one last seaside coffee...
Bye Tucan Terra!
Heading back north, beginning our trek back towards the airport near the capital, San Jose...first stop will be a rented home called Fiesta del Rio in a small town on the Pacific coast called Ojochal (prounounced Oh-Ho-Chal).
So it's back to bumpy roads and river crossings...
and of course, more puentes angostos
and then a few tense moments, and certainly not caught on camera....a police roadblock - on a road like this! The officers stopped us....said "hola...tourista?" "si" I responded, and then he asked for our passports. As I handed them over, I thought of some incidents I had read about between tourists and corrupt police officers where the officer demands a cash payment in exchange for the return of a passport. Too late! Our passports are now in the officer's hands.
He takes them to the rear of our vehicle and shows them to another officer, likely a superior. My heart at this point was beating at a pace not usually associated with vacation....in my mirror I see the superior officer examining our passports and he appears to write something in one of them....he gives them back to the first officer, who brings them back to my window, gives them back to me, and says "adios!". PHEW!
On the way to Cabo Matapalo four days ago, we had seen a sign for Finca Kobo Chocolate Tour...we turned around, but they were closed. So we made a reservation for our return trip...
A pleasant walk through the cocoa plantation...
bananas...
jackfruit....
vanilla...which smells so good....
and of course the cocao tree....
and the tiny cacao flower...
cocao beans drying in the sun...
to be eventually ground into...
a nice dark chocolate paste...
At one point, while our guide - his name was Juan-Louis - was talking, I had to interrupt. I apologized but there was a blue morpho butterfly behind him. They are one of the world's largest butterflies - about 6 inches across - and a bright blue. But the blue is only on the top of the wings, underneath they are brown. So the blue is a quick flash as they fly and though we saw plenty of them during our trip, it is extremely difficult to get a photo of one as they don't seem to ever stop.
So I tried to get this one and it is in the video but of course too far away to see clearly but it is there, it really is....
See? there it is!
and this is what it really looks like (not my photo)...an amazing sight for sure...
and at the end of the tour....a chance to enjoy some chocolate cake. It was a hot and humid walk around the plantation for the tour, the water was just as welcome as the chocolate....well almost.
Later, back on the road to Ojochal, it's time for lunch and we stop at a classic roadside Costa Rican soda...just an add-on to someone's home, a roof over a few tables and chairs, no menu. But all we needed to know was that they served casados (which they did) and the word for whatever meat we wanted to go with it....for Jenni and me it was pescado, and for Cory it was pollo. Some aqua and cerveza, and a few minutes later we were served the best casado we would have while in Costa Rica. The rice and beans were really delicious....with salad and fried plantains, great meal....though we found the small portion of tinned spaghetti a bit odd, and definitely not nearly as good as the rest of the plate.
While Costa Rica is not a cheap travel destination, sodas are generally really good value. Our meal here, including tip, was about 12000 Costa Rican colones, less than $30 Canadian.
A couple of hours later, we turn off the highway into Ojochal and begin a slow climb along yet another very bumpy road towards Fiesta del Rio..
where we are rewarded with a dip in our own pool....hey Jenni, hey Cory...let me join ya and I'll take a delayed shutter release photo, ok?
Here I come! Oops, I was too slow..darn knee....ok, lets try again...
There we go!
That brings an end to our day...we do some beach exploring the next day, April 19. If you are enjoying our blog, leave us a comment - no account necessary.
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