San Juan Del Sur - Nicaragua.
I needed to leave Costa Rica for 3 days to renew my visa - a requirement every 90 days. Almost all my friends that I normally travel with had been out of the country for the holidays. Just a week before this trip I had an unexpected invite to hike and climb the highest mountain in Costa Rica - Cerro Chirripo - 12,337 feet. On a clear day one can see both the Pacific and Atlantic. I made this 3 day hike with my friend Kevin from California and his friend from Costa Rica - Felix and Felix' very cute 20 year old son Feleche. That adventure is another story in itself that will be told at another time, but in a nutshell, in my small group, I was the first to reach the top of this magnificent mountain. Being on the top was an experience I will never, never forget. However, having recently returned from San Juan - that all seems so long ago.
When I left here on Friday, Jan. 25th, the plan was to catch the 7:30am bus that comes into the village - ride it about 30 minutes to Herradura - catch a Taxi to Barranca and from there catch the non-stop Tica bus to Nicaragua that leaves from San Jose. It was a good plan but didn't quite work that way. The 7:30am bus did arrive on time - packed with people. I stood all the way to Herradura. When I got there the driver I expected was not there. About 10 minutes later another driver showed up and introduced himself to me as Roger - an e-pate from San Diego. He ordered breakfast and I began to worry if I was going to make my connection. He was not concerned and I assumed he would get me to my stop on time. On the 40 minute ride to the bus stop on the PanAmerican highway we discussed his former career in law enforcement and my former career with the courts. Then he made me a proposition. With my "connections" with the court system he suggested it would be easy for me to locate defendants who were on their way to a federal penitentiary who might be interested in "re-locating" before being locked up. He actually told me if I could get the names of potential "clients" he would take care of the rest and I would make a "sh...load" of money. I listened but all the while was watching the road and calculating how much longer to the stop. I could just see myself spending the rest of my life in a 3rd world prison for this one. I don't think so!
When we got to my destination it was just a small roadside bus stop. Roger told me we were on time and just to watch for the blue and white Tica bus - then he left. 15 minutes went by and by then I was concerned. Finally, I turned to the small group of about a dozen and asked the two women I was standing next to if the Tica bus to Nicaragua had come by. Of course, everyone there was spanish speaking only, but we understood each other in my very poor espanol. What they told me was the bus had already passed. In the short time I had been there, other more local buses had passed and so I decided to wait and see what else came by - after all - at this point I had no other options. Within about 10 minutes a bus to Liberia stopped. Liberia is on this main highway and is way up north. In fact it is about and hour and a half from the border. I got right on and took the seat right in front next to a middle aged black man. I love being in the front across from the driver. This way you can see everything. I said Hola and introduced myself. The man did the same and it turned out that he could speak English. He was from the Caribbean port town of Limon which has a terrible reputation for being very unsafe. Can't remember his name now but he was delightful. For the next several hours that included one short stop for restrooms/snacks he and I enjoyed each other's company. When we got to Liberia he told me I would have to take another bus to the border that had to be taken from a different terminal than the one this bus stopped at. He showed me the direction I need to walk to get to that terminal. Once there it took awhile to figure out just where and when I needed to be to catch that bus. I did manage and once again ended up on a bus that was so packed I was standing sandwiched between other people. The ride to the border was over an hour.
When you take the Tica bus, the bus has attendants that actually help with the border crossing as in customs, etc. I was now on my own but having done this before knew just where to go. I had no trouble getting out of CR and then made the 1/4 mile walk into Nicaragua. Here things got a bit more confusing but somehow it all worked out. If I had been on the Tica bus this also would have been a breeze and then I would have ridden the 30 miles into the next town - got off and caught a shuttle that leaves every hour to the small beach community of San Juan Del Sur. At the border there were no shuttles to San Juan and I didn't even see one to Rivas - the next town. Now what to do??? I had been approached many times asking if I needed a taxi - now I decided I needed one and that is always a hard thing for me traveling alone. Finally a cute young guy approached me and I said yes to the taxi. Next thing I know I am going cross country alone with a driver flying over a dirt road dodging cattle and huge potholes - crossing my fingers everything would be ok.
Of course it did all turn out and I arrived in San Juan in probably record time. I had no idea where I would be staying and told the driver to take me to the playa. About a block away from the beach I saw a small hotel that looked fairly new. Once he dropped me off I walked back and the hotel turned out to be perfect. I could have a very clean safe room for $20 per night with a fan or $30 per night with air-conditioning. I opted for the air-conditioning. After arrangements were make I went to my room, closed the door and thanked God I had made it!!
