Caribbean Vacation

In a word, the beach was excellent.  We all got up super early on Wednesday morning to catch the bus going to San Jose to get off at El Cruce and then onto a bus headed to Limón and finally a bus from there to Manzanillo, which is off the beaten path.  A bumpy bus ride ensued.  Six hours later we ended up at Congo Bongo, a vacation house rental operation 500 meters west of town.

The house, as you can see, was awesome.  We had full kitchens complete with blenders and coffee machines.  Also plenty of sitting areas and a hammock.  After getting settled in, we all headed down the beach and to town via the beach.  Just as last year, the beach was amazing, full of Caribbean flavor and that “LOST” feeling.  

Town was a one road deal with a mini super, a bar/restaurant, a water sports rental operation, and a few cabina/bungalow places.  We spent some time in the grocery store picking up beer, snacks and wonderful things to cook up.  Went for a quick dip and stopped at the bar before heading home to get dinner started.  After slaving over a hot stove for an hour or so, I dealt out eleven delicious taco salads.

Of course, everyone enjoyed it.  After dinner we sat around for a little while, I took a hammock nap and most people hit the sack early.  Some folks got up early to go birding or diving, I personally took advantage of the vacation and slept in until 10 or so.  Spent the rest of the morning reading “Moneyball” by Michael Lewis, which I finished later on in the afternoon.  Next up is “1776” by David McCullough.

That afternoon I made patacones for lunch, again a rave hit.  Someone has a picture of those bad boys that I’ll get up here in the near future.  A long afternoon of reading and beaching.  The walk to the beach was really cool as all the crabs standing guard outside their holes retreated in a cascade.  There were also plenty of howlers, toucans and sloths; a full jungle meets ocean experience.  

Dinner we had out at Arte Cafe, where we were the first customers.  An interesting time including the same song playing on repeat and a sampling of some mediterranean dishes.  Wasn’t the most filling or tastiest of dinners, but we all had fun.  Late night, I made some more patacones and hit the hay some time around eleven o’clock.  

Friday morning, I cooked egg and cheese sandwiches for everyone and delivered them to the beach.  Got packed up and cooked the rest of the eggs for lunch.  We grabbed the bus on the street around one and made it back the La Selva shortly before eight last night, where they’d saved dinner (cannelloni) for us.  

And that sums up the vacation.  Once we get around to sharing pictures, I’ll have some more good’uns for you.  Check out two more enticing blogs in the links from Mike and Steven.  

Back to work this afternoon with some reading/writing and making drying trays.  Monday and Wednesday will be field days and hopefully a World Cup qualifying match in San Jose on Saturday.  Well, I think this has gotten substantially long, so I’ll save further exciting anecdotes for later.

BP