April 23, 2001
Subject:  El Ultima Dia


Hola todos,

Greetings from Quepos once again.  From where we last
left off...

Friday morning, Jen and I luckily caught an unscheduled
(as far as we knew) bus from Quepos to Matapolo.  We
decided that we needed a nice bungalo on a deserted
beach for our last couple days and El Coquito del
Pacifico in Matapolo surely fit the bill.

This "cabinas" were Swiss owned (run by two German
girls about our age) and right on a beautiful beach
which was at least 5km long.  I would have to say
that there couldn't have been more than 30 people on
the entire beach.  Our place was a nice cabina with
a private bathroom.  The place had a small pool and
just plenty of relaxation.  It was the perfect
setting.

The first day we spent wandering the beach, swimming,
and just plain relaxing.  It was great.  The next day
we decided to go see a waterfall in Portalon, a town
about 6km away.  We walked there in the blistering
sun and when we got to the town, had to walk another
kilometre to the bar which had information.  There
I downed 2 bottles of Orange Fanta before heading off
on the 3km uphill battle to the waterfall.  After
2km, the road got steep.  In fact with each turning of
the corner, it got even steeper.  We thought we missed
the turnoff, and after reaching nearly the top of the
hill (roughly 1000 vertical feet), we decided to turn
back.  Half way down, we saw a family and asked where
it was.  Apparently, there was an unmarked turnoff,
which is why the locals want you to pay them to guide
you there.  Once we got there, it was a tiny 7m
waterfall, nothing like the picture they painted
outside the town entrance.  At any rate, we were
extremely hot, so we went for a dunk under it and
relaxed for a while.

We hitched a ride back (or was offered) by an English
woman who lived in Costa Rica.  We got back to the
bungalo, went for dinner at a local soda (what they
call cheap restaurants), then bought a bottle of rum
and some fruit juice for our evening.  It happened
to be our 1 year anniversary that night.

The next day, we left at 6am to catch the bus to the
Hacienda Baru, a reserve owned by a man from Colorado
who has lived in Costa Rica since 1970.  Interesting
man, but seems completely out of touch with life other
than his cause to preserve the Costa Rican environment
and national parks.  We hiked around and spent some
time on the beach before catching the bus back to
Quepos.

Today, we spent the morning at the beach in Manuel
Antonio, which brings us to now.  We're waiting on
our bus to take us back to San Jose so we can catch
our flight early tomorrow morning.  I can't believe
how fast this trip has flown by.  Jen and I can't
believe we haven't killed each other yet.  In fact
we're doing great.

I will scan some of my best pictures in and add them
to my web page within the next couple weeks and let
everyone know where they can see them.

Until next time...

Travellin' Rob

PS - I'll make it back just in time for Game 7 tomorrow
night (if Ottawa let those pesky Leafs win a few)!!!
Can't wait for round 2.