So Team,
It has come time to end the Costa Rica / Panama adventure "How Wet can You Get?".
I'm in San Jose (okay, I'm actually in St. Louis, Mo), but I'm in San Jose, just came in on the bus from Monte Verde and have about 3 hours max to find my bag and get back to the airport.
I turn off the iPod as we roll in, since that can be distracting (as we learned in losing the bag in the first place), and notice the bus terminal to Allejula (aka: The airport), and that it costs about a buck.
We drive another 5 plus minutes and reach the terminal that our buses stop at. I hop off, a cab driver says "taxi?", I say "yep", and in the always fun half spanish half english we some how communicate that I need to goto the Tracopa terminal to get my little bag and then back to the Allejula bus terminal. He says 10 bucks. He'll charge 25 to goto the airport. But I won't need that unless the bag isn't there...
so we race through the twisty, nonsenical streets of San Jose, and end up at Tracopa. I take my big backpack and snazzy platic-shopping-bag-day-bag-substitute with me (never leave anything unnattended in a cab), and my driver and I go inside. I have my cheet sheet with the names "Gustavo" and "Marvin Campos' on them. My driver seems to know Gustavo...but we can't seem to find him. He's not in his office. Finally, he sees Marivn, and I attempt to explain that I am "Craig Ouellette. Boletto negro poquito. (small black bag). Sombrero Beige (beige hat). Thursday, bus Quarento Uno from Frontiera Panama" (are you starting to see how hard this is to do when you are trying to do anything that isn't standard travel needs like hotels or bus times?)
He has no idea what I'm talking about. Probably because I made no sense. So they find the one guy who works there who is bilingual, and he listens as I explain the situation, how it was a bus on thursday, and stuff. No one seemed to know anything about the bag... until I said "Indiana Jones hat". Then Marvin goes "oooooohhhh! Si! Si!"
He led me to a back storage room, and.... drum roll...THERE IT IS!!! Yahooo!!! My bag is back!
I checked it out, as the raincoat was attached a different way. I looked inside: Book, Lonely Planet, and...no Journal.
Oh no, did I leave it sitting on the bus floor or something. then I though I might have put it inside the raincoat (it folds up on itself), and in fact it was there. I don't remember putting it there, but I guess I did.)
I shook everyones hands, thanked them heartily, and into the cab, racing off to the Allejula station. I repacked in the backseat, and came to realize that my waterproof headlamp and pocket knife were missing...hmm... looks like someone did go through the bag. They took the two things of actual value to them...But who cares, I got most of it back! I'll count my blessings. Yahoo.
In the miscelanious papers I have in the journal, which I tape in as mementos, I found a note that said "You left your bag on the bus. We took your journal and will mail it to you so no one else can read it. The French Girls."
So, the two french girls I met at the hot springs, who happened to accidentally have gone to the border station I went to instead of the way they wanted to go, are most likely the reason my bag came back to me. They'd seen me with it, and the hat tied to it, and realized I'd left it. They probably looked for a way to contact me, and were the ones who turned it in to lost and found. They didn't keep the journal, they put it in the raincoat as a joke, and I'm sure they didn't take the headlamp or the knife. But the random connection I made with them, led to them doing something kind for me, and my bag coming back. That, and the awesome folks at the terminal who didn't take it, even though they could have.
Which goes to show that really, people can be kind. I know of people who have had negative experiences in Central America (hell, I've had some too), but in the end, it seems like the world takes care of you if that's the kind of thing you expect from it. If you figure the world is out to get you, it probably will be. But if you keep thinking of the good, you'll end up with good.
Now that I'm in St. Louis, visiting relatives, and having a few more great adventures (scuba diving a flooded mine, going to the greatest. playground. ever.... (there will be one more entry telling about these)), it's only with positive thoughts I look back at Costa Rica and Panama. Sure, there are some things I wanted to do that didn't happen, but I got more than I was expecting, and in fact got what I was looking for even though I didn't know it. (Thanks Laura).
So with that I'll give some random CraigO observations on the trip. These are not facts, and might not match with any experience you might have, but they were true for me, so I figure I'll share them now.
1. Americans, Americans everywhere (and the Dutch too):
I seem to have mostly run into American's and Dutch. (oh yeah, and Panamanians and Costa Ricans!). But if everyone wanted to know where American's go for international travel, apparently it's Costa Rica and Panama.
2. It rains... A LOT.
so love it. Enjoy the rain, fee the rain. Rain kicks ass, and really, when it's not pouring for days straight it's magical and makes things cool.
3. Justin Bieber is big... EVERYWHERE
Hearing him on a bus in Panama, and coming out of a store made me laugh. He's so cheesy, but he must have international appeal. "Baby, baby baby ooohhH!"
