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Published: March 1st 2007
Alligator attack
No Aligators were hurt in the making of this photograph.Punta Leona Hotel & the city of Jacó
Day 5: After a relaxing trip at Aguila de Osa, we were ready to see some of the crazier side of Costa Rica. We had heard that Jaco was the party town as well as a really fun surf town. So we packed up our things, said our goodbyes to the owners and other guests, and took the boat and bus to the Palmar Sur airport again. This time, however, we had previously decided not to fly to our next destination, so we had a reserved air conditioned shuttle bus waiting for us from
Easy Ride Shuttle Service. Alburo was waiting at the airport with a clean bus and a friendly attitude. So we begun our drive, which from asking friends, taxi drivers, and just about everyone else, was estimated at between 4-10 hours. So honestly, we had no idea of how long it would take. We left my roommate John at the airport as he was not going to be accompanying us on this leg of the trip. As we drove towards our Northern desination we briefly talked to Alburo about the land, the roads, and the duration of the trip. He told us
Dirt Road from Hell
This was the dirt road from Dominical to Quepos. that the distance between Dominical and Quepos was around 47km and all dirt roads, so it would be slow. The way he said it didn't sound too bad, boy were we wrong.
The countryside was lush, green with rain forest trees and not a lot of housing. As we went through small city to small city, I noticed painted yellow hearts with halo's randomly painted on the streets. After talking to Alburo, he explained that they are places where someone had lost their life in a car accident. I started to notice them a lot more after that, which made sense cause most Costa Rican drivers are crazy. Let me repeat that, most Costa Rican drivers are crazy!! I don't know how many times while in taxis, shuttles, or just walking around, we noticed the extremely aggressive style of driving that most locals exhibit. On top of the aggressive driving, the broken down cars or trucks just sat in lanes, people walking or riding a bike in the middle of the road, COWS in the road at midnight, or just plain poor road conditions made everything about Costa Rican driving less then ideal. If you're planning on visiting, I
Bridge to Quepos
The bridges were not that safe looking. would recommend NOT renting a car unless you're comfortable with this type of road behavior.
As we pulled up to Dominical, we approached the infamous dirt road that we had heard about. This road consisted of dirt, rocks, and unsafe looking metal bridges. It was the ROUGHEST dirt road we had ever been on, and we had 35 more miles of it. Large semi trucks, local drivers, and construction made it a very slow route, but as Alburo informed me, Quepos didn't want to pave it as then tourism would start to pass on through their city, instead of stopping there like it was the end of the road. 1 hour later, we finally got back onto paved roads and thanked the god of concrete. We arrived in Jacó and stopped for lunch. Jacó is one of the largest surf towns in Costa Rica with a population of approximately 6000 people. The main area of town is one long street of bars, shops, hotels, and restaurants. Alburo told us about a local place with tipico comida for around 3 bucks. Great lunch choice, and soon we were off on the road again towards Punta Leona. Punta Leona Hotel was
Punta Leona Room
This was our cabin at Punta Leona hotel. a very private resort just 18 minutes north of Jacó. After the first maximum security check point, we went through a long forest of trees and bamboo tunnels. The landscaping was amazing at this resort, which I assume was their main focus to it's hotel guests, condo renters, and property owners. The resort also had 3 large pools, 3 restaurants, 2 private beaches, and a few other facilities. We settled into our half air conditioned room, swam at one of the pools, ate dinner, watched some tv, and then went to sleep. In a nutshell, the night was fairly uneventful.
Day 6: After the previous quiet night at Punta Leona with the food, restaurant, abundance of newlyweds or older guests, and the quality of our room, we decided that Punta Leona wasn't for us. We were doing our laundry, so one more night was needed, but we wanted to find a new place to stay immediately. After a $13 tourist priced breakfast buffet, we headed into Jacó to discover the city, find a new hotel, and scope out the area. We noticed a numerous amount of surfers and locals, not as family oriented as Punta Leona. As we
Punta Leona Pool
1 of the 3 pools at the resort. walked on the beach and looking at a few places, we discovered the larger, nicer looking Best Western on the North end of the beach. This resort had security but didn't have the feel of a prison like Punta Leona. Now I don't want to bad mouth Punta Leona hotel too much, as it's probably a wonderful place for newlyweds and families, it just wasn't the place for 3 single guys. So we made reservations to stay at the Best Western, ran off to eat lunch, and then do a little souvenir shopping. After checking some emails, Nick met a local girl, as of 1 day, from Portland, working in an art gallery. It was her first day and she seemed really friendly. We invited her out the next night and continued exploring the city. After dinner in Punta Leona, we decided to try the bars in Jacó. The Monkey bar and Beetle bar were on our end of the city, and they both had the drinks, people looking to party, and plenty of bad music. The one thing Nick noticed was that most of the music in Costa Rica was at least 6 months old and more 80's then
you'd like to hear in a tropical club. There were a few local songs, but for the most part the music catered to tourists. We had a good time at both bars and went back to Punta Leona for one more night.
