San Jose

This morning we had to catch an early flight to San Jose. The 15 minute cab ride from Tulemar to Quepos International Airport was $20 USD.  Quepos International Airport looked more like a cafe with a gate which we had to pay $2 USD per person to get in. There was only one runway.  We sat in an 15 seater plane that flew over a mountain range and then 25 minutes later we were in San Jose.

San Jose was much cooler than the coast.  If I wasn't standing in the sun I needed a hoodie.  It was kind of nice actually.  I don't know if I love the feeling of stickiness all the time.  We took the hotel shuttle and checked into our hotel first which was very close to the pedestrian only portion of Avenida Central.  San Jose was much like any other Hustling bustling large city.  We wanted to buy some souvenirs for Drake so we wondered down Avenida Central to find Mercado Central. Mercado was a large indoor market that sold souvenirs, house wear like pots and pan, T-shirts, dry goods, sausages, and seafood. We made several rounds of the market and did not find anything we liked.  They all seemed very cheesy and generic.We might have better luck at the airport tomorrow.

In the middle of the market there were little stalls of food vendors.  The waitresses were not shy about trying to get you into their very cramped stalls for a quick meal.  Our waitress waived us down from 20 feet away.  We sat down at a large table with 10 other people which made it easy for me to check out what other people were eating. Everything looked really yummy.

There was no spare room at all.  I held my back pack in my lap during the entire meal.  The menu was mostly in English.  I ordered a pork chop rice dish and coco smoothie which I had thought was a coconut smoothie but turned out to be a chocolate smoothie. Not complaining.  The food came out fast behind a kitchen that was the size of my cubical at work.  The waitress first brought me a small sauce dish of white stuff.  It tasted like rice pudding with cinnamon. Very sweet, so I didn't finish it. Second "course" was a bowl of beef soup, I think. It was a bit salty, nevertheless it was very tasty. I finished it with enthusiasm and thought about asking for second bowl but my Spanish is poor and I didn't know how to ask. It turned out to be a good thing since my main course was a large plate of pork chop on a bed of fried rice, fries and salad. It was so delicious that Greg who had already eaten at McDonalds an hour ago was picking at my plate.  The bill was was 4800 colones ($9.6USD)

After my big lunch, we continued to stroll down Avendia Central and stopped at Plaza de la Cultura Park.  Since it was a Saturday there were a lot of families with kids gathered here.  There were also face painters, toy vendors, and people dressed up as Micky, Minnie, Winnie the Pooh and Eeyore to entertained the kids. Of course, watching the kids play reminded of us of Drake.

We went back to hotel to FaceTime with Drake and took a nap.  I love vacation naps.  Unfortunately, time on vacation also goes by faster too.  Before we knew it, it was already dinner time.  We reseached for a good place and settled on Tin Jo, an Asian fusion restaurant about 3 blocks south. The menu offered Chinese, South Asian and Indian cuisine.  We had noodle soup and Thai Chicken curry in an Indian inspired room. Being from Vancouver it wasn't the best Chinese and Thai food we ever had, but it was a nice refreshing change from the 12 day long casado meals. 

On route back to the hotel we stopped by the Panaderia y Reposteria Jary at the corner of Ave. 1 and Calle 11 to pick up some dessert.  It was hard to decide on which one.  I picked a cannoli looking pastry with nuts on the ends and Greg went with a donut (he is very original).  I don't remember how much they cost, but it wasn't much.

We had a early night in since our flight tomorrow was another early one with a 7 hour layover in LA.  I survived my 12 day vacation without Drake.  I missed him so much despite FaceTiming with him everyday.  I can't wait to see him and hope he remembers his mommy.

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Location:11 Street,San Jose,Costa Rica

Manuel Antonio National Park

Since we didn't' have much luck finding animals on the hiking trail yesterday we got up really early to check out the national park.  We arrived at the park entrance shortly after 8.  After we paid our entrance fee of $10USD we were approached by guides carrying large telescopes.  They offered guided tours and started with $20 per person.  As we got closer to the park gate, it had dropped down to $50 for all 6 of us.  We stilled declined.

