Saturday, Feb. 18 (week 4 / day 27) Travel to Quepos, CR

Goodbye Beach House

Today was a travel day from the Guanacaste Coast inland back toward San Jose & south almost to Quepos where we'll be staying for 4 days. It's lucky we had leftover cake & ice cream since we had been eating down our food & had almost nothing left. So a birthday breakfast it was, with a couple bananas. We packed our things, cleaned up & Paul loaded our roller bags on top of the car, securing them with same TV cable wire that he used to string up decorations for Kyra's birthday celebration.


We'll miss Casa Nirvana!

Flat Tire Fiasco

We got all ready by noon & waited for the local caretaker, Chuz, who showed up about 12:15. He immediately pointed out the flat tire on the rear of the car. Bummer. Chuz was very helpful & got out the tire kit but there was no jack. He rode his little moped & got his jack from home. He lowered the spare tire (a regular-sized replacement) through a small hole in the rear bumper after taking off a secret panel, something I would have never figured out. Bad news: the spare was also flat!
We had called Enterprise in Tamarindo who would send a guy out with a new tire but it would be about an hour... which really meant 1-3 hours. Chuz even spoke with the guy & told him it was a big problem to rent a car with a bad spare! Chuz helped us out big time by loading the tire on his moped, taking it to the local garage in Paraiso, returning in 10 minutes with the spare tire plugged. We laughed after we took this picture of Chuz & he road off with the tire, barely moving along. It was suddenly worth the delay.

Chuz saves the day!

Chuz inching along to the repair shop

The Drive to Quepos

The drive was nice & got greener & greener as we approached Quepos. The jungle is more lush here, not as dry as the Guanacaste Coast. We stopped at the famous crocodile bridge in Tarcoles. We counted about 30 crocs that just hang out under the bridge. They don't move much but when they do it's a little unnerving.

don't drop your phone!

causing a backup on the narrow sidewalk of the Tarcoles Bridge

Sunset near Jaco

We stopped at a lookout just after Jaco, the main beach town closest to San Jose where many of the locals visit.

We didn't get to our rental house until about 7pm after asking directions from a neighbor or two. The host lives in Mapleton, UT & the local caretaker is Juan Carlos Picado, a very friendly local whose family lives right next door. He showed us the house, the "Tarzan Jungle Home," & then Paul drove him & his wife to the nearest market for some supplies, while the kids got in the pool for some night swimming.