That evening I walked the short walk to the beach and had a perfect lobster dinner, in a perfect open beach restaurant, watching handsome young men playing soccer with a perfect sunset. I was alone and felt it.
The next morning I got up to fresh coffee - which I seldom drank before Costa Rica. Now..... I love it. After coffee and pastry I grabbed my camera and headed out. I walked for about an hour. Full sun shinning, light breeze off the ocean - simply beautiful.
San Juan Del Sur is a very small town nestled in a bay. The waves are very small - no surfing here. A number of boats in the bay - a few fancy ones but not many. There is development going on here as in most Pacific coast communities I have seen - however - it is not overwhelming. The town itself is very quaint and although they cater to tourists it has a very Nicaragua flavor to it. It is beautiful.
After about an hour I arrived at the Catholic Church which is in the center of the town with a small park in front. I could tell service was being held. There were a number of large doors on the side and everything was open. I decided to go in. The church was more than half full. I immediately knew we were into a full mass. I walked to the back and sat. Since I am not Catholic I do not know the meaning of all the service and in Spanish it was impossible to understand what was being said. But with my limit Catholic experience it was very much like what I had seen before - a lot of up and down, shaking of smoke, bells, changing of the Priest's headdress, lighting of candles, more up and down, lines of people taking communion. At one point a small group of people - men, women and children went to the back of the church and picked up a cross, baskets of food and other items and then proceeded to walk towards the front like a small parade.
Then more singing and up and down. I tried to be discreet taking photos. The best photo I got was of a young girl standing by a window near the back. She was looking out and as I focused to take a photo a breeze caught her dress and up it flew just a bit. The lighting was perfect. I captured her as her thoughts were somewhere else other than that church.
The rest of the day was spent wandering around the town and shopping. Even got in a small nap which I usually cannot do, but the day before had been a lot.
That evening I went back to the same restaurant on the beach. This time I had shrimp - big and delicious. As I was finishing a parade of buses, trucks, vans, cars, bicycles came thru town. People were shouting and waving banners. I was told that evening there was to be a rally for Mayor of San Juan. When I got back to my room I discovered that the rally was directly in front on the hotel just half a block away. The way the hotel balcony was facing, sitting in a chair one could look directly at the flat bed truck the speakers were talking from. For about an hour a number of people spoke - all in Spanish of course - I have no idea what was said but there was a lot of enthusiasm in the air. At 9pm the talking stopped and the music began.
Since last October when I finally realized Costa Rica is now my home I have often had this overwhelming feeling of being in love with the country, the people and its' music. Latino music touches my heart. It makes me happy and it makes me want to dance.
That afternoon while shopping I found a cute little shop with a very cute little woman who helped me find and buy two very cute little dresses. I had one of them on and off I went to dance.
The music was so loud I could feel the beat in my chest. Almost immediately this older man came and took my arm. Next thing I know I am part of a large group in the street lost to the music. After about 20 minutes I am soaked with sweat. Between a song I told the man gracias and went to leave. He followed. In fact he followed me all the way back to the hotel. On the balcony was two other couples I had met before going over to dance, plus one other man. My dance partner is now standing below us talking very fast in Spanish. Neither of the other 2 couples knew Spanish very well. The one man who did could not understand due to the music - but - still the man kept talking - non stop. This went on for about 10 minutes. Finally I told my little group that the only way he would leave was if I did and so off I went. He of course was right behind me all the way trying to take my arm. I simply told him no gracias. Fortunately, almost immediately a very tall good looking Canadian came up to me and asked if I did the salsa. I told he not very well and he yelled I was going to learn. For the next 15-20 minutes he did his best. It was not pretty but I had a great time. From the corner of my eye I could see my older suitor looking rejected. At a break, I again said mucho gracias and headed back to the hotel - this time - thank goodness - alone.
