Brisas del Paraiso/Paradise Breezes Dominical

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Pretty drive down, last bit in the dark as decided to leave at last minute, abandoning plans to go inland in search of quetzales.

As dusk falling passed through more oil palm plantations - the older ones have beautiful 2 storey wooden homes for their employees centred around a green, which in practice ends up being a football field.

Was directed to the only cheap hotel in town "al fondo" but no sign - good job I asked as I discovered in the morning, if ...

Small village on the main road but Tucan Hotel set back. Not cheap and only 2 showers/toilets shared between up to 4 people in treehouse, 4 in hammocks, multiple others camping plus 12 people in dorms when fully occupied. Female shower/toilet always full of men as bigger - thankfully came when quiet.

Cocked up the directions to the falls, Cascadas Verde & didn't turn left before hardware store. Ended up crossing the river on a tree trunk bridge & ...

... action too.

Loads of rain so sandy streets turned muddy, washing won't dry & all my stuff feels damp.

With the highway now almost completely paved the shop owners will have no excuse for charging the silly prices they have been. Does mean all the buses are all leaving much earlier than scheduled so getting a bus is, as ever, a lottery!

... figured it was a fuel issue. Now, a few days later, we relize the problem was not Wesley but bad fuel. White smoke, which we were blowing, is a sign of too much water in the fuel. Of course we had to get the bad Diesel right before going over the Moutain of Death! Luckily Wesley is running fine now.

That night we parked in the middle of a pineapple field own buy yours truly, Del Monte. I never thought we would be enjoying Del Monte for it's beautiful sunset's!

... This area is know for its good waves and consistent breaks. The hotel also had an open air restaurant /bar, and we had a good time hanging out in the evening. It was a pretty idyllic setting. The only thing was that the sand was brown not beige or white. But if you're looking for a place to just hang out and surf and drink beers at night, this spot would do nicely.

... path home suddenly had new rivers and lakes on it. Thankfully it was only ankle deep so all it caused were drowned sneakers and a drenched but laughing Dana. Gotta do whatcha gotta do! A cold shower is the top priority when I get home, not because I have a choice but simply because Im dirty and there is no hot water. From there I might study up on my Spanish, sometimes with some help from my Tico neighbor Christian, hang out with the boys, watch them play soccer in ...

... and ended up winning $20 !!!! now thats a lot by american standards but here ?!?! definitely bought us 15 shots of tequila coulda also bought us 25 beers ?!?! so yess, conclusively i can say they took one for the team ;) ! after getting a bout two hours of sleep and getting through the day with my kids idontknowhow, we got on the bus and were off to the pacific coast ! manuel antonio that is, a beautiful coastline that is lined by a national park ! since my camera and ...

... nervous it might fly off at anytime. Dirty does not even begin to describe to kitchen and living area and there were bugs everywhere, and crabs, sometimes squished ones, and 6 cats, who ate out of everyones dirty dishes. We were right on the beach, and I know we are going to sound spoiled but we have seen so many great stunning beaches that this one was less than unimpressive. The water was dirty and mucky and the beach was covered in random debri. We were ready to ...

... heart of San Jose. We settled for the non-express 2 pm to get us on our way ASAP. The wait was pleasant and uneventful. The bus ride surprisingly pleasant and for most of the journey we got to enjoy the down side of the Green Season, down pouring rain. So much so that at times the water was flowing over some of the lower bridges. None the less it was an enjoyable trip as we got to experience travel Costa Rican style v.s. from the air conditioned confines of a rental car which ...