Liberia | Rule #2: Don't Die.

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Old men suggesting condoms on the beach!

After R’s meltdown (let’s say due to extreme heat) we decided to vacate Liberia and take off running for the nearest beach!

As soon as the lovely owners of the bed and breakfast returned we got a ride to the bus stop and headed to Playa Hermosa (the Hermosa that’s located near Playas del Coco, not the one south by Jaco, nor the one on the east coast… Creativity doesn’t seem to be a high priority for Costa Rica city names! Either that or they have an abundance of beautiful beaches and can’t be bothered to call them by any other name) We spent twenty or so minutes wandering through the one block town when our extraordinary Peruvian friend rolled up into town! We decided to forget Hermosa and jumped in his vehicle to head further south to Playa Samara.

Playa Samara is a vacation spot for many Ticos, so we decided to check out the night scene at a couple of the local bars. There’s a set of three bars on the beach that have good deals on buckets of beer, and the most surprisingly comfortable reclined plastic outdoor furniture I have ever come across! Then we headed to the soccer field to join a mass of people outside a small bar. It was so happening that they had spilled out into and across the street. We spent the evening hours watching the sharks circle around the cute females, trying to guess who was interested in whom. Quite a fun game actually!

The morning was spent on the beach with multiple trips to the ocean in vain attempts to cool off until we finally just decided to get in the car and drive to Montezuma. The journey was only 60 km or so, but on a dirt road that was not so well maintained, so it ended up taking us four or so hours to finally arrive. The drive was pretty, and R started reading the questions out of her Spanish dictionary, so we had some strange but interesting conversations. We stayed at Hotel Lucy, which was an inexpensive dream, directly on the beach with unusually comfortable beds!

Montezuma was lovely, as we previously expected since we went there before on Semester at Sea. This time, however, we knew H needed to avoid shots on fire and actually make it to the waterfalls!

The first waterfall we went to was located 2km north of the town along the beach. It was spectacular, tumbling down into the ocean, and providing a swimming hole when the tide was low! We had the beautiful place to ourselves and found the Jardin del Eden!

The next day after camping on the beach and leaving our belongings with the adorable owner at Hotel del Parque, we ventured to the most visited waterfall. There we watched crazy locals dive down the giant waterfall and hiked around on a sketchy trail, the type where the bridges across ravines have fallen, and if the steps were present they definitely didn’t seem like they would hold our weight!

Leaving Montezuma was rough but we knew going to Mal Pais would be extraordinary! It is important to note the entire time we have been in Costa Rica we have been saying we should just go to Mal Pais because we know that we love it there. But there is something about visiting a place again when the first experience was so positive, you never know if it will live up to your expectations. Well, we made it and we still love it!

We stayed at the same place as we did in 2008, Mal Pais Surf Camp, which is an adorable location with a variety of types of accommodation, all around a large property that even has a pool accessible to the guests, quite a luxury. It has had a bit of a price increase since we were here last, but we’re told over and over again that it’s the fastest growing area in the country. Honestly, we did see new hostels and hotels down the main stretch of Playa Carmen, but it still has the feel of a small local beach community who happens to provide some good surfing waves. It may be that the area is so difficult to access, but we’re hoping that it stays this way for at least a few more years.

H had a great surf session, and tried out her thumb in the ocean. Turns out, everyone is interested in knowing more about discolored, broken up thumbs, and one nice old Tico man decided to approach R on the beach to talk to her about the benefits of using condoms. Not for that nonsenses people, because apparently they are great with a rubber band (a rubber with a rubber, cute right?) around a finger to keep the water from softening the skin too much and wearing off scabs. Let’s just say it was not a short nor comfortable conversation to be having in a large group of Ticos…

We went and checked out the night life on evening, and it turns out there is some sort of complicated system of bars in the area where only certain ones open on certain nights. Maybe to not waste money trying to out compete each other? In any case, we ended up needing to hike ourselves up the road to Santa Teresa, about 2 km, which for a moment was a dark little road with sketchy switch backs and chicos in the dark whistling. One of those moments when we ask ourselves in M’s voice “Are you being safe?”.

But we were safe, and we arrived at the bar with some slightly off, not-so-much reggae music and a bar that had run out of beer and was only offering watered-down rum and cokes. So when the band ended, we moved next door to what was meant to be reggae night but turned out to be a 90s dance party, which is really only fun for those people who had lived through it and remembered how those dances go (R definitely is one of those people, by the by). However, it was a good night, with dancing no less, which is ALWAYS fun!

Then we decided that while we could probably stay there forever, is was a little expensive and it was time to go back up to the mountains to cool off.

On a side note, the finger condom rubber band combination absolutely works. Condoms, they apparently are not just for protecting against STDs any longer. Thanks random old man, for making our trip that much more interesting!

