Feliz Cumpleanos, Roberto!

Happy Birthday, Bob!

This is our ninth day in Costa Rica, and it is a day for celebration. Every day has been lovely here, but this is a special day. Bob may technically be a year older than he was yesterday, but in spirit and body he feels twenty years younger. This IS a cause for celebration.

This morning, we took a walk into town, along the beach. Our destination was a soda (small Tico restaurant) called Teresita's where we had had dinner a couple of evenings ago. This soda is across the street from the beach, and sitting side-by-side at an outdoor table, we had a lovely view of the ocean and promenade.

Bob and Connie at Soda Teresita's, El Coco, Costa Rica.

Bob's Birthday Breakfast at Teresita's, El Coco, Costa Rica. (Video by Bob and Connie)

 

A restful afternoon at the condo - lunch, laundry, little projects, a siesta. Around 5:30 pm, we took a taxi into town and got out at Coconutz when we noticed that the monkeys were there again. There must have been at least eight of them, maybe more. We watched their antics for quite a while. Bob shot some video.

Monkeys at Coconutz, El Coco, Costa Rica. It was twilight and they were high in the trees, so look closely for small bodies moving in the branches. [Video by Bob.]

 

Afterwards, we walked a short way up the street to the Papagayo Seafood Restaurant and found a great table upstairs and outdoors. From here we had a view of the bustling street and, in contrast, the calm oasis of the restaurant.

Evening ambience from the upstairs at Papagayo Seafood Restaurant, El Coco, Costa Rica. (Video by Bob)

We enjoyed Mohitos and toasted Bob's birthday, then had salad and bread, two tasty seafood entrées (Catch of the Day was Mahi Mahi), wine, and a shared a Coconut Flan for dessert. Even better than the food was the shared conversation. The weather was warm and balmy. Bob checked the news on his iPad and reported that Massachusetts was due to get a big snowstorm on Friday - perhaps an "historic" blizzard with up to two feet of snow! We couldn't help but feel grateful that we were in El Coco rather than back home.

We both thoroughly enjoyed Bob 's birthday in Playas del Coco, though Bob did get quite contemplative on the subject of aging (his). He is working on a blog article about this topic.

Posted with Blogsy

Lights Out in El Coco

This evening we went out to dinner at La Dolce Vita - an Italian-style restaurant within the Las Palmas community in the commercial complex known as Pueblito Sur. This complex is perhaps a ten-minute walk from our condo. This is the third time we have been to this restaurant, which we enjoy for its delicious food, romantic ambience, and reasonable prices.

We settled into a table for two in the outdoor courtyard, enjoying the soft lighting as the sky slowly darkened. There was recorded music playing softly in the background, and I laughed as I realized that they were playing 50's music. Many of the songs they were playing are ones that our Share-the-Music group will be performing in May. Wendy and friends, if you are following this blog, know that there was at least one night when I practiced many of the songs in our show, including All I Have to Do is Dream, At the Hop, and Earth Angel. [Bob sang along too.]

When we left the restaurant, we ambled back towards our condo, when suddenly the entire Las Palmas development went black. The electricity had gone out. But the amazing thing was that rather than being upset, we were in awe, because suddenly the sky was alive with a blazing display of stars. I have only ever seen a display like this one other time in my life, in the middle of the desert outside Uluru (Ayers Rock), Australia.

We encountered a Security Guard with flashlight and asked what had happened. He did not know, of course, but did say that all of El Coco was without power, not just the Las Palmas development. Using Bob's iPhone as a flashlight, we made our way back to our condo. Coincidentally, we had gone grocery shopping earlier today and we happened to buy a candle. We forgot to buy matches, but fortunately we were able to borrow some from our neighbors, Colleen and Ray. I asked if these blackouts happened often and they said, "Yes, they happen frequently."

This is all a part of what people take in stride when they speak of La Pura Vida. The French might say, "Que sera, sera." The Buddhists would speak of non-attachment.

As I lit our one candle, I thought of the old cliche saying, "It is better to light one candle than to curse the darkness," and I knew exactly what that meant.

While the lights were out, we sat outside and gazed at the magnificent sky. At one point, I saw a shooting star, and Bob said, "That will bring you luck." I already think I am one lucky woman. Who could ask for more?