There was a main trail that led to the beach. It was still very quiet with few tourists. We tried to walk and look up for animals at the same time. Harder than you think. Now we understood why the guides carried telescopes. It was hard to see anything through the thick bush and tall trees.  People told us to go to park early since the animals were most active in the morning.  That was a lie, we saw no animals.

The beach was nice, much like the private beach we had at Tulemar.  We found a patch of shad to hang and went for a dip in the ocean.   We joked it was not quite show time yet for the animals and that's why we haven't seen any.   Around 9:30 out of the trees 4 or 5 white faced monkeys ran onto the beach.  They were immediately surrounded by tourists snapping their pictures. These fast little buggers were probably doing a quick ground sweep for any food left behind.  Before you knew, they were back onto the high tree branches beyond anyone's reach. 

The potential of food also attracted a couple of raccoons.  They were small like Poncho, but definitely more handsy than him.  They tried to steal our suntan lotion!

 

More and more people were making their way to the beach now. We decided to retreat and took the main trail back to the main gate. The trail was now packed with tourists.  Tourists who paid for guides and these guides were pointing out animals hiding in the bushes. All we had to do was look in the same direction.  There were a mother sloth and her baby, but they were so far up in the tree so all we could see was a shadow or two.  We were out of the park by 10:30AM.  Before we hopped into our taxi to head back, I had to grab a fresh coconut for the road.  I had a lot cerviche, but not enough coconut on this trip.  It was terribly overpriced at $2USD, but it was getting hot and that coconut really hit the spot!

Instead of going back to the hotel we got the taxi to drop us off at El Avion, a restaurant and bar built around an old war plane.  There was a full bar inside the fuselage.  At the back of the restaurant was a dining room that overlooked the ocean.  Our plan was to have lunch here, but it didn't open until noon. 

We got up too early to wait another hour for lunch, so we moved onto Cafe Milagro.  I ordered the cerviche again. So good!  I must find a good cerviche place in Vancouver or I might suffer some serious withdrawal.

After lunch, we went back to Tulemar and took a 3 hour nap in our bungalow.   Dinner time we went with our conceirge's recommendation and went to Barba Roja (Red Beard) for BBQ ribs night.  The rib ($21USD) dinner complete with 3 sides were big enough to feed a small family so we shared the ribs and an order of party steak nachos platter between the four of us.  The nachos were the best I have had I think.  The thick and gooey cheese really made a huge difference.  Nachos in Canada were always short on the cheese.  I didn't think Costa Rica would be a food vacation, but it was definitely turning into one.

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Location:Manual Antonio

"I'm on a boat!"

Last night we were ambitious and had planned to get up early today. But we had a such long day yesterday, we slept in. Around 9:30AM, we walked down to the hiking trail by the beach in hopes to find some wildlife.  We haven't even made it half way to the trail.  I spotted a small yellow squirrel monkey in a big tree above us.  Then they all started to come out, jumping from branch to branch and eating leaves. These squirrel monkeys were really cute and tiny with white faces and black eyes and mouths. I really wanted to keep one for a pet. 

After 20 minutes of gawking at the monkeys doing monkey business we headed for the hiking trail excited for more animal activities. The trail wasn't very difficult and took about 20 to 25 minutes to complete. There was a view point of the harbour which was similar to what we get at our bungalow.  We didn't see any animals, not even an iguana.  It looked like we have to make a trip to the national park tomorrow.  We worked our way to the beach and were told yesterday there was a sloth hanging around one of the trees on the beach.  We held little hope that the sloth would still be there today but to our surprise it was still there snoozing away.

Then we heard howling in the distance.  Down the other end of the beach there were two howler monkeys way up in some tall trees.  By their very loud sounds I thought they would be way bigger, but they were only slightly bigger than regular monkeys.

