After finishing our homemade dasayuno (breakfast) we decided to spend the day exploring the coast. We first went south, just beyond Uvita and Playa Balleña (which means whale’s tail) we had visited that particular beach before so we continued further south to Playa Ventana (which means Windows) I believe we paid 1,500 colones ($3) for our car to enter the beach park. There were only a couple cars in the parking lot. It was hot and sunny, even at this relatively early hour. The beach was quite rocky, and so was the walk into the ocean. Every step was carefully calculated to protect our toes. The waves and current were strong pulling us out, though it was very refreshing. We practically had the beach to ourselves. There were a couple other parties camped out under the shaded palms. We knew there were caves somewhere nearby and wanted to make sure we saw them before leaving. They cut through the large rocks about a hundred yards or so. It was high tide so we could not enter them, but it was so enjoyable to watch the waves rush in and make thunderous sounds that echoed inside. As the water traveled through the caverns it gushed with force out the other side causing a mist to fill the air.
After about an hour of watching the tides, we both felt like we had enough dircect sun exposure for a while so we packed up to find another place to go. There were changing rooms at the park, but I did not see them till after I changed in the parking lot by our car. On the drive out of the park back to the main highway, we crossed a small stream. I asked Sean to stop so we could rinse off the salt and sand in the fresh crystal clear water. We were both refreshed and ready to head north to visit the town of Quepos.
Quepos is where we visited and stayed on our very first Costa Rican vacation twelve years ago. Our first trip we travelled with our five kids, my parents, my brother, his wife (who was pregnant at the time) and their three kids. As you can imagine it’s a little different experience than just traveling with two people. Back then to travel the distance from Quepos to Dominical took almost three hours. The main coastal highway back then was not paved. It was a hard rocky dirt road that was difficult to gain any speed. Now that the highway construction has been finished it is a quick 30-40 minute drive.
We wanted to locate the house we stayed in years ago and visit Jaime (or Jota as was his nickname) he is still the caretaker of the house and we have stopped to visit him on several of our return trips. It took us a while to get the correct turn to find the house as the Quepos area is so built up and bsuy now. But once we found the right road, everything began to look familiar to us. The house is still tucked away from the hustle and bustle of the tourist destinations. It sits on a very rough rocky road atop a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean. There was a family staying there when we stopped and they said that Jota was still the caretaker, but he was out for the day. Twelve years ago, the house was affordable for a family to rent, but now it rents for over five thousand dollars a week. We can just admire it from the road and savor the fun family memories of our first Costa Rican Adventure there. It was built by one of the executive officers of AOL, back in the day. They would stay there for a few weeks out of the year, then rent it out the rest of the year, making contributions to the local town from the proceeds. I’m not sure if the same owners still own it.
We had not eaten since breakfast so we stopped into a soda on the way back to Dominical. It was a newer place and had a swimming pool available to swim in for 1,000 colones ($2) This was the first place we’ve eaten in the country that was underwhelming. We both ordered arroz con pollo (rice with chicken) and even though it tasted good, the chicken was so sparse, we could hardly find any in it. We both got the feeling that it is a place trying to make a buck on the unsuspecting tourist traveler. They did not seem to care much for the experience of their customers.
More relaxing and reading awaited us at the treehouse. The sun goes down at 5:30 and we’ve been up since 5am. Later that night we had a craving for ice cream. Something neither of us has eaten in about six weeks. We stopped into a little shop in Dominical. It was delicious, but we had to eat it fast cause it was melting so quickly. By 8:00 we’re ready for bed.
Tuesday we took another road trip. This time, much further South to the port of Golfito. We took the back roads to get there, just to relive an adventure from years ago. For several miles we followed a guy on a dirt bike making a delivery. He had a cooler strapped to the back of his bike. When he stopped it was at a small store. We assumed he was probably delivering fresh seafood. Several times we had to cross the river and streams with no bridges. It’s pretty standard here to just drive right through the water. If you ever decide to travel here, and you rent a car, only rent a 4×4. You would be so limited otherwise.
We saw several billboards for Black and Decker and Oster kitchen blenders. Always interested in marketing and advertising, we talked about how the heck does huge companies like Black and Decker and Oster decide to place advertising in the middle of nowhere. An hour later when we arrive in Golfito, we see that this is where the large shipments of appliances come into the country. We then crack up laughing as we see two guys walking down the dirt path side by side. One had a Black and Decker blender in his hand and the other guy had an Oster blender in his hand. I guess these corporations know what they are doing with their advertising dollars.
The road led us right to the bay where the water was a picturesque blue that met the mountains in the distance. We stopped at fancy little hotel on the water called Mar y Luna. Their dining room was open air and right on the water. A constant breeze cooled us off as the temperature was in the mid 80s. Sean ordered a dish of traditional Costa Rican civeche and I ordered the fresh raw tuna with capers and olives marinated in soy sauce and sesame oil. It was quite tasty, but really salty. I ate it with the crackers that were served with it.
We had talked about continuing to drive further south, all the way to Pavones, which is as far South as you can drive before Panama. If we did it would be past dark before we were back home so we decide to head back from Golfito. We travelled the main road this time, but we hit a lot of traffic due to new road construction. I napped most of the way back.
The wifi in the treehouse has been hit and miss when trying to connect, so we have tried to connect at most restaurants so we can check in on the kids and business emails. But I’ve been able to at least post a few pictures and a couple blog posts.