Arrival Pt 2

What a cliffhanger, huh? Last we left off, Andrew and I were sitting in our quatro para quatro behind a long line of semis, trucks and cars. Our arrival time to Samasati loomed later and later. What were we to do?

What the locals do, clearly. I mentioned earlier that some rules of the road (most rules of the road?) seem to be somewhat negotiable here. Suddenly, cars started to pull out of their lane and drive forward in the oncoming lane. When an oncoming car came by, they swerved to the left bank of the road or ducked back into their proper lane, in between a semi or two, to let them pass. This bizarre leap frog seemed our only option, however. We had been seriously warned by all sources to expressly NOT drive at night, and if we waited in line that would become inevitable.

So into the oncoming lane we went! 

This was also terrifying/exhilarating. Terrilarating. We saved ourselves probably an hour on our trip, though even past the first section of blockage (the cause of which remains unknown but doubtlessly has something to do with the miles of semis all driving incredibly slowly and waving to their other semi friends) we continued to move slowly and hit other traffic blocks that were also responded to by driving in the oncoming lane.

The last 10 miles to Puerto Limon were the worst. The WORST. It took us nearly 30 minutes to complete it, thanks to the semi driver in front of us who made it impossible to pass and picked up and dropped off friends along the way. 

Still, we saw turkey vultures, a montezuma oropendola and a slew of brightly colored tanagers, and felt very much like we were getting top marks for Costa Rica, the road racing game ("I think I liked the jungle level better" Andrew remarked about the 'rural town level').

When we hit Limon, the sun was starting to set and we still had 30 miles to go. Bad news. But onward we went! We were now at the Caribbean coast, and the coastal road was much easier, particularly because it was less crowded at night. Despite all the warnings, I still submit that driving at night was much less stressful than driving during the day. We had to be careful not to hit giant crabs on the road, pedestrians and cyclists with no reflectors and deep pot holes, but hell is other people, they say, and I think that can be amended to hell is other drivers. 

At 6:45, an hour after sun set, we pulled up to the Samasati lower gate just as the rain started to fall. We were ushered in by the security guard and started the steep, rocky ascent to the retreat proper. After about 5 minutes, we pulled into the restaurant and reception area.

I didn't realize how much tension I has been holding until we stepped out of the car and walked into the warm, yellow glow of the restaurant lights. 

"my name is Molly, why don't you go have dinner and then go back to uour home? We'll check you in tomorrow morning."

Dinner. Home. The food, buffet style, was the best I've tasted in my whole life, well seasoned by what my mind experienced as a near death experience. We had rice, beans, a vegetable casserole, some amazing fried peppers and lots and lots of water. I ate to bursting, since we didn't stop for lunch in our driving frenzy (or to pee). When we got back to our bungalow, we collapsed into bed and slept 11 hours.