Bargain Shopper
Trip Start
Apr 04, 2005
1
17
43
Trip End
Jul 18, 2005
Manuel Antonio National Park,
Costa Rica
Tuesday, May 3, 2005
MONTEVERDE- FAMILY, SCHOOL, LAZY, PESCADOR STORY
Hola! Just a few things about last weekend. I had a great time and once again was awestruck by the beauty in which I was surrounded. Although the school planned a trip to Manuel Antonio for the weekend I made my own arrangements and did the trip at a third of the cost. My bus dropped myself and my luggage off and I proceeded to lug all 100 plus lbs of it through the streets of Quepos to find a place to land. After the 4 hour bus ride I, of course, needed to use el banio so time was of the essence. I had not realized that it was the equivalent of the CR Labor Day, so all of the hotels were seemingly booked. Although it was quite a jaunt, I decided to try the place I stayed at last week. My bags seemed to be putting on lbs as I drug them up the winding, dirt, rut filled road in my flip flops, but finally I arrived. Bob, the proprietor, is from England and was totally wasted when I got there. He said he was all filled up but then wait... the lightbulb.... Actually, there is one room.... It's in the back, is that ok? How much? 20 bucks. Sold. I pay and Oscar, who works the front desk, took one of my bags and started off to "the back. We climb the stairs and go through a hole cut into the 10 foot tall metal framing that divides the property. Up there is a shed and some other random padlocked areas, but it is fairly open and undeveloped, with piles of timber and other refuse here and there. We cross this wooden plank that connects either side of the exposed drainage system and start heading even further back past another weird metal shack with garbage and other things, where we see a really cool Jesus Christ lizard that is 2 feet long or so. He doesn't seem bothered by us and we keep walking.
We arrive at this concrete garage thing that is slightly recessed into the ground so I don't know what it was used for other than storage. Going against every fiber of my being we keep walking. The only light was coming from this light bulb hanging from a wire, gently swaying in the breeze and casting tall shadows on the barely visible concrete walls. I look to my left and am a little startled to see a gated area with old dust covered machinery and hundreds of little bats darting quickly yet silently about in the darkness. The hair on my neck begins to stand up and Oscar is continuing to lead me to the corner of this concrete area. I see no door or anything so I just stop and say hey, Oscar, this looks like something right out of a horror flick...To which he smiles over his shoulder and keeps pointing to the corner, saying something in Spanish. He then disappears through yet again another secret hole in the wall barely big enough for he and my bag to fit through at the same time, laughing for me to follow. I look around at the shadows creeping towards me and decide it would be best to go. I hurry through the hole only to find another set of stairs, only this time they are so narrow I have to hold my backpack over my head. Eventually we make it into this open area with another weird metal building emitting a periodic electrical sound- bzzzzzzzzzzzzzt...... bzzzzzzzzzzzzzt.... every 10 seconds or so. I ask Oscar what is that and he replies with a shrug "no se..." Once again, very creepy.
It is dark and so is the building Oscar is having difficulty unlocking due to the 20 watter lighting the "courtyard", but we eventually breech the double doors. Inside he turns on a light and reveals an open area backed by 9 wooden doors. It is so surreal, all of them in a line and nary a picture on the wall to give evidence that this is a hotel or even a place of residence. Like Alice in Wonderland, or the Labyrinth. I'd like door number 7 Bob.... Anyway, the room was small but clean and the bathroom was behind door number 2 but the shower was out of order so I would need to use the outdoor shower further in the back... Yeah, right! Oscar told me not to worry, that there was only one other guy staying in "the back". Even better! Then he left and despite my apprehension, nature was calling and some things take priority. I unpacked and went to meet my friends from school. By the time I got to the front desk I was scared of my own shadow but tried to think good thoughts.
I met up with the girls and had dinner, went dancing for awhile and talked the night away. I was chaperoned home to the Bates motel only to find a tribe of black monkeys who were not happy about our presence. One of them, the dominant female, kept making sounds like the screeching of tires. Very eerie. The male threw a few things but they were not close enough to hit us. We crept by and made it to the door where I safely retired for the night. I checked out the next day and decided that bargain shopping isn't always all it is cut out to be. Sometimes you get what you pay for, you know?