Posted with Blogsy

Buying a Cell Phone in El Coco - Part Two

Today we finally bought a Costa Rican cell phone. We had been thinking about this for days. We can't use our iPhones here, and renting a cell phone appeared to be too expensive. (We had heard that renting a cell phone would cost $7-10 a day.) But somehow, buying an inexpensive phone with a prepaid SIM card could be well within our reach.

A couple of days ago, we had checked out a couple of stores and had done some pricing, and today we went back to the one that seemed to offer the best deal. The store is called Nanda and is located near the AutoMercado (supermarket) in the Pacifico Plaza in El Coco.

In order to buy a cell phone in Costa Rica, you have to show your passport or other official ID. The first time we approached a store to by a phone, neither of us had a passport with us. This time, both of us did.

The saleswoman spoke almost no English, and she and Bob negotiated this purchase. The phone she recommended was the brand, Unnecto, and was the least expensive in that line. It comes with a SIM card for 120 minutes, and is active for three months. Although we could keep the phone and buy a new SIM card, it is really intended to be a disposable phone. Despite this, the phone does seem to have a number of other usable features, including text messaging, GPS, music reception, and use as a flashlight. All this for $34 - what a bargain!

Bob asks, "How would we ever use up 120 minutes on this phone while we are here (for a total of eight more weeks)?" Well, who knows? I imagine we will call for taxis, make reservations for dining, hotels, tours, etc., and maybe even call new friends in this country whom we haven't even met yet - not to mention helping us in an emergency situation. We will see how this turns out. Stay tuned.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Medical Assistance in El Coco

Three days ago, I took a fall by the pool. In the process, I got two scrapes, one near by left elbow, the other on the back of my left hand. The elbow scrape seems to be healing fine. But today I noticed that the one on my hand was becoming infected, even though I had been washing it regularly with soap and water and covering it with Bacitracin and, usually, a Band-Aid. We decided that I really should have it looked at.

So, as soon as we stepped off the bus on our return from our morning trip to Liberia, we went to the Medical Assistance Clinic just steps away from the bus stop. I had expected long waiting lines and anticipated we might be there for quite some time. But we were pleasantly surprised. There was only one person waiting ahead of me, and I was seen within 15 minutes.

The doctor - a handsome, young, bilingual Tico - took a look at my hand, confirmed that it was infected, and prescribed an antibiotic (5-day course of Cefadroxil) and a special soap (Sterop Solution) that I was to pick up at the Pharmacy (Farmacia) down the street. I had instructions to clean the wound with the special soap and continue to use the Bacitacin, to wear a bandage when outside, but not inside, and take the antibiotic for five days. He gave us his emergency phone number and told us to call anytime, day or night, if there was a problem. The visit cost me $50, which we paid via MasterCard. (I have no medical insurance outside the USA.)

We went immediately to the small Farmacia down the street where the prescription was filled immediately. There was some confusion, on the part of the woman behind the counter, about whether the pills should be taken once or twice a day - confusion compounded by the fact that she spoke to us in Spanish. She conferred with the Pharmacist and he told me to take the antibiotic twice a day, morning and evening with meals, for five days.

We left the Farmacia and walked a few doors down to the Heladeria (ice cream-gelato shop) where we each ordered a gelato. I took my first pill with food, as instructed. (What I won't do for ice cream!)

Posted with Blogsy

Lunes en El Coco - Monday in Coco

A week ago today (Monday, January 28) we left Boston in the morning and arrived in Liberia, Costa Rica at 7:25 pm, staying overnight in the Hilton Garden Inn near the Liberia airport. Tomorrow will mark one week in Playas del Coco. It's hard to believe we have already been here a week. Time flies when you're having fun!

Today got off to a slow start. We skipped our usual early morning walk in order to wait to meet the cleaning lady who was supposed to be here at 8:30 am. A couple of hours passed and she did not appear. Oh, she's on "Tico time", we thought. We decided to do some laundry in the shared laundry room, and there we discovered that there was no water. Ah, that explained why the cleaning lady had not been there. As it turns out, the water was off for several hours today - an occurrence that our neighbor Colleen tells us happens at least once a week. Shortly after the water did come back on, around 2 pm, two cleaning ladies arrived, and within half an hour they had our condo spotless. What a pleasure!

After a relaxed afternoon by the pool, swimming, reading, and blogging, we got dressed and began our walk into town. Our mission was to have some dinner and perhaps do some grocery shopping.

