It was my last sunset stroll on the beach and who should scare the hell out of me but Baxter!
(Formerly Dupree, a couple who recently checked into surf camp named him Baxter and I had to admit, the name was a much better fit for him, so Baxter it is.)
I was so happy to get to spend my last evening with him! We took a couple more pictures together and I got to feed him the biscuits I was now in the habit of keeping in my pocket. He even stayed with me as I decided to explore this random street that as far as I can tell leads to nowhere. I walked as far as I could before I reached an impossibly huge puddle and had to turn around. It was cute; he shadowed me by about 2 feet the whole way home - I think he was uncomfortable with the unlit stretch of deserted road. The last I saw of Baxter was this morning as I waited for the bus to Quepos. He was down the road about a block, and though I whistled to him he stayed away (ever the elusive stray, he actually never responded to my prior whistles or calls, so this last scene isn´t as sad or poignant as I´m painting it).
A note about the huge puddle blocking the way: Normally it wouldn´t phase me to walk through a deep puddle, but I found out the awesome surf cuts I got on my foot are infected. I had a discussion with my instructor about how dirty or clean LA surf is and he upheld the LA surf is cleaner than Costa Rica surf because of how freezing cold it is. In Costa Rica the water is so warm, all sorts of little ickies live and swim in it...hence my infection. Its gross and it really hurt for a while, but since I started cleaning it religiously and have been out of the ocean for over 24 hrs, it actually feels a little better.
I endured another 4ish hours on a hot bus to get to Quepos. There really isn´t much here, I think its basically a less expensive place to stay for tourists going to Manuel Antonio National Park than the city of Manuel Antonio. I´m back in a shared dorm room with no air-conditioning, but at least I chose a top bunk directly under a huge ceiling fan.
The place has free internet (bonus) which is where I discovered I had been exposed for the brat I am by Mike, the guy who ran the hotel in Dominical. I guess he somehow found my blog, read my snarky remarks, and responded in the comments section. I´m leaving the posts up both out of fairness to him and also as a reminder to myself that there is no such thing as privacy on the internet. I´ve come to think of this blog as personal information meant only for my close friends and family, but of course, in publishing them, technically they are available for the world to see - I just never thought anyone would give a rat´s ass so I assumed I was safe. Since I uphold my opinions as personal, I don´t feel the need to apologize. But obviously I felt the need to explain myself, so I do feel like a jerk.
Bygones.
I was walking around Quepos today and I found the loveliest coffee and sweets shop. It´s run by the sweetest man from the Dakotas. He bakes fresh cookies and brownies every day and every night he shows current movies in a small screening room. I introduced myself and told him to get used to me; although I´m only going to be in town for 2 days, I warned him he would be seeing a lot of me and to prove it I bought myself some goodies and settled in with a used book I had just bought at the neighboring shop. Since I´m literally counting colones trying to stretch them out until I go home in less than 72 hours (!!!!!!!!), I figure reading in a quaint little shop with a nice breeze is about as cheap as it can get.
Tomorrow I put in my time at Manuel Antonio. I hear from everyone I meet that it´s not to be missed, but honestly now that I´m in the home stretch, I´m a little touristed out. It´s all but an obligatory stop really, though I´ve been assured that not only will I see monkeys, I may be sick of the little guys after a day in the park. And since I have yet to see even one in the country...bring ém on!
(Formerly Dupree, a couple who recently checked into surf camp named him Baxter and I had to admit, the name was a much better fit for him, so Baxter it is.)
I was so happy to get to spend my last evening with him! We took a couple more pictures together and I got to feed him the biscuits I was now in the habit of keeping in my pocket. He even stayed with me as I decided to explore this random street that as far as I can tell leads to nowhere. I walked as far as I could before I reached an impossibly huge puddle and had to turn around. It was cute; he shadowed me by about 2 feet the whole way home - I think he was uncomfortable with the unlit stretch of deserted road. The last I saw of Baxter was this morning as I waited for the bus to Quepos. He was down the road about a block, and though I whistled to him he stayed away (ever the elusive stray, he actually never responded to my prior whistles or calls, so this last scene isn´t as sad or poignant as I´m painting it).
A note about the huge puddle blocking the way: Normally it wouldn´t phase me to walk through a deep puddle, but I found out the awesome surf cuts I got on my foot are infected. I had a discussion with my instructor about how dirty or clean LA surf is and he upheld the LA surf is cleaner than Costa Rica surf because of how freezing cold it is. In Costa Rica the water is so warm, all sorts of little ickies live and swim in it...hence my infection. Its gross and it really hurt for a while, but since I started cleaning it religiously and have been out of the ocean for over 24 hrs, it actually feels a little better.
I endured another 4ish hours on a hot bus to get to Quepos. There really isn´t much here, I think its basically a less expensive place to stay for tourists going to Manuel Antonio National Park than the city of Manuel Antonio. I´m back in a shared dorm room with no air-conditioning, but at least I chose a top bunk directly under a huge ceiling fan.
The place has free internet (bonus) which is where I discovered I had been exposed for the brat I am by Mike, the guy who ran the hotel in Dominical. I guess he somehow found my blog, read my snarky remarks, and responded in the comments section. I´m leaving the posts up both out of fairness to him and also as a reminder to myself that there is no such thing as privacy on the internet. I´ve come to think of this blog as personal information meant only for my close friends and family, but of course, in publishing them, technically they are available for the world to see - I just never thought anyone would give a rat´s ass so I assumed I was safe. Since I uphold my opinions as personal, I don´t feel the need to apologize. But obviously I felt the need to explain myself, so I do feel like a jerk.
Bygones.
I was walking around Quepos today and I found the loveliest coffee and sweets shop. It´s run by the sweetest man from the Dakotas. He bakes fresh cookies and brownies every day and every night he shows current movies in a small screening room. I introduced myself and told him to get used to me; although I´m only going to be in town for 2 days, I warned him he would be seeing a lot of me and to prove it I bought myself some goodies and settled in with a used book I had just bought at the neighboring shop. Since I´m literally counting colones trying to stretch them out until I go home in less than 72 hours (!!!!!!!!), I figure reading in a quaint little shop with a nice breeze is about as cheap as it can get.
Tomorrow I put in my time at Manuel Antonio. I hear from everyone I meet that it´s not to be missed, but honestly now that I´m in the home stretch, I´m a little touristed out. It´s all but an obligatory stop really, though I´ve been assured that not only will I see monkeys, I may be sick of the little guys after a day in the park. And since I have yet to see even one in the country...bring ém on!
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