Jessica and I went to Costa Rica again to fulfill visa requirements and to enjoy a little R&R. We left her jeep at the border a week prior so we first picked that up from the hotel we stayed at last time. When we parked it there, I asked permission and they said it was fine. When we picked it up, I checked in at the front desk and the lady pulled out a calculator and started adding up parking charges. I told her nothing was discussed about any kind of charge and that I had been a guest there in the past. She insisted I pay $6 per day. I told her I would never stay there again and that I was not going to pay anything.
We drove off and went through the visa processes. This time, Jess and I successfully entered Costa Rica!
We drove to Dominical and checked into the hotel. The weather was nasty, strong winds and lots of rain. Jessica was feeling ill, so I went out for a little while. The next morning, I woke up with severe stomach pains, so there we were, finally on vacation together, and both sick as dogs. For two days, we stayed in bed staring at the ceiling with frequent trips to the bathroom. The rain did not stop for a second and it was pouring harder than I had ever seen. It was so loud on the roof that we had to talk in loud voices to hear each other. It was now time to go home and we first went to a restaurant for breakfast. The waitress asked where we were going and when we said the border, she laughed and said the road was completely washed away to the South. To the North, a major bridge had been swept away. That left the East over the mountains to the Interamericana. We started to head up the road and a police officer on the side of the road said there were landslides and the road was closed. We were in disbelief. We had just spent three miserable days being sick and now we were stuck. Jessica luckily had a friend who owned a reptile farm on the same road so we decided to see if we could at least get there. We came to a minor landslide with a truck stuck in it.
Minor Landslide
Raging River of mud
I decided to walk through the "minor" landslide and see if I could find Jessica's friend up the road while she stayed with the jeep. While walking through the knee-deep mud, my flip-flop broke, so there I was walking on the road barefoot in the pouring rain trying to find the reptile farm. A few minutes later, I heard a familiar engine sound...it was Jess who had just 4-wheeled through the landslide. I hopped in the jeep and a minute later, we arrived at the reptile farm. Her friend's name is Quetzal and he built the most amazing reptile establishment. He has hundreds of snakes including Fer de Lance, Coral, Bushmaster, Eyelash Vipers, and the list goes on. He has worked with several TV shows including Croc Hunter with his snakes and he trades them all over the world. Quetzal is a highly regarded expert in the reptile world, not just for snakes, but for all kinds of crazy species of lizards as well.
Lizard
Komodo Dragon
Lizard
Lizard
Lizard
Komodo Dragon
A Kinkajou living at the house named Zee-Zee was sort of a half Meerkat, half Monkey that provided hours of entertainment!
Jessica and Zee-Zee
A wound-up Zee-Zee drinking some of my Pilsen to calm down a little.
Quetzal, Jessica, and a pregnant Python.
While sleeping in a very nice guest bedroom that night, I heard heavy machinery on the road. In the morning we learned there was a huge landslide right outside the entrance of the farm so we were absolutely stuck.
Big Landslide
Quetzal and his girlfriend Uli took amazing care of us despite power and water outages. The rain did not stop and I was worried about making it back to Panama to catch my flight to the US. After three more days, the rain finally stopped and the internet came back on. We learned that several people had died due to flooding, and roads/bridges were destroyed all over the country.
After the landslide outside the farm had been cleared, Jessica and I decided to go for it despite warnings of road closures. The sun was finally out so we figured we'd just drive up to each landslide and wait for them to be cleared. This was Nov. 7 and my flight was leaving the next morning, Nov. 8. We came up on a several landslides but they all had one lane of traffic open. It was slow going, but we finally made it to the Interamericana. After another hour, we came to a closure because of a collapsed bridge that was not due to be repaired for another day. We asked if there was any other route to the border and learned of a dirt road winding through the mountains that just might work. After driving through several small towns, we turned onto a muddy road that did not look promising. We met a guy we called Luigi because of his striking resemblence to the Super Mario twin. After some discussion, we decided to caravan down the sketchy road together so if one of us got stuck negotiating a mud pit, the other could pull the first car out. So began one of the most extreme 4-wheeling experiences of my life. The road was a knife edge going over the mountains and through some deep mud. Good thing we had Jessica's Jeep and that she is an excellent driver. After about two hours, we made it to a normal road, but there was no traffic which meant it was blocked at some point. We drove to the blockage which had a roadhouse next to it, so we all had a beer and laughed about how crazy the drive through the mountains had been. The block cleared shortly and we were on our way to the border with no time to spare. It was clear I would be racing against time from this point without sleep trying to make it to Panama City to catch my flight.
Jessica and "Luigi"
View from the Camino Real, a knife-edge mountain road.
Following Luigi down the muddy road.
Luckily, the border crossing went super fast because no one was traveling in or out of Costa Rica. Jess drove like a pro all the way to my house where I quickly packed and headed to her house. Jess's Dad drove with us to David because Jess was exhausted. I was hoping to get on the 12pm express bus to Panama City. Normally, there are two buses, but given the Independence Day weekend, there were 12 buses. Nevertheless, they were all full. I was so discouraged that we busted ass all this way only to be turned down at the last minute (reservations are not accepted, the buses are first-come). Jess started chatting with the drivers and amazingly, found one who claimed he had a "perch" of some kind on his bus and that he was willing to let her use it. Jessica pulled the ol' switch-a-roo to the dismay of the driver and indicated it was I who would be riding on the "perch," whatever that meant. So I got on the normally luxurious, air-conditioned bus and learned I would be riding the six hours on a five-gallon plastic bucket. I was delirious from the long day so far, but made the best of it and wedged myself in the aisle of the bus, balancing on my bucket through the sharp turns. I arrived in Panama City, got a taxi, and arrived at the airport at 6:30am where I promptly checked in and ordered a Balboa to calm my nerves and to help insure I would pass out on the plane.
I switched planes in Houston, arrived in Chicago, and luckily caught a bus right away to Milwaukee where Dad picked me up. So after 36 hours of travel (two cars, two buses, two planes, and a taxi) I was finally back to my home state. In retrospect, what started out as the vacation from hell in Costa Rica ended up being a great adventure and time well spent with Jessica.
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