On a path near the beach, I heard a rustle in the dry grass, looked over, and there was a small iguana - maybe a foot long, with concentric colored circles around its body. It was eating the tenderest leaves on the sparse ground cover. We watched it for several minutes. The first iguana I have ever seen in the wild.

While watching the iguana, a couple walked by, spotted the little fellow and joined us. "Ooh, un iguan," she exclaimed. We began to converse, and discovered they were French Canadian. French was their first language. English, of course, was ours. And all of us knew varying degrees of Spanish. The conversation that ensued turned out to be trilingual, with each of us flowing in and out of the three languages, sometimes combining words and phrases from all three languages in one sentence. Without all four of us being fluent in any one of the languages, we all still managed to make ourselves understood. Fascinating.

After walking the beach to town, we sat and gazed out on the water, watching pelicans and other seabirds dive for fish, boats at anchor or coming and going, the sun dropping closer to the ridge of the mountain behind which it would set. Then, getting hungry, we set out in search of a place to eat dinner.

Almost immediately, we came upon a small Tico restaurant, Soda Teresita, right across the street from the beach. I had read about this soda in the Lonely Planet eBook on Costa Rica. Although it is very small and does not look that enticing, we had a beautiful view of the beach and sunset, and the homemade cooked-to-order food was delicious. I had pollo frita (fried chicken) with platanos (plantains) and un ensalada (salad) that looked like cole slaw only without the mayonnaise. Bob had an equally tasty meal of pork chops (chuletas de cerdos) with papas fritas (French fries) and salad.

Afterwards, we strolled up the main drag, stopping at the gelato store (helandria) for another taste of this heavenly Italian ice cream. From there, we investigated the bus schedule to and from Liberia - a trip we are planning to take tomorrow - and then stopped at the SuperCompro (a supermarket) for a few things before catching a taxi home.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Day Trip to Liberia

Our first venture outside Playas del Coco was a short trip to Liberia this morning (Tuesday, February 4). Bob has been eager to try out the public bus system to see if it really would be a viable mode of transportation for us. Last evening we learned that the bus for Liberia (via the Pulmitan line) leaves El Coco every half hour between 5 am and 8 pm. The return schedule is similar. We also learned where the bus stop is located for this bus.

We set our alarm for 5 am, hoping to catch a bus sometime between 6:30 and 7:30 am. After a quick and light breakfast, we left the condo at 6:30 and caught the bus that left at 7 am. The fare was 600 colones each ($1.20) one way, so the total cost of the round trip for two was $4.80.

The bus was surprisingly modern and comfortable. Somehow, I had expected a rickety bus that could break down at any moment, but that was not the case. Most of the passengers, if not all, were Ticos. I think we were the only Gringos-Touristas riding the bus this early. The bus was a local which made several stops along the way. We passed through the dry, brown grasslands of Guanacoste, dotted with green (irrigated) melon farms and occasional oases of green trees and flowering shrubs. At one point, I spotted a group of vultures feeding on some basura (trash/garbage). This part of Guanacoste is ranching country and we saw lots of cattle and horses, but no caballeros (cowboys).

Even with many stops, the trip took less than an hour. We arrived at the Pulmintan terminal a little before 8 am. We made a stop at the terminal restroom, where we were charged 150 colones (about 30 cents) to use the facilities and we were handed a small wad of toilet paper which we were to use for both the toilet and for washing up afterwards. But it was worth it - the restrooms were very clean (not the case in most public bathrooms we've seen so far).

Unfortunately, we did not bring a map or guidebook with us and did not know where to go. We walked a few blocks and did happen on the main park (Parque Central) and one of the two main churches in town, Iglesia de la Concepcion Inmaculada de Maria. Unfortunately, we did not take a photo of this impressive building - a very large, modernesque, white stucco cathedral with A-frame styling over the windows and three impressive and artsy crosses on top.

Iglesia de la Concepcion de la Maria, Liberia, Costa Rica. (Photo by Rech/Panoramio)

 

But by this time, we were thirsty, a little hungry, and hot. I was also experiencing some discomfort in my left hand, which appeared to getting infected from a scrape I got during a fall a couple of days ago. We stopped at a small soda on the corner, tried to buy some bottled water (they had none for sale), and ordered two mango refrescos (a cool drink made with fruit juice and either water or milk - ours were made with water). We then headed off for a bakery we had spotted earlier, hoping for a good cup of coffee and perhaps some desayuno (breakfast). The coffee was OK, the pound cake was stale, and we left our two bottles of water on the table, by mistake, when we left. Not our best dining experience.

