By Bob Corbett
Folks,
I am just so utterly pleased with where I am, and the direction my trip now takes. I think for the moment at least, I have the go, go, go bug out of me and hope to do a much more relaxed next 8 days. At the end of that I will head back to San Jose, and the day after that, out to the airport to meet my son and his buddy, then off to roam with them my last week here.
I have chosen so very wisely and fortunately in taking the room at Hotel Sanchez. But, I really lucked out yesterday and it will make a HUGE difference. There was only ONE room available yesterday having what I wanted:
I took the room. I didn’t even notice it had no windows, but it did have a strong and nice fan.
I went out for a while and came back about 4 PM. Just as I was going into my room a couple came out of the room right at the balcony and were lugging their bags and all. They left the door open. I looked in and it was just like my room, except it had one whole wall as window on the balcony. About 10 minutes later the manager came up to clean the room. I told him I hadn’t done a thing in my room, could I please move to this room with the large window and delicious breezes. He said, sure. So I moved, and even in very hot Quepos, I had to put the sheet on me in the middle of the night. But, there is no blanket like I had in Monteverde, nor would that be necessary here.
I finished my 9th book last night. It was called THE GEOGRAPHY OF DESIRE and is set in an unnamed Central American country in the 1980s. Of the 9 books I’ve read they were set in:
Florence, Paris, Cuba, Mexico City, Prague, Botswana, Africa, Guyana, South America, Budapest and Central America. the new one I’ve started is set in some Island in the Caribbean, unnamed so far, but a former British colony, in the lesser Antilles and not Trinidad. Hmmmm, I’m not sure which it is.
But, it was so incredibly pleasant rocking on the balcony last night, the breeze whipping, sipping rum..... just so lovely,
This morning I was on the 6 AM bus over toward Manuel Antonio, and got off at the top of the mountain to walk all the way down to the beach. I stopped at the Cafe Melago and wrote my review comments on the book I had just finished, and headed on down. It was already about 8 AM then, and the sun was shinning brilliantly. As I got closer to the bottom of the mountain and closer to the beach, the trees form a gigantic canopy over the road, the trees at least 60 foot tall. I heard loud noises, something I’d never heard on my many walks down this road, and got off the road into the edge of the forest and stared up. There were two white faced monkeys crossing the tree tops from the beach side of the road to the forest side. They were so cute. I just watched them zigzag back and forth on the branches until they crossed.
About 10 minute later I saw another single monkey do the same thing, and then when I got completely down by the beach, where the trees don’t form such a canopy, I still saw two howler moneys in some palm trees on the forest side of the road. It was really amazing.
I walked the beach. It was now very overcast on the beach and not the slightest hot. It was low tide and I walked more than two miles up the beach until I got to rocks I couldn’t navigate and turned around and walked back.
Yesterday I guess I had exaggerated just how much my heel had healed. It was nagging me a good deal. Nothing like the pain of two days ago, but still, I was constantly aware of the heel and still am. But, I can walk on it. As of right now my pedometer shows 7 miles already walked today and it’s only 3:30 PM.
I’ve met a very interesting young man from Israel. His name is Itay, and we had met in Monteverde. He was coming to Quepos the day before me and I recommended Cabinas Hellen where I had stayed before. When I came back to the Hotel Sanchez yesterday he was having lunch at Soda Sanchez on the same property and we chatted, then we met at 5 PM at the Iguana Bar for their 2 for 1 drinks, and got into a long and heated discussion of my alleged distinction between the culture of the Jewish people and the culture of the Israelis. He was not wanting to accept such a distinction and we roamed though history comparing modern Israel and the contributions of so many great Jewish philosophers, writers, artists, scientists and even statesmen (this fellow’s field is diplomacy, but before seeking an advanced degree in that field he got a university degree in mechanical engineering and works in that field while he seeks his PHD in diplomacy.)
He’s been in here in the computer place reading essays on my web page this afternoon and just stopped on his way out to know if we would continue our discussion at the Iguana Bar at 5 PM. I suggested 4:30 and he readily accepted, so I’m in for an exciting, challenging and no doubt heated discussion just an hour from now. And oh, me, do I LOVE such things.
At the Cafe Melaga today there were two American men, both a number of years younger than I, but I would think at least in their mid 50s. They were discussing deep sea fishing and such, and I got talking to the fellow closest to me. He was a wealth of information and I asked him about his favorite Central American haunts and he said: You’ve got to try Panama and he named his place, David (pronounced Da VEED). He said it is really nice and much cheaper than Quepos!!!! Now I have a new candidate for next year’s winter trip. Panama.
This guy came up with the best line I’ve heard on my whole trip. I asked him how long he’d been in Manuel Antonio and he said 18 months now. And I said, Oh, you live here. His reply: “Oh no, I just travel very slowly.” Oh did I love that line. Great. I just travel slowly. Nice to be that independently wealthy and to have so much joy with it.
The trip has taken a turn now for me to a quieter, more relaxed pace, doing less, reading more, getting into conversations more; all that sort of thing.
It’s just hard to imagine I could be more happy.....
Bob
Bob Corbett corbetre@webster.edu