So on the day that shall remain unknown, we headed south from Tamarindo with our destination about 60 miles south at a small place called Manzillo beach. We wanted to get there in good time, before dark and had been told tat the coast road would take us all day and with Hannah needing to stop for feeds we decided on the quicker inland road. But after about 2 and ½ hours drive we came across a workman in the road who told us the road was closed for at least the next 3hours. So the choice was to find an alternate route or wait. We turned around and headed cross country into the dusty, windy, bumpy, hilly rural back country ‘roads’. For some unknown reason GPS mapping doesn’t work very well over here. I think it’s because the roads haven’t been mapped properly (Google have never sent a Google mapping car to Costa Rica – check a map out and there is no street view, even in the cities) so when you are driving down a bumpy badly signed windy road and the ‘Waze’ app basically dies and tells you nothing, you know you are away from normal life. We had to stop a number of times to check or guess which direction to take. Then we started to hit rivers. After 3 River crossings the 4th one was deep enough for us to send Buffy first on foot and when she paddled up to her knees to cross it, we knew we were probably OK to drive through.
Eventually after 2 hours of the worst roads, we hit the town of Esperanza, which consisted of nothing except road and then Cobano, which was a town with people and dogs, where we found out why the road had been closed. A lovely deep dark brand new road been laid over the last few days and we were lucky enough to drive on it – For about a mile, before the roads to our destination got worse again and we settled down for another 45 minutes uncomfortable ride.
Imagine an out of control massage chair with long pointy bolts and UK style 3pin plugs instead of soft plush leather, massaging you badly and randomly in all the places you don’t want to be massaged in. Then every few seconds a 67 year old Venezuelan garbage truck driver reverses his truck into the side of your uncomfortable chair, nearly throwing you out of your torture seat forcing the bolts and plugs further into your sore arse and other areas! Then to make matters worse a school teacher from Victorian England gets his cane and jabs you in the gut, the ribs and bangs your head. Also your wrists have been tied to a washing machine by a Peruvian llama farmer, the machine has had the weight removed from the bottom, so it jumps round a the room shaking every last bit of strength from your weakening grasp Lastly, the whole thing take place during a bad earthquake so the whole chair is shaking constantly, but not in time with the washing machine, so that your eyeballs rattle in your head and your brain smashes against the inside of your skull. That’s what some of these roads feel like – until Buffy sees a monkey up a tree and leaps in front of you pointing to the sky shouting ‘Monkey, Monkey, Monkey’, then you stop, laugh and look in wonder as a small ape takes a shit while it eats a Mango. Nature at its finest and just a couple of feet away through an open window.
We did arrive on time at a restaurant overlooking a beautiful beach and the Pacific where we were due to meet the caretaker of the property where we are staying. The tide was in and so the ocean crashed on the beach just a couple of feet from the dusty trace we drove along following the caretaker, Gabriel, until he turned up another steep windy track leading us to our destination. The Zen cottage. An amazing self built lodge perched on top of a hill overlooking the ocean, with a huge sky above and views right to the horizon. It has an outdoor kitchen and a teak deck surround the building, which has floor to ceiling windows front and back. It’s gorgeous and our home for the next 3 days.
Once settled we took a drive around to the nearest town - A hippy dippy surfing haven called St Theresa where one dusty road leads you through a small town of yoga retreats and surf schools. Tanned topless surfers ride bikes with surfboards under their arms and hippy new age women stroll along with peaceful smiles until the other surfers who prefer noisy, dirty, quad bikes speed past and fill their minty clean nostrils with clay coloured dust. It’s a strange place with the mix of dirt and noise and promises of peace and fulfillment crossing paths beside the odd nightclub and dance bar and street mannequin resplendent in dusty sequined bikini. I don’t know if we like it or not, but we do like what we see on the way back to the lodge. We drive along the coast, again with the sea lapping up against the trees next to the road just to our left. The sun was about to set and so we stopped and watched a while as an almost alien like super bright huge red sun dropped so quickly beyond the horizon, again on a beach with just a couple of other people. It was quite beautiful and a wonderful end to an adventurous day. The Zen was getting to me and words like Bliss, Omm and Tranquil started to pop into my bonedome
We had a nice evening on the deck, having a quiet drink whilst listening to the ocean below. A small grey cat appeared from nowhere and sat with us enjoying the peace and tranquility. It watched us eat a snack and joined in with our chat about the stars and the cabin. It was very friendly and later the next day she enjoyed being patted by Hannah whilst relaxing in the sunshine. We nicknamed the cat Susan….
