Baldi Hot Springs in La Fortuna, Costa Rica, should definitely be on your list of places to go if you really want to relax. 20 pools of varying temperatures, some so hot they were void of people, and swim-up bars. Danny, an instafriend from Spokane who I met in the hostel, and I headed over there one afternoon and soaked for over 2 hours. The buffet meal was half Costa Rican, half American, and they even had a chocolate fountain that reminded me of my mom.Saturday Danny and I headed out for the walk to the La Fortuna waterfall, which is four miles, most of it uphill. Had I not run for 40 minutes that morning and stressed out my left leg, I probably wouldn´t have even complained. It took us a couple of hours to get there, but it was definitely worth it. As usual, I couldn´t resist a swim despite the lack of a bathing suit. Given the recent weather, we were certain that we would get soaked by rain on the walk back anyway, so I took a dip in my clothes. Sure enough, before I had even finished my 2 minutes, it started to rain. He took a quick dip and then we headed back, all 363 steps plus some unstepped inclines. And then there was the downhill walk back to town. I was certain I would sleep well that night.
Sunday, I said goodbye to La Fortuna and made the trip to Monteverde/Santa Elena via a van ride, a boat ride, and another van ride, none of which was as glamorous as the brochures make it out to be. It is, however, the shortest route between La Fortuna and that area. The weather was remarkably similar, rainy and chilly, and I was pleased to find both a fleece blanket and comforter on my bed, which I made use of both nights I was there. I wasted no time in getting started on activities.
Sunday afternoon I headed out with Extremo Adventures to do a canopy tour on the ziplines. I had been informed that they were the best company and had the longest ziplines. I was not disappointed, as my pics and video on facebook attest. Our third line was a 1 km line that we did tandem. All told we did 14 or 16 lines, not sure exactly, with the last being another 1 km line that we had the option of doing Superman style. It was more than worth the additional $5 it cost me. It was misting rain and the wind was blowing so hard that the rain was coming down sideways, but it only added to the exhiliration. I was a tad nervous doing it that way (just as I was a bit nervous for every single line), but I loved all but the very end when the line seemed to pick up more speed and made my stomach do a somersault. But it was a great way to spend an afternoon and I´d do it again in a heartbeat.
Monday I opted to sleep in and do an afternoon tour with El Trapiche. Trapiche is the name for a contraption that used to be used to process sugar cane into sugar. The tour included a tour of the farm where they grow sugar cane and coffee as well as the buildings where they process both of these. The farm is owned by a family who have resorted to providing tours as a way of staying afloat financially. I learned a lot about the processes, but there were some things that my time in Silencio had already given me knowledge of. For instance, the fact that when they harvest bananas they actually cut down the tree. What I hadn´t known was why. I learned that the banana tree will only bear fruit one time and if they don´t cut the tree down, it will only die more slowly and actually hinder the trees around it because of the water absorption. Thus, they cut down the trees and then use them as compost.
We had the opportunity to make a kind of candy from the sugar cane that really just tasted a lot like molasses, we drank some coffee, and we tasted piccadillo, which is a food made from the arracache plant. Because it takes so long to process, piccadillo is very rare and only served on special occasions, such as weddings. In fact, when I mentioned it to Diego, he wasn´t familiar with either piccadillo or arracache even when shown pictures. We also got to see how the farmers make their own homemade guaro (sold commercially as Cacique, that really nasty liquor that is made only in Costa Rica) through a still-like process, much like moonshine. Cacique is 30% alcohol; what the farmers make can be up to 80% alcohol, and it´s illegal to make, just like moonshine, not to mention a bit dangerous to drink.
The awesome tour was followed by an awesome phone call to Diego, in which he informed me he might be making the journey to San Jose the next day to see me. I couldn´t have been more stunned at the news. I dared to actually get my hopes up that I wouldn´t spend a lonely night in dirty San Jose. While I was on the phone, Simone, one of the volunteers I met in Silencio, spotted me from a restaurant. She had told me she was headed there, and I was glad that Santa Elena was small enough that she was able to find me. We chatted until 10 that night and made plans for lunch the next day. It was really nice to see a familiar face even if we had only known each other for one week.
Tuesday morning was an early rise for a walk through the Santa Elena Cloud Forest. On the one hand, if I hadn´t done it, I would´ve wondered what I missed. On the other, I really could´ve saved the $18 and few hours of sleep it cost me. I didn´t have enough time to walk with a guide, so all I saw were a few uninteresting birds and one tarantula. While the tarantula was cool, I can´t really say it was worth it.
Had lunch with Simone and then took in an ice cream at the Monteverde ice cream shop. I had been told the ice cream there was much preferable to Dos Pinos, the brand sold in the supermarkets. Yes, it was a little better, but I have to say that Costa Rica really doesn´t know how to do ice cream. I wasn´t impressed. Give me some Breyer´s strawberry, please.
