Sunday, July 7, 2002

We meant to get up at 7:00 to leave by 9:00 but for some reason Genevieve decided this was the day to sleep in and so we didn’t wake up until 8:00. Yipe! Quick quick shower, off to breakfast, a quick walk on the beach to get a few more shells, and then we checked out. This went okay, probably our best experience at this hotel! We were very glad to be rid of the stupid plastic wristbands.

We got to the ferry dock at 10:00 which should have been fine for the 11:15 ferry but unfortunately, there were already a lot of cars in line. Sure enough, the ferry came and we were two cars away from getting on. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal because I thought the next ferry was set to leave at 12:30, but 12:30 came and went, and no ferry. That’s a very very long time to entertain a 20-month-old. We’d explored the weeds, played with rocks, eaten all of the cheese in the car, read books, and played pattycake, oh my gosh do I need to go on? She’s getting fussy, I’m getting fussy, it’s 1:30, and still no ferry.  Finally, at 1:45 there’s a ferry but it’s small and four Barceló busses have just driven up and they get priority because it’s a Barceló ferry. Argh. Thankfully they allow eight cars (remember we’re car number two) so we scramble to get the ticket (me cutting ahead of about 50 passengers, now that didn’t make me too popular). Get on the ferry only to find 1) it’s not safe, with a gap along the railing big enough for a child to easily fall through, 2) there are no seats, and 3)  all of the “first class” cabins have been reserved for Barceló guests with transfers. I HATE this company.  Fortunately, I found a seat when two teenage girls left. Genevieve is beyond fussy, it’s all I can do to avoid hitting her. Mark brings a sandwich which calms the worst of my temper. Genevieve finally falls asleep in my lap, and the storm clouds don’t burst while we’re trapped in the open and I think the worst is over when we disembark. Ha!

Mark wanted some rain to wash off the car but I don’t think he had this torrential downpour in mind. As we’re going over the mountains to return to Alajuela we are stopped by first one accident and then another. The second one was not that far ahead of us so I walked up to see what was up.  It’s a school bus (used for public transport) that has blown a tire and fallen into a deep concrete ditch.  Fortunately, nobody was hurt. The Costa Rican police decide to use a passing semi truck to tow the bus out, which surprisingly enough works. After about 45 minutes we see the bus limp by with all of the passengers walking behind in the rain. There are lots of children, some quite small, and I thank god again nobody was hurt. The bus looks terrible so it’s a miracle it wasn’t worse. We drive on, only to hit San Jose Sunday night return traffic. It’s like what we have from Tahoe in ski season only worse because their roads are all only one lane. We can’t take our turn to Alajuela and Mark is about ready to kill someone until he takes a turn in front of a bunch of cops that may or may not have been legal (they were sure yelling at us) but it did work. Finally back to Xandari, and into a new, larger room.  Aaaahhhhhh.

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