Advertisement
Published: January 13th 2006
Edit Blog Post
Refreshing!
I know I said this blog would have no pictures, but I had this one saved from before. Right off the bat, let me apologize - this blog has no pictures. We are at the beach and left the cable to connect the camera back at our apartment. No, this isn’t just some slick marketing ploy to get you to tune in next time. So tune in next time to see the pictures.
So we decided to take a vacation before the kids went back to school. Sure, you could say that the past 6 weeks (or however long it’s been - it’s hard to keep track) have been a vacation, but except for the stint at Asis, the Britt Coffee tour, the zoo, the Inbioparque, the day at Monte de la Cruz, the day in Orosi and our weekend on the farm, we haven’t really done anything touristy/vacationy. I know, we have your deepest sympathy. (Someday I’ll catch up on those activities I haven’t written about yet. The day at Orosi is definitely one I need to put in the blog - it was one of those “no matter where you go, there you are” days.)
So yesterday we woke up early (well, not really early - we didn’t leave the house until a little after 10:00) for our trip to the beach. Actually, I got out a little earlier to get to the bank when it opened so I could open an account. Doing anything at a bank in Costa Rica takes forever. Opening a new account takes about as long as getting a root canal and is about as pleasant. In order to open an account you need two letters of reference (at least one needs to be from an existing bank customer) who will vouch for your good standing. And that is to put money in! I can only imagine what it takes to get a mortgage. When I first went to the bank (this bank is around the corner from our house, next to the Auto-Mercado, the really nice supermarket - no, the Auto-Mercado is not a car dealer, although I thought so at first. The auto means you can go take stuff off the shelves yourself. Markets here, like in the olden days in the US, used to have clerks that would run around and get things for you.) to try and open an account and they told me I needed the letters, I told them that I wasn’t from around here (stating the obvious) and so it would be difficult for me to know another bank customer. The lady at the bank asked if my landlord had an account there. After I told her that I only knew my landlady’s first name, she asked me what it was. After I said, “Vicky,” she said, “Oh, Doña Vicky So-and-So! The apartments down around the corner with the white garage doors (yes…that would be our address!) Welcome to Costa Rica.
Anyway, after asking Vicky for a letter 5 or 6 times, we finally just went and asked our neighbors. It’s OK, Vicky hasn’t asked us for any money, yet (or any other information, either - she doesn’t even know our last names). Now that is strange, even for Costa Rica - we confirmed it with our neighbors.
So, it took about an hour to open a savings account (by the way, the banks offer savings accounts in dollars so you don’t have to worry about depreciation). And they kindly let me know that the money I deposit should be available for withdrawal in two weeks or so (we’ve been told to expect 3, and then only if we keep bugging/sweet-talking the manager). And, they won’t change traveler’s checks - we have to do that at one of the big state-owned banks in the center of town. Pura vida!
So, back to our story… So we decided to head to Jacó. We’d heard it wasn’t that great of a beach, but it is the closest. It is the beach where all the Ticos from the greater San Jose area go. We figured how bad could it be. As far as we know, in order to get to most places in the country by bus, you need to go to San Jose. So we headed in to the big city.
Since we were going to be in San Jose we decided to stop by the office of an organization called AVSO to meet with their director. AVSO runs volunteer projects all over the country - sea-turtle conservation, animal rescue center, national park maintenance, teaching locals sustainable agriculture, and so on. We really liked what we saw so maybe during the kids’ spring break, we will work on one of their projects.
From there we hit the road. As it turns out, the bus to Jacó goes through Alajuela (the next town over from Heredia). So on our way back, we will get off there and take a bus straight home from there, saving us a good deal of time. The bus ride took about 2 ½ hours and, although it went through some nice scenery, was nothing special. We could feel, however, the air getting hotter and more humid as we wound our way down out of the central region.
Around 4:00, we finally pulled in to Jacó. There is one main road in town - it runs parallel to the beach about ¼ of a mile from the water. The pothole filled street is lined with your typical tourist businesses - souvenir shops, places selling excursions (jungle canopy tours, alligator-river adventures, surf schools, fishing trips, volcano trips, etc.), restaurants and bars. Our hotel is at the end of a little side street, right on the ocean. As is the usual modus operandi, we asked the bus driver to let us off at the right place. After getting off, we only had to ask 1 person for directions before making it to the hotel. It is very nice - there are two, two-story buildings arrayed in an “L” facing a good-sized pool and well-landscaped grassy area (there is also a Jacuzzi, but it seems to not be functioning). Just past the pool is the beach. We passed on a “suite” on the lower level and took a regular room upstairs to get a nicer view and sea-breeze. (In all honesty, we weren’t giving up much - just a closet sized kitchen - and we have a fridge in our room, anyway.)
So we dropped our bags, threw on our suits and ran right out. The beach may not be the most beautiful, but after a long, sticky bus ride, it looked pretty good. The sand is super-fine, soft black powder. The beach is very flat, the water is warm and the waves are just right for the kids (some people try surfing, but they don’t get great rides). And, as we found out that first night, you get a true, sunset over the beach and the Pacific Ocean…absolutely gorgeous. I hope I’m not making you jealous.
Today was just a hang around the beach and pool day. Now the kids are asleep on their bed and Dara and I are sitting on the balcony enjoying the sound of the waves crashing. (Well, Dara is, anyway, as I slave away on the computer).
Tune in next time for more of our vacation adventure…
Advertisement
Tot: 0.046s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 12; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0191s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
eli
non-member comment
map
Well, I finally took the time (all of a minute, actually) to find a map of Costa Rica so that I could better follow your travels. For the benefit of your other readers http://centralamerica.com/cr/maps/mapcosta.htm is the first one I looked at. I can click on the national map and zoom in to see Alajuela and Jaco, and see just what you were describing. So, keep the news coming, especially now that I can follow along with a map.