We drifted to Oeste

 

We found this tiny town in search of our friend Jonathan’s old stomping grounds.  Jonathan lived in a town called Estertillos Este for a several years building a campus for Young Life but a few years ago it was sold and turned into a resort.  We wanted to see his handy work so we drove around looking for what we thought could be it taking pictures of what we thought might me the resort. Not sure if we actually saw the right one but we did manage to find the airport and that was about it.

		Este VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

While we were drifting around we stumbled upon Esterillos Oeste the town north of Esterillos Este and met a super cool dude who owned a surf shop there.

http://adriftsurfshop.com/

We talked to him for a while and had great vibes from the town so we decided to stay a few nights.  If it wasn’t for Ozzie (Adrift surf shop owner) we probably wouldn’t have stopped.  Thanks Oz!!!  We set up shop in a campsite right off the beach the first night.  When we talked to the guy at the campsite about the how safe it was he pointed to the “guard dog” and said “because of him it was really safe”.  I had to laugh when he said that because this poor dog was the saddest representation of a guard dog I have ever seen.  After the first hot, stale air night we had second thoughts about paying for another night.  Then Casey came up with a brilliant idea… “why don’t we just move over there” (5 feet away right on the beach was free parking and more of a breeze) “ABSOTULEY!”  So we packed up and moved to our new sight… 5 seconds away.

		Oeste VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Up early for a morning session and happened to catch another beautiful sunrise. We are blessed!!

Just Another Day VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

So after  three cups of coffee and a little surf we loaded up the RV and headed out. Our main goal for the day was to make it to Liberia so we could stock up with supplies and be super close to the border. Originally on our way into Jaco we had seen signs for the best and only Bloody Mary in Costa Rica. So we decided to make a pit stop and put these Bloodies to the test. 

Outback Jack…Roadkill Grill

The owners came to greet us at the door and were the friendliest people.  We ordered 2 Bloody Marys and the owner sat down with us and ordered him and his wife 2 as well.  They sat with us and talked to us all about their travels and where they have been and how traveling was such an impact on their lives.  It was so great to talk with them.  We were feeling a little nervous about our trip and the up coming border crossing and he just eased all of our nerves.  Excellent Bloody Mary’s by the way and great food!  Once we had finished our bloodies and our conversation about traveling and life came to a close.  We packed up our dogs and hit the road.

Outback Jack's VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

A little further south... Dominical

 

We followed these guys for about five miles until the opportune time came for the RV to get up enough speed to make the pass. Would you ever see anything like this in the states??? I can only imagine cruising down I-25 doing about 65mph and rolling up on the trash dudes chillin like this on the truck…. I don’t think so. We decided to head a little further south before the big push north towards the border, quick stop in Esterillos and then onward to Dominical. A rather quick drive with lots to see, palm tree plantations lined the road,

 

and on one side you could see the ocean through the trees and on the other lush green mountains sprung up in the distance.

The road was surprisingly nice and made for an enjoyable drive. Once in Dominical we made a quick pass through town until we came across our sweet spot that we would call home for the next four days.

Sweet Spot VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We couldn’t have found a better spot and other than the killer views it was FREE. Dominical was a quite little town tucked in the shade cast by old growth trees. Lots of surf shops and once again great people. We camped relatively close to a beach side restaurant called the The Refuge, which clams to have the best burger in CR. We never had burgers there but we did meet the wonderful people who owned and operated it. Turns out it doubles as a hostel/hotel, restaurant and a church. These people were so welcoming to the town and had such a positive outlook on everything, it is always refreshing to meet such terrific people.

I have been asked the question a few times, “What do you do all day?”  Well in Dominical we kept our selves busy surfing and running in the mornings, coconut hunting in the afternoons, walks around town in hunt of internet, and more surfing, even some fishing.  We were even able to cook on the beach and have fires in the evening.  Our days are filled with great conversations and time to reflect on how wonderful life is and how grateful we are for being able to experience it like this.

Our Eventful Days VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Dominical was a great place but it was time to move on… northern bound we go…

Much Love

Lots of People and No Waves in JACO

Not really sure what to say about Jaco other than it is a very busy place with lots of tourist both gringos and ticos. We were actually surprised to see the town wasn't filled with abandoned buildings, prostitutes, drugs and just plain dirty. Basically everything we had heard up to this point involved one of the above things mainly for the bad.  Yes it was busy, very busy, but other than that we felt comfortable, safe and actually in some weird way liked the town.

We rolled into Jaco mid day on Friday made one pass through town in search of the camping area and had no luck. Ok we need to find the gas station to fill up the propane tank, easily found headed back into town. Second time rolling through town and the eagles eyes were scanning heavy for the camp site. We found it no sweat and pulled into a nice flat area with showers, electricity and toilets. To our surprise there was only a few tents spread out so we found the best spot possible. Here is a view of neighboring tents and the with the massive condo complex in the background.

Sweet we have this whole camping area basically to ourselves. Just as we were getting settled in we here a bus in the background which pulls right up the the entrance gates. Herds of people unload with everything you can imagine, tents, bags, stoves, giant rice cooker, balls, radios just about everything from the house made the trip with them on the bus. Two hours and three buses later this is what the camping area had turned into.

Needless to say we lost our quite camping spots and now were walking carefully not to trip on any tent strings. Thankfully a nice family set up camp right behind us and Marco the six year old son wanted to work so we traded cookies for cleaning.

It was a fun place to stay but when the time came we were definitely ready to leave. Funny how as quick as everyone showed up the left the same way. Around 2:30 Sunday afternoon it looked liked ant working hard and fast to make it to the bus head for San Jose. And just like that it was empty again. We both appreciate that fact that the whole family came to the beach and tent camped, by the whole family we mean everyone the family behind us had the grandma who had to be 80 with them and yes she slept in a tent. Very family oriented!

Here are a bunch of random pics from our days in Jaco.



Who found the cookies??



This chair has been slightly modified. Sit at your own risk.

AHHHH empty campsite

Chair works well!!!

The face says it all.. NO swell on the Pacific Coast. You say wave, what waves.