At this point, everyone, we would like to apologize for a lag in Blogging! Dan and Phyllis arrived and we hit the road and have just now managed to Blog our pictures of the Butterfly Farm near San Ramon. Thursday we had to go back to the Dentist so we all toured around San Jose awhile. The next day, Friday, we decided to head to Grecia to let Dan and Phyllis check out some property with our friend Rodrigo. We left very early from Ciudad Colon on Friday morning and took a bus to San Jose and from there to Grecia. Upon leaving the bus we reached up to grab our packs and Don’s was missing!!! Panic, searching and finally the resignation that it really was gone with his clothes, our camera and extra battery, SD cards and cords (also the wonderful case Sharon made), our binoculars and a buck knife that Don carried for cutting fruit. We headed for the Coffee Shop to call Rodrigo and soon realized that we had also lost the cell phone. Thanks to the gentleman at the coffee shop we were able to call Rodrigo but to no avail. Feeling blue, or worse, we drank our coffee, bought a map (that was also in the pack) and tried to figure out what to do next when Rodrigo walked into the Coffee Shop!! His big smile was a welcome site and we proceeded to tell him our story! After a stop at the Police Station, we headed out to look at property!
After checking out Grecia property we headed for San Ramon in Rodrigo’s car where we needed to grab a bus to La Fortuna in order to get to our reservation at the Arenal Volcano for the night. Can you believe this?? As we hit the edge of San Ramon Rodrigo’s clutch stopped working! With the help of a little transmission fluid and from “friends” on the street he was able to limp home and we headed for our bus to Arenal without seeing the last property of the day, which was the one with the ocean view!!
We arrived at our destination after a 3 hour long bus ride and a short cab ride prepared to see sparks shooting out of the Volcano from our beds!! Unfortunately, the only sparks that flew were the ones we created when we found out that we had to pay in Dollars (cash only) and breakfast would be $3.00 each!! At this point we were worn out from all the excitement of the day and just went to bed!! The next morning we arrived early for breakfast—no other option—and sat down to wait! Finally coffee and scrambled eggs, toast and fruit arrived. Being morning, and being in Costa Rica we thought we’d like some more coffee and requested it from our reluctant waitress. She came back with ½ a pot for all of us to share so we sent her back to the kitchen for more!! Her frown was not discreet!! After all, we were paying $3.00 and Costa Rica is known for great java!!!
As the clouds were settled over the mountain there wasn’t much chance of us seeing any sign of a Volcano so we decided to check out the Hot Springs. Well…there three options: Expensive: $30.00, Middle: $20.00 or Cheap: $10.00. As we are on the “Budget Tour” we asked for directions to the Cheap Hot Sprints and were sent up the road. We walked, and walked and along the way ran into some local workers and decided to ask them if they knew of any “gratis mucho agua”!! Low and behold, they knew of a place where we could go that was FREE!!! Just our style!! With only a little difficulty we located the “gratis” hot spring and decided to not only put our toes in but to submerge our entire bodies. It was wonderful and the setting was beautiful…a perfect Kodak moment with no camera!! Unfortunately, the longing for our camera were feelings that we experienced more times on this adventure than we will mention!! As a gentleman from Holland who had been on 4 year journey was waiting to enjoy the pool, we only stayed for a short while. Besides we needed to head back down the hill to San Ramon and try to find a place to stay, as we were not exactly enchanted with our accommodations at the “Cash Only Inn”! Our next thought was how do we get back to La Fortuna where the bus leaves. We had taken a taxi to the Inn and there were no taxis or buses in site or expected so we started walking. Sharon was sure someone would pick us because the Ticos are so nice, except for the ones that steal, and that is exactly what happened. An older Tico named Antonio in a very old pick-up truck stopped and asked us if we needed a ride. Dan hopped in the front and tried to converse and Sharon, Don & Phyllis hopped into the back. Dare I say another missed Kodak moment!! The views of the cloud covered Arenal Volcano were beautiful for the next 14 miles from the back of the pick-up!!! Still no sparks!!!
After site seeing in La Fortuna and eating some lunch, the bus to San Ramon arrived. Maneuvering the very steep and narrow roads down the mountain is something we can hardly comprehend and are grateful that the bus drivers do such a wonderful job!! However, this day there was a slight problem and the whole process came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the trip. A Ssemi full of sugar cane had gone slightly off the road and tipped over and we sat for an hour waiting for a tow truck to get him back on the road. The amazing part about the entire episode is how calm every one was about the interruption in their day. People got out of their vehicles and/or the bus and stood around visiting or walked down the road to check out the problem. Guess what Don did?? Finally we were on our way and arrived in San Ramon unscathed. We had wanted to book a room at the La Posada (we thought Dan & Phyllis should experience a night there), but, being Saturday night it was full! We called friends we had met and asked for a recommendation. Upon checking out their recommendation we decided to head to San Jose and then home to Ciudad Colon where we spent the next day doing laundry and exploring Ciudad Colon.
Although we were enjoying having Dan & Phyllis to explore Costa Rica with we still had the black cloud of the missing camera, etc. over our heads and to be honest, it was a real downer!! On Monday Phyllis wanted to check out the Ropia Americas (Costa Rica’s idea of Good Will) ,in San Jose and all of us wanted to find gifts to take home so we headed early to San Jose. The night before Erin had suggested looking for the camera at a Pawn Shop! Brilliant Erin! And…the old wheels started moving and checking Pawn Shops was added to the activities of the day!!
As you know, Pawn Shops aren’t in the nicer parts of town to say the least! However, we were determined to give it our best. Talking to people on the street we were given directions with a warning that that is a “very bad” part of town and, especially being “Gringos” we probably shouldn’t go there. Warnings taken under advisement we headed for the Pawn Shops grabbing our packs and purses with white knuckle grips. Our first swipe was a little unsettling but…no camera. We started to head for the bus station but decided to give it one more shot!! Don’s new plan was to approach the seedy neighborhood from the back side. At one point Dan’s pack had been unzipped by the local thieves and we were definitely getting nervous. Don suggested that we stay in the Pawn Shop with the armed guard while he checked across the street and we readily agreed! On second thought, after he was out of site, we wondered about the wisdom of our choices. We waited, and waited, and waited and finally Don came out of the shop (which was actually a “Pawn Shop Mall”) and we all started breathing!! Low and behold he had bought our binoculars back and found our camera just as it was being sold to someone else!!. Well, Don was not about to be outdone at this point and proceeded to tell the Pawn Shop guy that he wanted to buy it and he would get the cash!! Yes, cash only once again!! Fortunately, Dan was carrying lots of $$$$$ in his crotch belt and graciously unzipped his pants and handed it over. Here we go again!!! Don headed back into the “Mall” to buy back our camera while Dan, Phyllis and I again waited next to the Officer with the gun!!. After way too long, Don again emerged from hell, this time with our camera, extra battery, SD card, cords and case, unfortunately, not the custom case it was originally housed in. At this point we quickly left Pawn Shop Alley and headed for the bus Parada and back to quiet little Ciudad Colon where Jere & Julie had invited us to celebrate the Bahi New Year and the end of their very long fast!!
One last note to this story. As we downloaded the pictures of the Bahi New Year’s Party we truly could not believe what we saw. The thief had taken pictures that were still in the camera’s memory!! First of a fake rose and last of himself!!! At least we think it’s him being filmed by the Pawn Broker. This information along with a signed, dated sales receipt will all be given to the police to go along with our original Police Report!! Would you believe one of the pictures is a clip with sound!!! Now we just need someone to translate!!! Unbelievable!!
This is our "Potential Thief!!"
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