The Brewery Search


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Central America Caribbean
January 19th 2015
Published: January 20th 2015
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After spending a glorious morning soaking up the sun on the beach we decided to trek to Cabuya in search of the ever-elusive La Selva Cerveza Brewing Company (which we learned takes volunteers in exchange for learning the craft of beer making, plus how to speak Spanish and ... you got it! Free beer. Needless to say I had to haul my husband in 😊.

We began the hot dusty walk along the tree-lined road, stopping at various spots to capture those perfect photos. When we got to Cabuya we headed down one of the side roads so we could visit the El Coyote Restaurant. We thought this was so appropriate since we belong to the Meaford Coyotes and are also called the Wandering Coyotes. We saw the statue of the coyote in the distance and as we made it 10 feet to the entrance my flip-flop cladden foot hit a stupid rock that was jutting out on the road. No, apparently I didn't learn the flip flop lesson from Samara and yes I howled like a coyote!!! Ripped the skin off my big toe and hobbled my way to the restaurant where they offered packing tape and napkins! Luckily we had one good bandaid in our backpack which was a more viable option. We found a table and met a charming Tico, from Cobano, who spoke wonderful English. We had the Coyote Especial Pizza which was literally loaded with vegetables and meat. We sipped our Imperial and watched as the fattest toad I have ever seen attempt to escape the prison he found himself in just below us. Turns out it was a Cane Toad, which is highly poisonous as it secretes a milky substance from behind its ears (as if I was going to touch it!). I had already traded chairs with Curtis as it scaled the fencing looking for an opening through which to make his escape. Thankfully he remained in his cell and we could enjoy our pizza. This restaurant almost looked like it was just the kitchen in someone's home! They were very kind and the young girl who was also working there came out and took our picture.

We left El Coyote and stopped in at the Cabuya Library where we chatted with a lovely lady who had been here since 1987. We asked her if she knew where the brewery was. Interestingly enough no one seemed to know. Not the people in El Coyote or the library. We walked down to the supermarket to pick up a couple of items and on our way met a young man as he passed by. Next thing we knew he was coming back. He stopped and looked at Curtis, saying, "Hey where you from?" Curtis replied that we came from Canada. He said, "You ride motorcycle there?" and at the same time was pointing at Curtis' rather long walrus-like moustache. We laughed and said, "No". "My name is Tonto", he said. You can only imagine that I wanted Curtis to introduce himself as The Lone Ranger. His next question: "Do you smoke weed?". We politely told him no and he said, "I smoke weed every day." Somehow this came as no big surprise. He cheerfully road off on his bike. Another first for us in Costa Rica!

The lady in the library gave us directions where she thought the brewery might be, warning us that there used to be guy along the road with vicious dogs. We got to the corner where I sat and waited and let Curtis go off in search of the brewery. I didn't need to see it that badly!!! He made it unscathed to the end of the road and back to my sanctuary but no luck. Disappointed, we headed back home.

We enjoyed Facetime with my family as they had their Sunday dinner, catching up on all the news back home and not missing their stories of rain and snow!!!

Monday morning we rose early and set off to catch the bus and then make the connection to the town of Cobano. We got to the bus stop at the end of our road. While we waited we saw 7 Howler Monkeys in the tree above us, eagerly enjoying their breakfast of leaves. The sun was brilliant and it was difficult to get good shots of the monekys as they swung precariously from branch to branch. One perched on the top of the hydro pole, a perfect opportunity. I got my camera ready and moved to just below the pole. Good thing I moved back to improve the shot because he suddenly turned his back to me and began to urinate! Shortly after that he dropped down his morning constitutional! Suddenly another one let loose close to Curtis. When you gotta go...

Once we got to Montezuma we boarded the coach bus to Cobano. It is only a 7km ride but one that seemingly goes up forever. The scene looking down was breathtaking for sure. Once we got to Cobano, we wandered the streets and hit the bank machine (always an adventure!). Curtis invested in some flip flops (for our next hike) and as we headed back to the bus stop we were suddenly overwhelmed by the most glorious smell and our senses soon drew us to a bakery. We bought 2 freshly made, and still warm, buns that were oozing with cheese and ham. We couldn't resist one of their baguettes either! Upon our return to the bus stop the rumour was that we had missed it! After talking to some people we knew it turned out that we were right on time. We found our seats and sat watching as the bus made the precarious journey down very steep, hairpin turns.

After making it back home, we headed down to the beach where we cooled off in the beautifully warm water and read in the sun. Later we washed away the sunscreen and sand and then we enjoyed a glass of wine with our neighbour Laura. Our sides hurt from laughing as she regaled us with stories of her life. We thoroughly enjoyed listening to her adventures.

Life is good.

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