micro adventure

We took advantage of the day off after Independence Day to have a micro adventure here in Sarapiquí. We needed to go into Puerto Viejo to go to the post office to send some letters/postcards to the new batch of Huskers participating in a letter exchange with colegio students here, so I proposed two options to Tarah on how me might do this. Both would be a little adventurous. We could either ride our bikes to and from Puerto or we could take the bus to Puerto and then go for a walk down the dirt road that leads out of the back of town and sort of follows the river to near our community. [A possible future adventure involves us floating that river home, though we need some more info on the reptiles that call the river home]

I tore some small pieces of paper from a notebook and scribbled an "H" on one scrap and a "B" on the other. I balled up our options, mixed them up behind my back and Tarah selected a hand. When she opened her choice and read "I" I called her an "Idiot" and then we both prepped for a hike down an unknown road.

As of late, our buses have been running on less than consistent schedules. As I was still getting things in order, Tarah saw the bus passing our house early, she was able to get out the front door and yell "¡Pare!" and thankfully the bus stopped. I locked our bedroom door and ran outside with my shoes in one hand and a school bag that contained a mostly empty water bottle and the letters to be mailed, in the other. I boarded the bus and found a seat where I could replace my fake Crocs with running shoes and took a deep breath, this micro adventure was off to a pretty adventurous start.

We got things mailed and then started the trek. At the edge of town we stopped for provisions at one of the local panaderías. With fresh baked empanadas dulces in our packs we headed out of town. It was nice to be on a different dirt road, even if the views weren't dramatically different. We passed through a number of small communities, caught some glimpses of the river, and saw some interesting flowers and birds. The walk was mostly tranquilo, though we were almost hit multiple times by the same distracted driver as he was shuttling people up and down the road. We stopped in the shade of a bus stop and enjoyed our snack and then continued a little further into the unknown. After about two hours, we turned back towards Puerto.

a church that I think Don Quijote would love 

a photo that doesn't do justice to what we saw

In Puerto, we enjoyed some generic sports drinks and some ice cream sandwiches before picking up a few essentials from the supers, including a can of cerveza to make some delicious bread for dinner. As we waited for our bus home, we chatted with a couple of students from our escuela that were in town.

Getting on our bus home was an adventure of its own. People were "in line" when a bus with "La Colonia" in its front window pulled up and some people started putting things in the storage areas underneath, then another bus with "La Colonia" in its window pulled up and everyone rushed to the new bus which was the correct bus. As soon as the "line" sorted itself out, the new bus pulled into the spot vacated by the previous bus and once again, everyone scrambled to get aboard. Thankfully, since there were so many passengers, they called for a second bus and we were able take the first bus which was going to the stops furthest away.