Feb. 05, 2015
Rinconita Lodge, adjacent to the Rincon Natural Area

Misty covered volcanoes

We started the day sore from our long walk through the National Park yesterday, so we took it slow. After breakfast we took a slow walk around the neighborhood. It was pleasant with sunny blue skies. There was a rainy mist blowing off the clouds as they seemed to get stuck on the tops of the volcanoes.

We went back to the room to get ready to go off to the Rio Negra hot springs. Since it was going to be wet and perhaps crowded at the hot springs I decided to just take my camera, and not the telephoto lens. That proved to be a big mistake. As soon as we parked along the road we spotted two good sized iguanas in what a appeared to be a love ritual. Even though we were only 10 feet or so from them my camera just didn’t have the reach to get a good picture. Nonetheless I tried. Kim on the other hand with her built in zoom was sure to get a few great shots before the iguanas fled down the hill.

Love ritual of the iguanas

Swinging bridge to cross the river

Kim relaxing in the hot springs

Rio Negra hot springs is built right as long the river. Two swinging bridges take you across the river where there are five or six separate pools with water about 40 deg Celsius. There was even a mud painting station where you could coat your body with the “healing” properties of Rio Negro mud. The guard assured us that it would take 25 years off our aging bodies. And I must admit that Kim did appear to have a certain youthful glow as we sat in the restaurant later that evening.

Kim waiting for the mud to dry

After a few hours we were a delightfully spent so we headed home. On the road, about half way to our hotel we spotted a troupe of capuchin monkeys playing in the trees on the side of the road. There were about 5 of them and the seemed to take their time about leaving. Once again all I could shoot was a pastoral landscape with tiny black and white spots of monkeys in the background. Still it was a thrill watching them scurry about.

Oh for a telephoto lens

Back in our room we quickly downloaded our photos to our iPads and did a show and tell. It was another very good day.

Feb. 05, 2015

Rinconita Lodge, adjacent to the Rincon Natural Area

Road to Rinconcito

Today started off nicely with another free breakfast courtesy of the local Best Western. Then it was back to my room to Skype with Kim for a few minutes. She had booked a room at this resort which is about 35 kilometers north of Liberia. It sits between a couple of volcanoes, and is surrounded by sulfur hot springs and boiling mud baths. Throw in a couple of waterfalls and you probably have a pretty nice place. The problem was that I am picking up Kim at the airport at 9:30 pm and then we need to drive in the dark up the dirt road. Simple solution I would go up earlier today to scout out the scene.

And that is just what I did. It took about an hour and a half doing 20 mph most of the way. The Rinconita Lodge is a little funky, and a little charming. I even got our room a little early, and got to take a wonderful, but heart thumping walk. I thought I might be able to make it to the Rincon Natural Park, but after an hour and a half of climbing up up up, I gave up, came down the mountain, and took a nap. I like this place so much that I think we should stay here three or four days. We'll see what Kim thinks in the light of day.

Rinconcito Lodge

Feb. 07, 2015

Kim has helped to put the the financial situation in order. “Sure it was $600 ( she always likes to round down the cost to the closest hundred) to rent the car, but just figure how much we have already saved in Taxis and bus fees. It would have been $20 from the airport to the Liberia, then it would have been $40 to Rinconcito Lodge. From there if we wanted to do a hike in the park it would have be another $20 to the entrance and that is only for one of us. Double that and we have almost paid for the car!”

I liked the way she was thinking so I began to relax and get into the moment. We decided to go off to the National park. We got in our now very reasonably priced auto and headed off for our first adventure. Really the second if you include the trip in the dark up here.

The Rincon de la Vieja National Park had a big 4 kilometers loop which the friendly ranger assured us would take about 2 hours. Four and a half hours later we emerged with a nice set of memories and stories. We had seen a three pesotes, a snake, and some cool looking birds. Oh yea, and a waterfall and some mini volcanoes. Not bad, but so far no monkeys. There were a lot of people on the trail and I reasoned that they had scared away most of the wildlife. Here are a couple of photos from that hike.

Waterfall in the dry season

Volcancito ( a little volcano)

Kim taking a picture of a pesote

Pisote looking for food. Relative to the racoon

A very cool tree!

Liberia, Costa Rica

Feb. 4, 2015

Can this really be a vacation? A vacation from what? Sanity?

Things seemed to be going oh so well. What went wrong? First I got a window seat at the last minute instead of a middle seat. Then, try not scoff at this bit of good news, my gate at the Houston airport was directly across from the gate that I landed at. Directl across! Not 35 feet. How many times has that happened to you. Try never.

The three and a half hour flight was as mellow as can be when you are squealed into a seat that was meant for an dwarfed infant. Landing, customs, and even the airport pickup to take me to my rental car went very smooth, but it was after 10 pm and all I wanted to be was snug in my bed dreaming of adventures with monkeys the next day. One small snag happened at the Budget Rental agency. Our reservation was made for March 3rd and NOT February 3rd. We laughed at the stupid mistake and the concierge said that he could still do the reservation, but that since it was not booked online he said he would have to charge me an extra $5 per day. It seemed like a fair punishment and besides I just wanted to be on the road. Then he told me that there was a $30 per day charge for rental insurance. This was not my first rodeo, so I told him that I didn't need it because my credit card paid the liability. So he called my credit card 800 just to verify what I said was right. He got them on the phone and they verified it, but when we got off he handed me a bill for $955, instead of the $365 that we had booked. He wouldn't budge so I said call me a cab.

