Not all 4X4s are Created Equal

When in Costa Rica, we ALWAYS go off the pavement.  Most of this beautiful country is still accessible only by dirt.

Personally, I consider this a good thing.  I don't think rapid development ever goes well for the land or the locals.  So while traveling among the Ticos, I'm never without a four-wheel drive vehicle and

over the years, I've learned that not all 4X4s are created equal...

Let's start with the  Nissan XTrail.  This one looked good, but had a little trouble heading up the hill to Tiki Villas in Dominical and bottomed out regularly on the road to Boruca, so I can't say I'd try to rent another.

Now consider the Toyota Fortuner.  
We've rented that model twice now, and it has scaled in two-wheel what some others cannot achieve in four.  I call this one a winner.  It also has guts.  For those of you who've suffered long stretches of time behind a truck doing 20 km/hr on the Intramericana, when you finally get a chance to pass, low clouds and opposing traffic require to you to move your ass...

For this reason, I cannot fully recommend the Mitsubishi Montero.  It handled the road to Boruca alright, but had a hard time getting out of it's own way in the passing lane on the highway.

We also spent quality time with a Mitsubishi Nativa.  We were happy with both the highway and off-road performance, taking the totally muddy road to Nauyaca Falls without breaking a sweat.  This one was another winner.

And then, there was the dear little Suzuki Ignis... sure, it had four-wheel drive, but it failed miserably on the higher, unpaved portion of the road up San Miguel Arriba in Grecia (we walked).  I may as well have just rented a Mini.

The smaller vehicles did not perform nearly as well as the larger ones, though you will clearly take a hit on fuel economy.

To sum it up, size matters! 

I'll slap down my plastic on the big boys every time.

Of Toilet Paper and Paranoia... A Week in Playa Grande

The house looked great online.  Snug, comfortable and right at the sand in the small community of Playa Grande, close to the action of Tamarindo.  

Long walks on the beach, swimming, sailing, surfing and sunsets.  

Awesome!!

And then it happened ...

I made my deposit.

I suddenly became sure that this rental house was going to prove a bad choice when I received the owner's confirmation email.  It went something like this:

• Don't talk to strangers.
• Don't let strangers in the house.
• Don't leave your electronic devices out on the beach.
• Don't leave your car with luggage inside.
• Don't feed stray animals.
• Lock the beach gate.
• Lock the driveway gate.
• Lock your stuff in the safe.
• Lock yourself in the bedroom.
• Leave the air conditioner on in the bedroom with the door open and we'll kill the breaker for the remainder of your stay.
• Set the alarm at all times
• and don't assume there's any toilet paper.

If I had never been to Costa Rica before, I probably would have cried over my deposit money and found a different place to visit!  

After all the stranger-danger, rip tides and plumbing problems I was sure to encounter, I was thinking that alligator camp would likely be safer...

  
After all, Playa Grande must be full of flea-ridden criminals who steal toilet paper from rental homes! 

After the initial shock, I got to thinking that at least half of a three page email was in RED CAPITAL LETTERS, so what (exactly) was actually important?
Like most of the warnings are just common sense, right?

Except for the damnable toilet paper...  Vacation rentals don't often come with fully stocked kitchens and bars in my world, but to be assured that I should give up 8 cubic inches of luggage space for a lousy roll of toilet paper was just a little bizarre.  We were to get housekeeping services; you know, clean linens, twice weekly personal laundry, but no toilet paper?  
OK, I'll bring a roll so we're not looking for leaves to use on our first night...

The place was spotless, the staff was super attentive when you wanted them to be and invisible when you didn't.  Outfitted with granite countertops, tray ceilings and exotic woods, this place was absolutely lovely and clearly drained some cash out of a pocket. The safes and separate alarm zones in each bedroom were demonstrated. 

 And yes Virginia, there WAS toilet paper.

Six days later, I had had a perfectly relaxing and highly enjoyable stay.  

No beach-goers tried to kidnap our luggage, use our bathroom or water supply, and the local pets kept the fleas to themselves. 

Reminiscing over an Imperial on my last night, I had to have a good laugh.  

No expense is spared in this vacation rental in paradise, 

but do pack your own toilet paper...

Cahuita Calling

If you're into Costa Rica and are considering a visit to the Caribbean coast, September is likely the best time for visiting. 

September is a month that precedes both the high point of hurricane season, and the high point of tourist season.  

Cahuita is a sleepy Caribbean beach town that I recommend just north of Puerto Viejo,and I think it a shining gem on the eastern shores of the country. 

Here you will find sandy beaches that meet warm waters, cold beer, fresh fish, reggae tunes, AND a national park.

