Another fairly early start. After breakfast of a pancake, coffee and juice we headed to the bank as there aren't supposed to be any at Limon. Waited for the bank of Nova Scotia to open and then were told they don't do master card. Checked out and took a cab to a different bus station near the museum which appeared to be an old fort. Great bus station. Much classier than the Coca Cola from yesterday. Traffic with all the busses in San Jose is unreal! We bought tickets for Limon which left in 15 minutes. Another great ride on a Mercedes! We were on the L.H. side so a lot of the pictures were blurred by oncoming tractor trailers but the views were incredible. Worth the $4.00 each just to see that. It was a 3 hour ride up mntns. out of San Jose and into the rain forest. Completely different than the lowland dry forest we had grown used to. Very lush with beautiful flowering trees, huge leafed philadenderons,vines, and something that resembled sea oats that towered over the bus. Drove through what I guess to be a cloud forest and then a tunnel that went right through a mountain! It was very dark in the tunnel and my backpack was next to me in the aisle so I had a firm grip on it. Coming down out of the rainforest it leveled out to fields of pineapples, and bananas as far as you could see. As we approached Limon (on the Caribbean coast) we passed huge yards full of containers and semis waiting to pick up the produce and take it to the ships for export.
As soon as we got off the bus we were approached by Edgar the cab driver. He was quite a salesman but we told him we wanted to eat first in the depot. A great bus terminal! We had bifsteak (that's the way they spell it),rice and beans and a coke. Edgar stayed at our table to avoid us getting away. Good thing as he was the best! He suggested an inexpensive place about 50 km down the road near another game reserve which is what we're here for. Off we went in his old Honda and breakneck speed. The road was quite good as was the toll road we took in the bus to Limon. We followed miles of beautiful beach and banana plantations. All the bunches of bananas were covered with blue plastic bags. Edgar explained this is to keep the mosquitoes off the fruit. We then came to a banana processing factory where he pulled in. We could see the large trucks of green bananas, the sorters, and the wash/debugging facility. From here they went onto a conveyor and then into a truck for export.
The next stop was a fruit stand beside the road where he explained the different kinds of fruit. Breadfruit, small honey bananas, watermelon and coco beans (nuts, whatever you call them but not coconuts) He told us how to eat them and we bought one just to get the seeds to bring home. We next came to a coco tree on the L.H. side of the road. he pulled over and drove down the wrong side (with an oncoming car) and then onto the side to show us the tree complete with seed pods. He picked one and cracked it open on the road. It was filled with a white milky substance which you eat. The seeds can be dried out and ground up into coco. (our next project).
He also pulled over to show us two guys fishing for bait. They used a termite nest, dig out the termites and use them as bait to catch bigger bait. When we got to our destination it was no vacancy but Edgar talked to the guy and here we are. $25/ a night. Nice enough place and about 100 yards to the beach and the entrance to the reserve is only a block away. The book says "lots of sloths, capuchin monkeys, snorkelling on a reef, snakes, etc. " Sounds like heaven to me. I still have leaf cutter ants and a yellow boa on my list.
We picked this place as it has internet but it's DSL and I can't get old Mac to work, so hopefully Paul can talk me through it. If thats the case I can update facebook finally. There's no wireless around here. We checked in, looked for wireless and then headed to the mercado to get a bottle of $10 bacardi and some coke which is now in process. I think we're going to like this place and tomorrow we'll check out the beach and maybe a hike. We figure 3 days here and then 3 days farther South in Manzanilla at the South end of the road. More bugs here but we've got our 99% neat (repellant from hell) and a mosquito net so we'll be in good shape. If that doesn't work we're taking our malaria pills every Thurs.. Any bugs bite me they'll get what they deserve. A lethal dose of Bacardi and deet.
Our stomach turmoils have ceased and we're back to normal on that front (or rear as the case may be). It wasn't the water but our systems getting used to the different bacteria. Thanks to Nic and Doug for their advise. We never had diarreah but just stayed "loose". That's a little different than hanging loose, for you novices. We're in great physical shape now and ready to hike anywhere. It will be nice now to get in some beach/snorkelling time. We're still only eating twice a day and don't miss the extra meal and the "no junk stuff diet". I've never eaten so healthy but you don't know what fruit is until you've tried the stuff down here. The closest I usually come to fresh fruit is wine aged a year.
We're "happy in the jungle" and all is well.
From this coast we'll head back to San Jose and then take a look at Arenal the volcano/cloud forest, hot springs. There is a lot to see and do around here so we may stay longer. There's also a lot to see in San Jose according to Jo so we'll spend a few days there. It's quite a bit higher than the coast and we had a cool night last night with no need for a/c or the fan.
LINK OF THE DAY http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28371&l=41285&id=680056043
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