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(From the travel notebook.)

3/15/2012

Yeah, getting to Jaco was a bit of an adventure…  there are virtually no street signs in Costa Rica, so you have to look for names of towns.  We got directions from our rental car company to our destination, but we made a wrong turn somewhere and ended up traveling up and down through the mountains on this crazy, twisty-turny road.  It was a bit stressful but eventually we made our way to the road we should’ve been on the whole time.  Victory!  Smooth sailing from there.

So… Jaco.  Total beach town.  Lots of tourists mingling with the natives, or Ticos, fast food, local food, tourist shops, and more!  It’s totally a party town, too (which we did not investigate much last night as we were completely exhausted).  We’re staying at Hotel Tropical Garden, this old place on the main drag.  We got checked in, and after a loooong day of travel, settled in.

It’s a nice place!  It’s the kind of room our parents would probably stayed at back in the day, but they’d agree that it’s perfect for us.  There’s everything we need, it’s safe (there’s a guard around at night, and the car is parked behind a gate), and we have private access to the beach, which… holy shit!

We went to the beach last night and frolicked about in the ocean during the sunset.  Everything about it was amazing!

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So on Wednesday night, the evening of our arrival into Costa Rica, Thomas and I were pretty exhausted.  We made it a low key night, with a visit to Pizza Pata for half meter pizzas with Jackie, who gave me one of the happiest greetings I have ever received in my life.

Thursday night?  Time to step it up some.  We spent the day beaching and exploring Jaco, then stopped at the restaurant right next to Hotel Tropical Garden.  It was Arroz con Pollo and Coke Light for both of us as we considered what the evening might have in store.

Our dear friend Jackie was taking the bus down to Jaco from her town for dollar beer night at Clarita’s, a bar on the north side of the beach.  Dollar beer night is a tradition with Jackie and her friends, one we would be taking part in as well.

We knew it would be a bit of a walk up to the bar, so we stopped at our place to grab a few beers for the adventure.  It turns out Costa Rica is kinda like Vegas, in that you can walk around with whatever beverage you want and nobody cares.  Awesome!  Of course, we had chosen Imperial, the beer of Costa Rica (you can get this in the states, luckily for me, because it’s great!)

It was a journey, but we finally made it.  The bar was already packed, as expected, but we found Jackie quickly and took it all in.  We all went over to the bar, and she helped us order our cervezas, which was pretty intense and very much appreciated.  As we wandered back out to the outdoor patio area, I couldn’t help but notice the Cubs and Bears signs hanging up on the walls.  Never would I imagine to find a piece of Illinois thousands of miles a way, in a beach bar on the coast called Clarita’s.

Jackie’s friends were all wonderful.  We chatted them while we drank those two beers, and then two more.  We didn’t stay all night… but it was the perfect example of what we could expect during our trip, everything I had been hoping for and more.

Later, we bid our new friends goodnight and planned to see Jackie the next day, then made our way back to the Hotel Tropical Garden.  It was a long (drunken) walk (in which I talked almost the entire time) and we were happy to seek refuge, tucked away from the still-bustling downtown corridor.

After all, the front porch was calling our name.  Drunk off dollar beers and love and the undeniably freeing sensation of a new adventure, a new country, a new perception, we sat for hours talking about… everything.  And even then, we were starting to figure it out… Costa Rica was going to send us back different, better, than when we arrived.

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Monday, we decided it was time for a road trip.  We hopped in the car and headed south along the coast, toward Manuel Antonio.

It was a gorgeous day.  The sky was the perfect shade of blue, with puffy wisps of cloud and a brightly shining sun overhead.  While Thomas drove, I surfed the radio dial and made sure we were staying on course—we passed through fields and fields of palm trees, small towns, and expanses of coastline.

Almost 75 kilometers later, or about 47 miles, we had arrived.  We were spending the day at the home of Costa Rica’s smallest, yet one of the most visited, national parks.  We decided to forego the park for the beach and, after parking the car, grabbed some lunch at a restaurant and bar down the street.  It was pretty good… I got a chicken sandwich and fries, while Thomas got a casado (typical Costa Rican fare).  We enjoyed soda out of glass bottles and listened to the sounds of the beach from the upper level open dining area as we ate.

From lunch, we crossed the street and climbed down the embankment to the beach.  I swear, it was like I had settled into a dream.  White sandy beaches, turquoise waves, surfers and sunbathers galore.  Together, we located a spot in the shade and set up camp.

Oh, it was wonderful.  Even on a Monday, the beach was bustling with activity.  We laid out, spent some time in the water (though the waves were pretty intense and more unpredictable than at Playa Jaco), did some reading—me—and took some photos—him. It felt like paradise, being there in Manuel Antonio.  I wish we could have had more time there, and I hope next time we can visit both the beach and the park.  (Right now, I can still hear the water crashing onto the shore, can feel the breeze on my skin.) 

Eventually, we packed up and dusted off some of the sand we’d gathered.  We stopped for some super refreshing smoothies, which were the perfect pick-me-up before getting back in the car for our drive back to Jaco.  We turned on the radio and headed back through the mountains and palm trees, north along the Pacific.

