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Days 22-27: Manuel Antonio, Montezuma, San Jose

Posted by Erik Frey Thu, 07 Apr 2005 12:33:00 GMT

Yet another week of jungles teeming with life and remote, tranquil beaches. And nary a care in the world!

day 22

Had a damn fine gallo pinto at Soda Flor, said goodbye to Dan, and took off with Sonia, Darren, and Adam to Manuel Antonio. Stopped in a small town called Quepos to change buses and grab lunch.

We arrived in Manuel Antonio in the afternoon, dropped our gear off at a pleasant hostel named Costa Linda, and immediately walked back out to the national park. We’d been warned that the national park was extremely popular and that it filled up fast, so it was best to arrive early. What no one told us was that the best time to see the park was after closing! We snuck through a gap in the fence and for the rest of the afternoon, had the whole place to ourselves.

Walking around we saw an armadillo hiding in a tree. We saw a sloth sleeping high in the branches. Lying just off the path we found a monstrous boa constrictor, perhaps as wide as a football at its midsection. It never even twitched. We saw an uncountable number of crabs. We even came across a few coati (including one rooting through a trash can) and a couple agouti.

We found an empty little beach nestled between jungle hills that we claimed as our own. We jumped into the water and took in the magnificent view as the sun set. At one point, the sky was a magnificent swath of red clouds fading into blue sky. The sea was tranquil, and glowed pink all around us. We had the beach to ourselves and that moment to ourselves – no one took pictures because they wouldn’t have sufficed anyway.

After dinner and some foosball with the guys, I took a short walk and found a hip little Italian restaurant out in the middle of nowhere, on a quiet road a good kilometer out of town. I had no idea what it was doing out there but was nonetheless quite pleased with myself for the find. I resolved to give the place a try the next day.

day 23

After a cup of coffee, Sonia, Darren, Adam and I went on a mission to find monkeys. An hour into our hike we found a group of perhaps fifteen capuscin monkeys. At first we couldn’t see them – only leaves rushing and branches shaking in front of us. But the group came nearer and we all watched in amazement as these guys hopped, dangled, and occasionally tumbled (saw one face plant!) through the canopy. It was stunning to see their expressions up close. They were so human. One would crease his eyebrows with concentration when searching for termites in the tree bark, or scratch his head and look cross if a fly was bothering him. One climbed so close that Sonia was able to reach up and touch it. She yelped with delight and he only looked down for a moment curiously. They really could have cared less that we were there.

After perhaps a billion pictures of monkeys, we hiked further and found another beach. Along the way I had a nice talk with Sonia. Funny how you spend a few days with someone before you even realize whopping details about their lives: not only had Sonia served in the Israeli National Army (an admirable fact in and of itself!), she was a member of the Israeli National Ski Team, and nearly made it to the Olympics! I was very impressed. She gave me some advice about traveling, too, namely: Russia is not a very exciting country to travel (but I’m still going), Martha’s Vineyard is a great place to make money for a summer, and Israel has a fascinating social institution called the kibbutz that is worth checking out.

That afternoon, I said goodbye to my companions and took the bus all the way back to Puntarenas. I ended up spending yet another night there. A tout led me to a cheap dive named Dos Palmas, where I found a room (more like a cell) for 2000 colones. Had a decent night’s sleep despite someone’s wailing baby and paper thin walls.

day 24

As I was walking out of the shower (a small closet lined with garbage bag plastic and a pvc pipe poking through the ceiling), the mother of the baby wished me a good morning and told me I had beautiful eyes. Maybe this hotel isn’t so bad after all.

Took the morning ferry to Paquera. Seagulls followed our boat the whole way there. Took a bus from Paquera to Montezuma. Arrived, found a place to camp on the north end of the beach, had a batido in town, then spent the rest of the day body surfing.

Montezuma is a quiet, difficult to reach town at the southern the tip of the Peninsula Nicoya. Perhaps because of the remoteness and the tranquil beauty, the place has somehow become a haven for hippies and burned-out wanders. It’s an oasis of vegan restaurants and bead-markets in the middle of the jungle. The beaches are fantastic. Some property of the coastline (perhaps the steep grade?) causes large tidepools and an erratic break with monstrous, steep waves. It seems like the waves rise and fall nearly vertically. Trying to body surf there is almost a philosophical exercise of abandon. You become the nautical version of tumbleweed.

That night I had quite possibly my best casado experience at Soda Las Gemelas. Went back to camp and found the place absolutely swarming with crabs. There must have been hundreds, skittering this way and that for no identifiable reason. I saw a rat bigger than a football (why do I keep relying on a football as a unit of measurement?) crawl through the nearby bushes. With my headlamp I could see him watching me a bit too calmly. His eyes shone like tiny red jewels.

Because of the crabs, I had to keep my bivy closed, so I was soon drenched in sweat. I could feel crabs crawling over my legs and chest, and at first it really was a bit disturbing. The more tired I became, the less it bothered me. The worst part was probably the skrit-skrit-skrit sound that came from them crawling across the fabric right over my face. At one point, I woke up and smacked the inside of my bivy and felt three or four crabs all fly off in different directions. The whole situation made for an interesting night’s sleep.

day 25

I washed a night’s worth of sweat off in the Pacific, grabbed some French toast at a little bakery in town, and hiked out to the cataratas near Montezuma. How beautiful! The main waterfall flowed down to a large pool that was perfect for swimming. Swimming up under the falls, climbing the rocks, and being enveloped in roaring water was a zen-like experience.

I was admiring the scenery and taking pictures of a brave local cliff diver, when I saw Adam (a Canadian I’d met in Jaco) walking by. I said, “Hey man!” and found myself with a hiking buddy for the afternoon. We hiked to the top of a ridge from which we could see from one coast to the other. From there we hiked out even further to a smaller, more secluded waterfall.

We spent the rest of the afternoon body surfing and talking about life. That evening I introduced him to the wonders of Soda Las Gemelas, and for desert we grabbed some Trits from the supermarket and had a smoke on a cliff overlooking the sea.

I slept much better that night. It was raining and all the lights were off – perhaps it kept the crabs at bay. The crabs that did crawl over me barely registered.

day 26

Trying to avoid another night in Puntarenas, I woke up very early, packed my gear, and began an arduous, full day of riding via Paquera, the ferry to Puntarenas, and another bus all the way to San Jose. Arrived at Tranquilo Backpacker’s Hostel in the afternoon. Quite impressed.

Met a curious london girl named Anya. She lied a lot. She told me a story about being kicked out of her volunteer program here in Costa Rica: she’d gone on a hike with her group up Mt. Chirripo but bailed halfway because she felt sick. She turned around and went back without telling anyone (what?), got lost, got chased by a belligerent pack of Capuscin monkeys (what??), became exhausted from lack of food and water, and finally collapsed on the side of a steep cliff and was found by a rescue party 7 hours later.

The girl was just ridiculous. I think I’m only writing about her because she was stunningly beautiful. It made her stories much easier to listen to.

day 27

Prepared for my trip to censored.

Wandered around San Jose a little more. Found a park square where an old homeless man was playing a game he’d invented himself. It involved knocking over wooden blocks by smacking a ball with wooden bats he’d built himself. He played passerbies for money, and of course demolished everyone who challenged him.

That evening I said goodbye to Adralyn and Emilee (the girls I’d met all the way back in my first days in Costa Rica) – ended up having a nice talk with Emilee. Went for a walk to a bus station with a cool Colombian guy named Jhoanny. On the way back I was accosted by a hooker with an Adam’s apple.