Home page of Joop Bakker - Costa Rica 2010

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The last full day prior the trip back to San José had started. While Joop was diving, Mariska

and

Birgitt spend the morning around the beach.

The weather was clear and hot.

Mariska played with the sand

and was excited

about the result.

In the background are the islands, close to them were the dive spots.

The diving expedition started early in the town Quepos, some 7 kms from Manuel Antonio. The dive school sent out a car to get us and half an hour later we had our equipment selected and went en route to the boat. The traffic was chaotic and the driver of the car was the dive master. She said the traffic was chaotic here, but she would never ever drive in San Jose. We soon would found out why. I had dragged along for two weeks 20 kg diving gear and here the gear was included in the price. But of course saving money was not the prime reason, after a nasty accident in Tasmania, I promised myself only to dive with own essential equipment. So I used at least some own gear and the dive computer, essential for safety. We were with a group of 5 plus a few students. One was a fat-bellied Canadian who had a problem to fix the lead belt around his enormous belly. Unsuccessful, as the belt fell off in the deepwater upon entering the water. No spare belt was available, so diving was over for him, and the dive master was angry of curse.

Diving in Pacific Costa Rica means diving in limited visibility, if you are lucky, but this trip was after rain, so the visibility was even more very limited. And the waves were still high, so soon I was feeling a little seasick. Glad I could jump overboard. The coral was dull, fortunately there was fish of all sizes,

even a big sea turtle passed by and disappeared soon in the murk.

I took some pictures if fish and coral, and spongues.

The coral is mostly dead or grey.

The fish were not too cooperative, so most of them are out of focus or half in the picture.

The dive lasted

not too long, as 40 minutes was the planning, but we made it longer.

With plenty of air we surfaced.

After a rest, drinks and snacks we entered the sea for the second dive.

It started as the first dive,

but many different fish

were at this other location

. A geat number of starfish

was seen,

in many shapes

and

colors. Here is one turned upside down, it shows the powerful arms with which the starfish can open clams

At the end I discovered a strange creature, I’ve never seen or found in any book. Not very surprisingly, as it was the front part of a lobster. The juicy back part was eaten by a predator, a shark or so and the front part discarded.

Unfortunately I did not see that shark in the murky water.While I was playing deep under water Birgitt and Mariska enjoyed themselves at the beach. Mariska made again a sandcastle.

In the afternoon we planned the national park. The road to the park was stuffed with autobuses and cars, the sheer number of visitors must clog this smallest and oldest of the Costa Rican National Parks, so we decided that, after so many national parks, the poolside was a better option. It was steaming hot, so hot that for the first time we had our airco running to be able to cool off, after having been outside for a while. In the evening there was an invasion of capucin monkeys

in the village. They played like acrobats

at various places, to the joy of the many tourists.

The sun set

in the pacific Ocean, and displayed the magnificent colors of a Pacific sunset

This was our last day prior returning to San Jose through a giant detour, to see as much of the country as possible. First we went to a plantation we took the route 34, a real surprise. On the map was indicated a small road, but the new road was almost completed, a few kilometers through the mud was still under construction. It is an amazing route along the coast, just at the foot of the hills, that were covered with dense tropical jungle. Unfortunately we had no time to explore it, but without any doubt there might be more to discover than in the national parks. And without the hefty entrance fees in dollars and wheelchair safe paths crowded with tourists.

We met people from the plantation and after a trip of half an hour we arrived at the “finca”.

. Like all locations in Costa Rica, the place was decorated by flowers in stunning colors.

. In Costa Rica you get daily rice and beans and the beans are planted everywhere, climbing against shrubs and trees. Here they are dried, it are black beans and red beans

. Of course we took some beans to plant in our own garden.

Next to the plantation was a teak wood plantation, now 20 years old.

They grow there mangustin,

rambutan and some other tropical fruit like giant starfruit

that was delicious indeed. Mangustin is the most delicious fruit we've ever eaten. However it was not the season for the harvest. Nowhere were the flowers or brilliant of color, as these bougainvilleas. The Costa Rican operator of the plantation was there as well and he was an expert on improvement of the products. They grow now own variations of the fruit. An important experiment was the year around production of mangustin, so the sales would not be in the peak season. The produce get then much better prices of course. You always have to be critical when there is an investing opportunity in a far country. Is it an opportunity for the investor or for the salesman? For that you got to visit the plantation to get the answers to your questions. Many questions however were not answered. Anyhow my, enthusiasm for this investment did not grow during this visit.

After that we left the tourist trail and headed for the Pan American Highway.

It was not listed in the traveler books as one of the things to do, but after a map study we concluded it has to be very interesting. And it was. The road initially followed a river and kept climbing continuously. Large plantations of pineapples, of the Dole brand, followed by banana and sugar cane plantations lined the roads. It was sugar cane harvest time and that tractors pulling cars piled with the brown sugar cane were on the road. This was the real Costa Rica. No tourists, no prices listed in dollars and no information in travel books. They just missed it, and lucky for us we had the chance to see something others tourists do not see.

The road continuously climbed up,

we even approached the cloudbase. The temperature was lower, to a pleasant level. We zigzagged from one side of the mountain ridge to another.

