Prince Charming and Senor Stinkydog......
Trip Start
Apr 04, 2005
1
10
43
Trip End
Jul 18, 2005
Puerto Viejo,
Costa Rica
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
On the other hand, I would definitely try to make it to Manzanilla point on the edge of the peninsula. The dense jungle spills right on to the beach and there are birds of every color and driftwood from knotty hardwoods that are unique to the area. The further you get from Puerto Viejo village the prettier and more desolate the beaches become. The sand is very soft and not dusty at all. I found a ton of shells that I got for my nieces and nephews. I love the beach. My friend Pat would have liked it here, she loved the ocean and the ocean life.
On Saturday night when we got back to the room, drenched, there was this big toad on the ground and so of course I think what a great picture this is going to be, me kissing this frog.... Can't you see it, the subtitle of the picture "I finally found my prince"...? It really seemed like a good idea at the time so I picked him up and right when I was puckering up he got terrified, who can blame him, and as a result there was a total release of the bowels... Not me, the toad. So of course this sends the other girls into hysterics and we are all laughing so hard we are almost falling down. So I put the frog down, very nicely since it was obvious I had literally scared the shit out of him already. The girls were laughing so hard and they wouldn't stop long enough to locate the key to let me into the room to wash. I am standing there drenched from the constant downpour, with toad poop dripping from my hand. (Donna got a couple of pics- I will see if I can download.) So, anyway, as a revenge tactic for them withholding the key for a laugh at my expense I chased them around the courtyard with the aforementioned hand- which at least ended up in the door being opened. So I 'Kramer'ed into the room after them. Unable to stop I brace myself against the wooden box frame of the child size mattress I had been sleeping on, hoping to land softly and gracefully on the bed. Can't blame a girl for hoping, right? Unfortunately I was unsuccessful. My wet flip flop gave out from under me and the mattress and I went flying across the wet tile floor. As a reflex I grabbed Donna, once again hoping to stop the pending fall. Unfortunately she was unprepared for the sneak attack and joined the fray on the way down. It all came out ok but somehow in the process I cut the back of my knee pretty badly and it is very black and blue. Which I guess is ok because it blends in quite nicely with my bright red polka dot legs from the mosquito attack. Needless to say I will be wearing pants for awhile... Donna was not hurt, thank goodness!
So the only other adventure was the bus ride home. It was so foggy you could barely see the road in front of the bus. As Joy and everyone else on the bus sleeps I am intently watching the bus driver maintain the same speeds that terrified me on the way to Puerto Viejo, and that was a clear day. This was a very foggy night. I have been accused of being a lot of things- among them a risk-taker, a dreamer, a fatalist with an overactive imagination. Well, I guess I was true to form. I am sitting there wondering who will come to my funeral when I hear some guy start talking to the bus driver. As the bus is rocking back and forth I am thinking how appropriate that it looks like a coffin. Like a big coffin..... a coffin for a lot of people. Hmmmm... How uncanny. So I close my eyes in the hope that these thoughts of pending death might cease. This works for awhile. Then I start to hear the conversation from the front of the bus start to escalate. I opened my eyes and was all too aware that the fog had worsened. At this point it was too dense to see the road which wouldn't have mattered anyway due to the fact that the bus driver was no longer watching it. He and the other guy in the front of the bus were now involved in a much heated conversation. There were aggressive hand gestures, etc. People started waking up and looking. After some VERY rapid Spanish banter the bus stops at the edge of some town and the guy gets off without incident. Needless to say I couldn't wait to get to San Jose, which I never thought I would say. All of the wet bodies and luggage after 4 hours started producing a smell that was indescribable. Although words can't do it justice, it was kind of like wet dog combined with mildew, body odor, fart and fried corn with a hint of dirty sock. Truly unique.
But I would do it again in a heartbeat. The funky, friendly culture, and the natural beauty will surely call me back to the Old Port at least one more time before I depart Costa Rica. Hopefully Senor Stinkydog, my loyal companion, won't have forgotten me.
PS- Can someone please send me some Q-Tips? I'm dyin here...