We got back to the bungalow around 11 to get ready for our inshore fishing trip in the afternoon.  Greg really wanted to go fishing on this trip so we rented a boat from Mar 1 Sport Fishing.   The four burly New York guys we ATV'ed yesterday recommended it to us.  They had been on a week long fishing vacation with Mar 1.

We rented the boat for $950 USD for about 5 hours. We met up with Mark at the marina just before noon.  Mark was the owner of the boat and was also a fellow Canuck. We grabbed a few snacks for the trip before we hopped on the Reel-In.  The Reel-In was a 36' Bertram with a fully air conditioned cabin, complete with two bedrooms, full bathroom and shower.  Of course we didn't spend too much time inside.  Included with this rental, was a fridge full of soft drinks and beers.  It was emptied by the time we got off.

Because we made the booking on a short notice we had to troll around the harbour for an hour looking for bait first. The ladies didn't mind. We hung out on the top deck blasting music from our iPods and gossiping about celebrities. After catching 15 sardines for bait, we were off to the deeper water to fish for our dinner.  The boys caught a small seabass and jackfish right away.  Seabass we kept and threw back the jackfish since it was not a good fish to eat.  The boys were optimist we will catch plenty for dinner, however their fishing luck stopped at the bass.  They caught two barracudas and half dozen of the jackfish.  

Despite the lack of fish for dinner we still had a great time on the boat.  We returned back to the marina just before dusk.  We packed up our one lonely bass and found a restaurant called Santana's in downtown Quepos to cook it up (at a slight discount than the menu price).  When I handed the waitress our bass, her eyes opened wide and asked "just one?"  Yes, I smiled.  The bass came back to us beautifully grilled.  Each of us took about two bites.  The crispy shell and tender meat just melted in our mouths.  So glad we didn't just abandoned it.

Again for the third night in a row we OCD'd the seating arrangement at dinner and all it was missing was Mel Gibson at the next table.

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Location:Manual Antonio

Ziplining, ATVing and a friendly Raccoon

The past two days we hadn't really done much other than eat cerviche and fried plantain and hang out on the beach.  I had grown a bit restless, I needed to do stuff!  So last night we had our concierge Edourdo book us a ziplining tour with El Santuario for $75USD per person.  It has 11 lines in total including the longest ziplines in Central America at almost 1 mile long.  A van came to pick us up at Tulemar at 7:00AM.  There was a 10AM tour as well but we thought it would be way too hot.  We arrived at El Santuario's camp in the middle of the tropical bush around 8AM and put on our gear.  After a short demonstration and safety talk we were off to our first line. There were about 4 or 5 guides that helped us clip on and clip off each line.  I can tell they were very experienced and are very safe.  The first line was what I considered a warm up line.  It was short and not too high off the "ground" (maybe 10 feet)m the ground being the top of the bush.  The scariest part was always the first step off.  After that, it was like the swing ride at the fairgrounds, but the major difference was, we got an awesome top view of the deep jungle instead of the round and round view of the hotdog or mini donut stand and teenage carnies.

As we got deeper into the jungle the noise of the cicadas got louder.  We practically had to yell at each other.  On the 2nd or 3rd line we had the option to ride the line upside down, I didn't utilize this option.  The 7 or 8th line was the longest line.  As I saw the first person launched off it seemed like he was going forever to reach to the other side.  When it was my turn, I was filled with excitement.  I relaxed my back and took in the incredible view that came into my sight but as I zipped more into the open air the wind picked up.  I was twisted to the left quite a bit.  I had to steer my handle bar hard to make sure I didn't end up spinning too much.  It took close to two minutes to reach the other side.  While waiting for others to finish we were served watermelon (my fav btw).

At the beginning of the tour, our guide told us there was a surprise at the end.  I was imagining a big ice cream sundae waiting for me. It was getting really hot. When we approached the10th line (second last line)  I could tell it was a steep one which meant this was going to be a fast one.  Our guide told us it could go up to 55 miles per hour. Yikes. I guess that's the surprise?  A bit anti climatic I thought.  Greg went before me.  I wooed at the speed as I reached the other end.

