Constructing Life: Leaving La Fortuna and Arriving in Quepos

It’s been a wild couple of days. We have finally left La Fortuna. Driving the road between La Fortuna and San Ramon is a lesson in pace changes. We went from fast to slow every time we came up on trucks filled to the gills with palm hearts (or maybe sugar cane???) It took exactly 2 hours to cover 52 miles. There were times when the hills and bends were thrilling. Our SUV we rented was surprisingly nimble. So far we haven’t really needed the big SUV. We rented it for safety and just in case we hit some rough roads.

We got gas in San Ramon after the first 2 hours. And then, after a misguided attempt to make it to the highway, finding an underpass we didn’t want to go under, we retraced our steps and hit the correct off ramp. We zoomed off at over 90kph for all of 60 seconds. Then, trucks, trucks trucks. There were opportunities later on to pass, thanks to the extra lanes added at the hills. It became an entertaining drive when we had to navigate by guess. This is a technical form of navigation using the bends in the map and matching them to the bends in the road to determine where you are. The roads here are generally unmarked. You need to know where you are and what direction you want to go - the signs don’t tell you…..well there are no signs.

We only made one detour when we thought we would try an alternate route near Esparza. We went into the small city but never did find the way out to the south – we think it may have been before Esparza and with no signs. Further, at noon, the sun is high in the sky providing no help with the direction of south or north.

We got back on the main highway and continued around past Puntarenas – after which was a wonderful drive. You have to appreciate the feel of driving a 2 lane highway and the experience of it versus a double divided.

We finally got our first glimpse of the ocean just south of Puntarenas City. From there the road travels inland and only occasionally is close to the sea. Most often it passes through farmlands that are situated on the sediment-flooded areas between the mountains.

The drive was punctuated with a stop at what is known as the “crocodile bridge” at Rio Tarcoles. This very large bridge, covering a wide, muddy river, is flanked by farms. Ten to twenty crocodiles lined the banks of the river quietly enjoying the sun and mud. Why they stop there I’m not sure. Perhaps it is one of the only places on the river they can catch some shade - there were no trees close to the river.

After driving since 9am we finally had to stop and take some time to enjoy cervezas and food. We had seen many places to along the way but they just didn’t appeal. We finally pulled off the road and decided that the map showed a small road going down to what looked like a little cove, Playa Herradura. It is a beautiful beach and all the developers think so too. The site contains the new Marriot (though not visible from where we were) and new condos on the picturesque cliffs lining the bay. However, where we sat down to have a drink and food, it was so quiet and quaint. Eating at the restaurant/bar may have been one of the best of the trip, we’ll see. The girl who served us was a returnee to Costa Rica. Her family was from here and she was born in Jersey. She now runs the farm here and the restaurant on the beach. She had six dogs running around that we first thought were strays. She explained that she is the local dog and cat rescuer. She keeps them at the farm and takes care of them. At the end of our meal, she gave us over a dozen eggs from her farm and directed us to a small farmers market.

We were now on a food shopping mission. We purchased fantastic fruit and veg from the farmers market, a small little open air shop. In the back there was a butcher where we bought beautifully tender fillet mignon. This became the meat portion for our planned stir fry. Then we proceeded to the nearby Mega Mart or something like that where we could buy things like condiments and staples and BEER.

Now, it was starting to get late in the day and we needed to get to the Steve and Svetlana’s house. Steve wasn’t kidding when he warned us about the steep drive up to the place. It would have been nearly impassible without 4WD. We were constantly slipping our way up the hill and thankfully it wasn’t too wet. The ran had been here before however and there were massive 12” gully’s cut into the road by fast flowing rain water. The larger SUV’s we rented performed beautifully and we were rewarded by the extraordinary vistas from atop the hill that the house is situated on. We arrived in an absolutely picturesque dusk setting where low lying clouds lined the valleys just enough to add an extraordinary depth. Even the pictures don’t do it justice. This house is very high up, situated at the top of a rather tall hill creating stunning views.

Anyway, the only hiccup with not having any running water for the first night. It took till the next day to communicate to the right people that the main pump at the bottom of the hill was turned off. It all worked out well and by 8am we could hear the thankful gush of water filling the storage tank just down from the house.