A story from the start of my adventure in Costa Rica.
(Monday - start of trip)
Before jumping to My San Jose experience, I'd like to briefly step back to my connecting flight from Phoenix to San Jose, CR. Waiting in the PHX terminal for my Costa Rica flight, I noticed quite a few people with yoga mats, yoga pants and that beatnick/hippie vibe. I got to talking with some of them and learned that they were all headed to a music/yoga/sustainable-farming-living festival in Ubita (1.5 hours south of Jaco). They all encouraged me to come. I just might... Sounds terrific - a random adventure calling to me.
Once on the plane, a young guy in front of me started talking about the festival and strongly suggesting that I make the trip down. He let me sample some of the kinds of music that would be there, and told me more about the camping, surfing and seminars going on there. When we landed in Costa Rica he have me his number. I kept crossing paths with him as we made our way through customs, baggage claim and other spots throughout the airport maze. He invited me to dinner with him, and I started getting the feeling he was hitting on me. Either I am right that he was hoping for something I'm not into, or I'm just not used to very friendly people.
So, now the festival is on my list for the week - and the jury is still out on whether or not I'll call the guy on the plane to hang out.
The Car
So as I've previously mentioned, I got to the car rental area at the airport and discovered that I had no Avis reservation [and no Avis in existence at the airport]. All of the 4x4s were sold out with the exception of Hertz. So, they quoted me a rate, and it was about 10% higher than I expected. But, it was the last option. So I got in the shuttle to their off-campus location.
The lady there at Hertz was very nice, very smiley, and spoke decent broken English. She started processing my paperwork and then informed me that the rental total is $560 plus a $1,200 deposit. Not cool! I told her that wouldn't work. So, she said she'd call around and see if she could find another option for me. It's now 9pm Monday. Feeling stinky, sticky and hungry. After about 15 minutes of relaxing outside the rental office, she informs me that they've found another company with one 4x4 remaining that just got turned in, but it needs to be washed and prepped for me. She called a taxi to take me to this other company.
Natural Car Rental, a local Costa Rican outfit. Of course, I've never heard of it, and I'm only slightly nervous about that (at 9:30 PM in San Jose).
The cabbie came, picked me up and drove me through a seedy part of town called Alajuela. We stopped in a residential neighborhood at an unmarked building and went inside. Once inside, I relaxed. A young lady started processing my paperwork. She informed me that they were sold out, but had one truck coming in for return when the call came in from Hertz. They opened the office at 9pm just to rent it to me. The cabbie (Luis F. Delgado M. or "Zurdo" as he prefers) hung out with me. I wasn't sure if he was trying to run up the meter, so I asked how much I owed him. He said "Relax" with a big smile. So I did. He stayed.
About 30 minutes later a young man pulled up in a nice Isuzu D-Max king cab 4x4. The price was the same as the mini SUV that Hertz was going to rent to me, but included full insurance coverage and only $100 deposit. Awesome! Upgrade!
But there was a snag. The key fob for the truck's alarm had gotten wet when they washed it, so the car alarm kept going off and they couldn't seem to fix it. What to do?
Last car. Foreign country. 1-2 hour drive to my hotel. 10:40 pm. Stinky, sticky, hungry. Hotel check-in closes at midnight. And what does my new friend Zurdo say? "Relax!" Lol. I did. No worries. This is what I love about solo trips. The adventure and opportunities to go with the flow.
Next another young man arrives with a toolbox. The 4 of us guys hover around the truck to rip out the alarm. What customer service! Hertz, would you do that for me at 11pm on the last car out of San Jose? I think not.
After detaching the alarm speaker, they test it out (thank goodness for QA!) and discover that the car shuts down when the engine stops because the alarm is still active. They give me two options:
1) Drive to Jaco in the middle of the night, risking a vehicle issue with no way to restart the car, and getting the fob battery replaced in Jaco in the morning (risking that the hotel won't check me in after midnight, and risking that Jaco might not have that fob battery, and risking that any battery might be too far away because I'd be on foot with a shut-down truck.)
2) Sleep in a local "hotel" for the night for $55, and they'd fix the car by morning.
I almost went for option 1. Both options sounded like risk / adventure. But the mechanic kept shaking his head at me about option 1. He was not so confident I would be okay or find the right battery. So I let them pick a "hotel". It was about 5 blocks away in the residential area, and it was called Charley's Place. How quaint?
Sleeping at Charley's
Zurdo drove me over there (now about 2.5 hours after picking me up at Hertz). He knocked on the locked and barred door and Charley came out to greet us. I paid him the $55 US, and he showed me to room #1.
It was actually very nice inside.
I was pleasantly surprised. And although Charley spoke very little English, he was very nice and hospitable.
Dinner
With my belongings in my room, I asked about food. Zurdo pointed to a place at the end of the block that was still open. Charley gave me his business card and told me to call to be let back in, as it was getting late.
It looked iffy from the outside, but I was hungry.
I walked down the block and entered a small bar and grille named Monteleone. I was greeted by a gentleman named Ronald, and he spoke accented but perfectly correct English. He formally offered me the "promotions" of the evening, and I selected the Sea Bass for "only $7,000 [calones]" - approximately $12 US. Add a mango smoothie, and it's perfect.
The meal was fantastic and Ronald and I talked a bit about the US and about his restaurant. Apparently he and Charley had a falling out recently, but Ronald is sure they'll make up since they've been friends forever.
So the bill paid, goodbyes to Ronald, and off to call Charley to let me in. Finally a hot shower, teeth brushed, alarm set, earplugs in, mask on [a travel must], and off to sleep after nearly 23 hours on the go.
