February 17, 1997 Monday - Morning

I got up about 7:15am that morning and packed my stuff, took a shower, and waited for Fabio to close the farmhouse. I forgot to mention that when his mom showed up yesterday, she brought a bunch of keys with her from her luggage collection and one of them was from a Samsonite which opened up my luggage. I was greatly relieved. I can't believe you can open up one luggage with another key so easily though, which made me feel less secure about my luggage.

We left about 8:30 toward Punta Leona, where his family had a shore house/condo. The gas station and the chicken place from last night both had the VISA sign outside, so I used my card, but I knew I needed to get some Costa Rican "Colones" soon. We drove through one town and there were about 20 people lined up at one bank, so we decided to go to the next town.

Fabio didn't want me to drive because there are a lot of potholes, and many times the streets won't have signs indicating that they are one-way streets. Fabio expertly guided us down the wrong direction several times himself (*snicker*). The next town had 2 banks, but there were still a lot of people lined up. The tellers were working as fast as they could, but there seemed to be so much paper work involved with some people.

The whole ordeal took about 45 minutes, so I would suggest anybody going there to try to change his or her money anywhere except at a bank. The road to Punta Leona was really bad; Fabio told me they're like that all over the country. They're even worse than Pennsylvania roads, which were rated the worst road in the United States by truckers.

We stopped by a larger river (Rio Tarcoles) along the way and I couldn't really find a way down there, but a bunch of excited tourists pointed out a Caiman (a reptile specie that is very similar to the Alligator) to me that was sunning in a shallow area near the bank. It was kinda far away to take a good picture so I let it be.

We then drove further on to our destination and stopped by another bridge/river by my request. The water was a lot cleaner and I actually saw some fish in there. I was surprised to not see any livebearers along the shallows, but there were some unidentified Tetras and Cichlids in the deeper water. I wish my Amazon crew were with me so we could scoop them up to see what they were. In the shallow area, you could see shrimps and a lot of gobies. They looked like the ones I spotted in Puerto Rico, which were a drab brown/greenish color with white/light stripes running along the back laterally.

  February 17, 1997 Monday - Afternoon

We drove further and the road became unpaved as we turned into a side road for Punta Leona. Punta Leona was named after a rock formation that jetted out into the ocean and resembled a sitting lion (Lion Point). We actually drove on a dirt road that cut through a virgin rain forest. This access road to the private club is 5 km long. It was lined with broad leaves of the tropical plants, with sounds of insects filling the warm and muggy air.

I think I'll check out the forest myself at some later time because there're supposed to be 40 mated pairs of Macaws living in this forest. After driving on some twisty roads through some nice communities, we started climbing a very steep hill, and at the very top sat a 12-unit deluxe condominium. The condos had a yuppie feel to them (it's a compliment, Fabio). Our unit had an incredible view looking out to the vast Gulf of Nicoya with Montezuma and other towns at the horizon.

The condos sat on top of a large hill and hung over a steep cliff. The view was breathtaking and the only sound you could hear were insects and birds chirping in the forest and the waves crashing down below. I took several pictures from the top and a couple during sunset. The condos, a hotel, and a bunch of single homes were all housed in a guarded community so it's very safe there.

There's a small general store and 2 pools too. I looked out and thought how beautiful it was here and could see myself retiring here, now! :) We went down to a restaurant by the beach and ate lunch there. I had a dish that was made of just a grilled chicken breast with tiny tortillas. After that, we went to the hotel and got some tourist info, then back to the condo and changed for the beach below.

Playa Blanco (White Beach) was the beach we went to and it was filled with palm trees, white sand, and old white folks. Most of them were from the hotel located in the community. There were several rocky formations that jettied out into the ocean and I snorkeled along that area most of the time. The water wasn't as clear as the Bahamas, but it was enough for me to see probably more than 20 feet down.

I saw a wide variety of fishes there: Assorted blue damsels, yellow-tailed blue devils, assorted parrot fish and triggers, porcupine fish and a yellow variety of it too. There were moray Eels, sea cucumbers, more gobies, hermit crabs, and more sea slugs than you could count. Fabio informed me that you could see stingrays sometimes from the balcony of the condo, but I didn't see any from up here or down there.

There was a small mammal that wondered onto the beach searching for food, and it looked like it was used to the tourists too. It reminded me of an ant eater, except it's called a Coati Mundi. We didn't go down to the beach until about 3:15, so after 1.5 hours, the sun was pretty much gone and I got cold.

We came back and changed/showered and headed toward Jaco, a surfer's town about 17 km from here and got some snacks from the "super market" and some dinner on the way home. The drive there was long and rough, and it took a lot longer because of the road conditions. The main street of Jaco is lined with small restaurants, tourist traps... I mean shops, and even a Pizza Hut and a Best Western.

It's far from modern though. The roads are half-paved with potholes all over, and the shops are more like shacks. Only the Pizza Hut and Best Western looked semi-modern. The super market was more like the size of 2 convenience stores put together. The only things I could find there that doesn't need refrigeration were instant noodles. They have spaghetti, pasta and sauces too... I decided that I would probably hike to the local restaurants by myself after Fabio left. We estimated that it would be less than 2 km for me to hike.

We swung back to a snobbish French restaurant/hotel (Hotel Villa Caletas) on top of a high hill and ate there. The food was good but I felt like I was in the US. I had shrimp and heart of palm cocktail for appetizer, some sort of mushroom and gravy over beef for the main course, and Creme Brulle for desert.

The grounds were beautifully manicured with lush foliage and decorated with art and antiques. Next to the restaurant, looking out into the Gulf of Nicoya was a small half amphitheatre. We walked around the hotel for a little bit after dinner and bumped into two old ladies who started talking to us after hearing us speaking English. She thought Fabio was from somewhere in the Midwest U.S.. It turns out that one lady was from Phillipsburg, NJ (15 minutes away from where Fabio lives - Allentown/Bethlehem, PA), and the other was from Devon, PA (30 minutes away from Quakertown, where I live). Small world.

They'd been on a cruise ship for the past 7 days - departed from Aruba and went through the Panama Canal to the Pacific side. They were spending 5 more days here on guided tours. We chatted a little more then left for home.

I sat on the balcony again that night and updated my journal. There was a nice, steady, cool salty breeze from the ocean mixed in with a slight humid, jungle smell in the air. The skies filled with thousands of stars above, and the sound of crashing waves of the Pacific Ocean rumbled below. The foamy white waves could be seen from up here because of the bright moonlight. I sat there in the dark, sipping mango juice and not a mosquito in sight! I felt relaxed, happy, and alive!

Fabio told me that he was here last July during the "wet" season and this place was swarming with mosquitoes and the heat was unbearable. So if you're considering visiting Costa Rica, it's better to do it during the dry season. (Dec-May)