My follow-up phone call to Diego at 2 confirmed my suspicion that he wouldn´t be able to visit in San Jose. He still wasn´t sure at that time, but his mood led me to believe that he wouldn´t be there. (He later told me sounded sad because he didn´t think he was going to be able to come.) So I boarded the bus at 2:30 for what I had been told was a 4-hour journey. Just as my mom would´ve wanted, I used the bathroom before I left AND when we stopped at 4, even though I really didn´t have to go. It was good I did because as it was, I still had two grueling hours from 5 to 7 (and you´ll realize that 4 hour journey was 4 hours of Costa Rican time) in which I would´ve paid someone a handsome sum for a pair of Depends undergarments. At various times I considered peeing in a bag and finally even resorted to having a go at it without success. I can safely report that man nor woman is not meant to hold his urine. I bounded off the bus in San Jose, quickly retrieved my oversized backpack, which I dragged it into a soda (one of those small restaurant-like places that serve typical CR food) and plopped it in front of the bathroom door, not even caring if it would be there when I returned. I still think that urologist I saw before leaving home was wrong and that there is something wrong with me. A bladder should be bigger than a walnut, and mine clearly isn´t. A few audible sighs of relief later I was actually able to consider hiring a taxi to go to the hostel.
Which is really easy to do. When you step off of any bus in any city, you are accosted with cries of, ¨Taxi? Taxi?¨ And good fortune continued to find me even in this. As usual, the driver asked me how much time I was spending in Costa Rica, what I was doing, etc. I responded with my usual, including that I had been living in Silencio, a small town south of Quepos. I was surprised when he said, ¨Yo conozco a Silencio. Tengo una casa en Matapaolo.¨ He knew where Silencio was because he had a house in the neighboring town. He wanted to know if I needed a ride to the airport in the morning, and I told him it depended on whether my boyfriend was able to make it into town that night, so he gave me his number in the event I needed a ride the next day and I promised to call if I did.
When I arrived at the hostel, I didn´t even know what to book without first making a call to Diego. I called and he joked with me that he was walking to San Jose. Actually, he was in the car on his way and it would be another hour or so before he would arrive. A few more phone calls later and it was decided that it was preferable that I meet him somewhere in San Jose that he was familiar with rather than his trying to navigate streets he didn´t know. Enter Carlos Perez, my friendly taxi driver, who promptly picked me up. I had called and told him I needed to go to the hospital that night and the first question he asked when I got in the car was whether or not my boyfriend had been in an accident. That possibility hadn´t even crossed my mind, and I laughed, saying no, it was simply easier for us to meet somewhere and that Diego was familiar with the hospital. He expressed relief and raced across town, running red lights to get me there quickly. We arrived and quickly spotted Diego, though I had to take a second look because he had had a haircut. We opted to follow Carlos back to the hostel rather than try to find it on our own. And, yes, I smiled the entire way.
San Jose isn´t a safe city at night and luckily there was a restaurant attached to the hostel where we took a later dinner at about 10:00 while I listened to more of his stories in Spanish, repeatedly reminding him to talk slowly. He´s like any typical person--when he gets going with a story, the words come rapidly. I admit I spent the entire night and the next morning, and even now somewhat, stunned that he came. It involved a rental car, a 3-hour trip in the car, and a day of missed work for which he had to ask permission. When he misses work, he doesn´t get paid, which means he´ll likely work 11 hours on another day to make up for the time he missed yesterday because like most people, he can´t really afford to miss out on a few days´pay. I´m a sucker for romance, and the fact that he did all of that seems pretty romantic to me and only confirmed for me even more that I want to return there in February. Who knows, maybe January?
We turned in late and had to rise at 5:30 in order for me to make my flight. This was one of those times I definitely would´ve traded for a later flight. We even had to say goodbye at the airport doors because international departures wouldn´t let in anyone who wasn´t a passenger. Despite the fact that he was wearing my backpack, I don´t think they would´ve believed us. So we said goodbye with his telling me that 9 weeks will pass quickly and with an agreement that I would call today, which I´ve been trying to do while writing this blog. It´s kind of hit or miss, though, because it´s his sister´s phone, so he´s not always there, and then sometimes the phone isn´t on. Not all things are simple in a country like this, but I will keep trying. He takes all three of his meals at his mother´s house, so sooner or later I´ll catch him there, or at least be able to leave a message with his sister with a time to call that he will be there.
When I checked in, I was told I would have to purchase a flight out of Ecuador before being allowed to check in. I was worried about this because Americans can only enter Ecuador for 90 days. I explained I wanted to take the bus because it was much cheaper but asked her to look for the cheapest flight out of Ecuador, which turned out to be $600. She consulted with another employee, who then moved on to another question. Was I returning to Costa Rica? Yes. To which I was informed I would have to have a yellow fever vaccine. Good for me that I once thought I was going to Bolivia because I have had that vaccine and promptly produced my verification. For whatever reason, this put me in their good graces and I was told I could buy an airline ticket when I arrived in Ecuador where it would be cheaper. Good fortune yet again it seemed.