A $20 cab ride latter and I was finally at my hotel. The pleasant night clerk couldn't find my reservation. Oh oh, you guessed it was for March. Fine I said–it was now after midnight — just give me a room and I will pay for it. He said he only had one room left for only 2 nights, not the 3 I needed, and, surprise surprise it would be $75 per night, not the $45 we had booked. I pleaded with him for some kind of common decency and got him down to $68.

Finally I was in my room. I it was hot and humid inside so turned on the a/c on full, took off my clothes and laid down on the bed. Five minutes later the electric went off. Phew, what a day. Tomorrow will surely be better.

Best Western at night

Feb. 5, 2015

But it wasn't!

A nice breakfast was added and it was after all free. I set off to town to see what if looked like. I couldn't walk there because of all of the road construction so I took a cab. Just $5. I wanted to see downtown and buy a SIM card for my iPhone. The real phone place was closed so I headed for the market. I bought 2 SIM's, and after I paid the $4 he told they wouldn't fit in my iPhone. Nice, but today was my day, and I was not about to let $4 get in the way my vacation in paradise.

The next stop was the bank to exchange some dollars for colones. The young bank guard after wanding me and checking inside my bag, helped me get a ticket. The machine that spit out the paper ticket was a little complicated to negotiate so I was happy for the help. E784 was my number, it took me a while to figure out how the system worked, because there were a whole series of letters- not just “E”, but after some studying of the electric board above the tellers desks I determined that they were on E702. ” Just 82 people ahead of me,” I muttered in English to noone in particular. I sat down for the hour and a half wait.

I read, I figited, I played solitaire and before you knew it it was my turn. Several forms to sign, a copy of my passport and I was on my way with 132,000 colones. By then the real phone store was open and a very nice young woman helped me make the right purchase. Several forms, a copy of my passport, and on hour later I was back in the sunshine. I had indeed managed to piss away the morning so now it was time to go to the Payless Rent a Car office. Kim had booked a compact SUV for $315 for the week.

It was more difficult finding a taxi than I should have been, but after explaining where I wanted to go, negotiating for a $2 fee, my driver drove around the block and stopped in front of a Payless Shoe store. More negotiations in Spanish–we were now up to $10–and we were on our way to the airport road. A few stops to ask directions and more negotiations on price–it was further than he thought–and it was finally time to get my own set of wheels.

A very nice English speaking attendant helped me. I was the only one there so we chatted about life in Costa Rica and life in the US. Then he dropped the bomb of a price. It was to be $844! I said that there was no way I could afford that and cutting some extras we got the price to $664. I asked him to call me a cab. Back in the sunshine I surveyed my options. They were not good, so I said what the F**K and headed back into the office. Just then a mini van showed up with two couples. They were now ahead of me. I popped my head in the office and told him I decided to go for it, so when he was done with them we could finish the paperwork. He said he would call and cancel the cab.

It took the first couple over an hour to finish their negotiations and they were not happy. The second husband, who had been bitching all the while assured me that he had pre-purchased insurance so this would be quick.. Two more minivans pulles up with reservationistas. Another hour passed and these people were even less happy than the first. His pre-purchased insurance was no good, so he had to call and cancel it and then purchase new, much more expensive insurance. There was a lot of grumbling among the new arrivals as to who could be taking so long. After all, they had reservations and prepaid. They assured me they just needed to sign and get the keys. I told them the wait was because what ever your Internet price was, the real cost is double. They all grumbled a lot, but then got real quiet as the looked at their own options.

Finally it was my time. It did go fairly quickly. Several copies of passport, drivers licence, credit card and in less than a half hour I was pulling out into the sunshine in a Susuki 4×4. I turned left, and headed for the country. I found the first bar and had an ice cold Imperial beer.

Good day! Tomorrow Kim comes. Yeah!

2015-01-31

Still in Pipe Creek, TX

Today was kind of a marathon day here in Pipe Creek. “What AM I going to wear on the plane to Costa Rica?” You can't wear warm clothes, because it is 91 degrees in Costa Rica, and that would mean that I would just have to carry around all those heavy clothes until I return. And you just can't wear summer clothes because the plane is usually freezing. So I usually settle on just some kind of layered clothing that I can take on and off as needed.

Today I started to pack, only to find out that all of the clothes that Kim and I so carefully bought at Outdoor World did not fit. They were too long, or to tight or…. So off I went. Back to the store to exchange and purchase new, and hopefully, better fitting clothing. Probably my least favorite thing to do, but now it is done.

One good thing was that Kim gave me a fabulous tropicals hurt styled haircut. So now I am ready to go. Wait, I better see if it all fits in my bag!

My new tropical haircut