court in CR: Day 1

Memory Lane and the Skybox

written 11pm, Tuesday night 8/10/2010

Quiet time. I write while Sheena, my steadfast co-pilot and co-conspirator, sleeps. I am sitting in the Skybox at Cabinas Las Olas in Hermosa, Costa Rica. I am in a rocking chair on a porch… no this isn’t a porch, it’s my bedroom! It feels like a porch because there is no western wall… the room is completely open to the sea, four stories up. A railing just like a porch. It’s pitch black except for the lights of the other cabinas below. I can’t see the ocean at the moment with the lights on in our loft, but I hear the head-high waves breaking as clear as if I was sitting right down on the shore 30 yards in front of me.

Hermosa means BEAUTIFUL. It sure is! A laid-back small surf town with many surfer hostels and bar/grills filled with tico and gringo surfers alike. A good vibe. Lots of tall green grasses, houses tucked away in the beginnings of the jungle a few miles from shore. The beach is dusty black sand, when you’re surfing you look towards shore and see thick palms and green-ness, a veritable tropical wonderland.

Hermosa was the final destination for Sheena and I today. Our journey began in Cocoa Beach at 7am. Our good friend Kattie drove us in record time to the Orlando airport (on one foot she wears a cast, but the other foot I believe is made of lead). Our travels through the Orlando airport and the San Jose airport went pretty smoothly. As did our flight, with the exception of a Siamese cat brought on board who meowed continuously throughout the entire flight. Another time in my life where I say, “thank god I practice yoga,” because it's taught me to tune out distractions and keep my peace. So, naptime!

Land in San Jose, exchange some money, rent a car, discuss rental rates, taxes, insurance… to have a 4WD or not, that is the question. Thanks Visa platinum for the collision protection benefit. After a long talk with your friendly representative, you saved us $90 on rental car insurance. A must-have in Costa Rica. No really, you MUST HAVE—it’s legally required.

We finally got on the road, and after a thorough navigation discussion with the co-pilot, we set about enjoying the very scenic route from San Jose to Hermosa. We were extremely pleased to learn the FM transmitter we purchased in Puerto Rico last December worked perfectly with my iPod in the rental car. Now we had our favorite songs as our soundtrack to our adventure!

In my past travels from San Jose to the Pacific coast, I’ve known the route to be treacherous and slow by reputation. They’ve recently built a new highway that is faster and less difficult. But somehow, despite all our efforts, we only ended up on the new highway for about 10 minutes out of an almost 2 hour journey! It should have been a 45 to 60 minute trip on the new highway, but we somehow ended up using mostly the old mountain route (navigating in Costa Rica can be tricky because of lack of signage).

But goodness, what an amazing route it is. Dense green mountain jungle with rivers—some that surge, others that meander—making their way to the sea. Unassuming, laid-back towns and townspeople tucked comfortably into the crevasses of the mountains. Mountain fog and dark gray rain (big burly rain clouds). A rugged but soulful tropical paradise.

The mountain on the right looked like a hand with fingers extended, grabbing something. Like the hand of GOD reaching down into the green earth!

When I think about it, I’ve really only ever been on this route 4 times in my life, but every detail of it is singed into my memory—every curve, every mountain, every house, every store, every river, every painted rock. I think that’s because this path is symbolic to me of my love for Costa Rica, and all the memories and experiences I’ve had here. The first place I ever went on a surf trip and ventured out by myself for an extended period of time. Very memorable and powerful for me. Something in me definitely resonates with CR. Always feels like coming home, a second home. I had forgotten that feeling until today.

As we neared the seaside town of Jaco, memories started to flood my mind from all the time I spent living, working, and visiting there in the 2 years past. I proceeded to tell my co-pilot all about them: “here’s the dirt road I used to live down. I’d bike every day to town…” And, “here’s my friend’s furniture store, there’s my friend’s surf shop. There’s like the Wal-Mart, and here’s the grocery store. We have to go by that bakery there, it’s delicious. That guy on that billboard, my roommate used to date. This bar used to be so cool with the upper deck overlooking the ocean, I can’t believe it’s closed now. ..” and so on and so forth as we drove through my old stomping grounds.

I took Sheena to all the spots I used to like to surf. The waves looked fun, 3-4 foot, mellow, a little choppy, but not too crowded. Just a few guys out for a sunset session.

We drove just down the road to Hermosa and began our search of a room to rent (Hermosa, more quiet, prettier, cleaner than party town Jaco). The first place we stopped was Las Olas, which rents cabinas (basic, no frills rooms) to surfers and is also a bar/grill. Here we met Jason: “Have I seen you here before?” Yes, I told him, quite possibly, I had spent some time hanging out in Hermosa before and had been twice to Las Olas in particular to watch surf contests. Super nice American surfer guy who visited Hermosa several years back and never left, now manages (owns?) Las Olas.

Jason has the Skybox available, just $30 a night. He tells us to go check it out, and we fall in love at first sight!!! Nestled right next under the roof 4 stories up, the open-aired room looks over the ocean. Wooden floors, wooden walls, wooden furniture. All the wood and open air makes me feel like we are living in a pirate ship. Simple, rugged, a hammock, some nice, subtle surf/sea/nautical inspired aesthetic touches. Four beds, a floor fan, and a futon. We’re home.

Sheena is a big fan of the hammock

The view from the Skybox

And, we have a ridiculous amount of extra room--who wants IN on our next trip!? My surfboard even has its own bed.

A quick change and we headed back to Jaco for a quick sunset surf, as Hermosa was looking like too many closeouts and too big a crowd on this particular evening for us tired travelers. We had so much fun surfing by ourselves as the last bit of sun flared to the west, out over the ocean. The whole time, a huge swirling storm loomed in a very dark gray way to the east, out over the green mountains. Luckily, the storm held out long enough that we were able to finish the sunset sesh. I love surfing in Jaco because it is seldom intimidating at all, just lots of fun. Today I definitely had a few really fun and easy waves. I was most excited for Sheena though. She was surfing really well! I was happy because I knew that Jaco would be the perfect place for her at this stage in her surfing, and that she could really progress here. It was like she proved me exactly right on our very first surf. Hey, thanks Sheena!

After, we enjoyed a drink and a quick bite at Claritas by the ocean, where we chatted, watched the news, listened to some good 70s music, and people-watched. We talked about all the things we like about our Costa Rica trip this far, and where our trip will take us next. Originally, we had planned to go to the Nicoya peninsula. Now, factoring in time, money, and capabilities of a 2-wheel drive vehicle on some reputably awful roads in the rainy season, we've decided on some closer day trips to neighboring breaks (Dominical, Quepos, Esterillos, Boca Barranca).

Jaco is great, but relative to the rest of Costa Rica, it is a more of a dirty, seedy party town. I still think it is beautiful and I love it… but then again I really haven’t experienced the other surf towns besides Jaco and Hermosa. I can’t wait to expand my view of Costa Rica.

Did a little internetting, a little writing, some yoga, and Sheena even did some karate in the Skybox. Tomorrow we will get up around 6am with the sun (somehow I don’t see us sleeping much past that in a place with only 2 solid walls), and go surfing!!

Thanks for reading, and Pura Vida!