Day 7: After checking out of Punta Leona, we headed to the Best Western. Our room was now far cooler with air conditioning and had a wonderful view of the pool and ocean. We had breakfast at a local spot down the street called Wahoos. My love for the Lizanzo Salsa, the condiment on all of the restaurant tables, furthered as I put it all over my eggs, beans, and rice. Later that day, I even bought a bottle at the supermercado to take home. I love that stuff!! It's kind of a green tabasco type liquid, with a tangy, not to spicy flavor.
Now it was time to go on a canopy tour. Whenever I've been to Mexico to the touristy spots like Puerto Vallarta and Mazatlan, canopy tours are one of the most popular activities. Now if you're afraid of heights, I don't see you like this activity much. A canopy tour is a
400 Year old Giant Tree
This tree was on the Punta Leona Hotel grounds and was massive. harnessed zip line activity through the trees, across the rivers, about 50-100 feet above the ground. Depending on the company, they have a different number of canopy stations, in our opinion, the more the merrier.
Waterfalls Canopy Tour was the one we choose, with 13 platforms, a tarzan swing, and a 90 foot rappel, this place turned out to be a great decision. At only 45 bucks a person, with transportation included, we headed off to the rain forest one more time.
At the facility everyone was very friendly and sent us in the right directions. The tour guides were very knowledgeable and fluent in English. After getting situated in our harnesses and talking to the other 2 participants, we took off on a nature walk up the hill while the guide pointed out monkeys and birds, historical information on Costa Rica, and some fun facts on some interesting trees. Finally after this steep walk up the hills towards the debriefing area, we sat and learned about the rules, the hand commands, and what we were to expect. After the first few zip lines, we all felt like pros. It was fun zipping through the trees at pretty quick speeds and
Iguana on Ground
This was an Iguana running around the grass at the Best Western. being 50-100 feet above the ground, definitely gave you an adrenaline boost. The equipment looked very safe and the guides were very helpful. We quickly went through the 13 platforms, walking through a very large tree house, and swinging across from platform to platform on a Tarzan swing. On the last platform, we were attached to a rope with rappelling gear and then dropped 90 feet to the ground, where water and fruit were waiting for us. I highly recommend this to anyone enjoying a little thrill through the trees. Also see video at the top of this blog entry, Nick has made his mark on Rappelling in Costa Rica.
Back to Jacó we went, immediately getting into our bathing suits and swimming in the wonderful weather. A funny sign next to the pool again reminded me that we weren't in the US. The mango daiquiris were a perfect conclusion to a day's activities. That night, we headed into town ready for some dinner. Nick thought he'd ask Joanne if she'd like to join us and then get a few drinks. We found a nice dinner spot, The Colonial, that had an amazing shrimp ceviche. It was overpriced tourist
Iguana on Rails
Another Iguana in Jaco. food, but we weren't feeling too picky that night. Afterwards we headed for a walk down the street and eventually ended up at the Monkey Bar. First things first, let's get a shot of
Guaro. Guaro is a liquor or brandy made from sugar cane. Tastes like Vodka and can be mixed with anything. Over the trip, we experimented mixing it with Mango Juice, Pineapple Juice, and coke. Monkey Bar was definitely the place to be, getting more and more packed by midnight and still packed at 2AM when it closed. Overall, a very fun bar with a mix of tourists, surfers, and locals.
Day 8: Today in Jacó was a day for surfing and shopping. We wanted to do what the locals do. So after a late breakfast we went to the surf shop and rented a boogie board and a long board. We went back to the Best Western to gather some stuff and went out in front of the hotels beach. The waves were average size, apparently further south had better waves, but these waist high ones were good for us beginners. After a few warm up runs on the boogie board, I took out
the long board and tried to catch a wave. Now, I'm by no means a good surfer, so my knowledge of what to do is pretty much random memories of the 2 lessons I've taken before. So as I tried to get up, I noticed the waves were getting bigger, or it was just my imagination. After many failed attempts, 1 whitewash ride, and some discussion with a visiting New Zealander, I headed to shore to pass out from exhaustion. Thankfully, no punctured ear drum this time. Eric was having fun in the small waves with the Boogie board and Nick had left already to go shopping. After we took the boards back, we swam a little in the pool and got a snack. Our day was turning into night already so I headed up for a shower and quick nap. We ate at the Best Western Italian night buffet and then headed into town for drinks. Again we found ourselves at the Monkey Bar drinking Bavaria Gold and Bavaria Dark beer. Not a bad beer if you ask me, compared to the Pilsen or Imperial beer that we found all over Costa Rica. As we started to get tired
Pool at Best Western
View from our balcony in Jaco. we headed 2 doors down to the infamous Beetle Bar. This bar has been famous for it's abundance of local "working" women. The tables to both sides of the center bar are lined with women all eying you and trying to get your attention. This uncomfortable feeling convinced us to sit in the back towards the TV's, which to my delight were showing poker. After many no thank yous, we enjoyed just people watching. As the night started to end, the music got louder and some women started dancing on the bar. Even some of the men got convinced to dance with the women around a pole, some becoming more unclothed then they probably wanted to if they were sober. After some more hilarity and a dying down of the music, we left back to our hotel so we could get up and head back to San Jose for our last day in Costa Rica.
