About one ago, I said goodbye to my new friends and the turtles of Punta Banco. Leaving was bittersweet. I wasn’t ready to leave my small town, but I knew that my next destination to Manuel Antonio with my Dad and Step mom, Anne was going to be great.
Two days before I left Punta Banco, I started to get a fever and spent the night with a bowl next to my bed. As time went on, my queasy stomach persisted along with my high temperature. A few body aches and headaches jumped the train too. I was not in the condition to travel all day by bus but I had to. Thankfully my good friend from Punta Banco, Jose came with me because I would have never made it alone. After starting my journey to Manuel Antonio at 5am, taking five buses and three taxis, I made it to my hotel by 6pm.
The first bus I was on got stuck in the mud trying to pass two abandoned logging trucks. After all the locals and I all got off the bus for about 30 minutes waiting to see if this bus was going to make it, we did exactly what the truck drivers did, we abandoned our bus and hopped on the vacant one that was conveniently there to pick us up. Never have I seen anything like this before. We just left the bus stuck there in the middle of the road behind the trucks!
Once I was at the hotel, I was tired, cold and wet from the rain and my long day of not feeling well. I was so happy to take a hot shower, I almost began to cry. The hotel room is beautiful and pretty much opposite of what my living conditions were like in Punta Banco. Here I have a hot shower, a bed that doesn’t smell like mildew and I can flush the toilet paper down the toilet! But don’t get me wrong, I really did like Punta Banco.
It was so great to see my parents. There is just something about seeing loved ones when you haven’t seen anybody you know well after some time. We spent our first day just hanging around the pool, getting groceries and laundry done. All of my clothes had a strong pungent smell of mold and must. Never have I appreciated the washer and dryer so much in my life.
Since I was still feeling sick and getting worse, we went to doctor the next day. After my doctor visit and some blood work it was decided 100% that I have Dengue Fever! And to top it off, a chronic ear infection. Thank you Costa Rica! Well, I had Dengue Fever for about eight days and I survived to tell the story. Much of my past eight days were a blur, but I clearly remember the grape juice, soda water and bland crackers I was force fed all the while being hopped up on Tylex (Tylenol). As much as I wished my head didn’t pound and my stomach didn’t refusing everything, it’s was best week for this to happen, when my Dad and Anne are here to take care of me. It’s amazing how those things work out sometimes. I am really being protected down here if you know what I mean.
Today was my first day exploring past the pool and putting my toes in the powder sand beach. It feels so good to walk around again.
There are monkeys, sloths and iguanas all over the place here. We had one White Face monkey walk across our deck railing this morning about 10 feet from us.
Tomorrow morning I am taking a bus to Uvita to work at the eco-lodge. All I know is that it’s a rustic style lodge on the beach and it’s calling my name.
Until then, keep me in your prayers!
Hasta Luego,
Rachel
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Punta Banco continued...
I am beginning to feel like a local in Punta Banco. In the past three weeks, this place is starting to feel like home. I have met many great people here and have had many exciting adventures. Since it would take hours to explain everything I am experiencing, I will give a few highlights.
A few days ago, while in Pavones, I was waiting for a ride back to town and drinking a beer with friends. I ended up meeting a few locals who have shown me another side to this place. The next day I walked to their house to pass the afternoon and learned their story. All eight of them are originally from Florida and now live down here as missionaries. They are really great people with big hearts to serve the youth of Punta Banco and Pavones. It was a real blessing to meet these people. Some of them are going to take me out surfing tomorrow, another great adventure I´m sure.
Yesterday I woke up at 4:30 along with four other volunteers to head out for a fishing trip in the Gulfo Dulce (Sweet Gulf) off the shores of town. Our ponga (a small fishing boat) was a rickety, rusted, fiber glass boat who had seen better days but nevertheless, she was the best 30 foot boat around. The fishermen rolled the boat down to the ocean on big logs, then one guy carried a 180-pound motor down and our ship and we were ready to head off . All we needed was our Capitan, Dillan, who had one arm in a sling.
We headed out on the rolling turquoise waves with our essential supplies: fishing poles, bait, beer and snacks. The view was amazing, light fluffy clouds hovered over the green mountains at the sun was turning dawn into day.
I had never been on a fishing trip like this before but all my years of fishing for flounder with my dad paid off. Within the first 15 minutes, I caught my first 3-foot-long dorado! It was tough wresteling this guy in the boat but I eventually got my bright blue fish on board. It was quite an experience. Being the animal lover I am, a part of me wanted to toss him back in the ocean. We trolled around the gulf and passed time by singing songs and taking dips in the sea. Like always, I had to hang over the boat a few times to relieve myself. Some things just never change.
After 8 hours on the water we came back to shore with two dorados and enough fish meat for everyone back at the turtle station. We decided to have a few celebratory drinks and some of our fresh fish at a local bar on the water. We piled into the back of a truck bed and went on our way down the bumpy dirt road. The reggae music was good, the beer was cold and the seared fish was the best tasting fish I have ever had. Our short trip to the bar ended up lasting until sundown. It was a great day.
I have one more week here in Punta Banco, then I am off to Manuel Antonio. I will spend a week with my dad and stepmom, then work at an eco-lodge for 4 weeks.
Stay tuned!
A few days ago, while in Pavones, I was waiting for a ride back to town and drinking a beer with friends. I ended up meeting a few locals who have shown me another side to this place. The next day I walked to their house to pass the afternoon and learned their story. All eight of them are originally from Florida and now live down here as missionaries. They are really great people with big hearts to serve the youth of Punta Banco and Pavones. It was a real blessing to meet these people. Some of them are going to take me out surfing tomorrow, another great adventure I´m sure.
Yesterday I woke up at 4:30 along with four other volunteers to head out for a fishing trip in the Gulfo Dulce (Sweet Gulf) off the shores of town. Our ponga (a small fishing boat) was a rickety, rusted, fiber glass boat who had seen better days but nevertheless, she was the best 30 foot boat around. The fishermen rolled the boat down to the ocean on big logs, then one guy carried a 180-pound motor down and our ship and we were ready to head off . All we needed was our Capitan, Dillan, who had one arm in a sling.
We headed out on the rolling turquoise waves with our essential supplies: fishing poles, bait, beer and snacks. The view was amazing, light fluffy clouds hovered over the green mountains at the sun was turning dawn into day.
I had never been on a fishing trip like this before but all my years of fishing for flounder with my dad paid off. Within the first 15 minutes, I caught my first 3-foot-long dorado! It was tough wresteling this guy in the boat but I eventually got my bright blue fish on board. It was quite an experience. Being the animal lover I am, a part of me wanted to toss him back in the ocean. We trolled around the gulf and passed time by singing songs and taking dips in the sea. Like always, I had to hang over the boat a few times to relieve myself. Some things just never change.
After 8 hours on the water we came back to shore with two dorados and enough fish meat for everyone back at the turtle station. We decided to have a few celebratory drinks and some of our fresh fish at a local bar on the water. We piled into the back of a truck bed and went on our way down the bumpy dirt road. The reggae music was good, the beer was cold and the seared fish was the best tasting fish I have ever had. Our short trip to the bar ended up lasting until sundown. It was a great day.
I have one more week here in Punta Banco, then I am off to Manuel Antonio. I will spend a week with my dad and stepmom, then work at an eco-lodge for 4 weeks.
Stay tuned!
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