Greg standing at the platform stared at me and asked: notice anything?
I looked around and shook my head.
There is no way down except straight down, Greg said.
WHAT? I gasped.  Then I noticed a rope hanging straight down.  I carefully approached the edge and saw one of guides 30 feet below getting ready to receive us.  There was really no other way to get down!

I watched Greg get clipped in and got lowered down to the bottom.  When it was my turn, I said to myself it looked ok, not that bad. At least I didn't have repel down myself.  Again the step off from the platform was the scariest. I was disappointed though the big surprise at the end wasn't the ice cream sundae.

We were served Pollo (Chicken) Gallo Pinto lunch after we returned to the camp. By noon we headed back to Manuel Antonio.

While we were gone in the morning our friends who stayed behind booked an ATV tour for us at 2PM. In Santa Teresa ATVs could be rented by the hour and driven around without a guide, however in Manuel Antonio area ATVs were only offered as part of a guided tour for $95USD for single and $125USD for double.  Only the guys were interested and I decided to hang with the boys while the other ladies hit the beach.

I didn't get my own ATV, I just hung on to Greg.  That was probably a good idea considering we were also joined by four very burly guys from New York with very thick and noticeable accent.  It was Greg's first time ATVing.  The other guys were all experienced if not very well experienced.  Greg did a really good job keeping up with them, especially with me strapped to his back. The whole experience was very testosterone-y.

We zipped through mud puddles and kicked up dirt through some patches of the jungle, dirt roads, and small hills.  We also drove through a few vast river beds with very low tide but they were not low enough for a van and a car to drive through.  The boys had to rescue the car out of the water with me and the car owner's wife and daughter watching nervously.   By the time we reached  the La Selvita Waterfall it was almost dusk.  The water was very cold compared to the warm bath-like ocean water. We didn't spend too much time at the waterfall before heading for dinner.  I was surprised that we were getting a meal.  Oh well, I love to eat even if it was just the standard fair of rice, bean and chicken with salad.  We ate at what seemed to be another zipline camp.  There was a line strung right across from where we ate to the other side of the parking lot.  I was a little relieved we went with El Santuario in the morning.

After dinner we drove the ATV down the hill and back to the ATV depot.  A van took us back to the hotel close to 7PM.  It was a fun filled day but I couldn't wait to shower the sweat and mud off me.  While I was in the shower I can hear the girls who had just came back from the beach giggling about a little friend they had made.  Then I heard Greg through the bathroom door "Faye, hurry up, there is a raccoon named Poncho in our livingroom!". 

Did I hear that correctly?  A raccoon?  I rushed to get dressed and opened the bathroom door.  Then I saw a bandit like creature pitter-patter across our living room. My first instinct was to step back a few steps and gasped, there is a raccoon in the living room, stating the obvious.  Everyone laughed at my response.  "This is Poncho who the gate security guards adopted a few days ago.  He is super friendly and affectionate towards to people which is actually kind of odd for a raccoon."  Someone explains.  Poncho has been hanging out on the beach with the guests all day long.  I was fascinated.  I followed around this little guy as he explored our rooms, partially because I still didn't fully trust he would not steal something.

 

After Poncho had a full tour of every corner of our bungalow and played with a bowl of water he left to hang out with the staff.  Under Edouardo's recommendation we went to Kukula Seafood restaurant in Quepos for dinner.  For those who is keeping tabs, this would be dinner #2 for me.  I was going to just order some appetizers but the menu had so many month watering dishes I ended up with the grill whole (small) snapper for $12 USD!  It was soooo fresh and yummy even afterwards I had to be rolled out the restaurant.

By the way, we OCD'd the seating arrangement at dinner again as we did at Shambala two nights.  Again all it was missing was Mel Gibson at the next table.