The same group was still sitting on the balcony. I could tell the women wanted to dance but their partners did not. I was glad I was not with someone like that. We sat talking for quite awhile and then the DJ started playing american rock and roll. I simply could not just sit there and off I went back to the street dance. I stood in a crowd but near the back for about 10 minutes wishing someone would come up to me. I could see a lot of men looking at me - who probably wanted to ask but didn't. And then, there he was - a older gentleman again but dressed well with a huge smile. He took my hand and the fun began. Within about a minute or two Michael Jackson's song Billie Jean was playing. The two of us seemed to take up alot of space and I became aware that we were in a circle - not amongst a crowd - but a circle around us. The men who were previous looking at me were now all smiling. I cannot begin to explain what happened next. The music was loud and I was all over the place. I simply could not believe here I was - alone in Nicaragua dancing at a political rally in the street to MJ. It was if everything melted together and I had a burst of pure joy. I could not have been happier than I was at that moment. The music continued with other songs and again a small break came. I stopped - still very aware I am in about a 10 foot circle. I took his hand, kissed it and said mucho gracias and went to leave. As I reached the edge of the circle I felt another hand on my arm. There stood one of the very good looking Nicaraguan young men who had been watching me. I was very overheated and soaking wet but could not say no. Back into the circle. I could tell he was showing off and I was delighted. Two more songs, another mucho gracias and then I left without looking back.
The same group still on the balcony. I came back dragging myself up the stairs, said buenos noches and off I went to my room. I don't remember my head hitting the pillow but I am sure I was smiling.
I slept in the next morning and got up to coffee and cookies. The previous day I had determined I would take a water taxi to another beach up the coast. I was told there was a hotel there and one could snorkel. I needed to be at the water taxi stand at 9:30am to catch the boat at 10. This was now Sunday. I arrived on time and expected there to be a line. However, there was just me and one other person. We were told there must be 6 persons for the taxi to leave. I went to sit on the beach wall behind the stand so I could be in the shade. There was a young man eating a crushed ice mixture that is very popular in CR. I am not sure what all is in it but it is delicious. He introduced himself in english and I did the same. He offered to share the ice mixture and I accepted. For the next half hour we talked about where I was from, why I was there, etc. etc. 10am came and I was told there were not enough people to go and so there would be no taxi that day. I was disappointed but continued to sit and talk with Adolfo. He told me he was 25 and had lived in San Juan his entire life. His father is a teacher and insisted he learn English.
Another 20 minutes went by and as I got up to leave I asked he water taxi attendant where I could rent a bicycle. He told me. Adolfo offered to show me and off we went walking the cobblestone streets of San Juan. When we got to the place to rent Adolfo told the attendant what I needed. I asked him if he wanted to go with me. Well........by now we were old friends and of course he said yes. Off we went. His english was very good and so it was easy to understand him. First of all he took me to the river. I did not know a river ran into this bay. He showed me where he lived as a child and showed me a very old boat that he and his friends fished in. He told me stories of what it was like living on the river. He obviously loves the river. Then we went back out to the bay and spent several hours walking the beach, reef and hills around the bay. He told me names of rock formations and took me to the cave of the Tiger. For awhile we sat at the top of a hill looking out over the bay. Here he told me he was a poet and recited a poem in Spanish. He told me the poem was about the wind and how she saw and felt everything.
It was now late afternoon when we got back into the main part of town. I offered to buy lunch for my charming guide. We went to a very nice restaurant - again on the beach. He had a whole cooked fish - me the shrimp again. We took the bikes back and then walked the beach for another hour. He asked me if I like to dance and then asked if he could take me out that evening. Well......what do you think?
By now it was almost 7 and so we agreed to meet under a lamppost at 8. I went to my room, showered - put on another dress. When I saw him coming down the road he looked like a business executive all dressed up in what had to be his best. He was gorgeous.
The place he took me was on the river. A place I would never have found or have gone to by myself. Very old - locals only. This was not the hip tourist disco on the beach. This was real life in old San Juan Del Sur. He introduced me to everyone. Everyone was very kind and gracious. We danced, we drank, we laughed.
We left about midnight and walked along the river. The moon was more than half-full lighting up the few clouds around it. Familiar constellations were smiling down on me. He kissed me - I kissed him back. It is true - Latino men are hot!!
