October Break Part #1: The Caribbean (10.04.14-ish)

Now that we are back in Heredia, the whole “two week October vacation” thing feels like a blur and a world-away (a “blurld away”?).

These chunky vacations are timed nicely for the ex-pat families at the European School. We are here for the year on 90 day tourist visas — and if you do the math, that could kinda lead to problems. However, as long as we leave the country every 90 days for at least 72 hours, we are all set. Thus the “nice timing” of the vacation (we will hit the 90 day mark this week, believe it or not!)

It’s not as if having to travel is a punishment. In fact, that’s what we were hoping to do this year…explore, explore, explore.

Our first stop was a few days in the Caribbean (a bit of Costa Rica travel before we left the country). To a Bostonian, that sounds like a dramatic trip but the reality is that it’s only a few hours’ drive without traffic*. When you live in a country the size of Kentucky, everything is only a few hours’ drive without traffic*. (the big asterisk on “without traffic” is there for a reason…that almost NEVER happens).

In our Monteverde entry I included pics of the tree that fell on the road. We got to hang out and wait for the volunteer fire department to hack it up with chainsaws.

Sometimes traffic is caused by fallen trees...

Sometimes traffic is caused by giant dancing heads and oom-pa-pa bands.

And, of course, sometimes it is caused by cows.

This time around we had a bunch of delays on the way out b/c of repair work being done on a section of highway that winds its way through landslide prone mountains inside a huge national park. Two weeks earlier, a couple of landslides “locked-in” about 1,000 cars for something like 12 hours. Luckily they were "slow-moving landslides” and nobody was hurt (I’m still not sure what a “slow-moving landslide" is, btw...I’m picturing that scene from Austin Powers with the steamroller…).

What I picture when I hear "slow-moving landslide"

On the way back the drive turned into a SEVEN-PLUS hour nightmare for much more tragic reasons. We sat for hours (everyone was out of their cars, walking around, etc.) knowing only that there had been “an accident.” When we finally got moving again, we drove past the totaled remains of two 18-wheeler cabs. In Costa Rica, big chunks of highway in more rural sections of the country are one lane each way. But they are filled with slow-moving buses and trucks that can’t climb the mountains at more than 15 mph. So…you pass. A lot. And you do it by driving into the incoming lane and zipping back into yours before its too late. We all do it. The lane markers tell you when it is safe to do so (long flat stretches) but people often ignore this (much to the fright and chagrin of this in the oncoming traffic lanes who have to white knuckle it and hope they get out of the way in time). In this case, a big rig truck driver decided to push his luck and pass someone on a stretch of road where one should NOT do so. The end result was a massive head on collision of two 18-wheelers and two dead truck drivers. An avoidable tragedy and a horrible and sobering reminder that driving in Costa Rica is NOT a game.

OK. Not sure how to segue from that back to something happier. I guess I can move on to an anecdote from the drive out to the beach. We stopped at a roadside “soda” (small family owned restaurants) for something to eat and the owner decided to hang out with us at the table. He didn’t seem to care that the kids barely understood him. He kept chatting away about how he was 70 but the reason he looked so young was because he worked out every day and mountain biked with a bunch of 30 year olds in the area. Then he’d ask Liadan to feel his bicep to see how strong he was and proceed to wax poetic about the virtues of exercise and clean living so that they could be as in shape as him when they hit 70. I think he needs more visitors because he is clearly bored out of his mind.

I guess he IS in pretty good shape for a 70 year old.

Some thoughts and musings about our time in the Caribbean...

— Puerto Viejo itself is cool but when you are no longer a 22 year old backpacker, the fact that 90% of the restaurants serve cheap-eats greasy-food gets old. After a couple of “major misses” on the food front, we found some GREAT places, though. And if you drive about 3 minutes outside of Puerto Viejo there are some awesome places to eat on the drive toward Manzanilla.

There was something cool about walking down a dirt road in the dark to find a restaurant one night. It was an awesome place, btw. Best one we went to all week...just an odd location!

Liadan making friends with the restaurant's dog one night.

