Guardian Angel

Mal Pais is beautiful. Its this small town (small enough that it doesn't have a bank) on the Nicoya Peninsula where people come to surf. Most everyone here surfs, and the hostel I'm staying at is full of surfer types talking about the waves they've taken or want to get or where the swell is good... I feel right at home.

But seriously, the beach is one long stretch of sandy heaven which disappears during high tide where the waves get nice and big. Right now they aren't so much big as just heavy, and I haven't been in yet.

The last couple of days have been interesting. I left Monteverde to go to Playa Hermosa up onthe Guanacaste coast which is up near Witches Rock and Ollie's Peak (named after Ollie North for his role during the Regan Contra affair). You can take a boat to either place for $250, and they are legendary surf spots. This part of Costa Rica is much dryer and reminds me a lot of Eastern Washington. Dirt, dirt, more dirt, and when you're done with all that dirt... here's some cliffs made out of dirt.

I was up at Playa Hermosa to visit with Roxane, one of the attorneys I work for. She and her family rented a villa at Playa del Cocoa and she invited me to stay with them for a night. I had to go over a night early in order to be there in time for them to arrive because there isn't a public bus that goes there, you just have to take a taxi from Liberia to the coast which would cost more than my room for the night. So, I took a bus from Monteverde to Playa Hermosa and stayed there for the evening at the Iguana Inn. My room was huge and I felt like a princess up in a tower... without a shower. The shower was broken.

Things seem to be much more expensive up on this side of the coast than anywhere else I've been. The rooms cost twice as much, the taxis are twice as much and the food is also more costly. I needed to get money. So, I hot foot it up to the ATM (ATH in spanish) which is broken. So I ask the guy where the nearest bank is and he says Playa del Cocoa. So, I ask him where the bus stop is, he tells me and then tells me there is no bus until 10:30am... and its now 7. So, I figure I could pay a taxi to get me to an atm machine get back to my room to pay for that and still make it back to Playa del Cocoa to wait for Roxane. I grab a cab and we are off to the bank.

Which is closed. Because its Saturday. And since the atm machines are all run on the same times as the bank... well I'm in a bit of a pickle. So, the cab driver takes me back to the Iguana inn, where I pay for my room and am left with 3000 colones... or $6. This is not enough to get a cab to Playa del Cocoa, but I could get on a bus, if there was one running. I waited for the bus for an hour, then just decided to walk. Uphill. In 95 degree weather. In flip flops because I didn't feel like unpacking my entire backpack on the side of the road to get to the shoes I'd JUST packed at the bottom.

Luckily, some people stopped and picked me up and took me to Playa del Cocoa, where I met Roy who owns Papagayo Soda, who told me if I needed some work, he had some bills and things he needed filed away. At least I could eat. And I did have a credit card so I could stay at one of those ridiculously expensive places if I needed to for the night.

So, I walked to find Roxane the 3km to her villa, where the security guard sent me to Villa Vista Mar instead of Villa Del Mar (because everyone uses basically the same name here) which was on the other side of where I was supposed to be, and once I'd walked all the way around and up the hill, I knocked on this woman's door where the sign for Villa Vista Mar was and asked her, then she told me where I needed to go. I was pretty much at the end of my rope when I got back to the security guard's station and he asked if I found her. NO! I didn't find her... you idiot. So, I decided to walk back into town and was just about to break down crying when a woman stopped and offered me a ride.

And I broke down in the front seat of her car. She took me to get ice cream and a coke and even went so far as to give me $20 so I could eat. I rode with her to the hardware store so she could get light bulbs. It was apparently the third time she had been to the hardware store that day. She and her husband had a misunderstanding about something earlier in the day, so because she was mad at him she decided to go out for a few minutes. And lucky for me she did, because not only did she get me ice cream, she drove me to the Liberia Airport, 20 minutes out of her way to see if the bank there would work. And it did. Voila. I have money. And... a ride to the villa which happens to be where she lives. Terry and her husband own another home (I think she told me they have 4) in Costa Rica that is bigger than any house I ever lived in. Sits right up above the ocean... its lovely. And there was a hot tico working on the security fence... so.. not bad.

Anyway, I got to the villa 5 minutes after Roxane and family arrived. The place was gorgeous! I have pics, and I'll try to put some on here if I can get them uploaded. Infinity pool, 5 bedrooms, and staff to cook for you and do your laundry. Roxane said she never travels like that, but I have a feeling she could get used to it. I know I could. Especially after the night/day I had before.

So, I stayed there for a night and was off to Samara the next day.