Road to Manual Antonio

We got picked up at our hotel early in the morning by the shuttle van we had previously arranged with Zuma Tours for $72 USD per person.  Destination - Manual Antonio National Park. There were other shuttle companies that were cheaper, but they took 6 hours instead of 4 hours and had to utilize the public ferry like the one I took earlier in the week to get to Santa Teresa.

The shuttle van dropped us off at Montezuma beach where we got ferried away to Tortuga Island just a few days ago.  Zuma Tours had their own boat to take us across to Jaco and then to Manual Antonio.  I was happy to be on the water since it was much cooler with the ocean breeze in my face. 

When we reached Jaco, I had a watermelon break before we hopped into another shuttle van that took us through the town of Quepos and then to Manual Antonio up the hill from Quepos.  Before we knew it, we had arrived at Tulemar Bungalows.  Tulemar was located on a very large property on the side of what I can only describe it as a cliff!  They have a courtsey van that will drive you to up and down to the pool or your bungalow or their private beach.  They are the only hotel in the Manual Antonio area with a private beach.  Actually all beaches in Costa Rica are public, however this beach was enclosed and can only be access if you were a hotel guest or you took a boat or kayaka in.  I felt very exclusive.

Tulemar was part hotel and part vacation home.  Our bungalow wasn't ready when we arrived around noon. so we were introduced to our concierge Edouardo and given a tour of the property.  Then we made a beeline to the beach and had lunch at the beach bar and restaurant.  I don't know what it was about the beach but it was so difficult to leave once we were here!  Aside from beach towels, Tulemar also offered boogie boards and kayaks for guests to use.  One of our friends even made use of the beach buckets and sand castle making toys.

Although it was ready for hours, we didn't check into our "Spider Monkey" one bedroom bungalow until almost dinner time.  The bungalow offered a panoramic view of the ocean beyond the lush tropical forest.  It also came with a complete kitchen, dining table, and large wicker sofa (perfect spot for watching sunrise or sunset).

                            (little visitors hanging out outside)                      (Infinity Pool)

Our bungalow was also conveniently located next to the infinity pool and restaurant.  After a quick shower, we made it in time for happy hour which turned into dinner.  We decided to also resume our seating arrangement at dinner as we did at Shambala the previous night for whatever OCD reason.  All it was missing was Mel Gibson at the next table.

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Beach Bumming and Mel Gibson

What a night! And another morning we can sleep in and enjoy a late breakfast, but the sad part was we had to say good bye.  Most of the wedding guests were leaving today.  One the bright side, there were 8 of us who were all heading to Manual Antonio tomorrow.

After breakfast, we packed our bags and say goodbye to Villas Hermosa and moved into a hotel in town for just tonight.  This was going to be an uneventful party recovery day.  We hung out at the beach at Tropico Latino hotel for the rest of the day.  We didn't want to move and even inquired if we could have our dinner on the beach.  When the restaurant said no, we reluctantly moved our bodies 20 feet inland to their dining table.

Tropico Latino's inhouse restaurant was called Shambala. There were not too many guests tonight. Drinks and appetizers were order, then I gasped and blurred out loudly "I think that is Mel Gibson.  OMG, that is definitely Mel Gibson". I was certain he heard me saying his name, probably really annoyed.  I have always wondered if I was a paparazzi in my previous life.  I have an eagle eye for celebrities and have spotted many in Vancouver including in a dark movie theatre.  My table mates didn't believe me at first.  But I was sure, bushy white and grey beard or not!  Mr. Gibson was with a little girl who could've been his daughter, a couple of ladies and an older gentleman.  It all looked like a family dinner.  Our group carried on with our dinner and didn't disturb Mr. Gibson.  In fact, the entire restaurant didn't bother them.  The excited wait staff was a little too giggly though.

The one thing that would fail me as a paparazzi was I don't like going up to a celebrity to ask for autograph or picture, especially if he or she was with their family. That is why I have no picture to prove Mel Gibson was there and ate 10 feet away from me.

