A Nice Drive Home

Breakfast at the hotel restaurant, which was included in the price of our room, was easy and excellent. The waiter simply checked our wristbands, marked us off on his little clipboard, and then we were free to have whatever we wanted from the breakfast buffet: scrambled eggs, gallo pinto, ham (though none of us got any of that), toast, fried platanos, watermelon, papaya, OJ, coffee, hot chocolate. After a full day in the hot springs and a good night’s sleep, a big breakfast was just what we needed.

Check out was at noon, so we had about an hour and half to spend at the hot springs and still have plenty of time for showering and packing up. When we got down to the pools, we realized we were the first ones there. We had the place all to ourselves. “Swimsuits off!” I joked.

I decided to do the river first. I took the plunge this time instead of going in slowly on the falls. It was cold, but I got used to it quickly and then it felt good. We played in the river for a while and then climbed over the edge of a pool and warmed up in the hot water.

At 9:45, we bid the thermal waters farewell and hiked back up to the car. Back at the room, we showered and I uploaded a video of us on the river. We still had an hour or so until noon, so we checked out a little bit early. The guy tried to charge me the original price of $165, but when we reminded him that we didn’t have dinner included, he gave us a price of $105 ($5 less than the guy had quoted us the day before…bonus!). So the total cost of entrance for 5 into the thermal waters, snacks at the pools (8 or 9 drinks, 2 pizzas, and 2 chicken salads), an hour-long massage for Cristina, a room for the night, and a full breakfast: $155. This was one of the more resort-y type places we’ve ever stayed at, but I think we got a great deal.

On the road, our next destination was La Virgen de Sarapiquí, a little town on the edge of Braulio Carillo National Park, and a prominent location in the book I’m writing. I wanted to scout it out and get a better feel for the river that runs along the highway. The road to La Virgen was a good one, with only minor slow-downs due to an occasional truck.

When we got to La Virgen, Cristina drove so I could take pictures. We stopped at a touristy place called “Pozo Azul,” which turned out to be a perfect location for a scene in my story. I documented it well with the camera.

A good spot for a scene from my book!

Bridge over the River Sarapiquí

Under the bridge...photo by Bella

A statue of La Virgen de los Angeles...patron saint of Costa Rica. Cristina wants one of these statues...just not quite this big.

It was around lunchtime now, but we pushed on a bit before stopping to eat. We finally stopped near Puerto Viejo (de Sarapiquí…not to be confused with the other Puerto Viejo we stayed at in 2006). We found a pleasantly dumpy little soda to eat a simple lunch at.

When there's a TV, we have to strategically seat the younger ones

Afterwards, we bought some hot sauce from a grocery store next door as well as some Otter Pops (Costa Rican style). Alex’s Otter Pop tasted bad, like it was spoiled. I don’t know how frozen sugar water can spoil, but it tasted awful. It even smelled bad. We took it back and they tried to tell us that it was the flavor, that it was supposed to be like that. But they gave us a different one anyway. I saw the guy finally sniff Alex’s and he did make a slight face. They cost 25 colones each, so at least they had the distinction of being the cheapest dessert we’ve probably ever bought (about a nickel a piece).

We ate lunch at "Soda Judith" in the background. Alex is eating his replacement "Otter Pop."

We headed on. I didn’t have much more to see for my writing, so we drove through the middle of Braulio Carrillo en route to San Jose. I love that drive. It reminds me of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We even went through a long tunnel.

Cristina collects waterfalls...usually I'm going too fast for her to get a picture, but she got this one

When we got into San Jose, we headed towards the Democracy Plaza so Cristina could see a guy about making her some coconut shell earrings shaped like 9-pointed stars. On the way there, she called her cousin Irene. Irene lives somewhat nearby and was leaving for Guanacaste with her family for the weekend. But she had a half hour or so, so we changed our plans and met her at a Burger King near the San Pedro mall. The kids played on the playground while we visited with Irene.

We stopped at Democracy Plaza, but it was almost dark and the earring guy was gone. I did, however, find a vendor who was selling a replica of a stone sphere! Finally! Unfortunately, he wanted $40 for it. I really want one, but I’m not paying $40 for what’s essentially a ball of concrete. The guy said it was hand carved volcanic stone, but I’m not sure about that. He probably also has some beachfront property in Phoenix to sell me. As we looked around the stalls that were still open, I searched for someone else who had a sphere to sell. No one had one. Just before we left, I offered the guy 10,000 ($20) for his sphere. And that started a half hour of haggling that finally ended in me getting the sphere and a crystal for Bella for 15,000 (About $25). Sofia is a great haggler. She’s the quiet observer that hangs back and murmurs choice comments in the potential buyer’s ear. When she sensed that I was considering buying it for $30, she said, “You should offer $25…it’s midway between what you wanted and what he’s offering.” Never mind that his starting price was $40! Once he had dropped to $30, that was the new parameter for Sofia. She’s a good one to have at your side. The vendor (his name was Vladimir) even admitted that he was impressed by Sofia’s calm and focused demeanor.

So I got my sphere. It will make a nice decoration on my desk at school. Although I’ll have to keep an eye on it. If one of my students messed with it, it could cause some serious damage. It’s about the size of a grapefruit and pretty heavy. It is hand carved volcanic stone, you know.

We got to Pavas too late to make arrangements to park the car in the neighbor’s garage (she didn’t answer her phone), so we had to park it down the street. Maritza was out and Wito was working late, so for the first time, Cristina had to go with me. It went fine though. She observed that the guard was Nicaraguan. She could tell by his accent.