Costa Rica Blitz!
25Feb09
In order to leave on the 0700 Flight from DFW to MIA, I woke up at 0445, with a slight head ache that would nag, fester, and rob me of spirit most of the day. Still, the send-off/birthday party with my buds was great - maybe next time I'll just move my birthday a little earlier.
Got a seat in back (as opposed to the jumpseats in the cockpit) on a pretty full flight. Good thing the connecting gates were close in MIA as the connecting time down to SJO (San Jose Costa Rica) was closer than it looked on paper. Even though that flight was weight restricted for weather in SJO, I got on with another seat in back, next to a friendly couple. He had some nervous disorder like Parkinsons, she was his sister and they were going adventure vactioning on the Pacific beaches in the south of Costa Rica. By adventure vacationing I mean they didn't have set plans or reservations and were taking the local bus down. I would have loved to get the details and get better acquainted, but between his constant movement and my dolor de cabeza, I spent long periods with my eyes shut.
Customs/immigration in Costa Rica was a non-event ; particularly carrying only a backpack and helmet bag. Speaking of which, all I took for this 4 day evolution was the clothes on my back (nylon fishing shirt, nylon zip-off pants, hiking shoes, and extra set of the same and scrubs for pj's, minimal toiletries, my soft-armored mesh motorcycle jacket which I wore in the airports, helmet, Frogg Togg waterproofs, Croc's shoes, one video and one still camera. The freedom this allowed was incredible! Didn't worry about overhead bin space, didn't check anything, and it was a piece of cake to keep track of things and pick up the room in the morning before leaving.
Jane at Hostel Bekuo, had offered two choices from the Airport to Hostel. A local bus followed by a taxi or walk, or a taxi the whole way. I opted for the latter due to simplicity this first time and it was 23$ for the approx 18km delivered to the door. We even stopped along the way to locate Wild Riders Motorcycle Rentals,
which turned out to be further from Bekuo than I'd expected. Cabbie was friendly and gave a little tour as well as a mini Spanish lesson. From the Airport it was Ruta Una into San Jose, left on Paseo Colon, a little jog onto Avenida Dos and one block over to Bekuo. 
Jane is a lovely American/CostaRican girl in her early twenties with beautiful eyes and oh the accent. As before, the youth hostel seems like more of a home with a large number of college students sleeping over, or a frat house, than a hotel/motel. My room was a dorm room with 4 bunkbeds, though only 2 other occupants. For that and a common bath I paid 12$. Only drawback was that while I was retiring at 9pm the rest of the house was just gearing up for the night. Ear plugs to the rescue!
After settling in I walked back to the m/c shop, about 45 min at a brisk pace. Lots of schools, churches, museums and theatres, but all in decline. Or under construction. Looked about the same. Sidewalks were all jammed with people and cracked/uneven, with deep deep gutters and anklebusting pot holes. Cuidado!
The shop was locked up and no one around, but a sweet little old lady with Ash Wednesday, ah, ashes on her forehead answered the buzzer, made a call, and finally Thomas came over from his garage a block away. We did the inital paperwork, discussed weather and routing. He suggested the coast might be better, but we'll just see what tomorrow brings. I've ridden in the wet before.
Back to the hotel by way of KFC and to bed.
Whatta Puss.
In order to leave on the 0700 Flight from DFW to MIA, I woke up at 0445, with a slight head ache that would nag, fester, and rob me of spirit most of the day. Still, the send-off/birthday party with my buds was great - maybe next time I'll just move my birthday a little earlier.
Got a seat in back (as opposed to the jumpseats in the cockpit) on a pretty full flight. Good thing the connecting gates were close in MIA as the connecting time down to SJO (San Jose Costa Rica) was closer than it looked on paper. Even though that flight was weight restricted for weather in SJO, I got on with another seat in back, next to a friendly couple. He had some nervous disorder like Parkinsons, she was his sister and they were going adventure vactioning on the Pacific beaches in the south of Costa Rica. By adventure vacationing I mean they didn't have set plans or reservations and were taking the local bus down. I would have loved to get the details and get better acquainted, but between his constant movement and my dolor de cabeza, I spent long periods with my eyes shut.
Customs/immigration in Costa Rica was a non-event ; particularly carrying only a backpack and helmet bag. Speaking of which, all I took for this 4 day evolution was the clothes on my back (nylon fishing shirt, nylon zip-off pants, hiking shoes, and extra set of the same and scrubs for pj's, minimal toiletries, my soft-armored mesh motorcycle jacket which I wore in the airports, helmet, Frogg Togg waterproofs, Croc's shoes, one video and one still camera. The freedom this allowed was incredible! Didn't worry about overhead bin space, didn't check anything, and it was a piece of cake to keep track of things and pick up the room in the morning before leaving.
Jane at Hostel Bekuo, had offered two choices from the Airport to Hostel. A local bus followed by a taxi or walk, or a taxi the whole way. I opted for the latter due to simplicity this first time and it was 23$ for the approx 18km delivered to the door. We even stopped along the way to locate Wild Riders Motorcycle Rentals,
which turned out to be further from Bekuo than I'd expected. Cabbie was friendly and gave a little tour as well as a mini Spanish lesson. From the Airport it was Ruta Una into San Jose, left on Paseo Colon, a little jog onto Avenida Dos and one block over to Bekuo. Jane is a lovely American/CostaRican girl in her early twenties with beautiful eyes and oh the accent. As before, the youth hostel seems like more of a home with a large number of college students sleeping over, or a frat house, than a hotel/motel. My room was a dorm room with 4 bunkbeds, though only 2 other occupants. For that and a common bath I paid 12$. Only drawback was that while I was retiring at 9pm the rest of the house was just gearing up for the night. Ear plugs to the rescue!
After settling in I walked back to the m/c shop, about 45 min at a brisk pace. Lots of schools, churches, museums and theatres, but all in decline. Or under construction. Looked about the same. Sidewalks were all jammed with people and cracked/uneven, with deep deep gutters and anklebusting pot holes. Cuidado!
The shop was locked up and no one around, but a sweet little old lady with Ash Wednesday, ah, ashes on her forehead answered the buzzer, made a call, and finally Thomas came over from his garage a block away. We did the inital paperwork, discussed weather and routing. He suggested the coast might be better, but we'll just see what tomorrow brings. I've ridden in the wet before.
Back to the hotel by way of KFC and to bed.
Whatta Puss.
posted by Randy Masters at 7:22 AM
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