In the past, when visiting Cahuita, I have always stayed with Chris and Joe at 

Coral Hill Bungalows B&B 

www.coralhillbungalows.com

This cozy nest is 200 meters from the Beach at Playa Negra in a garden setting where gourmet breakfasts are served daily. How about fritata and artfully prepared fresh fruit topped off with hibiscus flowers?

The cabinas are clean and well appointed with bamboo furniture, safes, ceiling fans, hair dryers, hand painted sinks in the large bathrooms.   The bungalows also come with lanais

outfitted with hammock and rockers for cocktail hour or ... 

NOTHING AT ALL.

 

Wildlife surrounds you here!

We are ALWAYS blessed with howlers above us, visiting frogs, roaming Agoutis, a Two-Toed Sloth and a wide array of birds: Toucans, Oropendolas, Hummingbirds, Euphonias just to name a few...

As wonderful as Coral Hill is, I think it high time I try something new ~ a place and experience to share with you, so this year, we will be staying at Topo's Treehouse very close to Chris and Joe's place.

http://topotreehouse.com/  

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Cahuita National Park 

has 9 kilometers of easy footpaths and snorkeling vendors a-plenty 

The coral reef, just off the coast, is the largest on the Caribbean coast, creating a home to diverse schools of aquatic life.  I have it in mind to seek out an approved person to escort me into the underwater part of the park this year. 

You are not welcome to "walk in" within the park's boundaries.  Approved guides are rumored to exist, and I'm hoping for a change of pace from the boat tours departing from alongside Miss Edith's place.






http://costa-rica-guide.com/Natural/Cahuita.html

                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Close-by,

you can find Tsiru Ue, home of BriBri chocolate,  handmade as you learn about the indigenous culture,                                                                                                       

 Jaguar Wildlife Refuge and Rehabilitation Center, where you can get up-close and personal with sloths and monkeys,  

LuluBerlu Art Gallery,  full of amazing artwork by locals,

and the ever vibrant downtown street life of Puerto Viejo.  

NOW GO AND ENJOY!!

http://www.puertoviejosatellite.com

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Learning to Unpack

Let us begin my personal packing debacle with "The Dreaded Snorkel Gear".  It never fails - when I pack it, I don't snorkel.  I COULD just pack the mask and snorkel and skip the giant fins, but the girl scout in me wants to be prepared.
This, my friends, is the tip of the proverbial iceberg.

It all starts with an invention designed for people like me.  Use of these items helps me to rationalize the packing of too many items under the guise of circumventing high humidity or bedbugs.  
These things are called... 

Space Bags.

Oh, I've had my turn with a suitcase full of clothes that have become damp and funny smelling liabilities without even seeing the light of day.  It just feels travel-tragic having to wash things I haven't even worn yet.

Beside that, and more importantly to me at either departure or arrival time, is the weight and bulk I have unnecessarily heaped upon myself. 
Who needs this added stress during travel?
So I once again examine the series of events that have left me breathless and pissed off in a hot, tropical airport terminal...

Each time I begin the packing, my intentions are to fill three space bags with 
1 pants, 2 shorts,  4 shirts,  1 dress,  2 bathing suits

Now do the math.  Oh, I'm alright with the dresses and the pants, but have a bit of an excess in the shorts and bathing suit department while shirts have multiplied exponentially...

So there I am with the bags.  I rationalize that I will be away for a whole month.  I'll probably NEED all those clothes,  but I try to just remove bag one from the pile.  

I'm feeling pretty good until I see that 

there's something in THAT bag that I NEED.  

The project now requires a complete re-shuffle, and in the end, I find that I still have three bags...
So I pack an empty duffel so that I can relocate all those clothes to make room for the stuff I have purchased on my trip.

 I think you know where I'm going with this....

Over the years, I have stopped biting my nails, lost weight, and quit smoking.  

SO WHY CAN'T I LET GO OF THAT THIRD BAG??

I'm thinking that next time, I'll pack all three like usual and then ask my husband to remove one right before we walk out the door to the airport.

The Perfect Marriage

While surfing the daily news from CR, 

I came across a picture of my favorite mid-day meal of the tropics, 

THE CASADO.  

The picture made my mouth water and my heart ache to be there.  No matter what I do with my own recipes, eating casado is just not the same in New Jersey. I can start with organic ingredients, but simply cannot reproduce the locally-sourced part.

Most of the time, an insane amount of food is on that plate, and yet somehow, 

one can manage to LOSE WEIGHT eating this way.  

After all, there's not one bit of junk food present, and enough nutrition to recover from a day of hiking, riding, kayaking, surfing or swimming.  

For a ten minute education for gringos on Costa Rican food tradition, click:

http://news.co.cr/retirees-should-be-aware-of-costa-ricas-rich-food-tradition/14561/

Enjoy a healthy week, wherever you are!

