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Days 10-16: Portrero and Playa Flamingo

Posted by Erik Frey Sun, 27 Mar 2005 04:46:00 GMT

This period of travel is characterized in my head as the first tentative steps off the beaten path. I took a week of Spanish classes, hiked out to a number of remote towns and beaches, and met many more interesting people.

day 10

Took the early bus out of Santa Elena, with a short stop in Liberia, a dusty little town in the center of the Nicoya Peninsula that serves as a transportation hub to all the nearby towns and beaches. After wading through confusing lines and another six hour bus ride, I found myself at a ritzy little resort town named Playa Flamingo.

I got out my directions and hiked along the coast in the sweltering sun. I talked to a couple of people and made a few educated guesses, and I soon found myself at the southern end of Bahia Portrero. Found a place right on the beach to camp called Mayra’s, run by a delightful woman of the same name. Dropped my pack on the ground, threw off my shirt, ran out and collapsed into the Pacific ocean. I hadn’t swum in the Pacific in years, and it was the first time during my trip that I’d even seen a beach. I felt like I’d finally arrived. I floated in the sea and watched the sunset as pelicans swooped and dive-bombed around me.

day 11

I started my morning with a dip in the Pacific, threw my pack together, and set out for the town of Portrero. In grand Costa Rican tradition, the town had no street names, and the house I was searching for had the address “a hundred meters south of Hotel Bahia Esmeralda”. It turned out to be not difficult to find with a bit of door knocking and neighborly inquiry,

I arrived at the house and met Liseth, the mother of the family that would house me and take care of me for the next week. Having arrived a bit early, I dropped off my bag and walked over to the town of Portrero proper. There I found a dusty, weed-filled soccer field, a liquor store, and a small grocery called EL SUPER CEIMY. I had lunch at a small soda and spent the afternoon at a pretty beach called Playa de la Penca.

That evening I met Benito, the father of the family. He made me feel right at home. His Spanish was very clear and deliberately well-pronounced, and he was very patient with my bumbling. He introduced me to his brother-in-law and the three of us grabbed some bicycles and squeaked our way over to a local bar to play pool.

We were joined by a colorful group of locals, and we all played on a dirt floor while a dog slept under the pool table. Benito explained the rules to me. It was just like American pool except for one small difference involving the 1-ball and the 15-ball. They called the game mesa-tica. I called it getting my ass handed to me. But it was nice to spend an evening talking to the locals about pool, the latest soccer match, and news about the Pope. As a traveller there are very few opportunities to feel at home in a foreign country, and this was certainly one of them.

While we were playing, a skinny, older man pulled a chair up to a large wasp nest hanging from the ceiling near the table. He stood on the chair, reached up, and gently pulled the nest off from the ceiling. His hand was covered with crawling wasps. He walked nonchalantly to a nearby field and dropped the nest in the grass. He came back in and we all looked at his hands – not a single bite. Benito smiled and said to me “es brujo.”

days 12 to 16

My week of Spanish classes flew by faster than I expected. I had a friendly, knowledgable teacher named Lourdes and only two other classmates in my class. We flew through a number of topics and I was quite pleased with the pace. Even after a week I felt much more confident with my Spanish.

After morning class there was always something to do in the afternoon. I met two girls: Bethany, a crazy Miami girl with a penchant for talking, and Isabelle, a French Canadian accountant/pro figure skater. The three of us accomplished quite a bit in our short five day stint:

• Explored the nearby beaches along the Peninsula
• Spent some quality beer/pool time at a nearby resort
• Took a sail boat cruise to a nearby island where we snorkeled, helped ourselves to an all-you-can-drink bar, and listened to a live calypso band. The sunset over the ocean was stunning, and received an applause from the boat-goers.
• Ventured out to lady’s night at the local bar named Las Brisas. The place was packed with Spanish students and locals alike. Everyone had a great time. Bethany got proposed to by an ambitious local.

In the evenings, I would return and have dinner with my family. Liseth made some fabulous meals and I had a some nice conversations with Benito. He was an industrious fellow: building an addition to his home that he planned to rent out as a cabina to compete with the local big hotels, and also setting up a couple computers as a sort of miniature Internet cafe. He came to Costa Rica from Nicaragua with very little besides a keen mind. He works maintenance at a local hotel, putting his savings into his project to set up his small business. I think he will end up doing very well.

After my last day of class, I hitch-hiked out to Playa Conchal, a gorgeous beach just south of Brasilito. I ran into Adralyn and Emily there. We found a grouchy old one-eyed monkey. During my walk back to Portrero, I found 4000 colones on the side of the road.