We are now mobile with a silver diahatsu (I'm thinking Japanese) ready to take on the rough roads ahead, not highly reccomended by the locals, but we are eager to start on our next adventure to Samara. What adds to the excitement of this next endeavor for us is that Danny and I have a pretty good track record of getting lost on road trips regardless of maps, good directions and/or a GPS. Apparently we are meant to just stop in every town and 'ask', considering that there are no street signs, foreign concept to the Costa Ricans we are learning. Alas, 5 hours later we covered the necessary 100kms which is reasonable time considering the bumps, curves and swerves all along the way. Not so bad considering we had the opportunity to catch the stunning sunset over the Pacific at Carrillo beach, just before rolling into Samara for check-in and dinner at our newest habitacion for the evening.
The beach is pretty good but we've seen better along the way and are becoming surf and sun snobs suddenly! There is a really good feel in this town however....kinda like a rasta-carribean flair with a mix of rich American investors slowly contributing with condos, lofts and houses on the outskirts. I find our first gym and am so super excited to test out the equipment and get a pump at the same time! The weights are housed in a very cute and compact but comfortable studio and my favourite is the hanging heavy bag on an outside court. Our host speaks decent English (the development on my Spanish is a whole other post)so I am able to ask questions and get a vibe for the industry here. It turns out, they have no boxing in the town and even more amazing to me is there is no protein powder or shakes for sale at their otherwise very well equipped pro shop!!! Apparently, people here don't care for it; they drink post workout milkshakes and fruit smoothies.
After 3 nights, 2 hostels and 2 too many pizzas later we decide to move on to Nicoya which would require our first local bus trip!! So on a bright sunny Saturday morning after a late Reggae beach party Friday night, we are geared up and waiting for our scheduled bus at 8:30am which is obviously late as 9 am rolls around. We luck out when a taxi pulls up with 2 extra seats and going our way!!! He charges us the same fare as what the bus would be for the 1 hour ride and without hesitation we hop into the back!!!
The plan is to overnight in Nicoya without a reservation. There are a couple of suggestions listed in our travel guide book which we figure are gold and we are good to go. Well, when we get dropped off by the taxi and trek around town, once again needing to find our bearings, we finally make it on an empty stomach and through the sweltering heat to our destination Hotel Jenny....should have been called 'Stinky Jennys'!!!.....WOW, and they wanted us to pay to stay there??? 2 hours and 3 more places later, we decide to move on out of Nicoya and hope for better luck in Liberia:-)
Sounds like you are having so much fun!
ReplyDelete