And the vegetation varied continuously when crossing to the other side of the mountain ridge. Beautiful flowers

competed for attention

. We passed mountains of more than 3820 high, that had still a lush vegetation on the top. Quite unlike the tops of the higher European alpine mountains, that are bare rocks. Only once we discovered more than 3m high dahlia’s with a beautiful color

. We took some seeds and within a year you may admire them in our garden.

We kept stopping to take pictures of the scenery

and flowers, but you could stop at all the turns of the road

. We were surprised that the road kept climbing and at one point were higher than the cloud tops. A unique sight, you could look down

on towering clouds.

Eventually we reached the top. This is probably the only high alpine road in the world that has not a board at the top, indicating the height of the pass. We guess it must have been more than 3000m

. Anyhow, the vegetation was now radical different, low shrubs. When we passed the highest point

we passed just below a mountain top of 3150m,

the road was only just lower, and passing veils of clouds made impressive scenery.

As the road descended, the landscape quickly changed again and the vegetation kept changing with it. Here we saw giant wild artichokes

and many species new for us.

Eventually we ended, after an wonderful trip in San Jose, in rush hour. That means the traffic in town comes to a grinding halt. San Jose is a typical Spanish colonial town, the road perpendicular and to allow any traffic in the narrow roads almost all are one way traffic. That would be no problem, if it is only indicated, but often the signs are simply not there and you find yourself opposite traffic. And the average car driver in San Jose is in a constant battle with all other drivers and gives no inch room to another. So after a long detour and with help of the GPS in the Nokia telephone we could find the hotel, just 2 minutes before the 18.10hrs drop-off time specified in the documentation.

In the hotel we were called by the travel agency. They informed us that today there was a snowstorm in the USA and traffic was rerouted from Newark to Houston, we might be prepared for some problems tomorrow. We got a tip as well: opposite the hotel was the best restaurant in Costa Rica, with the misleading name Cafe Mundo and further no indication. This popular place mixes creative cuisine with an ambience of casual elegance. Wood tables and Art Deco wrought-iron chairs are spread spaciously around several rooms in this former colonial mansion This place is almost always filled with a broad mix of San José's gay, bohemian, theater, arts, and university crowds. And indeed, we checked it out, it was full of patrons and the food was delicious, the best chicken breast we ever had.

But the rental car company did not pick up the car. I called them and said the car key will be in the hotel reception and good luck with it. That was not possible, he said, as only the next day the car would be picked up and the car must be parked in a secure area. I did not understand completely why, but to avoid hassle, I did it and paid the colones, the car was parked in a secure area,

behind high gates, with a guard sleeping on the lot.

At 4.30 hrs the alarmclock waked us up, for an early transfer to the airport. Then we saw something amazing. San José was yesterday full of cars and now, at dawn we saw no cars parked on the streets. Not a single one. If you looked carefully you saw many cars at guarded parking lots. And many in houses, or gardens, parked behind iron bars. But none was parked on the streets. All houses are protected with a kind of cages, definitely not for decoration. If I would have left the rental car on the street in front of the hotel, it would be the only car in San José on the street, and anyone can predict what would happen, so I’m glad I brought the car to the guarded parking lot. And while we notice that, we remember that all lodges and hotels had an armed guard, sometimes with bullet proof vests during the night outside, probably not for decoration either. So far for security in Costa Rica. Anyhow, we had no incident, but it is a good idea when traveling in Costa Rica to take nothing with you, you cannot afford to lose.

The trip from San José to Newark was uneventful, the security processing was slowly, but therefore you should be 3 hours prior takeoff at the airport. When we boarded, we lost one hour due to problems with the Immigration office, that prevented the aircraft to take off, but we still had plenty time for the transfer in white snowed, sunny Newark Liberty International Airport. Again we had to collect our checked luggage, have it inspected and checked it in again. This time the cumbersome processing in the USA went quickly, no problems with security, immigration or agriculture or border protection. Again electronic fingerprints of 10 fingers, pictures (why not a complete DNA profile for this transfer?) stamps, forms, more papers and so on. You only seem to have problems with that, if you are in a hurry. We took off in time and after surviving the traumatic transfer in Newark, we survived an Atlantic crossing with Continental Airlines. The airline ranks high in our top ten of worst onboard catering. The food was awful. One member of the cabin crew was a grumpy highly overweight granny that managed to bump upon you –when you tried to sleep- every time she stumbled through the narrow aisle of the economy class of this Boeing 757. After an experience like this, you really appreciate the Asian airlines offering gourmet meals served by friendly smiling slender beauties. But further the trip with Continental Airlines was OK.

We landed in time on Schiphol Airport in clear and cold weather. When the aircraft stopped at the gate we were happy to disembark in minutes. However, the bridge to the plane stuck when it was just 20 cm from the plane, due to the cold weather they said. Embarrassing for Schiphol, one of the airports that charge you the most for their service. So we had to wait another half hour till they could find somewhere a mobile stair, so we could leave the plane. That was the last hurdle and an hour later we were at home, with fond memories of a great holiday in Costa Rica, land of flowers. Pura Vida!

Pure Vida! It is a phrase used often in Costa Rica by Ticos. The underlying meaning is more like "living life to the fullest and richest." You hear it all day, even on the radio!

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