When you don't ever let the kids desert at restaurants, you get this reaction when you do!

— Americans think that Costa Ricans in the Central Valley move at a slow pace (“wow…I can’t believe this waiter isn’t RUSHING me out of the restaurant…”). Central Valley Costa Ricans marvel at the slow pace of life on the Caribbean coast. And daaaaamn are they right! You need to block off about 2 hours to grab a burger and that’s only if you order as soon as you get there. That is NO exaggeration, btw. If you aren’t careful, three meals can suck up 7+ hours of your day. The place is “chillaxin’” personified.

— The kids LOVE the waves. Body surfing and all that jazz. As parents, we love the waves as long as we take turns keeping an eye on the kids loving the waves. Because there are some bad-ass riptides.

Jack and I found this guy (and a bazillion other crazy birds) walking on the beach one day.

— If my prescription sunglasses float up on shore near any of you, please mail them back.

I believe this was just before the prescription sunglasses were taken away from me by the waves. : (

— Snorkeling is fun for the whole family, even on a rough-seas, wave-filled day because the snorkeling areas are sheltered and calm. BUT taking a small boat on a 15 minute ride to GET to the snorkeling location is NOT as fun on a rough-seas, wave-filled day if you have a six year old who evidently doesn’t like such boat rides.

Everyone was much happier IN the water than ON it.

— On a related note…when I heard the two big snorkeling tour companies say “no tours today…water is too rough…we are closed” my first instinct was “well, let’s just drive into town and find a local guide willing to take us out.” Which we did. In retrospect, I guess the other two companies were closed for a reason.

— There is a very distinct smell that permeates the air when you walk around the tiny town of Cahuita (bordering the national park…and the location of all the good snorkeling). Let’s just say that I think there might be a connection between the scent in the air, the pace of life, and the high density of munchie-vendors around town.

— Although Cahuita and Puerto Viejo themselves are backpacker central, once you get out of town it gets quiet FAST. Some neat little hotels. Some fun restaurants. Quieter beaches. Etc.

— Our hotel was fun. A few head-scratching aspects to it (lights that don’t work, the strange wounded cat limping around the porch, the lack of mosquito netting or even screened doors, etc.). But the grounds were cool. The kids made a friend from Oregon who they would see in the pool at the end of each day. Etc. A good family choice.

A screened door would have been nice (to help keep these guys outside the room!)

Outside our "room" (a little thatched roof building on the hotel grounds).

The kids with their friend Riley (met her at the hotel).

— There are a lot of musically talented baby-boomers that seem to like hanging around the Caribbean coast. They add some fantastic entertainment to the dinner scene in the area.

One night we ate under the stars (and spiders) while some 65 year old American woman BELTED OUT (she was awesome) blue tunes. Audrey and Ella sang along at one point. : )

— It’s amazing how quickly you get used to the fact that there are MASSIVE golden-orb weaver spiders EVERYWHERE. Next to every path you walk on. On the side of the road. Even above your table at restaurants with outdoor seating. They don’t bug you if you don’t bug them. AND it was pretty cool when the kids got to watch one in action…a bug hit the web, the spider pounced, stunned it, and rolled it on up in thread in the blink of an eye. Pretty cool.

— Sloths are just plain weird. I thought I knew everything there was to know about sloths after watching an episode of Wild Kratts with Charlie and Liadan. But oh no. There is a much more. I learned WAY more than I thought I would going to the Sloth Sanctuary and the Jaguar Rescue Center. Both are highly recommended by the Gavin Family.

The sloth has become our adopted virtual mascot for the year, btw. We don’t exactly HAVE one. But we have decided that it is in the best interest of the often-intense Gavin family members to try to be a bit more chill…like the sloths. Ever since our trip to the Caribbean, when someone gets spun up like a top, someone else says…”don’t forget…chillaaaaaax.” And then Liadan starts making slow-motion movements like a sloth climbing a tree. Right now it is a new enough refrain that it elicits smiles and breaks the tension.

I kinda think that if we keep doing it, though, our sloth imitator might end up getting clocked upside the head by a sibling...