After a few days in the heat and humidity of Uvita, we decided to travel light and take some time to explore a town called San Isidro up in the cooler hills. We packed our smaller daypacks with some overnight gear (leaving our heavier bags at Tucan Hotel for safekeeping) and at 07h00 on Monday 9th we climbed aboard the "tico" bus (the local transport) at a nearby stop.
The bus meandered its way north along the coast, stopping regularly (sometimes randomly on blind corners and rises) to pick people up, all of them locals on their way to work or school. We immediately noticed the friendliness of the local people - everybody seemed to know everybody else; the driver exchanged gossip and laughs with kids and adults alike.
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| Bustling streets of San Isidro |
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| The main church in San Isidro |
At Dominical the road then veered inland and we started to climb the forest-clad hills up a narrow, winding road. At least the state of the road was good - in the rainy season this climb must be treacherous. Occasionally we would see a tourist hotel or lodge, but mostly it was the tenacious houses of the ticos that were perched on the hillsides amongst the trees. On and up we climbed, until about 2 hours later the terrain flattened out and we entered the town of San Isidro. This town is situated on the Pan-American Highway and mainly serves the farming communities in the surrounding hills. The temperature here is cooler, but the most noticable thing is the difference in humidity to where we'd just come from. We found our hotel to be very basic and bland and not worth a mention, but it would serve it's purpose for the following few days.
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| The hills around San Isidro |
The next day we ate a breakfast of beans, rice and eggs (a staple in Costa Rica) and walked around the busy town, passing numerous "sodas" (small tico restaurants) and a large farmers market selling meat, fish, poultry and fresh produce. We were also on the lookout for estate agents to try and get a feel for the type and cost of property in the region. Later that day we received an email from an agent to inform us that a farm was available to view about 45 minutes drive from the city, and so we arranged to see it the next day.
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| A cabin in the forest |
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| A river runs through it... |
Fortunately for us the owner of the farm (an American from Texas by the name of Nancy), picked us up from our hotel, and drove us out and up another winding dirt road in to the hills close to the Chirripo National Park. We arrived to find a small forested plot with a recently renovated wooden house on stilts, and 2 more cabins further up the hill. A river ran across the bottom of the property and 4 tilapia ponds were scattered amongst the trees. A gorgeous property, with great potential to live self-sustainably, yet possibly overpriced. We started to appreciate what your money can buy you in this fascinating country.
Later that afternoon we returned to San Isidro in time to eat a late lunch and then catch the tico bus back down the mountains to Uvita. Stepping off in Uvita again we were hit by the humidity, so off to the supermarcado we went, ice-cold beers on our mind....
Until next time
Adios
Don't fancy the diet!! However, sounds like you are doing some interesting stuff!!
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