The next morning he was right outside my hotel at 9am as agreed. Immediately we walked to get the bicycles. He had told me we were going to a special place - another beach up the coast about an hour away on the bike. We rode out of town on a dirt road. Flowers everywhere - open meadows with horses and cattle. Then we came to an old locked gate. With each bicycle held above his head he managed to get both bikes over the gate. Now we were on another dirt road that was much smaller and less travelled. When we arrived at a very small old house I was introduced to the owner - a man about 50, his mother, his wife and all his children. Adolfo has known this family all his life. One of his friends is the son of the owner. They of course are very happy to see him and offered us food. He tells them we want to go to the beach and so the wife makes us a package of fruit, some bread and water. From here the trail becomes very tricky. We have the bikes and for the first time in my life I feel like I am mountain biking. At times we had to walk but it was so much fun. The music of birds singing everywhere. When we arrived - a beautiful bay opened up. We were the only ones in sight. Until this point we had been in the forest since getting off the main road. Now we discovered it was very cloudy and looking like rain. We started walking the beach and then the rain came. He took my hand and off we went running down the beach to a cave. I could tell it was small but plenty of room for two - but did I really want to be in there??? I'm thinking bats, spiders, snakes? Now it is really raining and as we get to the cave I'm talking spiders........ He jumps in and immediately "things" are flying. At first I thought it was bats. But no, no bats......butterflies. Hundreds of butterflies are now flying around in this small area. I could not believe it!!!!! So here we were - I really had no idea just where we were but I did know I was now sitting just inside a small cave with a very young handsome man with butterflies flying all around me. He sat behind me kissing me on my neck. I was once told "Once in a while life just jumps up and kisses you in the mouth." I now know just what that means.
It did not rain long and he had already showed me where we were going. We had to go the other way back on the beach to the other side to see "El Toro". The huge rock formation in the bay that give the beach its' name. It was low tide but with the rain, everything was very slippery. It took awhile but finally we arrived. Here we stayed for about an hour. We ate our lunch prepared by his friend. Adolfo has lived his whole life in San Juan. He had many questions about the world. We talked about many things as he caressed my arm and touch my hair. So......here we were on a deserted beach.
Now.......If this were a romance novel I would give all the details. But this is not - this was a gift - so totally unexpected - that I will never, never forget and forever be thankful.
The rain kept teasing and then it began to pour. We were on our way back - working our way over the slippery reef when it hit. We managed to press ourselves flat under a overhang to avoid getting soaked. The downpour was short but pretty dramatic. We just laughed. After that was just a few sprinkles. We got back to the bikes and then the house. A short visit - photos taken of his friends and off we went back to town.
The fruit had been delicious but when we got back to town with the bikes, we were starving. This time I told him I want to go to a small soda - a restaurant owned by a friend instead of something fancy on the beach. Thus we did. A lunch of the typical food. Rice, beans, fish - delicious.
We then decided he would show me his house. On the bikes still, we headed up the hill into a very old neighborhood. All day long and especially going thru town, everyone waved or made comments to Adolfo. I could tell they were all in fun and of course had to do with me. Finally I asked him if we had passed anyone he did not know. Other than tourists - his answer was no. Of course he knew everyone - this is his home. The other dress I had bought the day before was what I had worn this day. A very simple turquoise sun dress and me on a bicycle. It was perfect.
His house was very old but very clean. His brother and sister were there. His father no longer lives in this house and his mother was not there. At moments I was painfully aware of our age difference and at that moment I was very glad neither of his parents were there. We played with his dog and then we left. We then road the bikes until dark.
The evening was spent knowing it was almost over. We had drinks while watching the sun go down. On the bay before we got back to the bicycles he found part of a white shell. It was broken but the edges were smooth. Amazingly it was in the shape of a heart. As we waited for the sun to disappear on the horizon he told me the shell was his heart and he was giving it to me. I know............what can I say - I have now lived the most mushy romance novel I could have dreamed of...... but how sweet it was.
We then walked the beach - again - then ice cream. We walked the river holding hands. We then went to another very old bar on the river. Again -introductions were made. There were drinks and toasts - lots of laughing. It was getting late and I had a taxi picking me up at 6am. Another walk along the river under the stars. It was here we decided to say good-bye at the taxi stand - the place we had meet just the day before. It was a little past 11-when we arrived there. Neither of us wanted to go or to say good-bye.
Finally - it was time. I kissed him and told him we would count to 3 and then turn away from each other and go our opposite directions - the thing was - we couldn't look back! We both agreed. I said OK...... and then "Uno". He said "wait". A few more minutes and then I looked into those beautiful brown eyes and told him I had to go. I said "uno".......we both said "dos".........he wanted to say something but did not. I said "tres" - immediately turned and walked away. I did not look back.
My taxi arrived on time the next morning. The trip back to Esterillos was very long. A pile up of buses, trucks, etc at the border for almost 4 hours. I got home after 8pm. Did I care??????? What do you think?
It is one thing to hear about, read about or even see on a romance movie. It is another to have lived a moment in ones' life that takes you totally by surprise and takes your breath away. Adolfo was less than 48 hours. I will remember him the rest of my life.
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