The warm, humid air hit us as soon as we stepped off the plane in San Jose, Costa Rica and brought us right back to where we left off, bringing our mental state to match our physical location. Our alter-egos began to resurface and the itch to get back on the bikes was back. But before resuming our bike tour, we took a side trip to meet up with David´s cousin Becca, who was reportedly in Parismina on the Caribbean coast where her boyfriend lives. After two days of trying to reach her to no avail, we took our chances and traveled a full day on bus and boat to Parismina. Luck was on our side and we spent three days getting to know each other a little better, catching crabs, walking on the beach, playing cards, "adventuring", and wildlife watching with Becca and her boyfriend, Jerry.
As we got all of our gear out of the "bodega" where we had stored it at Enriques house, we realized just how tough five months of rainy season can be on things. We spent an entire day cleaning mold and dust off EVERYTHING. With everything clean and shiny like new, we left San Jose and headed for the Pacific Coast with our ton of crap on our bikes. This time it REALLY felt like a ton even though we were even more conservative with what we brought with us than last time. To get out of the Central Valley where San Jose is located we had to climb the "Cerros de Escazu" (mountains of Escazu) which was a quick jump start to get our biking legs back. It took us two days to get to the coast and although it was physically tough, the mountain vistas and hospitality of the small town folk we met was amazing. People seemed to really care about us-- many made sure to tell us the safest route to take, one store owner gave us a gift of some chocolate bars before we left his town, and when David dropped one of his riding gloves while we were eating lunch at a roadside stand, all of the locals at the stand took it upon themselves to figure out who picked up the glove and one of them rode off on his bike to go find it at the house of the suspected glove-snatcher. Five minutes later, David had two gloves and we rode off with a deeper fondness for the Costa Rican people that we will never forget.
Our ride along the coast from Parrita to Dominical was HOT and dusty. We wore wet bandanas over our mouth and nose for most of the ride to try and save our lungs as best we could. Just after Parrita, we had to cross a one lane bridge which was about 50 meters long and super rickety. There was no railing for most of the bridge and horizontal metal beams made up the ground with many missing and an occasional small metal sheet thrown over a hole deemed big enough to be dangerous, but not bolted down of course. We were at the front of the line of cars with a man on a motor bike, waiting for our turn to cross the bridge and when the cars from the other direction stopped coming, the man on the motorbike went ahead and crossed...and we followed...but the cars in the opposite direction still had the right of way and started coming at us. It seemed everyone was equally afraid of the bridge as we were, so everyone went very fast over the bridge including those cars coming at us. So we were forced to squeeze by the cars on the right side.
After the first truck passed me and shook the bridge with its weight, I realized that the bridge was really slippery and that stopping was not an option, as it didn´t seem wide enough to accomodate a car and the width of me standing next to my bike comfortably. When the second car passed me, I got a bit too close to the edge of the bridge for comfort (remember, no railing) and upon trying to get closer to the middle too quickly, I slipped and my bike and I were on the ground with half of my back wheel off the edge. Shaking like a leaf, I picked up my bike and pannier that had fallen off and slowly walked across the rest of the bridge as if I was walking on ice. Luckily, man at the other side of the bridge who was supposed to be directing the flow of cars stopped any more cars from coming and I was able to walk across safely. I think my fear of heights is much greater now than before, if that is even possible.
We spent two nights camping on the beach in Dominical and in Parque Nacional Marino Ballena and were graced with beautiful sunsets and also a strange marine animal phenomenon. For a few hours at daybreak in Playa Dominical, the stingrays went crazy and were jumping 2-3 feet into the air from the surface of the water. If they weren´t jumping all over the place, they were surfing the waves. Of course, I didn´t
realize that they were surfing until I saw about three of them 10 feet away from me ready to snake the wave that David and I were bodysurfing. Needless to say, I almost had a heart attack until I realized what they were. From the shore, we could see sometimes six stingrays in one wave flapping their wings to gain momentum in the wave. Like a National Geographic picture, amazing. At Playa Ballena we spent the day beachcombing, swimming, and taking in the coastal sights. In the morning, we rode the hot stretch to Palmar Norte where we began preparations for our expedition to Parque Nacional Corcovado with finding a place to stash our bikes.
