Now to follow up a bit on my current town of residence, Playa Del Coco, Costa Rica. It's a little beach town on the north-east coast of the country in the state of Guanacaste. It's one main road lined with touristy restaurants and souvenir shops dead ends into the beach that sits in a half moon bay filled with boats, one of them being a pirate ship, surrounded by jungle covered cliffs. It's the low season now but things begin picking up in November and am told in late December the main street is closed to car traffic due to the throngs of tourists, both Tico's and foreigners, that crowd the street. I am sure by that time I will definitely by considered a local.
I have legitimized my stay by renting a studio apartment a block from the beach. It has the basics plus a small waterfall through the ceiling in the bathroom if it rains hard enough. Some people have asked if they can send things but getting mail here is a task in itself. There are no real addresses so they use local landmarks, sometimes of statues that are no longer standing. For example my address would be:
Playa Del Coco, Costa Rica
Turn at the Lazy Lizard Bar, take second dirt road to the right, across from the hotel Puerta Del Sol, apartment between the family of eight and the prostitutes from Nicaragua.
As far as work goes, I'm basically doing an internship at the dive shop until I get my dive master and then I'll work there hopefully starting in mid-November. Right now I go diving a few times a week with sharks, eels, rays, whales, puffer fish, etc.. and then work in the shop the other days. It's an amazing place to travel and dive and I plan to be there until January so if anyone wants to come down, feel free. I wouldn't charge that much to be your guide.
I was thinking the best way to introduce you to the Coco lifestyle is through a series of questions to which you get to randomly guess the answers since you have no knowledge on the subject. This is how things normally go for me while traveling so it's a nice part of the experience to share.
1. What have I not had to do while living in Coco:
A. Pull a stuck truck out of a flooded creek that flows into the beach while the rising tide is coming in and sinking the truck I am driving.
B. Bury a dead ant-eater that was hit by a car outside our dive shop before the vultures got it.
C. Chase multiple parrots outside our store that have for some reason wandered inside but apparently do not want to dive.
D. Have to jump a creek on my bike on my way to Spanish class after the bridge was washed away.
2. How do they make the sunset booze bruise so cheap:
A. Capture wild dolphins and force them to pull the boat around to save on fuel costs.
B. Hire under age bartenders that will work for oversized surf apparel.
C. Only go out when a monsoon is about to form so they have to cut the trip short and act like they saved your life so you will give them bigger tips.
D. Have trained monkeys steel your drinks so you have to continuously buy new ones.
3. What have I learned so far during my dive master training:
A. Don't sneak up on sleeping White Tip Reef Sharks especially before lunch.
B. 7 foot long Giant Moray Eels can cause you to consume half your tank in one breath if you unexpectedly come upon one lying in a crack with an open mouth one foot from your face.
C. Extremely strong pointer fingers come in handy when trying to hold a mountain over your head.
D. All of the above.
Bonus Question:
Since a lot of folks have been asking about the incident with the hula hoop, the mermaid, her sister, and Mr. Bananas (actually no one has asked), how does an incident like that even come about?
Cheers and hope to see ya'll while I'm back,
Jay
Answers:
1. D - I haven't had to jump this creek yet but am expecting this bridge to be wiped out any day after a good rain. The good side is there is a bar on both sides.
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| Bridge to Spanish Class |
2. B - Unfortunately they only hire these guys for bartenders and not bouncers so you still have to watch what you say when intimidating them to pour a stiff drink.
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| Thumbs up means keep pouring kid. |
Bonus Answer - Well it starts off like. Then add free alcohol and go from there.
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| Mermaid out of the shot to the right and Mr. Bananas below deck already drunk. |