So much for an uneventful day!

Beach Wedding

Today is wedding day eve. Although we didn't have a crazy late night out, I slept in.  One of the benefit of traveling without Drake.  I rolled into breakfast just before ten.  Watermelon, Gallo Pinto (rice and beans), and eggs with hot sauce - breakfast of champions.  The bride and I hung out on the beach for a little while before heading into town for her manicure, hair, and makeup trial.

The salon was located in the new strip mall according to directions.  We nearly miss it.  It was a very tiny strip with about 5 store front.  Two were occupied.  The salon shared the space with a very cute clothing boutique.  Its owner was French who has fabulous taste. As I waited for the Bride to do her thing with the hairdresser, the other bridesmaid and I browsed the racks.  I was very lucky everything sold there only came in XS and S.  The other bridesmaid was not so lucky.  She did some damage to her wallet.

During our first hour in the salon the electricity went out.  By hour two we were getting a little delirious from the heat.  Thank God, by hour three the AC came back on.  By the time we returned to Villas Hermosa, Greg had arrived from Vancouver.  The groom and his boys were on their bachelor party in Jaco came back too.  It seemed like they had a great time.  Hmm... I felt even more guilty.

We did a quick rehearsal on the beach around 4PM.  Then we were off to rehearsal dinner at Brisas del Mar.  This restaurant was located high above everything in area with an unobstructed view of the ocean.  The road leading up to it was steep when the taxi backed up I thought we were rolling backwards and let out a high pitch squeal.  Not my finest moment.  We sat down on the patio just before the spectacular sunset.  The menu of cerviche and seared tuna were delicious and the company was even more delicious.  This was going to be an awesome wedding.

We all went to bed early tonight.

The wedding day! The ladies got up early to get ready, but nothing was frantic.  We took our time.  It was all relaxing until it was show time.  The bride and groom took their wedding photos before the ceremony.  As the maid of honour, I followed the bride around holding her dress.  Actually, most of the time I was hiding behind trees to make sure I didn't photobomb their romantic wedding photos.

The bride looked truly ravishing, like a movie star.  The groom looked very handsome in his custom made linen suit.  A pair to be envied for sure.

I have been to many weddings before but this was my first beach wedding.  I walked out to 20 some wedding guests in bare feet decked out in foot jewelry.

 
Held on the beach under a small bamboo arch and performed by bride and groom's friends, the ceremony was short, sweet, and witty.  The stunning ocean backdrop was exactly how one would imagine a beach wedding would look like. 

  

Cocktail hour was followed by the ceremony which coincided with sunset.  As night fall hit, the lights and candles illuminated the beach. Yes, the reception was on the beach too. 

I survived the speech portion of the night and ate my way through the midnight table full of coconut mango cake and empanadas.  Maybe this was really cliche to say but I felt I was in a movie. Next to a massive bonfire, we danced the night away.  My only complain was I was really hot.  All the dancing didn't help.  I had occasionally go into the villas to get some AC and the first chance I got I changed into my shorts and tank top.

A Girl's Day Out

The wedding booked out all of the 4 villas Villas Hermosa had to offer. We had the whole property (including the POOL) to ourselves. The villas were owned by Tara and Brad from Calgary who also lived on the property. So ok, besides them, their two kids and three dogs, we had the whole property to ourselves.

The first day of my arrival, after dinner and Skyping with Drake I was in bed by 9PM (Vancouver time 7PM). 7:30AM the next day was the bachelorette party I had organized for the bride as one of my Maid of Honour duties. We got shuttled off to Montezuma and then a boat ride to Tortuga Island for a day of snorkelling and beach time. The all day tour cost $55 USD per person plus $15 USD for transportation with the Zuma Tours (zumatours.com). We were total of 6 girls and negotiated a 10% off deal.

