September 17, 2009

COSTA RICA IN A NUTSHELL




It took us 20 hours to get to Playas Del Coco, the small remote town we ventured to in Costa Rica. Our planes were delayed in Dallas and Miami, which caused our luggage to disapear when we arrived in Costa Rica. When we made it through customs around 7pm and asked for a bus to Playas Del CoCo (4 hours away from the airport)...they laughed at us. Our options were to spend the night in dangerous San Jose, or take a 4 hour/150$ cab ride.
 The cab driver scared me to tears, I whimpered the whole way there as he sped through curvy jungle roads with cliffs on both sides. He was PISSED about the drive but tried to be as nice as he could. We finally arrived to our friends and I felt much better. 
UNTIL, the next day...when I was stung by a killer jellyfish. I was practically paralyzed for an hour, and Im still dealing with rashes that look like someone spilled wine down my legs. That was the first day, and we spent the next 3 days without luggage...good times. The town was one single street with monkeys in the trees and dog-sized iguanas on the dirtwalk (as opposed to sidewalk). Everyone rides bikes, and I narrowly escaped colliding with an old man losing control of his wheels around a bend. My boyfriend saw it coming, and instead of warning me, he thought it funnier to watch the potential drama unfold. To get him back, I kept my mouth shut when I spotted a dead fly in his coffee.
 The trip was full of outrageous stories and happenings, but on a serious note, we had a GREAT time. We ziplined through the jungle, went out on a sunset sailboat cruise, biked, layed on the beach (although I did not set foot in the ocean again after the jellyfish...nor will I ever again). 




I definately know more spanish than I thought, not very many people speak English in good old Playas Del CoCo, so our interactions were pretty interesting. And let me tell you something else, those Costa Ricans sure do NOT bargain their prices...they would not budge on priced items, and when my friend Molly tried to tell the saleswoman at the bazaar that she only had 20,000 colones for a 30,000 colones purchase, the woman literally pulled things out of her bag to put back. HAHA. Hasta Luego Costa Rica, until next time.

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