Our trip - Part 1

We did it!

Yes, we took our trip –an amazing experience for the both of us.

The last time my man flew was 1970, and that was a very short flight from Gatwick to St Helier, Jersey, when the airport was just a tin shed and runway!

I have made short flights, France to UK and back, and also a flight to Turkey so was not too phased by the airports etc. Himself though, he could not believe the changes. Poor man, stuck in the past – well he has now been thrust into the present and being pushed towards the future. But in spite of being out of his comfort zone he coped with it all.

Our flight was due to leave Nantes airport at 7.35 am so we left home nice and early, needed to be there 3 hours before flight, according to instructions, there was no-one there, not a soul, the airport was an empty shell so we thought until we saw another couple wandering about wondering where to go.

Eventually some staff arrived and we were told that our flight desk staff would not be around for another 2 hours, unbelievable!

Our journey from Nantes took us to Madrid, it was amazing to fly down the west coast of France and see Arcachon and the Dune de Pilat from above. The Pyrenees were amazing. We loved it!

From Madrid we had a direct flight to our eventual destination. And what a destination! I had been wanting to take this trip for a long time and, yes my planning was a bit haphazard as I was not sure what to expect.

We arrived in San Jose just after 4pm and navigated our way through the airport and eventually picked up our cases and went outside to find our dear friend.

What clamorous sounds greeted us: men offering to help with our baggage, find us a taxi, the hooting of cars and shouts of people. Thank heavens for those who know the ropes, otherwise we would have been totally lost.

We took a long tortuous route around mountains in the fading light to reach our friends home. I am glad I didn’t see it all on that first journey.

The following day was taken with catching up on news and absorbing the whole atmosphere of the place. The views were amazing, the plants and colours were a feast for the eyes, and the sounds were so unusual from the birds and the insects.

We had a look around San Jose, found the central Market – amazing place, shame there isn’t one like it locally! The buildings in San Jose were a mix of the old Spanish colonial, 60’s, 70’s and thoroughly modern. There are small squares where you can just sit and relax and ‘people watch’. Street vendors are on most of the corners selling veg and fruit, and I have never seen so many shoe shops in one place.

We arranged for a day trip on a tourist bus to see Poas volcano, a coffee plantation, Sarchi where they make ox carts and Grecia (Greece) to see the metal church.

Our mini-bus had only 7 of us plus guide and driver. Now this was fun, slowly making our way up the side of the volcano, travelling though the most amazing scenery and eventually rainforest. And, yes, it was raining! We arrived at Poas and made our way up to the summit, buying plastic ponchos for protection as it was so wet. We could smell the sulphur but it wasn’t too strong. When we reached the viewpoint we could not see a thing! The whole place was shrouded in a heavy mist, we were so disappointed as the day looked so promising.

Our next stop was the coffee plantation, 12000 hectares in all. There was so much that we did not know about coffee, the fact that it takes 4 years before you can plant the young bush out, it doesn’t get its first pruning until it is 20 years old and that it lives for up to 80 years. All beans must be hand picked as they ripen at different times, the drying process is started in the sun (mornings only) then finished in a large dryer. Something that is taken for granted is complicated to achieve! After the tour of the coffee plantation we had a delicious lunch then back on the mini-bus and then to our next destination of Sarchi. At one time the only form of transport in Costa Rica was the ox cart. Sarchi has many artisans where they make ox carts in many sizes – from tiny ornaments to the largest ox cart in latin America. The workshop we went to still has the original buildings and water operated machinery with wheels and belts working away. I think that the Health & Safety lobby in Europe would have a fit and take the whole lot down!

Our last visit was to Grecia to see the metal church which was shipped, in pieces, from Belgium to Grecia in the 1890’s. It is a beautiful, well respected and looked after structure.

I had a look online for somewhere to go and stay on the Caribbean side and eventually found a nice place to stay in the town of Cahuita. We had a four hour jouney by bus going over mountains (again) and through a rainforest. We had a ‘p’ stop at Limon and then continued on our way through banana plantations on our right and the sea on our left. The bus had the windows open and I kept getting the odd ‘whiff’ of a certain substance. Hmm, what could that be….

Our ‘cabina’ was basic, could sleep 7 people all in one room, it had the usual facilities and a small kitchen with table and chairs. Everything one would need for a short stay. We explored the town, unmade roads though.

We were just a 2 minute walk from the National Park which stretched many kilometres bordering the sea. A beautiful, quiet haven and we only saw a couple of butterflies, lizards and one yellow snake. There was a path to follow – no straying in the jungle! It was free but we could have had a guide for ‘megabucks’ so decided against that. There was a large group of European tourists with their cameras doing the Park and blocking the pathway. A bit of a nuisance but hey ho, it is a free world.

The restaurants were excellent offering a good choice of Caribbean food. Would recommend it all.

Only downer on those couple of days was that it decided to rain, and rain, and rain….

And so back on the bus, picking up the ‘whiff’ of ‘spliff’ en route and back to San Jose.