We started with two back-to-back snorkeling swims around the smaller islands surrounds Tortuga Island. I saw a lot of fish, but the water was not the clearest I have seen. The most exciting thing I saw was a small spotted sting ray. After the Great Barrier Reef, nothing can really compare to be honest. Between snorkeling, we were fed pineapple and watermelon. Oh yeah, beers were included.

We headed to Tortuga Island for lunch after snorkeling. Lunch was the usual local fair of rice and beans with fish. The fish was overcooked, but still tasty since we were all exerted from all that swimming around looking at fishes. The crew cut up a really old coconut as "dessert". I absolutely love coconut, so I didn't mind.

After lunch the girls frolicked in the bath water like ocean and sunbathed on the white sandy beach. It was surprising how tiring a day in the sun can be though. By the time we headed back to our villas at 4PM we were ready for another nap in the comfortable air conditioned rooms. No nap for me, I was scrambling trying to figure out our night out on the town. I also had not thought about Drake too much expect for when I stared at a little boy running around Tortuga beach. I can almost hear Greg saying to me: stop being creepy.

Flora Blanca was a beautifully hidden restaurant. In fact, I find most restaurants and hotels in this area had very unassuming facade with a "I wonder what's down there" brushed stone path. Then viola! There was a wooden rustic ranch style outdoor eating oasis next to a mosaic pool. The menu was tapa style. We shared about 8 dishes amongst about 9 girls. I was surprisingly full considering I had about 1 or 2 bites of maybe 6 or 7 dishes.

We wrapped up dinner. Now it was time to really time to party! It was a bachelorette party after all. I had been really really nervous about this part of the night. Me and the other bridesmaids emailed and asked around where was a good place to party on this fine Friday night and we got many different answers. The internet said Day and Night Beach Club, but Tara told us it was shut downtown long time ago. Some said Kika a restaurant bar, but it was only popular on Thursdays. We were also told party locations sometimes move around. Brad said we could try the La Lora. We even asked about "male entertainment". Brad laughed and said the guy named Gustavo who owns La Lora was it. Gustavo was apparently a very muscular stalky man. The whole thing was really weird. We were starting to realize, Santa Teresa was more known for it's yoga retreats and laid back attitude. People don't come here looking for wild night life.

But this was a Friday night after all! I refused to believe there was nothing going on. We decided to hit up La Lora first. Who knows maybe we will run into Gustavo. It was a only a short ten minute walk. We could hear the music blasting as we approached. The dark and seedy entrance of the club was looking very lonely and only trolled by a couple of taxi drivers. They hollered at us "taxi, you need a taxi?" This was not a scene of a happening club. We circled and contemplated what to do. Then three American guys walked out. We asked them how it was in there, they laughed and there was no one in there but they were very interested in hanging with a gaggle of 9 women. "But it is all what you make it of it. We can set the tone!" they hopefully suggested. We were not interested in setting any tones. I actually didn't think they were slimy guys, I think they were equally disappointed as us at the none existing night life.

We decided to move on and continue to walk down the main road (the only road). It was midnight. The road was dead, no one was walking on it just the occasional taxi zipping by, kicking up dust in our faces. This was definitely a scene from a comedy movie. There was no point eating any more dust, we got a friend to come and pick us up. At this point we had also lost half of our crew citing tiredness. As our final effort we drove down further down the road and through the other end of town. There was nothing, only a guy sitting in the dark by the beach with his pack of beers. I felt like a failure as the maid of honour.  We had to call it a night.

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Location:Mal Pais, Santa Teresa

Road to Santa Teresa

My flight to San Jose, Costa Rica ended up landed early and customs was very quick as well as luggage pick up.  I needed to wait around for my two friends who were arriving from Guatemala and then we immediately caught a taxi to the Airport Denny's where we would be catching our shuttle. I know, who'd have thought?  The taxi driver told us there were actually two Denny's in San Jose, the other one was downtown.

