Gettin’ Jiggy Wit’ It

“Na na na na na na na. Na na na na na na getting jiggy wit’ it.” – Will Smith

Kate and I be-bopped around southern Guanacaste this weekend to the sweet sounds of Costa Rican radio (there are only 2 English-language stations), listening to 1990s favorites Will Smith, The Cranberries, and that odd spoken-word song about the long-term benefits of sunscreen (which, strangely, we heard twice in 2 days.  Apparently they are serious about getting Americans to wear sunscreen down here).

Our trip began with a “30 minute” walk to Playa Flamingo.  After 40 minutes, we mercifully ran into Meradith and Drew, who drove us the last 2+ miles.  Playa Flamingo is a bustling metropolis compared to Potrero, with dozens of shops, hotels, and bars.  In an amazing example of modernity, we rented an automatic transition Hyundai Tucson SUV with cruise control, air conditioning, and power everything.  Kate liked the car so much that she’s considering changing her dream car from a Ford Escape Hybrid, to the Tucson, as she is already a Hyundai owner.

Fresh Coconut Milk in Tamarindo

Our first stop was in Tamarindo, a typical beach town, where we found a Subway and TCBY.  From there we headed to Santa Cruz, where we ate a traditional Costa Rican Casado (rice, black beans, meat, lettuce salad, noodles, fried plantain), minus the plantain, at Coope Tortilla.  Coope essentially means “Co-op” and at Coope Tortilla, a group of 7 women cook all day while the one male employee cooks the tortillas in a large stone oven.  There are no menus at Coope Tortilla, you just show up and 5 minutes later are served a hot plate of whatever delicious food the ladies have cooked up.

Todd's First Casado

From there we headed to Nicoya, a town known for its fresh fruit and vegetables.  We stopped at a roadside fruit stand and picked up a variety of fruits and vegetables (yucca, plantain, a whole pineapple, carrot, corn, potatoes, chayote), which we’re planning to turn into a traditional Costa Rican stew later this week (results of which, obviously, can be found at www.toddandkate.wordpress.com, later this week).

La Vista Especial

From Nicoya we headed towards Samara.  The view from the road was stunning.  Rolling greens meadows spotted with cows and horses, mountains topped with rows of what look like Joshua Trees, and low-hanging clouds covering the tops of thick, green, rainforest-esque landscapes.  We stopped at a bar advertising a “vista especial” for a beer and a breathtaking view.  It’s important to note here, that if you attempted a pub crawl between any 2 towns in Costa Rica, you would never make it.  There are bars every quarter mile, at least.  It’s as if every time anyone driving the roads ever got thirsty, a bar immediately popped up.  How they all stay in business, I have no idea.  We stopped at exactly one, and passed probably 150.

Enjoying the View

Upon arriving in Samara (which, despite what Kate says, I’m pretty such is Spanish for “hippie beach”), I felt like I was back at the Rothbury Festival – the streers were lined with young Americans and Europeans selling hemp necklaces, tie-dyed beach towels, and those maddening sets of 3 rubber sticks with which, supposedly, you hold one in each hand, and keep the 3^rd, and largest, stick aloft by alternatively hitting it with each of your 2 sticks.  I was always terrible at those things, though I do remember my brother Scott becoming a rather accomplished 3-stick handler back in the day.

The beach at Samara

Beach soccer

We watched a game of beach soccer in Samara which began promptly at 5:00 p.m. and consisted of every Costa Rican male in the town under the age of 30.  As you can see, it’s quite a place to watch a soccer match, even if the play is a bit disjointed.

We began our trip home by attempting to take the non-highway route home, only to quickly discover that dirt and gravel roads with potholes the size of our car were not particularly fun to drive.  Thankfully, there is always a paved road to get you where you need to go in Costa Rica, and by “a” paved road, I mean “one” – therere is always one, and only one, paved way to get between Costa Rican towns.

Overall it was a great little road trip, capped off by a pretty wild (for Potrero) evening back at home involving a live Guanacasten band and a baile/reinado (dance/pageant).  I’ll say this: Kate and I did not hit the dance floor because these locals have some serious moves.