Oh the places you’ll go.

Part 2: Travel from La Florida and time spend in Quepos/ Manuel Antonio

The night of Monday, May 21st, I stayed at Pura Suerte Farm (www.purasuerte.com) and catch a ride to Dominical early in the morning on Tuesday. I considered staying in, where I have spent time during my last two trips to Costa Rica. The farm continues to evolve and currently includes one of the best restaurants in the South Pacific area. The farm & restaurant owner Drennan Flahive published a cookbook the combines the flavors of the jungle with local and North American cooking to create Jungle Fusion.

Early Tuesday morning, Dre gave me a ride to the turn off in Dominical. I originally planned on spending the day in Dominical, but with the 7:45AM departure I had a good jump on the day's heat and decided to start down the Interamericana Highway towards Quepos.

Sometimes You Get Lucky:

My mother, grandmother and possibly Jr. High School Principal each told me to never hitchhike; however, sometimes in you have to toss good intentions to the wind and stick your thumb into the wind.

I started walking down the muddy pot-holed Interamericana around 8:30AM. The third car to pass was a shiny new SUV that pulled over in front of me. The driver, a skinny Costa Rican with jean's and a golf shirt, jumped out and opened the trunk. Initially, I was skeptical and even a bit worried, but as i loaded my pack in the car I asked a few probing question and then I figured it out. In a real sense, I hit the hitchhikers jackpot (No, a hot blond will never pick you up, doesn't happen - move on). He is a lawyer from San Jose, family man, very smart, and wanted to work on his English during the hour and a half drive to Quepos. In turn, I was able to work on my virtually non-existent Spanish and get a life. Perfecto!

The road from Dominical to Quepos is one of the worst in Costa Rica, but the trip was great in the new 4x4 SUV. We talked about sports, family, school and life in general. One of my favorite moments was when Gustavo told me how he doesn't watch futbol or drink alcohol because it causes too many people to miss out on the important things in life. I also received a tutorial on farming in the region (rice and palm oil), historical weather disasters, and the country's political/ economic ties to the United States. I couldn't have asked for a better way of getting to Quepos.

Gustavo dropped me off near downtown Quepos, the larger and dirtier neighbor to Maunuel Antonio. If you are ever in Quepos, do yourself a favor - skip the tourist information office/ travel company. Unfortunately, the half hour spent in the Lynch Travel office was filled with so much poor information my only conclusion is that the entire operation is a scam. Do yourself a favor and just wing it.

Updated - I am now in a spot where I can write more. I am splitting this up into a few posts to make it more manageable. I don't want to scare you off!

Part 1: The Farm & Mountain Life

My travel to Costa Rica and to Paul's farm in La Florida took about 16 hours door to shay-cloth (no doors at Paul's). I was exhausted and ready to crash once I hit San Isidro, but travel to "De Campo" in Costa Rica is rarely that simple. Traveling to town from the farm takes about an hour each way, and includes washed out dirt roads that cling to perilous drop offs. A few days prior to my arrival a dump truck slipped off the road and tumbled 150 meters down the mountain. Paul and my return trip included wrestling with a new 12 foot ladder and battling kerosene fumes after a spill in the truck. The amusement of both vastly surpasses the inconvenience.

Paul's farm was vastly improved from last year when three of us were living in the bungalow where lumber is set to dry where every moment you were confronted with a snake bite and the onslaught of Piss Ants (it's there name). This year the pillars were up and about 60% of the floor installed. I stayed on the farm 5 nights, and enjoyed the quite of the cloud forest. As you drink coffee in the morning, you can watch the clouds spill over a distant mountain and fill the valley below, only to rush up and consume the entire farm in a dense fog. Despite the dampness, the experience is very tranquil.

Paul's Farm & the Vally:

Mountain living is hypnotic. The heat of the morning and birds singing pulled me from bed each morning. Day's slip together as the movement and pace of nature drives your life. If you want to decompress and loose track of time, i highly recommend going to a cloud forest hut with no electricity.

The first morning Paul and I hiked to the top of his ridge for one of the best views in Costa Rica, the "Whale Tail," a rock/ coral formation on the coast line that creates a surf break in the shape of a massive whale's tail. From the ridge you can see the entire coast of the Oas Peninsula and up towards Mal Pais on the Nicoya Peninsula.

