Last Few Days Recap

We are currently in Playa Chiquita, a small village south of Puerto Viejo on the Atlantic coast. Aiden is feeling much better and we're very comfortable here. Here is an update on what has occured so far, as we haven't been able to document much yet.

In the Miami airport on Thursday we had many difficulties. We missed our original flight because american airline jerked us around and were completely unorganized. They ended up making us pay for a ticket for Aiden to ride on our laps - a $100 ticket at that. However, we were able to catch the next flight and arrived in San Jose at 2:00pm.

In San Jose we were picked up by the owner of the Sabana BB, our accomodation. The Sabana BB was a very nice place and we really enjoyed ourselves. The hotel is a part of the Sustainable Tourism in Costa Rica; we plan on staying there again as we make our way back to San Jose. That night though we had quite an adventure. We set out on a journey to find rubber boots, as Punta Mona said we needed them for our stay. We first went to a "market" the BB owner suggested, which didn't have what we needed. I don't think we're going to find rubber boots at a Benneton. We then caught a taxi and asked the driver to take us where we could buy them. After Bethany was finally able to explain to him what we needed, he thought he knew just the place. On the way, we all headbanged together to Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. Are we in Costa Rica? The taxi driver dropped us off at an EPA, a hardware store, Costa Rica's Lowe's. I don't think we're going to find boots here, that taxi driver screwed us over. But sure enough we find what we needed - sorry taxi driver, you knew what you were doing.

The next morning we took the bus to Manzanillo - a small town on the southeast Atlantic coast, our last stop before Punta Mona. The bus ride was 4 hours, but its a nice bus - we paid extra money so Aiden could have A/C and a car seat. Aiden did well on the trip except for the last half hour, he was ready to get out. In Manzanillo we stayed at the Congo Bongo, it sure looked nice on the Internet. And while the house we stayed in wasn't too bad, the mosquitos were horrible and it was very hot. We did have mosquito nets, but no screens on the windows and no fans. Bethany ended up sleeping that night in her rainjacket and pants as she was so paranoid of all the mosquitos. She lost a lot of water that night. That afternoon, though, on our walk into the town of Manzanillo, we saw several monkeys, a sloth, and on our return a tucan. We ate a wonderful place that night called Maxi's, its where all the locals gather. The food was incredible, a great experience.

The next day was our trip to Punta Mona. To get there we had to take a boat, and to catch the boat you ahve to talk to the captain of the boat, Bako. We met up with Bako early in the morning, around 8, and he said come back at 12, because there are others going to Punta Mona then. We got there at 12 and no Bako. Bako shows up at 12:15 and says at 12:30 we'll leave. 12:30 rolls around and no Bako. We didn't end up leaving till about 2:00pm. This is the Caribbean.

The boat ride was a blast and a bit scary. I had Aiden on my back and he loved it. We got into Punta Mona about 20 minutes later and everyone received us well, happy to see the baby. The farm is interesting but a little bit different than what we expected. Aiden woke up the next morning with a rash on his face and a fever. We got worried fast and started to second guess our decision. We decided to take the boat out the next morning as Aiden's health is not worth the risk. Punta Mona ended up being a bit of a dissappointment and not really a place for us right now in our lives. For one, the pot smoking and cursing was not appropriate for Aiden to be around. Secondly, I don't think sustainable is a synonym for dirty. You can live a sustainble life and eat organically, while still living in a nice, clean environment. Thirdly, they brought in many of their seeds and plants from out of the country, which disappointed me. Not very ecologically sound. The people there were all nice and friendly, we are just on different levels and have different priorities.

Anyway, we caught the boat out the next morning. It was a beautiful boat ride and we saw several dolphins swimming by the boat. And now we're in Playa Chiquita and plan on staying here a few days as there's much to do. We'll be going on a chocolate tour and a coffee tour with indigenous peoples in the next few days. Aiden is doing well and his rash is almost completely gone, and he has not fever. Punta Mona gave us a refund, so we're going to travel around for a little while but head back to the States early.