Day 9: We had gotten up early to leave for San Jose. We had the our usual, satisfying breakfast buffet at the hotel and we were met by Alburo and his familiar turismo van. Traveling back towards San Jose, one thing stuck out in
Sign at Pool
This ain't Kansas no more. my mind, these main roads were nothing but small regular roads. There were no highways, 4 lane roads, or carpool lanes. This countries transportation is truly very young and simple. The traffic in areas was horrible because of these limitations. One wreck or stalled bus could block the traffic for long periods in certain circumstances. As we were driving back, we stopped along a river with some other tourists. The large concrete bridge was suspended over a small river with at least 30 large, sunbathing crocodiles. One croc was at least 10 feet long. After a quick 2.5 hour drive, we arrived in San Jose and again got settled into our room at the El Presidente. We walked around some more and ate lunch at the Gran Hotel. Built in 1930, the Gran Hotel is a historic landmark and was the first hotel in Costa Rica. The interior hotel decor was very nice and had a small casino located inside the building. The hotel food was amazing, but service needed work. Not only did we wait 10 minutes before someone came to take our drink order, but we rarely saw our waiter after that. After ordering a salad and soup,
Rappel Platform
This was the platform that we rappelled off of. I received only the salad. 10 minutes later, everyone else was served there meal as I was just finishing. 30 minutes later after everyone was finished and we were getting ready to pay the bill, I received the soup. This little miscommunication and my comments on their timing made our original waiter incredibly mad, and he passed his "check" duties onto another waiter. Again I recommend the food, if you can handle the rude waiters.
My roommate was happy to hear we were back in town and invited us over to the casino across from his hotel to play some poker. Eric and I headed over to try our luck at some Costa Rican Poker. As we walked into the Casino, Kwon's local influence was further seen, as the dealers at the casino's only poker table were wearing Flop Turn River tshirts. The poker room director, Ross, knew Kwon by name, and everyone at the table was talking to him like it was a Friday night local game at our house in Redondo Beach. As we sat down, I noticed everyone at the table were either tourists or Americans who had moved to San Jose. The blinds were $1/2
Nick's ready for the Canopy
Nick was focused on his first Canopy run. and quickly I forgot that I was in San Jose. After losing 100 dollars, I told Kwon I was going to go win my money back at Roulette and Blackjack. 20 minutes later, I was 200 dollars up and Kwon acknowledged that I again am the rainman of roulette. Kwon and Eric had thinned the table down to 3 players and I was ready to go. Nick had showed up and we headed off to get ready for the night. A few drinks and a BLT at the News Cafe restaurant in our hotel and the four of us headed out to the Del Rey Bar/Hotel/Casino. Eric was interested in learning some Roulette, so I taught him with Costa Rican Colones. It's a whole different feeling betting with 10,000 on the table, then finding out it's only worth 20 bucks. After Eric and I won an exciting 100 bucks each, we all headed back to our hotel to sleep til our morning flight back to the US.
Day 10: Getting up for the plane at 5:30AM was not a pleasant one. We ate breakfast and waited for our 7AM shuttle. Getting to the airport just in time, we headed
Geared up for the Canopy
Later in the day, we noticed we looked like a stoplight. off through customs, and then got to our plane. Note to anyone going through the airport in Costa Rica. Do not do the security wrapping around your bags, unless you are willing to pay for it. Nick found this out the hard way. As I quickly fell asleep on the plane, I reminisced of the good times we'd had over the past 10 days. Weeeee!!! The Canopy Tour. Ahhh....the warm water and colorful fish at Cano Island. MMMmmmm the food. Ugggg, the loud cicadas, numerous mosquito bites, and large spiders. In the end, we got to experience a lot of Costa Rica and can finally say we've been to Central America. The memories of great food, good friends, and some eternal photos will stay with me for years to come. I also think about what we missed, like Manuel Antonio National Park, Arenal Volcano, La Paz Waterfalls, and Tamarindo, and it only makes me want to come back sooner. I'll definitely do a repeat trip someday, especially now that my roommate is a tico. 😊
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Mike (Crusher)
non-member comment
Amazing
Nathan, your trip sounds amazing. Your stories were great and painted a wonderful picture of Costa Rica. I would imagine anyone reading your blog is completely jealous now and can only yearn to zip through the trees and across the rivers. I seriously hope there weren't any crocs waiting below. The pictures of the crocs were amazing and enough to scare me away from any body of water in Costa Rica. Loved the picture of you, Nick and Eric dressed as a stoplight. hahahaha. too funny. Great pictures and a terrific story! Thanks for sharing. Mike