Day 2: Exploring the Rich Coast (by Ralph)

Nov. 6 2009
Costa Rica, which translates literally as "Rich Coast”, constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949. Costa Rica has consistently been among the top Latin American countries in terms of the Human Development Index. The country is ranked 5th in the world, and 1st among the Americas, in terms of the 2008 Environmental Performance Index. In 2007 the Costa Rican government announced plans for Costa Rica to become the first carbon neutral country by 2021. According to the New Economics Foundation, Costa Rica ranks first in the Happy Planet Index and is the greenest country in the world. [sources from wikipedia].

How should we spend our first day before the conference begins Spencer and I wondered at the 1^st hour of Friday morning? After careful research and detailed planning in the hotel lobby, juggling between Spanish and English with the front desk clerks, we decided that the best way for us to explore this rich coast was by renting a car and driving to the Pacific Ocean. And that's how we were on our way to Jaco Beach 10 am Friday morning.

The seasons in Costa Rica are quite interesting. Winter is the green season where it usually rains every day in the evening or night and is very sunny and hot during the day. The temperatures vary between 13 and 27 deg C.

We got ourselves a Diesel Toyota Corolla, apparently all cars in Costa Rica run on Diesel. The drive was magical. Never had I expected to see such beautiful, vibrant, lush and diverse exposition of mother nature. Spencer practiced his Spanish by asking Costa Ricans on the side of the roads how to get to “Plaja Jaco”, or “Placo Jaco”, or “placa Cajo”. To his surprise people could not always interpret this mysterious lingo. To our luck there was no high way to take us from San Jose to Jaco Beach, so we had to drive through the mountains and the narrow roads through farm villages and numerous waterfalls. Up to the top of a misty mountain then again down the valley, then again up to the top of another. We were awe stuck and the only 3 words coming out were WOOW, AMAZING and I’M HUNGRY. So we stopped many many times to the side of the road to buy fresh tropical fruits and ate along the way, or should I say Spencer ate along the way while I was rally driving this stick shift Toyota across the Costa Rican Mountains.

Although the ride to the beach was a phenomenal adventure, our final destination was even better. Jaco beach is the most popular surf town in Costa Rica. Since San Jose is quite far from the beach, time had only allowed us to stay at the beach for 1 hour. Spencer went and got his Surf Board! And there he goes to ride the waves! As for me I enjoyed swimming in the crystal clear ocean watching surfers riding the waves. I even got my first surfing lesson that day!