4. It's affordable... save for the tours.
You can spend very little money and travel to CR and Panama. Now, if you add tours, you're going to spend more...maybe a lot more. But the infastructure is very solid, and you can do many things solo. You don't need to spend 100 bucks for a guide to climb volcan Baru, it's a trail that's marked. But you can't raft a river without a guide (unless you are an expert kayaker...), so get one. Choose your adventures and what you like to spend money on. For me, I don't need to spend a ton on my lodging... I like to pay 10 bucks, have a simple room (often with views here), and spend my money elsewhere.
My budget for the trip was 60 bucks a day. I came in at 57.50 or so. I didn't harp on the budget. I didn't stress to match it. I had fun with all I did. Somedays cost 100 bucks, some cost 21...yep, that's for food, lodging and activities.
Some folks ask how I can afford to do all this traveling, and for me it's just choosing where I spend the money. Some people go drink 2 or 3 times a week, spending 30 or 40 bucks a night (this is LA don't forget), well, that's 150-200 a month, and in a year, that's WAY more money than this trip cost. Now, I'm a person who doesn't need to drink to have fun, but if that makes you happier, you can choose something else to trim a little bit off of to make the money work (maybe don't get that starbucks everyday... just once a week). Anyway, that's a few thoughts on that...
5. The people are generally nice...
It's true. Sure, there are always some folks that aren't helpful or want to be confrontational, but really, Costa Rican's and Panamanian's are awesome folks. They seem to embrace the "Pura Vida" aspect and make the most of it.
6. CR and Panama are savvy to tourists.
Now, as much as I got around the country, I wasn't really off the beaten path too much. I was in places where tourists go because the nature is beautiful, the places well supported. So they know you are a tourist. You can't hide it. No real reason to try. It's okay. Be a tourist. Some people will take advantage of this, and you are best to keep your wits about you as to not spend 20 bucks on a 4 dollar cab ride, but really, can you blame them? Even when we're traveling cheaply, like I did, I'm still dropping 2-4 times the daily wage each day I travel. So tip an extra buck if you can... but don't overspend or give to begging folks. This makes things drift out of balance quickly.
7. CHoose local first.
There were so many great Soda's and Cafe's to eat at that were mostly for locals, and you could eat real, good, local food for 3-5 bucks instead of spending 10-25 at a tourist place. (For all my friends on this email that aren't from the US, a "Buck" is "1 USD"... I realized I should make that clear :) The food is better... and you can meet local folks who won't treat you like a tourist, and whom you can get to know if you take the time.
I realize my observations have become a "tip list", which wasn't the intention of this. Oh well... a few more tips.
8. Take the Bus.
"What? You are crazy Craig! The Bus!"
Absolutely. You get to see the country a bit better, meet some folks, see scenery you wouldn't get to see, and really have a richer experience than jumping on a plane. Trust me. Try it.
9. CHILL OUT.
Sometimes I would see people who were rushing, and freaked out about a bus or mini-bus not leaving right away. They'd freak at someone who wasn't doing what they, the tourist, thought was right. And really, you are visiting their home... don't think you're rules should apply.
Now, there are some things, like throwing trash into the bay, or poaching turtle eggs, or something like that, that probably should be addressed. Don't support that.
But use common sense... they might not run a bus at exactly 10:30am, it might leave at 10:40 or later, and that's how it's done. Don't complain about the rough roads... that's how they are. I've kinda lost my train of thought here, but really, suck in the experience, that's part of why you're traveling. If you're just going someplace to experience the comforts of home... stay home.
10. Which brings me to the final tip/observation...
TRAVEL.
Do it.
Book that trip. Buy that ticket. Hop in the car and drive for a day and see where you end up.
It's one of the most wonderful things we can do in this world.
It opens up what is out there. It connects us to the people of the world, who we think are different from us, and we'll likely find out that they really aren't that different at all.
It is a blessing that we live in a world where we can travel so easily. Sure, you can make it as hard or easy as you'd like... and that is also great.
TRAVEL.
I'm who I am because I get out of my comfort zone and put myself out there. In fact, if I don't, I lose track of who I am and who I want to be.
It's scary sometimes, and it's bizarre, it's can be lonely and it can be rough...
but it's amazing, fulfilling, and has given me gifts I never could have found any other way. I've met people who are so interesting, and fascinating, and am glad our paths have crossed. If I'd have just stayed home, I'd still be in my little bubble, in my little world, wondering why the world wasn't the way I think it should be.
The world is the way it is... and it's amazing... and the only way to open ourselves up to it, is to go out and grab it, seek it, see it, dream it, do it.
TRAVEL.
This is Craig Ouellette,
last surviving member of the Nostromo,
Signing off.
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