The flights were uneventful as was the taxi ride to the hostel. The hostel is less than ideal, but at $5.60 a night, what really can I expect. It´s quite cold in the evenings, and the hostel seems to hold all of that cold air throughout the entire day, despite the fact that it´s quite warm in the daytime. I promptly set out looking for a great deal to the Galapagos. I had always read that you will pay less here than you would if you booked online from the States. That is certainly true as there are plenty of last minute deals. Nonetheless, the prices start with a $415 flight and $110 park entrance fees. That´s if you fly there and do nothing. So I was looking at spending around $1200 for 6 nights and 4 days, which would include a couple of dives. I took the information and headed back to the hostel where I did the math (after of course checking out my bank balances). While technically I have the cash to do this, it means making the decision to come home early. It´s a tough decision to come here and not do the Galapagos, particularly when that´s the reason I came to Ecuador in the first place. However, going there would significantly change the length of my trip, which isn´t something I´m willing to do.
Some have advised me to do it anyway, that I won´t regret it, that I may never get here again, that there are always credit cards. I certainly respect their opinions, but in response I say this. I wouldn´t regret the experience but having to leave CR early would break my heart. If I´m meant to be here again, I will be. After all, I did Australia twice. Using credit cards would allow me 6 days and 4 nights of fun but at a huge price: having to return home and get a job. My plans currently are to find a way to stay in CR for another year; barring that, I will be pursuing a PhD on a limited budget with no way to pay off credit card debt. No, the only option right now is to stay out of the tour shops lest I make an impulse decision that bankrupts me. If I´m able to sell my timeshare, then I can reconsider. I´m not leaving Ecuador for a while, so saying no to Galapagos today doesn´t mean I can´t say yes another day before I leave. And who knows what good fortune could find me in the meantime.
The other research I did upon arrival was figuring out how to get out of this place, which isn´t as easy as one would think. Turns out, having to buy that $600 plane ticket wouldn´t have been the end of the world, as I may have to buy it anyway. I had forgotten that because of the Darien Gap in Columbia, there is no overland route from Columbia to Panama. That area is riddled with drug lords and rebels and is the area most likely to result in a kidnapping. I want adventure, but I can think of better ways to find adventure than spending years living in a jungle with guerrillas.
That leaves two ways out of Columbia: air or water. Air isn´t significantly cheaper than flying from Ecuador, and considering I´d have to spend close to 2 days getting to Columbia by bus, I can´t say that that is preferable. Water remains an option, and not swimming, mind you. It is quite expensive, but as usual making contacts while you´re traveling is always valuable. While I was in Bocas del Toro, I studied briefly with a guy who is sailing for 2-3 years and just happens to be in Cartagena, Columbia at this very moment. And I´ve just happened to keep in touch with him in the meantime. (His blog is www.sailingforsos.com in case you want to check out his remarkable journey.) I know that he has plans to sail through the Panama Canal after the first of the year, so I´ve sent him an email asking what his plans are. I know that if the timing is right, and I could make the timing right I´m sure, then for a fee he´d let me tag along on his sailboat. Now that would be a cool way to travel. If not with him, then I know that he has met many sailors along the way, many in Cartagena even, with whom he could put me in contact. This option isn´t free, but combined with approximately $100 bus rides to Cartagena, it could save me a couple hundred and would definitely be a cooler way to travel. So I await his email and hope that good fortune continues to find me.
As for what I´ve been doing since I arrived, not much. I´m currently staying in Mariscal, which is considered the new part of Quito. Last night the streets were quite crowded, and I´m hoping it was because of some important soccer game that was going on. As I mentioned the hostel is cold, so I burrowed under the covers last night at about 8 and listened to a book on my mp3 player until I fell asleep. I have no idea where I left off in the book, which is one of the hazards of listening to a book. I couldn´t bear a shower this morning (even if it was hot) because it was too cold when I finally crawled out of bed at 9:45 (which incidentally is the latest I have slept in months). I took a long walk to get my bearings in town, seeking out a different hostel, and then a bar to watch the NFL game. The owner of the Irish American bar couldn´t find the game on the TV, so he loaded it up on the Internet and fed it through the TV to satisfy the Americans who had shown up looking for a football fix. I finally did find the other hostel, and I will be moving there in the morning where it is significantly warmer and looks much more comfortable.
And now I´m uploading the most current pics, writing this blog, and hoping to make some additional phone calls. (The first one to the family today was great, and here´s a shout out to the Lipskys who are apparently fans of this blog.) I´m now on the same time as my family and friends, but an hour ahead of Costa Rica, so I´m always having to think about who is doing what when.
I´ll be in Quito until sometime this weekend when the Spanish language school will be picking me up and taking me to Otovalo where I will live with a family and study for two more weeks. It´s a good way to pass a couple of weeks until Wendy´s arrival and won´t cost much more than if I just hung out in Quito doing nothing. It´s also better because I´m interested in learning what traditional Ecuadorian life is like and comparing it with Costa Rican life.
Lots of Internet access, so if you want to talk to me, let me know. Talking to people from home is a good way to pass the holiday season.
Happy Thanksgiving and may good fortune find all of you as it has found me this year.
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