The Art of The Boruca

 The remarkable and seemingly endless creativity displayed by the Boruca artists is inspiring as well as insightful regarding the their native cosmology and tribal history. 

Their masks attest to the rich biodiversity of the Southern Pacific zone of Costa Rica. They  bear witness to the deep-rooted and ancient culture of this tribal group whose ancestors were the famed pre-Hispanic gold workers and creators of the mysterious, and still unexplained stone spheres (Diquís/Gran Chiriquí culture 700 AD – European contact).

The different mask styles are:

•     traditional diablo masks (balsa wood or tropical cedar)
•     hybrid ‘ecological-diablo’ masks (balsa wood or tropical cedar)
•     highly elaborate and detailed ‘ecological/cultural masks’ (balsa wood or tropical cedar) 

Festival de Mascaras*

The Brunka (also known as the Boruca) tribe of the Southern Pacific region of Costa Rica are the protagonists of a unique,  centuries-old indigenous mask-making tradition centered around their annual celebration called the Danza or Juego de los Diablitos.   This tribal ceremony is of social-historic importance to the Brunka and has been faithfully celebrated for centuries – always at the end of the old year and the beginning of the new.  In this three day annual festival, held December 31 - January 2, the male participants of the tribe perform a ritual dance re-enacting the Spanish conquest.   The most important part of the costumes are the masks. With the mask, each member is empowered to fght and dispel the evil of the Spanish intruders who are represented by a mock bull. The festival masks use demon features which the
indigenous people adopted symbolically from the Spanish Catholics.

  

In these re-enactments, the Boruca triumphant over the Spanish. This victory
celebrates the identity and existence of the Boruca people against past enemies,
as well as current threats to their community and way of life. Especially, as
the modern world encroaches, indigenous people have struggled to find a
balance that retains their spirituality and harmony with nature. Their past and
their art demonstrate acknowledgment that they are part of the natural world.
Remembering who they are and where they come from serves to reinforce their
identity.
Coming from a society insulated from nature by industrial technology, we can learn a great deal by better understanding these cultures. Perhaps this knowledge can help us recognize our connections to the natural world.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

See more masks from the shop of Santos Lazaro 

* Special thanks to Galeria Namu and Galeria Coco Loco information sources

Dear Dominical

Dominical has got to be one of my favorite places in the Southern Zone of Costa Rica

Set along a stretch of coastline with a seemingly endless ribbon of nearly private beaches, Dominical boasts world class surfing without the tourist volume of other sites farther north along the Pacific. The coastal highway is now fully paved, making the drive from the San Jose area a breezy couple of hours instead of an all-day event. The dirt-road-main-street town is laid back and peppered with small colorful establishments ranging from fruit sellers to eateries to surf camps.

Dominical is a perfect jumping off spot for dive and snorkel tours and is only a few kilometers north of Whale's Tail National Park. It is also centrally located to Manuel Antonio National Park, Corcovado National Park, Cano Island National Preserve and Nauyaca Waterfalls are a reasonable drive up the San Isidro road. Though we did not make that locale in December, it is a 'must do' next time for certain. Fishing charters, zip lines, horseback riding, surfing, swimming, lounging, drinking....
I think it's twenty degrees outside in South Jersey right now.

The burgers at The Refuge are enormous and delicious - served within site of the beach. Dave and I shared a giant, perfectly done burger with fresh guacamole, washed down with ice cold Imperial beer. Puts a smile in your afternoon, my friends!   Sunset cocktails at La Parcela should be on your agenda when in town. Their sweet spot on a small peninsula can't be beat for the scenery. Be sure to try the Maracuya and rum - two of them, and I can roll my Rs with the best of them! There is also a walking trail worth taking that goes down to the water.

During our visit in December, we stayed at TikiVillas, a few minutes south of Playa Dominical. A quiet 4x4 hillside location with a fine 'white water' view of the sea, we were greeted on arrival by a chilled bottle of champagne, enjoyed on the lanai where each day, we were greeted by foraging Toucans. Villa Five was air-conditioned, though we found the place airy enough without and came equipped with a king bed and large indoor-outdoor shower. Tons of Tranquila... Our villa had a kitchenette with dorm-fridge and hot plate, though we 'cooked' only coffee.. Breakfast is cooked to order every morning, and guests can enjoy their eggs or pancakes overlooking the infinity pool and the Pacific south to the Osa Peninsula. In the afternoon, trade your orange juice and coffee for cocktails at the Tiki bar and catch up with family and friends via the free wifi at the lounge. Tiki staff were friendly and offered conversation and assistance with scheduling tours. TikiVillas is recommended and 4x4 is required (keeping in mind that all 4x4s are not created equal)


Please refer to these Dominical Links when planning your next Southern Cost Rica vacation:
http://www.dominicalcr.com/ 
http://www.dominical.biz/