Tags: Costa Rica, Liberia, Mal Pais, Montezuma, Playa Samara, Playas del Coco, Santa Teresa

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Categories Costa Rica, Our Travel Stories
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The Rule 2: Don’t Die Special One Month Anniversary Edition, In Two Parts… PART TWO

25 Apr

There were many things i thought to include in our one month anniversary edition of the blog. I have dreams of a map with our route highlighted on it, a memoriam for all of the things that we brought that did not make it through the first month, and a poll as to whether or not we should keep some of the things that have lasted this long without being used. I hope to eventually get to all of those items, but as it turns out traveling is very time consuming. (we literally spent about four hours today just going to the supermarket and back, life out here can be so complicated!) but without further ado, I give you the followup to the Rule 2: Don’t Die Special One Month Anniversary Addition, In Two Parts.

Y’all, this is a long post. Thanks in advance for keeping with it for as long as you do!

PART TWO: Ant Wars

Liberia is a very hot and dry place. But I am told that all of Costa Rica is very hot in April. Actually, I am also told that it is the beginning of the rainy season. These facts do indeed seem mutually exclusive since the rains bring down the temperature (while encouraging insects) and once the rains start they are serious (similar to someone turning on a hose full force directly on top of you). And yet, we had the pleasure of experiencing how April here is both brutally hot and crazy wet and full of insects. Needless to say, not a ton of people are traveling in April. Instead tourists love to travel here in “winter”, when the temperature is about 42 Celsius and so dry you can feel your life evaporating out into the air around you.

Liberia was a perfect example of the type of melt-your-skin-off-your-bones, rivers-of-sweat-down-your-face, can’t-think-clearly heat that had been altogether unexpected while we had been living in the mountains and wearing fleece jackets and hats to stay warm. So maddeningly hot that H and I actually had an argument about how difficult it is to travel in the heat. And for those of you who know H, it was so hot she actually pursued an argument… Really, really hot.

But the house we were to sit is an adorable modern building outside town, very well decorated and the family that lives there are laid back and extremely welcoming. They had two pets we were to keep alive, a black cat named Kali with impressive hunting skills and a love for cuddling, and Lilly, a dwarf bunny who is the most entertainment one could hope for on a ridiculously hot evening as she hopped all around the lower floor. The family gave us an introduction, and explained how to take care of their guests (they were on airbnb.com and had a beautiful room on the ground floor they rent out) while they were away.

Day One: the set up
After the quick detour of bus difficulty in San Jose we arrived late in Liberia and were overwhelmed by the extreme heat and details necessary to keep the house in functioning order. We had a quiet night, and I even got to take Lilly on a hop on a leash (literally a dream of mine for years now)! We were settled in for our 10 days and were blissfully unaware of the battle being undoubtably prepped in the wings of the house.

Day Two: the ambush
When we awoke the next morning, ants of various sizes had taken over the floor of the kitchen. This news could have been imparted in various ways, but it was found out by sleepy feet dragging their way to the kitchen filter to get water around 5:30, and a small infantry was sent in to hold their lines. These little guys are aggressive and heavy casualties were sustained. Being in a peace and love household we had hoped to sweep up the line and simply relocate them outside. There was only one of us who had the full use of both hands, and we went in knowing that there was little chance of complete success. This, however, was not a compromise that the ants were willing to accept on any terms, and the losses were great without much progress to speak of. This was a battle in which we were not carrying the proper ammunition, and so we decided to go and gather small ant traps like I had seen used at my last job to control a small ant problem.

We did not find what I wanted. Like being able to flush toilet paper down the toilet, fancy ant traps do not seem to be a possibility in the Central America. *sigh* We found and then promptly forgot some sticky strips, and when we returned to the Casa, we were again tool-less. So H, being ingenious, grabbed the 409 and sprayed their ammunition lines, if for nothing more than to clean the path so they could be scattered. This did little more to the masses than piss them off. Our side had even more significant losses, now focused on the hands as well as the feet.

I have to admit, I snapped. I am not good at self control to being with, and ant bites are something I truly cannot abide. I began to tear through every corner of the house, looking for something to help control this mounting war that must have begun before the night we slept through. There could be no way in my head that it could have been our mere presence that brought so many in… And then I found it, our hope in the furthest corner of the cleaning supply area, citrus scented low impact fumigator spray! I had no more control of myself, I was itching, swollen, and I began to spray the kitchen floor as though I was spray painting it with fumigator. The ants saw the full force attack for the serious threat it was, and I was momentarily overwhelmed by squirming ant bodies on the legs and feet. The only response that seemed a strategic move at this point was to then aggressively spray my feet and legs so that at least each attack would then be guaranteed suicide for my attackers… That is correct, I fumigated my own legs, which also happened to have open wounds…

H had enough foresight to remove the animals from the house during the slight insanity I had little to no control over. But we had a victory. A hard-fought victory that required an intense floor cleaning and another long hop while the Casa aired out.