During my stay on the farm, I helped Paul work on his house. We got a lot accomplished, including: installed 2 walls in his new kitchen, constructed a new sink table and moved running water into the house, and installed a stove! It is wonderful to make coffee in the morning out of harms way; although, the piss ants still tracked me down.

One last amazing feature to come to La Florida, Pizza! Yes, pizza in De Campo. If you would like to meet an amazing couple living their dream on $600/ month, track down the entrepreneurs of Pizza Rica, Andy and Michelle. The couple purchased the faltering business from another Gringo last year and have transformed the operation into a real business. The take & bake pizza's are now available in 4 stores around San Isidro with planned expansion. If you know where the Pizza Rica kitchen is in La Florida you can stop by for a hot pizza and equally nice, a hot shower. Thank you Andy and Michelle for your kindness and beautiful views on life.

Last Friday was my last day of work, and after several goodbyes I walked out of the office.

Welcome to unemployment, or as I like to call it Summer Vacation. Looking back, I haven’t had a summer with out working since I graduated from Wabash College in 1999. I spent that summer back packing around Europe for a little shy of 4 months. I hope I learn as much from the summer of 2007 as I did from the summer of 1999.

I am not sure if it has completely sunk in at this point. It is 4:30AM on Wednesday May 16th, and I will leave for the airport in about an hour to fly to San Jose, Costa Rica for three weeks. As suspected, I didn’t sleep much last night. However, my unrest has allowed me to catch up on some correspondence. Honestly, I spent the last half hour looking for things I still cannot find. But now as I look out my window, I see the first rays or the morning sun pushing across the sky. I feel alive and fortunate to be where I am in this time.

Not working is a funny experience. Possibly the most interesting realization occurred to me yesterday while I was at CVS for the 8th time and I was getting ready to go to REI for the 12 time in the last 2 weeks. It was the middle off the afternoon, around 2PM, and I expected be virtually alone while running errands; however, instead the parking lot, Whole Foods and especially CVS were packed: Senior Citizens. It never occurred to me that while I was at work all day the stores, banks and streets were packed with retirees. Makes sense, just never have been there to see it up until now.

Today’s travel includes a stop over for some sweet tea in Charlotte, NC, on my way to San Jose, Costa Rica. I will take a cab across the city to the Musoc Bus Station, and a three-hour bus through the mountains to the South Pacific region and the town of San Isidro. I hope to meet up with my buddy Paul, enjoy some ceviche and Gallo Pinto, and start easing into the Pura Vida life style.

Pura Vida my friends.

There are many changes ahead for me in the coming months. My last day at work is not far off, May 11th. I received my last paycheck yesterday, and that is the last of the cash for a few years. No more money, but a lot of time to travel and have some fun (until the student loans kick in).

The true paradox of life: Money vs. Time.
The answer: credit cards.

When I talk about my plans for the next few months, people are generally surprised at how planned out things are. That being said, I really only have dates when things occur and everything in between is up in the air. Personally, I like the idea of the random walk and making it up as I go. Unfortunately, the Vietnam and Cambodia governments don’t share my view on whimsical travel when reviewing visa applications, so I will have to toss some structure (lies) around my plans.

What I have to look forward to include:
Costa Rica & Panama:
May 16th, San Joes, Costa Rica. Bus trip from San Joes to San Isidro and up to relax in the jungle near La Florida.
May 20th, Dominical for a little surfing
Tentative plans to travel to Panama, and through out northern Costa Rica between May 23 – June 5th.
June 6th, fly home to Boston

Indochina & Thailand:
June 27th, Fly from Richmond, VA to Ho Chi Min City, Vietnam
Backpack through Southern Vietnam, into Cambodia, back to Vietnam and up the cost, into Los on my way to Northern Thailand, and than south to Bangkok
August 6th, Fly from Bangkok, Thailand to Richmond

Near Cusco Peru, 08/2005

End of my four day hike to Machu Picchu, 08/2005

One of my favorte beaches in Costa Rica, Playa Ventanas, 04/2006