Driving to the Beach Day

So we had this idea that we would get up early and get breakfast and then drive out of the mountains down to the coast early enough to settle in to our new place before it got dark. But we left too late in the day. It was drizzling in the morning, so everything felt sort of lazy. It was another breakfast that we spent about an hour and a half eating and reading our email and Facebook. Have I discussed how expansive the breakfast buffet was? Plus I had to blog all about our self-centered Thanksgiving dinner.

On this last morning at El Establo, we eat a delicious breakfast set to Pan flute covers - classics like "Pretty Woman," "Hotel California," and "Michelle."

Anyhoo, eventually we checked out. There are two ways down the mountain,.  The way that we came up at night is closed for several hours every day for paving. Our friends at the front desk told us to take the other, “better road,” lest we get stuck behind a closure. You can tell from the picture that “better” in Costa Rica truly is a relative term.

Sean rode the brakes the whole way down the mountain. We reached a top speed of 25 kilometers/hr. It was exciting, but also supremely uncomfortable. Very bumpy. Excitumpy.

Things we passed on the way down:

• Random cows on the edge of the steep mountainside 
• A soaring eagle 
• Dogs, wandering around along the side of the road 
• Free range chickens (VERY free range)(the world is their range) 
• Randomly paved curves on the road for very small stretches 
• Photo ops 
• Las Juntas grocery store 

Las Juntas means, “ grocery store of weirdly local food.” Going to grocery stores in foreign countries is one of my favorite things to do when traveling, and I can’t believe we went four days before going to one here. We got some snacks here that ended up being kind of gross, except for the processed shit that was tasty as fuck. Witness: CREAMY SWEET MENEITOS CHEESE PUFFS.

We stopped for lunch at a roadside soda. Food was unremarkable except for the giant red ice cream float that we shared.

And then we kept driving until we saw the crocodiles.

Carera Reserve is situated between tropical rainforest mountains and the coastal rainforest. A huge river that empties into the Pacific Ocean provides a stunning vista to watch the clouds roll off the mountain peaks. Right where the Pan American Highway crosses over the river, there are a number of sandy banks that attract crocodiles, cows, and other wildlife. We pulled over and parked and marched across the bridge to ogle with the other tourists. Crocodiles are ugly. 

We kept driving south and reached the coastal resort city of Jaco in time to watch a splendid pink sunset over the wide-open sea.

 And we were sad to realize that the chances of us reaching our Manuel Antonio hotel before dark were getting slimmer by the minute. Especially because we didn’t have an actual address for the place, and our GPS only recognized hotels in a ten-mile radius. We called the hotel guy and he had to check online before being able to direct us with incredibly vague instructions. We inevitably got lost in the neighboring town of Quepos! Sean made up an awesome song about all the goings on of Quepos!, and we were able to sing it for the rest of our trip and continue to do so to this day.