Beaches, Bad Bike Karma, and Jungles

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  Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica
Sunday, May 13, 2007

Puerto Viejo is a nice little beach town on the East Coast of Costa Rica. It can be a little touristy but you can avoid that aspect if you want to. All you have to do is head up the road a bit to some of the quieter beach areas.

We were looking for a room when we ran into an older American who is has been living in Costa Rica for 16 years and knows of a nice place for us to stay. We follow him to a great little hotel called Cabinas Lika. The place looks newly renovated and is beautiful. We are able to get a private room for $16 bucks a night with private bathroom (hot water) and a huge double bed and bunk beds with hammocks out front and a kitchen.  (Highly recommended for your travellers out there!  Very clean and new and safe)

The American guy that escorted us here is very talkative

Amen Brother - the Backpackers Moto

.  He looks like a salty old dog - tanned leathery skin, skinny, torn cut-off shorts and long white-gray hair.  He tells us that there is a book called "Searching for Captain Zero" that is going to be made into a movie soon and that he is the Captain Zero. The book, he says, is about some Vietnam veterans and the drug smuggling that they have done around the world.  Kay and Jessie get bored with his self-bragging story and wander into the bedrooms, leaving me and Mark to listen to the whole story about their drug smuggling adventures.  We think he might be a bit crazy but it is a good story. Before he leaves he quietly asks "Hey - do you need any ambiance tonight".  We look at him puzzled, then he pulls out a large bag of marijuana (weed).  We laugh and decline - however that is the best way I have ever heard a drug dealer phrase an offer on this trip (an we´ve had many offers!). Maybe he really is Captain Zero.

For lunch we walked across the street to a local soda (a soda is a tiny casual restaurant in Costa Rica) for some Caribbean food. While sitting there waiting for our food we wanted to try some of the peppers in a jar on the table. We have tried them before in some other countries and they were good. I smelled the peppers and they were not too strong so I took a bite. Chewing was no problem but once I swallowed it with the juices and the seeds I lost my breath. Literally it took my breath away and my tongue went numb

Biking - Mark Jessie and Frank

. It was the hottest thing I have eaten! Not Kidding! Unless you like pain do not try them.

It started to rain so we spent the rest of the day lounging in hammocks and reading. It is amazing how a Little Rain can make you a Lot Lazy. I love it.

The next day after a breckie (one of our new favorite traveller words - breckie!) of eggs and bacon we rented bikes to ride up to Playa Manzanillo. The bike ride to the beach follows a winding road for about 8 miles in the jungle and along the beach. The ride is supposed to take a leisurely 2 hours to get to the end of the road. The four of us head out with our stuff and make our way towards the beach. About an hour into the ride my luck with bikes kicks in. I must have been mean to a bike in another life or something because my Bike Karma is horrible.  Just like my bike in Campeche (Mexico) this bike's back tire goes flat. Flat to the point where it is unrideable. Strike three for me with bikes. (Strike 1 was in Isla Mujeres, Mexico where my seat broke off!) Mark and I stop by two hotels and ask if they have a pump. The first pump does not work and after I fill the tire with the second pump it goes completely flat instantly. We are now 4 miles into trip, about half way, and I am stuck. I tell the rest of them to go on and I will head back and get a different bike

Frank and Kay in Manzanillo

. It makes no sense to go forward. I kiss Kay and start to walk my bike back.

After walking for 50 minutes, seeing a monkey run across the road,  and having 3 pickups blow past my hitchhiking thumb, a nice Gringo couple in a pickup stops and I hop in the back of the truck. The whole time I was walking the bike back I passed many other people riding perfectly good bikes and I swear each of those good bikes gave a little laugh at me when they passed by. I can not prove it but I am sure they were laughing. The pickup gave me a ride all the way back to town, only 10 minutes, and they refuse to accept any money from me. Thanks again friends. After I return the bike and get my money back I walked to another bike shop and rented another bike. This time I asked if they could make sure it has good tires. Their answer to this was to hand me a pump. I take the bike and head out...fast. In an effort to catch up with the group before it is two late I am pedaling as fast as this beach cruiser will go. After 15 minutes of fast pedaling the chain comes off the bike and I have to stop and fix it. I feel that now that the 4th bike has failed that I will not rent bikes in Central America again. Again I am sure I heard a little laugh from my bike when the chain came off. It is a conspiracy I tell you.

I fix the chain and with greasy hands I speed along on the silver bullet once again

Frank on his bike

. The bike is all silver hence the name. After 45 minutes I have arrived at Manzanillo beach and see Kay, Jessie and Mark sitting having a soda by the beach. They have just arrived a few minutes before hand because they were able to leisurely cruise along while I played catchup.

We continue on to the end of the beach to swim and possibly snorkel. It turns out the beach here is not too nice and neither is the water (another Lonely Planet lie!). The mouth of the jungle creek from the jungle flows into the ocean nearby and the dark tannins make the water dark here. We tried to snorkel but the visibility is only a few meters and very murky. It was still a nice ride. We decide to head back and stopt atPlaya Uva to see what it is like.

The beach here is much nicer and the water is beautiful . We lock up the bikes and hit the water. It is getting late so we go for a quick snorkel, then decide to head back before it gets dark. However, Jessie and Mark cannot find the small key to their bike lock!. We search the sand and the area near the bikes but no luck. After about 20 minutes of looking we decide to try and break the lock, because we have super human strength, and pack up to head to the bikes. Just as we are leaving Jessie gives one final kick to the sand and finds the key

Jessie and Kay biking on the beach

! She is quite possibly the only person to lose a key in the sand and find it again. Amazing. Maybe another day I can rip through a steel cable and show them how strong I am. LOL.

It is now getting dark but we see a place that has $1 beers for happy hour (all day, every day!). Why not. We stop for a couple of local cervesas and then ride home along the pothole filled road in the complete darkness. To say it was an adventure is an understatement. Unlike the others, I who have ridden 16 miles today I have ridden 24 thanks to my Bad Bike Karma. I am going to use this extra mileage to justify a few extra beers. I deserve it. After we dropped off the bikes we picked up some food for dinner and a couple of liters of cervesas.

Back at the hotel Kay made the most incredible house cheeseburgers ever! We enjoyed giant burgers and beers before going to bed with full bellies and buzzing heads. Tomorrow we are off to Bocas del Toro in Panama. Adios Costa Rica and Los Banditos!

Cheers,
Francisco

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Kay biking on the beach	Kay riding her bike on the beach	Puerto Viejo	Punta Uva - pretty beach and jungle
Surfs Up - Mark and Frank

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