 feet with overhead sets. Everytime I tried to catch a wave, something went wrong: either my nose digging in, my hands slipping on the board, the leach wrapping around my toes, etc…

I got out of the water really pissed. It was one of these sessions where I should have stayed on the shore looking at others surfing. Nobody didn’t really get good waves, except this one guy. I’m amazed that we haven’t seen good surfers yet. I thought that this place would be packed with top notch surfers, but nope. I totally fit in this place.

After this failed session, we went and have lunch, then we went back to the cabin and took a nap. We woke up around 5.30pm and went for a late session. The tide was low and it was crap but it felt really good to be in the water for the sunset.

That night, we had planned to go have dinner at El Avion, a restaurant built around an old plane that looks like a B-52 (I’m probably wrong on the model of the plane) but the girl of the hotel told us that her sister was making spaghetti if we wanted to. We decided to have dinner at the hotel instead of going to El Avion.

The food was very basic but it was good. I assume it was cheap too (we’ll only see the bill tomorrow). Tina didn’t feel great which is probably due to dehydration and the bad wine she had for dinner (which I am finishing as I am writing this). She went lay down and I am having one more drink while telling our stories.

Cabinas Piscis

The hotel Piscis is ok. We have our own bathroom which might sound a given one, but no, it’s not in latin american countries for that price. The few people that work this place are really nice. I think it’s a family owned business. The cabins are a few steps away from the beach, which is our main concern.

We have a couple noisy guys next to our cabin tonight. I’m not sure but I think they are Argentinians. They are listening to bad music and singing along: terrible!

Tomorrow, we’re gonna be traveling (traveling puffins!) a bit to Mal Pais. Definitely not looking forward the boat ride as I am sea sick but it will be nice to see other places.

Misc. thoughts about Manuel Antonio

Before coming here, Tina had told me of Manuel Antonio as the La Jolla of Costa Rica. She was right. There are a bunch of wealthy people here; well, wealthy for Costa Rica… I still haven’t seen any of them show up to the beach in a Porsche…. A lot of women have fake boobs and look somewhat superficial.

The gay population is huge here. My friend guy would feel like a fish in water in this place. All these guys are walking around in there Speedos or tights little shorts. It’s funny.

This place is too touristic. It doesn’t feel authentic and I’m definitely looking forward to going to Mal Pais where the Costa Rican feel is supposed to be more preserved.

After going through the formalities of immigration and customs, we went out of the airport and started being harassed by fake taxi drivers. We randomly chose one who soon called up his friends and took care of our bags. We jumped in the van, me on the passenger seat, and the driver put my Spanish to the test right away…

After a 20 minute ride, we arrived at our hotel, los volcanes, and checked in. After being set up in the room, we booked a flight online with Sansa Airlines, the domestic Costa Rican airline, to go to Quepos (Manuel Antonio) the next day. Flights are pretty cheap: $75 each way. The flight is about 30 minutes, compared to a 4 hour bus ride should you decide to go the cheap way… We went straight to bed after booking the tickets as as it was already 11pm.

These are some pictures of los volcanes hotel. It was a convenient, clean, nice little place in San Jose. I recommend it!

We didn’t sleep really well. I guess we were just too excited. We were cold, and then there was this stupid bird singing at 5am.

Around 6am, I heard my friend Corry talking to the hotel clerk. Corry just got here and he was supposed to meet Ann and Kirk as they have a bungalow together in Santa Teresa. I got up and went see Corry.

It was definitely time to get ready for the day. We cleaned up a bit, had un desayuno (breakfast) and took a cab back to the airport, to fly to Quepos, which is the closest airport to Manuel Antonio.

Los volcanes had a very cute little open air nook to comidan desayuno. Here is Sebastien hablando con Cory.

The Sansa terminal is pretty much as big as your garage… We checked in and we had to take our boards out of the bag, which was kinda odd. Then we folded the boardbag so it gets smaller. On this tiny airplanes, every inch counts…

They gave us our boarding passes and they are the strangest boarding passes I’ve seen so far. I think they are “reusable” passes. It’s just a laminated piece of paper that I believe you have to give when you board the plane. Not sure yet…

We went then through what you may call security. The security check was very quick and I’m pretty sure we could have had a pound of cocaine with us that they wouldn’t have noticed.

We’re now waiting for our plane. We have an hour to kill. Tina is a little anxious because of the boards and because of the size of the plane we’re gonna take. “I hope we don’t die” are the words she just said to me. It will be fine. What can happen, right? Worst case scenario, we do an emergency landing in the jungle and we will have great stories to tell our kids.

Anne, Kirk, and Corey also took a Sansa flight but they went directly to Santa Teresa. Anne was bummed because their American flight had messed up the tail and nose of her board. But Kirk brought a ding repair shop with them so it will be ok.

We don’t have a place to stay at in Manuel Antonio but we’re very confident that we’ll find something, even though this week is the semana santa (the holy week), which is the week preceding Easter. Our travel guide says that hotels are usually booked month ahead for this week but whatever, we’ll find something.

30 more minutes before boarding. I can’t wait to find a place and go surf. The surf report says that water is 84 degrees in Manuel Antonio and waves are supposed to be 3 to 4 feet high…

We accomplished the first leg of our trip to Costa Rica and we are now in Houston, TX, waiting for our flight to San Jose. We have 3 hours to kill and I am already online. Yes, I’m addicted.

I brought my little Lenovo netbook and of course, my iPhone… I use an illegal application (well, not approved is the right word) called PDAnet that allows me to tether my iPhone. This means I connect my iPhone to the 3G network and set up a local connection on my laptop that allows me to connect to this 3G network.

This app is absolutely amazing. I wrote about it on my iPhone blog and you may want to check it out if you have an iPhone and travel a bit.