Manuel Antonio to San Jose

Jan. 28, 2004- Pros & Cons
(photos:Howler monkeys,
Interbus glitch)

We learned a very important Spanish word:jubilation, or something similar. It means retired. It is apt. I’m trying to keep in mind that I should be jubilant in between scratching bug bites & sleeping on rough nubby sheets. David said the sheets just make it easier to scratch. We spray but the mosquitoes find a way around it.

We have a sneaking suspicion that as we walk the park trails, animals are watching us. They must alternate days when they take turns crossing the paths so tourists can spot them. We continue to have extraordinary luck in sitings & skilled guides.

While we were waiting for our last interbus to whisk us away to San Jose from Manual Antonio we eavesdropped on a howler monkey squabble. I wouldn’t want to be in the middle of it. There were three distinct voices at different locations all yelling & screeching. It sounds like lions roaring at times & at other times it has the sound of heavy furniture being moved across a wood floor.

In retrospect, the monkey spat wasn’t an auspicious beginning. One couple was late for pick-up & our interbus driver decided not to wait beyond the twenty minutes we had. They later called on his cell phone to tell him they were in a taxi chasing down the bus & asked him to wait for them. He & we did. Then we had a tire that was losing air. When we stopped to have it checked they decided it would be ok for the five hour drive to San Jose. It wasn't . Fortunately we’d gotten through the remote areas without incident. An hour out of the city we had to have the tire changed. I took photos. One passenger was ticked off & I told her it was just part of the adventure. We all walked over to a supermercado & amused ourselves looking at the unfamiliar products. One I particularly liked were sanitary napkins whose brand name was Saba. That's what our grandkids call David. It's Hebrew for grandpa.

Our five hour trip turned out to be 6 1/2six and a half hours. We checked into Hotel Don Carlos once again & headed for the Balcone Europa Restaurant. It was suggested by the hotel but was pretty bad. I only ordered black bean soup. It’s customary to make it with hard boiled eggs but the ones floating in my soup had distended & reminded me of bull testicles. It was tasteless as well as gross.

A major difference between Costa Rica & Mexico is that there’s little bargaining here & none in stores. They also don't seem to have a tradition of paying bribes to officials to gain favors or just to get things done. Refreshing.

We leave for Torteguero tomorrow at 7:30 AM. We'll really be out of touch. It's in the Northeast corner of Costa Rica near Guatemala.

Toby