Travelling Fiasco to Domincal

I worked a ½ day on Friday, and busted out of the office around 11:45 and snagged a taxi to the bus station. Wes, the volunteer coordinator, had provided a list of bus schedules, station locations, prices and times the buses leave. Unfortunately, the information was old, and when we got to the location there was no bus station there :o)…so I told the cabbie where I needed to go (San Isidro and then on to Dominical) and he took me to a different bus station. Of course it meant that there was no way I was on the 12:30 bus, and that cause I had to wait until the 2:30 bus – and because of that I would miss my connecting bus in San Isidro. Ahhhhh the joys of travelling. But with a positive attitude and a flexible schedule I made the decision that I would figure out a way to make it happen. So I sat down in the bus station and listened to these crazy old xylophone players – they were hilarious and I soon had a smile back on my face. As soon as we all got on the bus, an argument erupted right across the isle, as apparently everyone was sitting in the wrong seats (all buses have numbered, assigned seats). So after a 15 minute delay playing musical chairs we finally were on the way. This was my first time leaving San Jose and not using the TransAmerican Highway. Domincal is on the SouthWest (Pacific) coast, and we took a windy road up and over the mountains on our way to the coast. The ride was really exciting as we careened around curves, passed slow trucks and wove through cloud forest white outs at the top of some of the mountains. I wish I was sitting at a window seat, cause there were some ridiculous photo opps. We took a 10 minute bathroom and snack break about 2 hours into the 3.5 hour ride, and there was a HUGE humming bird feeding station right outside the window of the little cafeteria with at least 10 feeders and hundreds of tiny iridescent birds (see pic below) flitting about – with wings moving so fast that they were a blur. When I finally arrived in San Isidro it was 6:30 and getting really dark (the last bus had left at 4:30), but I was determined to figure out a way to get the final 50 km to Dominical tonight – instead of having to find a place to stay in San Isidro. I asked directions to the road that lead to Dominical and started hitchhiking. This grizzled old guy driving a bright red truck with a cattle car built up in the truck bed asked if I wanted a taxi. I told him no thanks and kept trying to hitchhike. After another 10 minutes he drove round again, and we both laughed when I again gratefully refused his services…finally after 30 minutes of waiting it started raining, and was now pitch black…so when the same guy drove by a third time I asked him how much he charged and for a crisp $20 I hopped in the cab and introduced myself to Victor. The first thing Victor does is say we won’t make it the 50km to Dominical unless he gets gas, and to get gas he needs me to pay him before we arrive. Reluctantly, I fork over the $20 and listen to the banter of Victor and the gas station attendant. With a full tank we finally hit the road, and Victor is taking me through the backroads of San Isidro to get to the main road to Domincal. After another couple minutes the electrical fuse goes out in the truck and we lose all inside and outside lights…Victor is pounding the dash, turning levers on and off, and driving in the pitch black without any lights. My heart is racing and all the horror stories I have heard are rushing through my mind. He pulls off the road into someones driveway, and I expect 3 dudes to run out and pull me from the cab, beat me senseless and rob me blind. After a couple of hectic minutes, he manages to coax the lights back on, turns to me and laughs and pulls back onto the road with a toot of his horn. I exhale and laugh at myself, and ask him how long the trip is gonna be and he says 30-40 minutes. So with my ever improving Spanish I open up a conversation about our families, about my volunteership here in CR, about my plans for the weekend, etc. He was bumping some pretty cool Spanish music, kinda latin jazz, and was singing along. I told him he had a great voice and that I liked his singing…and that prompted him to turn off the music and bust out some acapella. It was hilarious, and he sang three songs then asked me if I sang. I told him not really, but not wanting to be a stick in the mud I busted out a couple of Sublime toonz, laughing at myself the whole time. Victor apparently drives the route to Domincal all the time (sometimes 3 and 4 times a day), so even though it was pitch black, raining and foggy he was tooling around the curves like a pro, and honking his horn at everyone we passed on the roads, as well as all the little roadside stands. When we finally got to Dominical I told him I was gonna buy him a beer at the bar I was supposed to meet Julie at. So we snagged a brew and waited for Julie, but since I was 3 hours late, I figured she might have left and gone to the cabinas on the beach that she had reserved for the weekend. I thanked Viktor, took his card and told him I would call him on Sunday if I needed a ride. He was having nothing of it, and told me to get back in the truck and he drove me right to the door of the cabinas. I found Julie chilling at the small restaurant/bar connected to the cabinas; and recounted the tale of my travel adventure. Over an excellent dinner of veggie fried rice, French fries and a salad washed down with a couple Imperials we caught up on everything from 2nd semester at AU (Julie is in the AU/UPEACE program which has 1 semester in DC, 2 semesters in Costa Rica with a summer volunteer internship, and the final semester back in DC – next January), to travel stories, to what friends were up to, to our respective volunteer internships. After dinner was done it was now around 10 and we moseyed over to a reggaeton (kind of a combo of reggae and techno…dance music) bar. Where we snagged a few more brews and danced till the wee hours of the morning. We capped the night off with a moonlight swim in the Pacific…absolutely perfect. The trials and tribulations of the adventure getting to Domincal were well worth it, and I was psyched for a great weekend. (more to come tomorrow).