Thus endeth the first day.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
[Phil Scott]
(Monday - start of trip)
Before jumping to My San Jose experience, I'd like to briefly step back to my connecting flight from Phoenix to San Jose, CR. Waiting in the PHX terminal for my Costa Rica flight, I noticed quite a few people with yoga mats, yoga pants and that beatnick/hippie vibe. I got to talking with some of them and learned that they were all headed to a music/yoga/sustainable-farming-living festival in Ubita (1.5 hours south of Jaco). They all encouraged me to come. I just might... Sounds terrific - a random adventure calling to me.
Once on the plane, a young guy in front of me started talking about the festival and strongly suggesting that I make the trip down. He let me sample some of the kinds of music that would be there, and told me more about the camping, surfing and seminars going on there. When we landed in Costa Rica he have me his number. I kept crossing paths with him as we made our way through customs, baggage claim and other spots throughout the airport maze. He invited me to dinner with him, and I started getting the feeling he was hitting on me. Either I am right that he was hoping for something I'm not into, or I'm just not used to very friendly people.
So, now the festival is on my list for the week - and the jury is still out on whether or not I'll call the guy on the plane to hang out.
The Car
So as I've previously mentioned, I got to the car rental area at the airport and discovered that I had no Avis reservation [and no Avis in existence at the airport]. All of the 4x4s were sold out with the exception of Hertz. So, they quoted me a rate, and it was about 10% higher than I expected. But, it was the last option. So I got in the shuttle to their off-campus location.
The lady there at Hertz was very nice, very smiley, and spoke decent broken English. She started processing my paperwork and then informed me that the rental total is $560 plus a $1,200 deposit. Not cool! I told her that wouldn't work. So, she said she'd call around and see if she could find another option for me. It's now 9pm Monday. Feeling stinky, sticky and hungry. After about 15 minutes of relaxing outside the rental office, she informs me that they've found another company with one 4x4 remaining that just got turned in, but it needs to be washed and prepped for me. She called a taxi to take me to this other company.
Natural Car Rental, a local Costa Rican outfit. Of course, I've never heard of it, and I'm only slightly nervous about that (at 9:30 PM in San Jose).
The cabbie came, picked me up and drove me through a seedy part of town called Alajuela. We stopped in a residential neighborhood at an unmarked building and went inside. Once inside, I relaxed. A young lady started processing my paperwork. She informed me that they were sold out, but had one truck coming in for return when the call came in from Hertz. They opened the office at 9pm just to rent it to me. The cabbie (Luis F. Delgado M. or "Zurdo" as he prefers) hung out with me. I wasn't sure if he was trying to run up the meter, so I asked how much I owed him. He said "Relax" with a big smile. So I did. He stayed.
About 30 minutes later a young man pulled up in a nice Isuzu D-Max king cab 4x4. The price was the same as the mini SUV that Hertz was going to rent to me, but included full insurance coverage and only $100 deposit. Awesome! Upgrade!
But there was a snag. The key fob for the truck's alarm had gotten wet when they washed it, so the car alarm kept going off and they couldn't seem to fix it. What to do?
Last car. Foreign country. 1-2 hour drive to my hotel. 10:40 pm. Stinky, sticky, hungry. Hotel check-in closes at midnight. And what does my new friend Zurdo say? "Relax!" Lol. I did. No worries. This is what I love about solo trips. The adventure and opportunities to go with the flow.
Next another young man arrives with a toolbox. The 4 of us guys hover around the truck to rip out the alarm. What customer service! Hertz, would you do that for me at 11pm on the last car out of San Jose? I think not.
After detaching the alarm speaker, they test it out (thank goodness for QA!) and discover that the car shuts down when the engine stops because the alarm is still active. They give me two options:
1) Drive to Jaco in the middle of the night, risking a vehicle issue with no way to restart the car, and getting the fob battery replaced in Jaco in the morning (risking that the hotel won't check me in after midnight, and risking that Jaco might not have that fob battery, and risking that any battery might be too far away because I'd be on foot with a shut-down truck.)
2) Sleep in a local "hotel" for the night for $55, and they'd fix the car by morning.
I almost went for option 1. Both options sounded like risk / adventure. But the mechanic kept shaking his head at me about option 1. He was not so confident I would be okay or find the right battery. So I let them pick a "hotel". It was about 5 blocks away in the residential area, and it was called Charley's Place. How quaint?
Sleeping at Charley's
Zurdo drove me over there (now about 2.5 hours after picking me up at Hertz). He knocked on the locked and barred door and Charley came out to greet us. I paid him the $55 US, and he showed me to room #1.
It was actually very nice inside.
I was pleasantly surprised. And although Charley spoke very little English, he was very nice and hospitable.
Dinner
With my belongings in my room, I asked about food. Zurdo pointed to a place at the end of the block that was still open. Charley gave me his business card and told me to call to be let back in, as it was getting late.
It looked iffy from the outside, but I was hungry.
I walked down the block and entered a small bar and grille named Monteleone. I was greeted by a gentleman named Ronald, and he spoke accented but perfectly correct English. He formally offered me the "promotions" of the evening, and I selected the Sea Bass for "only $7,000 [calones]" - approximately $12 US. Add a mango smoothie, and it's perfect.
The meal was fantastic and Ronald and I talked a bit about the US and about his restaurant. Apparently he and Charley had a falling out recently, but Ronald is sure they'll make up since they've been friends forever.
So the bill paid, goodbyes to Ronald, and off to call Charley to let me in. Finally a hot shower, teeth brushed, alarm set, earplugs in, mask on [a travel must], and off to sleep after nearly 23 hours on the go.
Thus endeth the first day.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
[Phil Scott]
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