Border Blues

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Welp, after an awesome week out in the Pavones area staying at the Mira Olas and catching 8 foot perfection at the point today, it is now a rough ride. But first the good news... we have been having a great time checking out Costa Rica. We were up in Buenas aires on a whim to see a town with no tourists. I could see moving there if I was a Tico just to get away from stupid tourist with our botched Spanglish, over excited looks and ridiculous clothing choices that are usually not very clean after days on the road. It was a little taste of what it must be to live in a small town here in this country. We were the only tourists in town and decided to stay for a couple of days. When we decided to hire a taxi to take us to the River, our hotel guy Carlos got very paranoid and was talking about snakes that hang from trees and bite you on the neck. So he hopped in the taxi with us and took us to his house to set us up with a machete and he gave Arisa a dagger for protection. I had visions of us fighting off drunk and stoned Indian marajuana growers while chopping off the heads of dangling venom dripping snakes. Actually, we ended up sitting by the river and taking pictures of insects. So off we go on the bus trip to Pavones. We were planning on heading to Panama, but met the owner of mira olas cabinas in Pavones who convinced us to go there not only for the waves but for the animals. As is usual in Costa rica, a three hour bus ride ends up taking all day long and this was no different. Because pregnant women ride the bus here too, I ended up standing most of the trip to the town. We arrived in pouring rain which was kind of exciting and refreshing at the same time. Midori went to check the cabina out while Arisa and I talked with the locals hanging around the bus stop. Cool vibes and nice people. Turns out that Pavones is a crowded surf spot with great hiking and animal viewing. Dropping in on your fellow surfer is the norm and pretty much drives everyone crazy. So to take out their frustration wiht being dropped in on, they drop in on other surfers. Catch 22 at it´s finest. If I ever go there again it will be to time it with a full moon and a swell. I would only go out at night. We caught it nice and big today and in spite of being dropped in on after catching a set wave and getting a 100 yards out of it, I am happy with today. Good time to leave. So we took the three hour bus again that took all day and arrived at the Panama border only to find that Arisa is not allowed into the country because her passport expires in 4 months and you have to have six months to get in. So we hoofed it to a dumpy hotel and are contemplating heading back to san hose to get her passport taken care of. All I can say is that will be a long and painful trip due to our stupidity in not checking out the requirements. Oh well.

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