The taxi was $3USD.  The US dollar is widely accepted here, especially on the tourist path. I didn't exchange any Costa Rica currency which were called Colones and had no idea what was the exchange rate was.  We waited for our shuttle bus at Denny's to go to Mal Pais, Santa Teresa on the west coast of Costa Rica where the wedding is taking place.  A domestic flight from Sansa Air or Nature Air to Tambor Airport would've taken only about half hour with another 45 minute taxi ride to Santa Teresa which would have cost about another $50 USD.  My shuttle cost me $59 USD (booked on anywherecostarica.com) and was about 5 to 6 hours. I won't be getting a lot of time in Santa Teresa so the ride will have to count as one of my sight seeing activities, especially since the ride also included an one hour ferry ride.  Works for me.

The shuttle van picked us up at around 8:45AM.  It was a comfortable 10 person van with air conditioning. My friends and I got shuffled around and separated into various different vans enroute before reaching the ferry. Our driver hopped out to get us ferry tickets. When he hopped back in, I was handed a ferry ticket valued at 800 Colones ($1.5USD). They must make a killing on these shuttle runs, I thought to myself.

I was reunited with my friends at the Puntarenas ferry entrance. We collected our luggage and boarded the ferry just before 11AM. On the ferry we immediately spotted quite a few familiar faces.  We had met up more than half of the wedding including the bride and groom.  The boat had a similar setup (but less than half of the size) to the Vancouver to Nanaimo ferry boats of which vehicles were stored on the bottom levels and passengers traveled on upper decks.  It was packed with tourists and locals alike. We sat at the back by the bar that was blasting loud mix of top 40 and reggaeton.  The sun was hot and the party has officially started. 

I was a bit mopey though.  There were quite a few kids running around including a few that was similar in age to Drake. I could've brought Drake, I threw my hands up and complained to whoever was sitting next to me.  I really needed to snap out of it and stop being a party pooper. I was in paradise and I need to enjoy my surrounding. The scenery was actually very similar to the Strait of Georgia. 

When we reached the Paquera on the other side I was suppose to board another van to continue my journey to Santa Teresa, but the bride and groom had a private van and offered me a ride.

Unlike the previous side, the road was pretty bumpy and dusty. It was a minor reminder of the Old Coach road in Australia. We arrived at Villas Hermosa our final destination just before 2PM. After almost 24 hours of travel I was exhausted and hot, but the hammock was strung up directly outside my room and I haven't even met the ocean located 200 meters away so I was excited about my next 10 days.

Saying goodbye

As my mom drove by me with Drake in the back, I waved feverish and cried. Drake mouthed bye-bye in his usual cheery matter. People walked by and gave me strange looks.

A good friend is getting married in Costa Rica. At first, there were no question we would bring Drake, after all he has been a good little traveller and we had promised to show him the world at every opportunity. As we planned for the trip however, we realised reaching Santa Teresa located on the west coast of Costa Rica would be a 24 hours ordeal. One plane transfer, one ferry ride and one 6 hour shuttle ride will be involved. Greg will also be on his own traveling with Drake while I head up two days earlier to participate in various pre-wedding activities. On top, the flights are very sold out. There is no chance Greg can score a spare seat for Drake's 85cm body frame, he would be uncomfortably curled up in daddy's arms or kicking a very unlucky neighbour. But most of all, Drake has become increasingly wiggly as he approaches THE "terrible two". He no longer can sit still in our laps, not even for a brief moment. This would a very exhausting 24 hour for both.

We reluctantly decided to leave Drake at home with my Mom. Mom takes care of him while I'm at work. She is basically Drake's third parent.

Week leading up to my departure, people consoled me. Drake will be fine, they said. He's going to be fine with your mom. But we all know, I'm going to be the one who is not going to be fine.

I'm not fine. As I walked through the airport, I couldn't look at children of Drake's age. Even the little blonde boy who was chewing on his hands at the Tim Hortons line up. All of them remind me of Drake.

I will miss him like crazy. I think I'm crazy.

I haven't counted exactly how many days I will be away. I don't think that matters. It just is too long.