Just after 5am, Hannah woke up and as she was at the end of our bed she spent a while watching me and Buffy whilst making cute little noises. Then when we didn’t get up she started to remove her own poop filled diaper knowing that we couldn’t let her do so. And so we were up and about by 5.30am and with nothing else to do, got a bit of breakfast and headed to he beach just a couple of minutes away, arriving well before 7. I love beaches and this was one of the best – A wide expanse of sand, lovely warm waves and absolutely no one else there except for a couple of fishing boats that had been pushed into sea earlier in the morning and a friendly, wise old dog wearing a sun bleached bandana around his old muscled shoulders. He was a good dog who let Hannah play with his hair and loved to chase after a thrown tic, before lying down for a rest under the nearest palm tree. We nicknamed him Jon…
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| Jon the friendly dog |
The day was going to get worse however as because Hannah was up early, she would need to sleep early too, so plans were rearranged and she was back in bed by 8.30. Then after a feed we headed out to try and find a waterfall and fresh water pool on a beach about an hour away. Hannah had another sleep and after refueling the car we discovered a couple of place to visit the next day before heading towards a place called Montezuma for lunch. Without signs or an real direction, we found ourselves heading once again, off-road down skinny dirt roads and just guessing directions. Miraculously, we came across a larger cleaner shit road and took that westwards, before Montezuma appeared in front of us. This place was just gorgeous. A tiny little town, with a steep steep hill leading down to one road about 200 metres long. At each end of this road is a stunning Bay and beach. Just imagine a perfect setting for sunbathing and swimming in a warm ocean and you have the right idea. We found a lovely little restaurant and sat in awe at the place we had discovered. There were about 5 people on the beach and we could see for at least a mile across the bay. For the 2nd time in 6 hours, my idea of the perfect beach had been beaten.
After lunch we walked about 20 minutes south along the beach to find our goal - Piedra Colorado – The little freshwater pool, on the beach, being fed by a cascading waterfall. Unfortunately, due to the dry season, the waterfall was more of a dribble, but the pool was real and cool and we spent a while refreshing our sweaty bodies with a cool dip and chatting with a couple of the other lucky people who found their way there. Right next to the pool is a small garden like area where the tradition is to build yourself a rock tower Balancing rocks and stones atop each other, to celebrate ‘Jake’, the local who started the rock sculpture garden years ago. Again, it’s all a bit of hippy dippy bollocks but a fun way to spend a bright, sunny, beautiful, day.
Hannah caught up on her sleep on the bumpy drive back to Manzillo (I have no idea how that baby sleeps on these torture roads) and after yet another super sunset that we both agreed felt like being on Tattoine with Luke Skywalker, we headed to our home to relax for the evening.
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| The sun looks like it was wearing sunglasses....cool |
Susan was around again and spent the evening perched on top of the rail that surrounds the deck, until Buffy discovered a big green insect that looked like a leaf on the teak floorboards. Somehow the creature gained entry into the lodge and we wanted it to get out, so it didn’t die and also so it didn’t disturb our sleep later. We managed to shoo it outside ad then , Susan appeared and stamped on it with her right front paw, before opening her mouth and chowing down on the poor beastie. A few bone crunching bites later and the leaf insect was merely two wings pointing out of each side of the cats mouth, looking like new style whiskers for a very happy feline. We felt a little bad about the murderous act we had witnessed, but now we know that Susan has a dark side to her we might think twice about Hannah sharing her Cheerios in the morning!