As we got all of our gear out of the "bodega" where we had stored it at Enriques house, we realized just how tough five months of rainy season can be on things. We spent an entire day cleaning mold and dust off EVERYTHING. With everything clean and shiny like new, we left San Jose and headed for the Pacific Coast with our ton of crap on our bikes. This time it REALLY felt like a ton even though we were even more conservative with what we brought with us than last time. To get out of the Central Valley where San Jose is located we had to climb the "Cerros de Escazu" (mountains of Escazu) which was a quick jump start to get our biking legs back. It took us two days to get to the coast and although it was physically tough, the mountain vistas and hospitality of the small town folk we met was amazing. People seemed to really care about us-- many made sure to tell us the safest route to take, one store owner gave us a gift of some chocolate bars before we left his town, and when David dropped one of his riding gloves while we were eating lunch at a roadside stand, all of the locals at the stand took it upon themselves to figure out who picked up the glove and one of them rode off on his bike to go find it at the house of the suspected glove-snatcher. Five minutes later, David had two gloves and we rode off with a deeper fondness for the Costa Rican people that we will never forget.
Our ride along the coast from Parrita to Dominical was HOT and dusty. We wore wet bandanas over our mouth and nose for most of the ride to try and save our lungs as best we could. Just after Parrita, we had to cross a one lane bridge which was about 50 meters long and super rickety. There was no railing for most of the bridge and horizontal metal beams made up the ground with many missing and an occasional small metal sheet thrown over a hole deemed big enough to be dangerous, but not bolted down of course. We were at the front of the line of cars with a man on a motor bike, waiting for our turn to cross the bridge and when the cars from the other direction stopped coming, the man on the motorbike went ahead and crossed...and we followed...but the cars in the opposite direction still had the right of way and started coming at us. It seemed everyone was equally afraid of the bridge as we were, so everyone went very fast over the bridge including those cars coming at us. So we were forced to squeeze by the cars on the right side. 
After the first truck passed me and shook the bridge with its weight, I realized that the bridge was really slippery and that stopping was not an option, as it didn´t seem wide enough to accomodate a car and the width of me standing next to my bike comfortably. When the second car passed me, I got a bit too close to the edge of the bridge for comfort (remember, no railing) and upon trying to get closer to the middle too quickly, I slipped and my bike and I were on the ground with half of my back wheel off the edge. Shaking like a leaf, I picked up my bike and pannier that had fallen off and slowly walked across the rest of the bridge as if I was walking on ice. Luckily, man at the other side of the bridge who was supposed to be directing the flow of cars stopped any more cars from coming and I was able to walk across safely. I think my fear of heights is much greater now than before, if that is even possible.
We spent two nights camping on the beach in Dominical and in Parque Nacional Marino Ballena and were graced with beautiful sunsets and also a strange marine animal phenomenon. For a few hours at daybreak in Playa Dominical, the stingrays went crazy and were jumping 2-3 feet into the air from the surface of the water. If they weren´t jumping all over the place, they were surfing the waves. Of course, I didn´t 
realize that they were surfing until I saw about three of them 10 feet away from me ready to snake the wave that David and I were bodysurfing. Needless to say, I almost had a heart attack until I realized what they were. From the shore, we could see sometimes six stingrays in one wave flapping their wings to gain momentum in the wave. Like a National Geographic picture, amazing. At Playa Ballena we spent the day beachcombing, swimming, and taking in the coastal sights. In the morning, we rode the hot stretch to Palmar Norte where we began preparations for our expedition to Parque Nacional Corcovado with finding a place to stash our bikes.
No comments:
Post a Comment