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Hotel Tropical Garden… our lush oasis, our home away from home.  A collection of villas tucked away from the bustling main thoroughfare, it was the perfect choice for us and, frankly, one of my favorite places I’ve ever stayed at.

Apparently, in its heyday, it was one of the luxury resorts in Jaco.  All of the architecture appeared to be pre-war, and the fact that it didn’t seem to have been recently renovated was part of its charm.  Now, Hotel Tropical Garden is a hostel, with affordable rates and a young, friendly staff.

Upon our arrival, we were given keys for unit #2.  After hours of that travel (at that point, we had been on the go for about 12 hours or so), we were grateful to settle in and relax.  We brought our luggage in from the car and surveyed our surroundings.

It was simple, yet spacious, exactly what we needed.  The kitchenette and bathroom were both neat and clean.  There were pots and pans and dishes and silverware stacked on the shelves, waiting for our use (and use them we did!).  The living area had two beds, a nightstand, a TV on a little table, and a combination closet and shelving unit.  As I said before, it was simple, but…  it was better than what I’d pictured.  We were home (at least for the next week).

When I think about our stay, what stands out the most to me?  Well, falling asleep to the distant roar of the ocean nearby and waking up early to the lilting songs of exotic birds.  Cooking ourselves a delicious holiday dinner complete with traditional local fare, both food and drink.  Lengthy drunken talks about life, death, and everything in between with my best friend, my other half, there on our front porch.  Watching a mid-afternoon thunderstorm from that very same place, relishing the cool air on our skin.

It was paradise, in every single meaning of the word. 

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On the very first day and the very last day, we went to the beach.  To be truthful, we practically the entire trip on the beach, walking around here and there just because we could, lathering on sunscreen and striding into the water and enjoying the sand. 

We went to a few different beaches on Costa Rica’s western coast, actually, all of them breathtaking and lovely and better, so much better than I ever imagined they could be.  After all, prior to this adventure, I had only ever been to Florida, and while Florida beaches are pretty, they didn’t, and don’t, hold a candle to the ones we explored in Costa Rica.

Anyway, the first day.  Shortly after arriving and making ourselves comfortable in #2 at Hotel Tropical Garden, our lodgings for the week, we threw on our swimsuits and practically ran to the beach.  It was almost the beginning of sunset and we swam out, close enough that we could still touch, but far enough that our fellow beachgoers on the shore were hard to discern.

The water was warm, heated by a tropical sun close to the equator, and we rode the rolling of waves, one after another, steady and sure. Together, there in the Pacific Ocean, we watched the sun dip lower into the sky, finally sinking behind the peninsula way off in the distance.  In a brilliant show of color and light, Playa Jaco was ensconced in brightness and mist, with dark sands and puffy white and pink and orange clouds.

Our last night in town involved a trip to the beach, too.  We decided to check out a few lookout points along the coast; we’d passed them while traveling the main road out of Jaco earlier in the week.  We had beautiful views of two beaches: Playa Jaco, our beach, to the north, and Playa Hermosa to the south.  To say the least, it was a spectacular little adventure.  I stood there and took in the sights of the shore we’d spent almost an entire week frolicking about, the sand and the waves and the mist, the landmarks that were now familiar to me.

On this evening, though, we chose to continue on and watch the sunset from Hermosa.  Immediately, I knew it was the right decision.  Hermosa is a long, sprawling beach that appears to go on for miles, with black volcanic sand, a steep shoreline, and a seriously strong surf.  We walked quietly, taking it all in, immersing ourselves in the slowly fading brightness of the day.

The sunset was… gorgeous, in a word (though I could use so many to describe it).  It was the most perfect, glittering sunset I have ever seen.  Standing there, feet in the sand, the ocean breeze blowing my hair all over the place, I felt an immense, indescribable sense of oneness—with the beach, my surroundings, my past, present, and future…wherever it may lead us.  It was truly an experience unlike any other.

Someday, we’ll come back to these beaches…  I hope it is sooner rather than later.  I will dream of them until then.

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I’ve always said that my three favorite places are the following:

Devil’s Lake, Chicago, Colorado. 

I must now amend that list to add a fourth place:

Costa Rica.

The plane landed on the runway with a slight bounce.  After a morning spent traveling and hours in the air, we had finally made it.  Thousands of miles away from home, the pilot taxied to the gate and we took in the sights of our new surroundings: Central America.

Even before we got off of the airplane, I could feel the heat.  We disembarked and, as we followed the crowd through the terminal, I stared out the towering wall of windows with wonder at the mountains and rainforests on the horizon.  In a blur, we went through immigration and customs (where I greeted and thanked the agent in Spanish), waited for a shuttle, and picked up our rental car from the agency. 

That’s right—a rental car in a foreign country.  We had a map, and a vague idea of where we needed to end up, but… that was about it.  We figured we’d hit the ocean eventually, so we hit the road, trying to orient ourselves as we drove.

Almost two hour later, during which we got lost, but not really, and ended up driving through the mountains, we arrived at the coast.  The sun hung brightly in the mid-afternoon blue sky as the ocean breezes tousled the palm trees.  And beyond?  The Pacific herself crashed up onto the shores of Playa Jaco.

Indeed, we had arrived.