Sunday at Rocking J's

Woke up early on Sunday morning due to the tame Saturday evening and we were out of the cabina by 9:30…and on bikes for our last ½ day at the cabina to try an maximize time on our way into town for breakfast at the soda and to get to the bus station before the siesta. Breakfast was delicious as usual, and I added a little twist today by also getting a badito – which is a fresh fruit drink made with ice and water…just a yummy start to the day. We snagged the bus tickets no problem – though there are no assigned seats on the way home – so it may be a free for all WWF styleee so that you don’t have to stand in the aisle for the 4 hour ride. On the way back we stopped at Rocking J’s – a huge hostel, that has hostel dorm rooms, tents for rent as well as tent areas for your own, and hammocks for rent…but there weren’t any openings yet. So we got back to the cabina and checked out; and while rory surfed the internet looking for a hostel in San Jose for the night as his flight left EARLY Monday morning; Wes and I walked back towards town stopping in and asking about vacancies and prices…after several NO VACANCIES (due to the National Holiday – Guanacaste Day) and a few more, “sure we have a room…$75 bucks”…we were back in front of Rocking J’s…and this time we were in luck. Checkout was at 11:30 so we were able to score 2 bunks in a 4 bunk room for $7….sweet. After Rory found us, dropped his gear in our locker, he and I bounced through a trail in the forest littered with red and black crabs back to Playa Cocochles for one last Frisbee toss and swim before he had to bounce and catch the 4 pm bus. After another round of body surfing we were sun drying when one of Rory’s friends he met the week before in Tortugero came strolling along. He introduced his buddy “Steve” who just happened to be from Beantown…a financial analyst from Lexington who was taking a year long sabbatical and who looked suspiciously like Gene Wilder aka Willy Wonka. We chatted briefly before it was time to bounce back through the forest to rocking J’s…where I took a quick shower, and busted out the ipod for a little sublime in the hammock while Rory was showering and packing and changing into travel clothes. After checking once again on the hole in his foot (he claimed to be alright) we said our goodbyes and he was on his way. Spent the rest of the afternoon in hammock zen, just swaying with the breeze, alternately listening to music and listening to the waves and the sounds of many different languages…while drifting in and out of consciousness and watching the thoughts play on the screen in my mind without trying to control them, just letting them wander where they may. Just before sunset Wes roused me from my reverie and told me about this cliff spot we had to check out. So it was back on the trail between Puerto Viejo and Playa Cocochles, only this time we veered off on a barely distinguishable path to the left that lead around a HUGE banyan tree and curved upwards for a 50 meter climb. As we reached the top I was instantly aware that this was a pretty special place. On a small point that separated PV from Cocochles there was a solid rock outcropping that divided the incoming waves as they smashed up against it’s point. We could see for km in both directions down the coast, and directly infront of us was a small island off the coast…and to the right of that was a gaggle of surfers watching the ocean for the best beach break waves. Every time a big wave would strike the foot of the cliff a huge wall of spray was sent skyward. We hung out in this special spot, talked about cliff jumping and I told Wes about the SPOT in NH…then when more people came up the trail we decided to bounce and let them enjoy it. The rest of the evening was fairly low key…got some fish tacos at the “Be Happy” soda…then bounced over to the “Hot Rocks Café” where we ordered a pizza and a bucket of beers and watched some cheesy movies on a big screen (Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore…and then when Elektra came on we had to bounce). The rest of the town seemed kinda lame that night, and we weren’t really into partying so we moseyed on back to Rocking J’s and grabbed a few rocking chairs and chatted and told travel stories for a couple of hours before crashing early…no problems sleeping in the hostel bunk.