Habitat "Reunion de Manuel Antonio"

After work Friday evening, I busted home to pack my bag and make a sandwich for dinner before migrating to the bus station. A crew of people from Habitat and I are headed to one of the most beautiful beaches in Costa Rica – Manuel Antonio – for the weekend. On the bus by 7:30 pm and we were on our way. Unfortunately this bus had little to no leg room (so a tall gringo like me was struggling with my knees); and to double the effect I wasn’t able to stretch out my legs in the aisle cause there were a bunch of people who purchased standing room only tickets and spent the ride leaning up against my seat, and the seat in front of me. So I put on the headphones, set the ipod to shuffle and let a random soundtrack to the trip emerge. The bus driver and the winding mountain roads combined to create an experience somewhat like riding the “teacups” at an amusement fair. We would be winging around corners at speeds that would cause the G-forces to kick in and everyone would be leaning over to one side, as the corner of the bus swung within inches of a tree, or rock, or another bus or truck on the road…and as soon as we completed one turn like this, it was right back into another turn, in the opposite direction. Pretty crazy feeling, and I’m glad that the windows were open to keep fresh air circulating. After we got over the mountains things calmed down a little bit, until we got to the bridges along the coast. I’m glad we went over them the first time in the dark, cause I didn’t really get to see what they looked like until the ride home. Most were rusty steel, with some parts of the support sections completely gone; the base was old steel pipes of different lengths that had been fitted into slots, with the occasional one missing. And of course the bus driver was tailgating the cars and trucks ahead of us, so there were often 3 or 4 vehicles on these bridges at a time. Whew…

Around 10:30 we cruised through the town of Quepos and up the mountain to Manuel Antonio and to the Vista Serena Hostel and Cabinas. This hostel was run by the ex-boyfriend of the girl Diana (see the photos below), and we were supposedly going to get hooked up with a good deal. As we walked into the hostel to check in, Conrad (the ex) greeted us not with our keys, but with a round of Jaegerbombs, on a table covered with empty redbull cans, 1 empty and 1 ½ filled Jaeger bottle and a few used glasses. Interesting way to kick off the evening. So we snagged the keys and busted up to check out the hostel dormitory, there was a large, clean room, with fans, and 15 bunk beds…all with fresh sheets, and a bathroom and 2 showers to share. We were with an Aussie and some other Americans, as well as a dude (B – for Briano) from Florida who we met on the bus. We dropped off our gear, and headed back down to grab a cab and hit up the Nightspot…a bar/disco called Marisambas right on the beach. We cruised down there, but it was pretty mellow, a few beverages, but not a lot of people (supposedly gets packed on Saturdays). Wes busted out his Salsa moves, as I looked on in envy…but the music wasn’t all that great and not a lot of people were dancing…seems like all the cute girls and some of the not-so-cute were professionals…making it kind of a challenge to find a dance partner. So we all hung out with our feet in the surf and beers in hand and had conversations in both English and Spanish under the stars. All in all exactly what was needed after the 3 hours in the bus. We headed back to the hostel and Marco, Esteban, Wes and myself held the inaugural meeting of the Night Cap Club - Costa Rican Habitat Chapter…and ended up calling it a night around 3 am.