When you sleep early, you usually wake early too, but this morning we slept through to 7am. By the time we got ready and headed to the nearby breakfast place recommended by the hotel, it was nearly 8am – a late breakfast for this trip 😂.
Today we decided to explore the little town of Quepos, and taking the advice of our Airbnb hostess we decided to take the bus for 330Col each (about €0.50). They really just drive between Quepos and the San Antonio National Park, so there is a bus about every 10 minutes. I say about, because they stop and pickup anyone at the side of the road, and will drop you off anywhere on the route. They are also pretty well organised, having foam rectangles with holes cut into them for each denomination as well as sets of change for the common payment amounts. So it takes seconds to serve each customer, even though the bus driver collects each and every fare personally. It’s surprisingly efficient – many first world bus operators could learn from them I think 🙂
Quepos itself wasn’t all that spectacular, a little seaside town really, and as with all “Cities” we have seen so far the contrast between rich and poor is very obvious, making the athmosphere not entirely welcoming. None the less there was a small farmers market which operates every weekend which we took a look at before strolling along the promenade to some of the nearby parks. Apparently you can also do sports fishing and park your Yacht in the yacht club. I’m guessing it’s almost exclusively used by foreigners and tour businesses.
Farmers Markets
After the Yacht areas there was a small public park which was our destination. It has a beautiful cove of pacific ocean on one side and a whole bunch of outdoor sports equipment. We didn’t feel the energy to do a work-out, and so watched the waves instead. As we were leaving a local pointed out another visitor: a little sloth was hanging on a tree right at the entrance!
We decided to walk the promenade back again, chatting as we watched the pacific ocean, before stopping at a local pub for a refreshment: One Guava and one Pineapple smoothie. Just what the doctor ordered on a hot and humid day!
Cooled off sufficiently we headed back to the bus terminal and jumped on a bus to San Antonio Beach, going right past our accommodation the other way.
The beach is really wide, and we decided to walk it end-to-end. When we walked onto the beach we were immediately set upon by locals wanting us to settle down with them on their beach chairs for a fee. Seems the most popular business model on the beach, though other people walk around showing off their wares and occasionally approaching people. The nice thing is that they really let you go when you say you are not interested. They may offer you a joint before they go, but they do leave you alone once you say no.
On one end there was a lagoon which ended at the national park. On the national park side, we saw a sign which I thought I recognised, and Manja confirmed by use of her camera: No Swimming, crocodiles. On the beach side of the SAME WATER there was no sign and a tourist or two swimming. Ah, Costa Rica. Pura vida! 😉
The beach sand was a bit black, I assume a remnants of Volcanic activity. It did mean that the beach was unusually hot in some places and I managed to burn my soles just a touch. Walking in the water a bunch helped though 🙂
By the time we got to the other end of the beach we were both exhausted. We headed back to the middle where the bus stop was, and went shopping at the local supermarket. Our accommodation has a kitchen, and we decided to cook tonight – nothing fancy, just some pasta. We caught the bus back and thanks to google maps were even able to stop the driver at the right location. If you do this sort of travel, DEFINITELY get offline maps before you go.
Chef Simon preparing some pasta
Wonderful to read all about your adventures, you really make you a great time.