Days Two and Three

I slept in Wednesday morning til about 11 and woke up a bit groggy. I ordered the Costa Rican breakfast, which was tasty, though the rice was undercooked. A couple of cups of coffee and I was ready to go. I changed into a bathing suit and hit the pool with Aislinn. The water was refreshing and the pool shaded by giant palms, so I was happy to float around for an hour or so.

Sufficiently prun-y, I towelled off and sat with Mom and Dad for a beer. I was fully intending on spending the day at the hotel - I had no desire to go on a wander quite yet. Aislinn went off and found a boogie board, so watching her was excerise enough. The sand on the beach was ridiculously hot, and sticky. The tide was strong enough to give her a good ride, and tricky enough to catch Mom, Dad and I all off guard at least once.

After a rinse and a short nap back at the hotel, I got dressed for the weekly BBQ dinner the hotel hosts. A margarita to start while I waited for the rest of the fam set the mood, though the waiters were nervous that I had sat at a four top alone. Whatever, buddy. I get it.

We ordered. Caesar salad to start which was surprisingly good, Dad ordered a T-Bone (well-done. eek.), Mom ordered shrimp, Aislinn, filet mignon brochette, and I ordered a whole red snapper. All of the dishes came with baked potato and veg. The fish was juicy and perfectly cooked, and everyone else seemed happy with their choices. I found myself quite tired by the end of dinner, and after a brief walk alone on the beach, I went to bed. We had an early start planned for tomorrow - a day at Playa Coco up over the hill, so I wanted to get enough rest to handle whatever the morrow was to throw at me.

Thursday morning I woke up with no problem at 6:45. (Yeah, me. 6:45 in the morning. I know.) I got dressed and had an early fruity breakfast. Lots of people were up at that hour - the temperature was still mild and the tourists were all out running their dogs or riding bikes along the beach.

Mom and Dad eventually came out, long with Aislinn, and our ride to Coco arrived on time.

Cresting one of the hills on a winding road, Coco spread out beaneath us. A stunning little cove full of boats and choppy waves breaking on small clusters of rock, I was duly impressed. Mom and Dad were dropped off for a condo sales pitch, and Aisy and I headed into town for the town's reputed shopping.

Some of the shops were open, and we started scouring for trinkets, sarongs, flip flops and hats. The souvenir shops were huge, and most of them rather repetitious. Aislinn picked up a frog thing that I knew was going to drive me mental. It was hollowed out and had a spiny ridge on the back. You ran a stick over the spine, and it made a frog-like sound. Pretty realistic, too. She got a medium-sized one, and proceeded to play it incessantly, all through the town-o. I threatened to take it away. This is as effectual on a thirteen year old as an umbrella in a monsoon.

We waited for Mom and Dad at the agreed upon spot. They were running late. We were waiting in front of a real estate office, and the owner stepped out to chat. He was from New York, and you could tell. Got some interesting information from him about properties and such. Mom and Dad arrived, so we hopped in the van and were driven back to Hermosa.

A quick pack and check-out and we were picked up by another driver to take us to our condo in Flamingo. Carlos was pleasant and early, two things I appreciate.

While I was checking out, an older man stepped up beside me and asked what part of Canada I was from. When I told him, he snorted and said "All Vancouverites are arrogant. You think you've got it all." Well, fuck you then, why are you continuing to talk to me? I was very annoyed. He was one of these old geezers that obvious;lt would take negative attention over none at all. In my annoyance and hate to get the hell away form his cranky self, I forgot my camera at the front desk.

(This is why I have no pics up right now... but don't worry, fearless reader, Puck will make amends.)

We headed ou in the tour van for Flamingo. It was a longer drive than I had expected, but we go a glimpse of the farms and rural life around us. Small houses, large sugar cane farms, occasional bars and nightclubs... with very very little advetising or commercialism at all. Barely has signs on the bars.

We passed thorugh Huecas and Brasilito, two fairly substantial hubs with souvenir shops, grocery stores, gas stations and restaurants. Finally turning into Flamingo, we wound up a small alley to a locked gate.

The woman at the gate wouldn't let us in. No reservation, she said. Oh lord, is this a scam? Have we been duped? As we argued our way into the lot, I knew we were in the wrong place. The Condo is called MAISON BLANCHE, not Maison-every-colour-under-the-sun. As I rounded a corner, I spotted our building up on a hill. I pointed this out to the driver and he seemed to know how to get there.

Another driveway, another gate, another gate-keeper who had no idea who we were. AT this point, I was getting pissed. Where was the condo owner who was supposed to meet us? We finally go communication straightened out and headed up to the uliding, where a mess of baggage, facility tour and related stupidity gnawed at my patience. I unpacked to avoid confrontation and got ready to head out to get groceries. This would be fun, and I was looking forward to getting my hands onto some local food.

The Massai, our local grocery store, is two doors down from our front gate. It has pretty much everthing you can imagine. It's geared for visitors, and they keep fairly "normal" foods around. Mom and I stocked up on food, I grabbed rum, vodka, beer, wine, mix and juices. A few packages of frozen chicken, some potatoes, etc. We were set. All in, 117 USD. Not bad.

I sauteed the chicken and made a rough potato salad, served up with bread. I love cold potato salad.

A couple of Vodka Tonics later, we all sat and watched some Olympic coverage. (NBC, so not a lot of Canadian stuff - just the Yanks).

A relatively early night to bed - I was beat from all the running around and slept well, considering it was the first night in a new place.

Ginger2 out.