Busy Day

I started off today with a cup of cafe con leche, and an unbelievable drive. I hesitate to try and count the number of times I have actually done this trip, but I can say with absolute certainty that this was the best of them. It seemed that I had my side of the road completely to myself for the most part, only having to pass one car on a double yellow line going around a bend in the mountains. I did the drive to Orotina in a record 48 minutes!

At this point, I ran into the Costa Rican cycling team, or maybe some other group of 30 or so cyclists. All in helmets and spandex with a number of support vehicles behind them. And taking up the entire road in to Jaco. So I figured that this was a good time to stop for breakfast. I was just coming up to the "crocodile bridge" which is basically a bridge over a river that is home to many crocodiles, and from which you can see them sun themselves and act like logs. There are more surfers attacked by crocodiles here than there are by sharks - mostly when inexperienced surfers are trying to surf by the mouth of a river. I am hoping next time I'm here to go on a crocodile tour, where you can get much closer to them! The red spot by the face of the second guy here is actually a butterfly. It kept landing on the tip of his nose.

We decided, soon after I got back to Jaco, to head back to the beach at Punta Leone again, this time with a friend from Coco who dropped in for a visit. We timed it a lot better this time, and were actually able to walk on sand on the way there - although we did miss the ideal exit time by 10 or 15 minutes and did have to do some crazy rock stuff to get back. Of course, I had to add to my many bruises, or it just wouldn't be right. I ventured out into the surf to cool off, and as I was pushing my way through the waves, stepped into a big dip created by a pile of rocks under the water, lost my balance, got smashed by a huge wave then dragged across the rocks by the undertow. One more fairly big wave and I was back on my feet, with a new crop of scrapes and black and blue bits.

Then soaking wet and covered in sand we drove to La Fiesta de Maricosas - arguably the best seafood restaurant in the world. Certainly the best I have ever been to. The picture at the top was taken there. They take those boats and go and get the seafood. You don't get much fresher than that!

Finally we headed back home to watch a silly movie and relax. I have forgotten the name of the movie, but it is a Ben Stiller comedy/drama. The whole plot is cute, but the greatest bit involves a conversation about "permanent vacationers". The premise is that most people spend all kinds of money to go and visit a tropical paradise for a couple of weeks a year. And then there are some crazy people that move there permanently, set up small businesses and basically live their vacation all year round.

Hmmm.