Costa Rica Day 3

November 15, 2015

What to do, today? The clouds were looking angrier and hanging lower than yesterday. Even though it would be a long drive...beach day!

Today we took advantage of breakfast at Sky Trek, gallo pinto, scrambled ages, cheese, fried plantains, and some orange juice. It was quite good as I would expect from local cuisine.

Fueled for adventure, we set out for the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica. Playa Del Coco would be our destination.

Th 6.1 kilometer road from hell, was a "good morning" wake up. It's really one of the worst roads I've ever traveled. It's brutal.

We headed around the east side of Arenal and the west, along the lake. The further west we went the weather got better, The sun was shining through and we drove the lush green twist ices of the highlands.

The mountain/valley scenery with the tropical vegetation made for a peaceful vista. We stopped to take it in and take a few shots to remember it. Lovely!

Once the twisting gave way to a major highway...well, let me explain. There is a major highway under construction ( highway 1 through Guanacaste ). We drove a stretch near Cañas and Liberia. The four lane highway is in varying states of construction, the whole way. The 40+ mile stretch has a speed limit of 30 kph (18 mph). Yes...that is correct. I, however, tripled that frequently. On the way to Liberia it was mostly deserted, the return was busier and all were going at least double.

Anyway. Liberia brought the first sight of, Mc Donald's, Subway, Papa Johns. Smash the accelerator and keep going...off to the beach,

From Liberia it was less than 30 minutes, the roads returned to the smaller variety and we passed through towns, living along the Main Street. In some places it was more of living in the Main Street.

Entering the village of Playa del Coco, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a familiar sign. It said Hard Rock Cafe. What??? Could this be real? I turned the vehicle around and sure enough, it was not a mirage. It's the smallest HRC that ice ever seen but they had the prerequisite shop and one of the most interesting shirts of my collection. The shirt actually has the region Guanacaste on it, instead of a city.

So...a short distance away, Playa del Coco. It was a very popular beach, many families picnicking and enjoying the day. We parked and a man came up to the window. I opened the door to get out and he spoke to me. He repeated "wash" or I thought so. I didn't want the car washed as it was going to get dirty on the way back so I said no and then had to insist...NO!

Walking past all of the families enjoying their day together, there were two ponies tied to a tree. They looked sad. They didn't seemed up for amusement. Naitro and I walked along the beach a bit, our feet in the water. It was warm, very warm which was surprising. It is mid November and this felt like August in the Gulf. The sand was a mix of beige and volcanic sand...not the prettiest. The view was interesting as there were several little islands, some covered in vegetation and others mostly rock.

We decided to move on as it was just too busy at Coconut Beach

About 15 minutes away was a quieter beach - Playa Hermosa. When parking here the lady attendant asked me if I wanted her to "watch" my car. She pointed to her eyes. Now I understood what the man had asked. I didn't need for it to be watched but I hate not understanding.

Playa del Hermosa was quiet and fewer people but the scenery was less interesting, the beach was cleaner and so was the water but we kept our time here brief. As we were leaving, we spotted a rainbow...at the beach, how nice.

Having had some beach time and enjoying the journey also, it was time to return, it would take 3 1/2 hours as that was our joinery time to Playa del Coco. It had been brief but enjoyable with a surprise HRC payoff.

A quick bathroom and drink stop at Mc Ds and we began the way back. There was more traffic but not crazy. The only problem was a few cars that were going so slow in the twisty areas that it really bit into our pace. Darkness came and we had another hour and a half of twisties...never fun in a strange vehicle, in a place that you're not familiar.

Eventually (7ish) we reached La Fortuna and stopped at our now regular dinner spot.

It was quite busy tonight and Joseph was working hard as usual. He welcomed us with a smiling face, he seated us in a great location. He did that every night. Even though he was very busy, he joined us quickly and took our drink order. The wine was so good last night that after a long travel day, it was just the thing, I ordered the Margherita pizza wi mushrooms, broccoli, and extra cheese. Naitro had the same basis but 1/2 mushroom and onion and 1/2 cheese. It came so quickly that we barely had time for a quick clean up a a few words of conversation :-)

Three nights in a row, such a rarity, the food was perfect. The pizza had a cracker thin crust and the ingredients were very fresh. After he returned to check in us we asked to take a selfie with him. I wanted to post it and include it in the blog. It's so rare that food and service is so exceptional and when it is, it must be recognized. He also wanted a selfie with his own camera...we obliged,

Naitro ordered the tiramisu for desert as she loves them. Surely as everything else is so exceptional, it would be too. Soon Joseph returned with news that there was no more tiramisu to be had. He did tell us that the manager had eaten the last one. I guess that tells us how good it really was.

He offered some options, one of which is local take on apple pie/crisp with vanilla ice cream. Again, as everything was so delicious, I must give it a try. It was so flavorful...wow! It reminded me of appel tartje but a CR version. The raisins, the brown sugar, the crunchy bits all with a sour apple drizzle....just enough. Naitro took a bite and exclaimed "Oh my God"! She ordered one for herself. Joseph then bought us some lemonchello to finish off the night. It doesn't get better than this. Actually, it does. When presented with the bill, a discount was given....yes, a discount. So all that I've mentioned totaled $22. We were appreciated and that is the mark of a caring business. Thank you to everyone at xxx but especially Joseph. He made us feel at home.

Now back to the reality of the road from hell. You know that story. Tonight, however, there was a downed tree that was covering 3/4 of the tree. This was telling of things to come.

When we arrived at the lodge, it was very dark...but I thought I remembered it being that way each night. We used our phone lights to help but I stepped in a huge mud hole, luckily not dropping the phone.

The reception was dark as we climbed the hill, still not sinking in. The stairwell was dark and opening the door, the fan was off...oh no. :-( No lights would turn on...the power was out!

I went down to call Eduardo, our host. He said that the whole area was without power. I asked for some candles and matches (not offered or ready for our use as a courtesy). I hung up to find that there were none to be has and his number now went to voicemail every time I tried to call. The just adds another check mark to the poor customer service list along with not telling us about the bridge being out and offering specific directions,, not changing the bathroom light when notified that it was out, and a careless attitude when inquiring about area activities.

I used my external battery to help Naitro charge her phone while using my phone to give us some light. I did my best to pack, in the dark, until I just couldn't do any more. I turned out to phone light as it was running that battery down and went out on the balcony as it was warm inside,

It was pitch black! Animal sounds in the jungle were the only things detectable in the night. I sat in a comfy lounge chair with my feet up in the railing and wrote about my day. As I had the only light in the Arenal darkness, I was a beacon for bugs. I did my best to swat them but in the end decided to just let them take over,

About an hour into this dark night adventure, the light returned. The fan started spinning and normal was restored. We both finished packing and Naitro read as I edited pics and blogged. Around 1pm, I called it a night.