Day Three and Four: guests return
Savi and Saku are a fantastic couple from Canada who had to return to the house a little early because of a death in the family. They are a vegan and a vegetarian and they are serious animal lovers. We shared a lot of wonderful meals, a bus ride to town to look for lecha de soya, and some great conversations. We did our best to help them with their flight arrangements, but these days customer service is not helpful at all. They have had an impact on lives and our plans for traveling in the future.

We spent most of our time together in long meals kept going with fantastic conversations! It’s nice to meet travelers with similar dietary requirements while traveling because they have the best tips! Also, Saku is a FANTASTIC cook!!!

There were no battles of note during this period.

Day Five: on the offensive
After our Canadian couple began their three day trip, we happened upon a see-through plastic door where our enemies had encamped. It literally looked like what one would imagine an ant farm to look like, with eggs and busy ants of all stations running about. After my last encounter with the fumigation spray, H had been assigned to all future decisions regarding where and when to use our spray. We had a long discussion and decided that while we seemed to be maintaining our current level of existence with the cleaning and minimal spraying, taking out the home nest would likely be beneficial to us in the long run. We were tired of being on the defensive, so we lightly sprayed the entrance to the door and took the animals out for a hop. Upon our return a little while later, there were literally twitching bodies of ants strewn all across the floor as they abandoned their home nest but still succumbed to the spray. H was heartbroken and couldn’t look at the devastation we had caused. I had considerably less trouble with it, and swept the poor little guys into the outdoors with only slight guilt. It seemed we had won a quite a victory…

Day Six: spider sacrifice
This day was largely full of reading in hammocks in the sweltering heat. We did minimal ant wars, but it seemed largely unnecessary since we were still cleaning the fleeing nest ants. A HUGE spider, literally larger than a silver dollar happened to be skittering by, I trapped him in a jar and was about to release him outside when I realized the guy would no doubt get back in somehow, and he was HUGE… so, being indecisive and brain-addled by the heat, I simply placed him outside at night to consider releasing the next day when I had made my decision. I promptly forgot about him.

Day Seven, Eight, and Nine: new guests
Until I went outside the next day after 10am (when the heat starts to feel like it’s boiling the ground) and found the poor guy shriveled in his jar, apparently haven given up to the heat some time before. This i did feel bad about… Until it rained shortly thereafter and I decided that the rain gods had accepted my spider sacrifice. I was in fact sure I had tapped into some great power, and was willing to offer as many of the guys as I could find if it kept the temperature down a little in the afternoons! We celebrated by going to watch El Lorax en espanol, which we caught the drift of, but were not yet well versed in Spanish enough to truly understand. Fun none-the-less!

That night arrived our next house guests, George and Chelsea. They are the most adorable couple we have yet to come across. Both being seasoned travelers, and Chelsea being a former Rotarian exchange kid herself, we had days of fantastic conversation! They invited us along on a visit to Playas del Coco, Playa de Penca, and Playa Escondita beaches and Llanos de Cortez waterfall, all of which was a fantastic trip where I think I laughed and enjoyed myself more than I have in a while. The next day we tagged along to Rincon de la Veija National Park, which smelt so wonderfully like Yellowstone that we ended up running not only to a waterfall, but exploring bubbling mud, geysers, and hot pools with crazy excitement. (I had not given up the spider sacrifice idea, so it rained on both of these days… But it was wonderfully cooler as well)!

We spent a lot of time all together, and we fell in love with the story of how they met and they overall wonderful interactions together. George had just finished a PhD and this was their celebration trip, and I hope it ends up being as entertaining as they were for us in those 3 days. Congrats you two, and thanks for everything! We’re drinking a bottle of wine with a fancy dinner for my birthday thanks to you guys!

They seemed super chill with the fact that due to our attack on the ants’ home nest, we now had quite notable flying ant presence around the lights. They seemed even more chill when I was allowed to pull out the ant fumigator and get them again, after I had explained the madness which had overtaken me just a few days prior. (turns out Chelsea had a similar moment with bed bugs in Chile and Raiding her bed… She at least was more clever about it than I had been, only accidentally harming herself in the process, where I had just committed to self-fumigation). They were not complicit in the spray, but they gave me space to be a little neurotic about it while H felt super guilty.

Day Ten: escape
This day we did serious cleaning. Lots of laundry, floor, counters, and all we could to prep the house. Then I got antsy. I needed OUT of this heat. Thankfully the family came back, and the daughter even had thank you treats for us for not killing her animals. They were so welcoming and wonderfully happy to be home, we were tempted for a moment to stay one more night, but I was clear out of my mind by then, and needed to be on the road. So they obliged and took us to the bus station. They were truly a wonderful family and I wish I had more control over myself than I do, but I am glad we got to the beaches!

More to come shortly, about our favorite spot in Costa Rica!!