Manuel Antonio-Rematch

January 26-28, 2004- Foodies
(photos:Happy hour,
Day in the sun,
Sewage ditch in Quepos)

We watched the sun set last night from a second story bar. I ordered a tequila sunrise & David ordered beer. We didn´t realize it was Happy Hour. We got doubles on our drinks and were very ¨happy, happy, happy.¨ We would have appreciated the music more if it wasn´t deafening us in stereo from our bar & the one next door. David thought they could save money if the restaurants combined their efforts & used one band. This was the first place that offered a discount for cash. They said they wouldn´t add the 13% tax to the bill. Guess what´s not reported to the government?

We diluted the booze we consumed with a lame excuse for nachos at the bar. As a result, we wanted a light dinner. The best black bean soup in Costa Rica was reputed to be at a restaurant nearby. After we ate, David said if that was the best, then Costa Rica doesn´t have good black bean soup. I had “casado typico” with chicken. It was translated on the menu as “typical casado.” It had chicken, rice, black beans, salad, vegetables, & plantain. It´s kind of a sampler platter & might be their version of our blue plate special. We entertained ourselves by watching wandering groups of half-naked young bikini-clad bodies.

Breakfast was the usual pancakes, beans & rice, tasteless melon & papaya, eggs, & cold cereal. They also offered a bit of humor in signage. They thanked their guests for their ¨comprehension¨ in not using the trails within the complex that were under repair. They translated the Spanish ¨comprehesion¨directly into English instead of the more idiomatic English word "ünderstanding."

Good Morning Sunshine

We were up at 8 AM & at the beach at 9:30. Since there’s nothing to buy in the stores, the ocean beckoned. We rented two lounge chairs & an umbrella for $7 for the day & settled in. Vendors plied the beach but were not aggressive. Restaurants had waiters circulating with menus in case bathers wanted a seaside lunch. We sipped coconut milk from a coconut, read, watched butterflies, birds, & people. One young boy was making money having his picture taken holding an enormous fish. Horseback rides were available & the horses that were paraded by were not beach broken nor did they wear diapers. The sand here is tan rather than white & is dense. It doesn´t slide from underfoot in the water as in Florida. The waves are gentle. Here the Pacific lives up to its name. It was nice to let our toes run free without the constraint of the walking shoes they´d been cooped up in for days.

David went in for a last dip as I watched a crab labor through the sand. David emerged from the sea having found the one huge renegade wave of the day. It had stripped his glasses off his head strap and all. Unfortunately this isn´t Disney World where they dive for lost items at the day´s end. Fortunately we brought an extra pair of glasses along & he is functioning again.

We ended the afternoon at our hotel pool & realized that it has a swim-up bar. A very exasperated howler monkey was bellowing from the forest and colorful bird life was preparing for the night as well.

January 28, 2004-Communication Snafu

I tried to write using Word yesterday but the computer I was using wouldn´t save. In fact, AOL is giving us a hard time. We’ve been able to open our mail but can´t reply or send new mail. I keep writing & saving to disk. It will be a good record of the trip & maybe I´ll be able to send it to those who want to read it once I get home. I´ve also had to contend with ants crawling on the keyboard & terminal. . It´s very frustrating. There´s a storm at home & we´re concerned. Since we can't reach our family by email we may have to get another phone card & call home. Somehow things were easier in Cambodia.

As I was walking to the internet place this evening I picked up a bat escort. It sailed over my shoulder as I walked down the covered lanai at the hotel. I happen to love bats & thought it was a treat. There are tons of the critters here. They do the best they can eating the bugs, but, even though we spray ourselves, we´ve gotten lots of bites

For all its green consciousness, Costa Rica doesn´t seem to pay attention to air pollution (mostly vehicle exhaust). Smells of mildew, mold, & garbage meld into an interesting 3rd world aroma, but this isn´t a 3rd world country. Aside from good education & medical care, every hovel seems to have electricity & potable tap water.

We ate at Karola´s the other night. It came highly recommended by a shopkeeper but fell short on food. In addition there was a very loud American who was dominating the conversation at his table & was audible throughout. Last night we had an excellent dinner at our hotel. I´ve been eating a lot of fish (sea bass, tilapia, tuna,mahi mahi) & David has had some great beef dishes with varying sauces. Last night´s had a spicy bean topping.

Seen One

We took another guided tour of a park yesterday. They´re all similar but we learn something different from each guide. This one knew a lot about medicinal use of plants & was able to find us two & three toed sloths. Their faces look like they ran into the back end of a truck at 100mph.. We saw capuchin monkeys, coatemundis (a raccoon relative), an agouti (a huge rodent cousin of squirrels), iguana, & lizards. This forest is between the Pacific & a series of canals. We had to be ferried into it by rowboat at a cost of 25 cents each.

We’ve continued to ask what nance is. This guide pulled out a book & showed us that the wine we had was made from the fruit of what we call a shoemaker´s tree. That didn´t help too much, but he said it was a kumquat size green sweet fruit, not a cashew by any means.

We took a public bus to and from Quepos, a neighboring town. The place was pretty shoddy & we had to jump over an open sewer to get to the crumbling steps that led up to what could have been a picturesque promenade along the ocean except for the smell & ever-present trash. We got a good suggestion for a lunch place & enjoyed watching a man carrying a huge fish down the street delivering it to a restaurant, store, or taking it home for dinner. A pretty yellow lab was wandering through the tables & begging from the diners. What he didn´t know was that there was a bright pink note on his collar asking people not to feed him.

We needed a swim & hit the pool when we got back to the hotel. We enjoyed talking to two women from Delaware, both Spanish teachers. We also watched our resident iguana on a hot tin roof..A grounds keeper was wearing protective head gear, a mask, & had his lower body wrapped in a black plastic trash bag. I guess he was an example of an “elusive human weed wacking leaf cutter.”

How humid is it? People at our hotel restaurant store the salt & pepper shakers in a cabinet with an illuminated light bulb to keep them dry & flowing.

We´re leaving at 2 PM for what is probably a five hour drive to San Jose. All the drives are long. There are two to three transfers & even if the roads are good, which happened only once, the transfers & rest stops take awhile. I´m not complaining. I look forward to those potty breaks.

Toby