Rolling With The Punches !!

Although it felt like we were kicked while we were down, with no apologies from Collette Vacations, the passengers who missed the flight in San Francisco, all finally arrived in San Jose and were up early awaiting our chariot to Tamarindo Beach.  We missed the Doka Coffee Estate tour and half a day at the beach, but were still excited to hit the road ... until our chariot arrived!!  Stuffed into this small van with jumpseats in the middle and our luggage on top, we headed off with our guide who spoke no English!!  Although we were expecting descriptions of the countryside we were passing, it was not forthcoming.

Traffic was rather heavy in San Jose ... if I got my facts right, there are about 4.7 million people in Costa Rica and 3.5 million live here.

Dan Chance would have been a happy camper ... Micky D's were everywhere, as was Patty's favorite (NOT) KFC!!  Their electrical system could use a little updating, as there were miles and miles of tangled wires everywhere.  According to our later guide, due to the thermal energy from volcanos and windmills installed across the country, 95% of homes in Costa Rica have electricity and the availability of high tech cell phones.

As in any big city, crime is a problem.  Almost every single house we saw had bars on the outside as well as on every window ... most of the homes in San Jose also had razor wire.  Our later guide suggested the bars were decorative, but the wire is definitely to keep the bad guys out!!  

As we drove along towards the "county" of Guanacaste, all the fences we saw were made of trees.  I have to give it up to the Costa Ricans ... they are inventive and use everything they have.  Fence posts cost lots of money and probably are hard to come by.  Trees on the other hand, are everywhere and grow like crazy.  It looked like they cut some limbs, stuck them in the ground and they grew into fence posts.  Who knew???  This type of fence covers the entire country.

The government provides most things for the residents ... electricity, phones, health insurance and car insurance.  I never did find out if they provide washing machines ... but definitely NOT dryers.  All along our route today, laundry was laid out to dry.  I'm not sure if it really dries ... with 90% humidity most of the time, it took two days to dry one T-shirt I washed.

Along the road were lots of entrepreneurs selling their wares ... like this fuzzy fruit.  After some discussion and hand waving, we were able to get our driver to tell us these were Mamon.  At a wide spot in the road, he stopped and bought a bag for the bus!!  How nice was that??!!  The husk is a leathery shell, easily opened with fingernails.  Inside was a round yummy fruit with a HUGE pit.  We were like a bunch of giddy kids ... everyone trying a bite.

Did I mention the roads in Costa Rica aren't exactly the best??  It didn't take long to be out of San Jose, where all roads turn to dirt.  Apparently there is political in-fighting about where the money goes and what section gets paved.  Due to several huge rainstorms that washed out all the culverts, this section was being repaired.  Most of the work was being done by hand ... men with shovels ... but this section had a couple pieces of heavy equipment.  Again the Costa Ricans show their ingenuity ... to keep the vehicles on their respective side of the road, rocks are placed in the middle to represent the center line.  They are BIG rocks, so even the trucks stay on their own side.  This road is wider than most, as you will see in later pictures.

Along the way we came up behind a farmer moving his herd of brahma cattle to new pastures.  Brahma fare well in the hot temperatures, and although fairly thin, appeared to be in good health.

Along the way were a few grocery stores.  Those that can afford to own their business, also live in the same small building.  Coca Cola is big here .... and it tastes pretty much like the Coke at home.  The local currency is Colones.  Millions of them!!!   5 Mil colones is $10.00.  It took a little bit of study to get their money down, but by the end of the trip, everyone was able to figure it out.  It happens that they like American money also, as most, if not all, took our dollars.

Although we did see some very nice houses, equivalent to the U.S., the majority were small like these three.  A small water tank and electricity were all they needed.  Most don't landscape their homes.  Houses looked like they were about 500 square feet, half (including the kitchen and living room) open to the elements ... the other half  including the bedrooms, closed up.  Who needs air conditioning???

After a five hour drive, we arrived at Tamarindo Beach.  Our rooms were right on the water, and although VERY humid and hot, it was as spectacular as any in the U.S.  Patty and I wasted no time hitting the beach to look for shells.  

Lots of surfing takes place here, and although the waves were small compared to other beaches I've been to, the kids were having a blast.  Several burly guys were teaching the tourists how to surf ... course no one from OUR group!!  The water was warm and the scenery spectacular.  Too bad we were only allowed about 6 hours here instead of the two days that were scheduled.

Patty wanted one of these shells and kept picking them up, only to find they were occupied, alive and well as you can see here.  We did collect several other shells however to add to our ever growing collections.

I'm not sure if it was because of the snaffu by Collette, but each room got a bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries.  Uhmmmm except the two Stepchildren Patty and Nancy.  No wine ... no strawberries ... no bracelet which allowed free food.  We were promised we would receive our goodies at the NEXT resort.  That night when we returned to our room at 8:30 ... there was the wine.  We donated it to our neighbors and Patty scarfed up the strawberries.  

As the sun set and the lights came on, it was just beautiful at the outside restaurant.  As in Hawaii, everything is open to the elements.  We did have time for a quick walk down the main street for a little shopping.  Patty picked up the cutest pair of flip flops and I found a gorgeous scarf/pareo.  When I saw a small flower shop, I ducked inside to take a look (mostly because it had air conditioning) and we met two of the nicest people from L.A.  He was the Costa Rican National Baseball Team Coach ... and since I had on my San Francisco Giants Baseball visor, we immediately began talking everything baseball!!  They just opened their flower shop a few days before ... and we had a great visit!!  Don't you just love meeting new people???

This beautiful baby joined us for breakfast as we headed out the next morning.  Breakfast usually ran between 6 and 8, lunch at 1:00 and dinner at 7:00 pm.  It was a long time in between, so we all started stashing food.  The Costa Ricans close their shops between 3 and 6 so they can have coffee and snacks.

Tired and ready for a nice shower, we headed back to our room.  True to step children world, we had no hot water.  Not in the sink or the shower.  By now, cranky Nancy is beginning to rear her ugly head.  This trip hasn't started off well at all ... and to add insult to injury, NO hot water.  I'm trying hard to roll with the punches, but I'm definitely not cut out for the step children role!!!