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| Nice creature...... |
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| EATEN BY THE DEVIL CAT!! |
The next day was another adventure. We had heard of another waterfall, this one was supposedly bigger and crashed down Onto rocks when the ocean tide was out, but actually cascaded onto the ocean when the tide was in. We knew roughly where it was from yesterday’s adventure and so today we headed towards Tambor Beach to try and find it. After lunch we went off-road again (Yeah I know that these roads aren’t off-road, but how else can I describe how bad they are? Ideas on a postcard please.) toward the cliffs that overlook the ocean here, but alas, we were prevented Rom going further by a manned gate for a private club and hotel. We took a right turn and discovered that you could simply drive around the edge of the fence and onto the club grounds – so we did. We drove right past reception and past some stunning cliff top houses that must be worth millions – really strange to see these houses with manicured green lawns, just a mile or two from the shacks with palms for roofs that some of the locals live in. We didn’t find the waterfall here though, just a couple of dead ends and so, we headed back to the public roads and spotted a tiny sign sitting under a tree that read - waterfall – with an arrow pointing East. A few minutes later and we parked the car, clambered through a hole In a fence followed the sound of water until we came across a small green oasis with a stream hurling itself off volcanic rocks down to the ocean.
At first it looked like we could go no further as the rocks were steep and dangerous and we didn’t want to risk climbing down with Hannah. But after a proper look around we found hidden path that allowed to not only get down to the rocks next to the waterfall, but to get below it and into the freshwater pool that mixes with the saltwater ocean.
As we climbed down, handing Hannah between us, we noticed movement on the rocks, but had to look carefully to see what it was. Thousands of crabs, some tiny and others as big as your hand, running to get away from their human invaders. They even jumped between rocks to get away. Weirdly, when I had passed them, they stayed hidden, but if I looked behind me, there were still hundreds exactly where I had been standing. I worked out that they had in fact hidden inside the dark grey rock and reappeared once I had passed.
We spent a little while here enjoying the spray of the falls before returning before the incoming sea made it impossible to escape back up the cliffs. Once again though, my idea of a perfect beach had been blown away.
in other and completely unconnected news, Hannah is a seagull as well as a talking baby... maybe 'dada', will be next after 'mama'.
This was our last full day on the Nicoya Peninsula and we are a little sad about it. If you have ever been somewhere that looks like it should be in a movie or feels like going back in time then you must have been here. In all our travels we have both never felt like we do here. It’s a different planet – Pristine wide long beautiful beaches only accessible by dirty hard, gravel potholed tracks. The journey is definitely worth it. We know that this place won’t last like this for ever. There are already good cell phone signals here and we are sure the at some point in the future someone will come with money, buy the land owned by the friendly fisherman and build a resort hotel. If you look at Cancun and the coast south of it you see resort after resort after resort. I went there in 1990 with the army on adventure training and south of Cancun was just beach and fishermen. We actually stayed in a little community, sleeping on the beach and going snorkeling with the locals while they fished. But that has all gone now.
I hope the same doesn’t happen here. I want the roads to stay almost impassable and the locals to welcome the intrepid travelers who take the reasonably hard journey and get here to see the Costa Rica like it is now. The only places I have been that feel this remote and timeless are a couple of the beaches we found on the West Coast of Australia, long long uncomfortable drives away from big towns and cities. We are tourists here at the moment, but it kind of feels like we are time travelers, looking back to how things were 60 or 70 years ago. We like it a lot.
That was all written early yesterday before our journey back to reality. Not Real reality,. But vacation reality. We planned 36 hours back near Sam Jose, before we head south along the Pacific Coast. So, yesterday we drove back to the city via the Ferry that links the peninsula and the centre of Costa Rica. The ferry was madness as hundreds of people queued to get on board on a stifling hot day. Hannah enjoyed her first ferry ride and was even given a biscuit by a nice local. She makes friends wherever she goes and we have been shown multiple photos of local babies and children by friendly locals. She also enjoyed plying with me through a window.... which was hilarious!
After the ferry we hit normal roads again – stop start, Traffic jam filled highways with trucks and bikes and all kinds of people sat in hot cars waiting for the lights to change or traffic to clear. We sat and wished to be back on the terrible empty bumpy roads that we now MISS. We hated them but want to go back now.. ain’t things weird eh! I think it's the feeling of an adventure that we really liked...
So now, we are currently sitting in a lovely apartment with outdoor pool, getting all our dusty clothes washed and repacking the bags for part two of our tour of Costa Rica. Bez, our rental car was dropped off early this morning and we collect another one tomorrow for the journey south. Our original plan was to get a rental car for a few weeks and then travel by bus, but after consideration of having a crazy adventure baby and the enjoyment from moving using our own steam by cr, we decided on a second car. So the first took us north and west. The second takes us south and East.... More adventures await.....
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