At this point, we decided to catch the next bus back to Playas del Coco, which left at 9:30. There was not much more to see in Liberia, from a tourist perspective, and we had accomplished what we came for - to experience and learn about the public bus transportation from El Coco to Liberia and on to San Jose. This bus was even nicer than the one we took earlier, and it was air-conditioned - a real blessing at this point! The ride was very pleasant and seemed to pass by quickly, despite the frequent stops.

Not too far outside El Coco, there is a village called Sardinal. It appears that we might be able to change buses here for others that go north or south to some of the other beach towns. Bob is busy investigating this possibility. This village has a charming park, which we might come back and investigate another time.

Kiosk at Parque Sardinal. (Photo by Gino Vivi/Panoramio)

 

Sardinal has another thing going for it - it has the closest gas station (a Mobil) to El Coco (which has lots of cars and other vehicles buzzing about, but has no gas stations).

We arrived back in El Coco around 10:30 am. Our entire round trip took three hours. We were pretty satisfied with this first venture out of El Coco - another unknown has become a known.

 

Posted with Blogsy

Watching the Super Bowl in Playas del Coco

The Super Bowl seems to be a big deal here in El Coco. Perhaps the fuss is all for the Americanos, but perhaps the Ticos are fans too? All the bars on the main strip are showing the game. And the game is also being broadcast, in English, on our condo TV.

We headed to town in the late afternoon, and arrived at the bar of our choice - Woody's - about 20 minutes before game time. Woody's is an open-air bar owned and run by a British-American (Woody). We sat at high stools at the outer edge of the restaurant, with equally good views of the TV screen inside and the the bustle of the main street outside.

Super Bowl Sunday 2013 in El Coco, Costa Rica. Most shot in or around Woody's bistro bar. [Video by Bob]

 

As twilight approached, we settled in with our beers and watched the Newtown Elementary School Chorus and Jennifer Hudson sing "America the Beautiful" followed by Alicia Keyes playing and singing her rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner". How surreal it seemed to be watching the Super Bowl here in Costa Rica.

We ordered Woody's famous pulled pork dinner (it was scrumptious) and settled in to watch the game. Woody had said that every time the 49'ers scored a touchdown, everyone in the bar would get a Jell-O shot (with vodka). Well, the field goal the 49'ers got in the first quarter did not count. And the sound level in the bar was getting to be too loud for Bob, so we left at that point. I guess I will have to wait to experience my first Jell-O shot.

We walked up the main drag where every bar was displaying the Super Bowl on huge screens - Lizard Lounge, Zi, Coconutz. We were able to catch most of the second quarter from the street, which blazed with colored lights and swarmed with people. Bob took some wonderful video of the scene, which he will post later. Further up the street we found a place that sells gelato, and between us, we sampled three yummy flavors - lemon, hazelnut, and dark chocolate.

Coconutz and other main street bars on Super Bowl Sunday 2013 in El Coco, Costa Rica. (Video by Bob)

 

Afterwards, we caught a taxi back to our condo, just in time to watch the halftime show and the second half on the TV in our own living room. The halftime show with Beyonce was a pyrotechnic marvel, which just possibly was responsible for knocking out the power in part of the stadium early in the third quarter, causing a delay of about half an hour. During this delay, we noticed something move near the TV and discovered that we had a visitor - a small lizard. Neither of us were keen to try and catch it, so now it is wandering around somewhere in the condo.

Also during the blackout at the stadium, Bob went outside and came back a few minutes later saying that he had tripped and fallen. Fortunately, he was not hurt badly. He has bumps on his knee and arm. Enough already! Two falls in two days is two too many!

As I write this paragraph, it's toward the end of the third quarter and the Ravens are ahead, 28-23. But don't count the 49'ers out yet - they are a come-from-behind winning team. (Woody's patrons are getting their Jell-O shots now!)

Fourth quarter with 10 minutes to go, and the 49'ers scored again, bringing the game to 31-29, Ravens' lead. They went for the 2-point conversion but didn't get it. Anything can happen in this game.

Well, it's over. Ravens' game, 34-31. The crowd goes wild and so do the Ravens. Super Bowl in El Coco is now history.

 

Posted with Blogsy