Quepos, Thursday

Thu 2nd 1821 On balcony at hostel with last of today's 1.5l pepsi zero, charging K1 from power bank as write this. Just dropped a biggish load of laundry off downstairs, 1.4kg @ 2000CRC/kg, not too bad and it will be a morale boost in terms of comfort and also a psychological load off to get this done. Also rinsed PackTowl and security belt out in sink with just water under tap, wrung towel out and left it on bag in dorm and security belt hanging on line out here.

Vaguely tempted to go out and get a beer but have resisted.

Everything is really OK but I feel like I've hit a bit of a flat spot in the trip. Although prob not direct cause, and I've been aware of it for a day or two at least, I fly home 5 weeks today so now playing the back nine, so to speak. It will probably be nice to be home but also feels a little bit of a shame.

I slept borderline OK. Woke up ahead of alarms, had 2/3 of watermelon slice bought yesterday (lightly salted) for breakfast and got bus to park OK. I was for some reason in a bad mood, the bus terminal felt slightly confusing, and althought I thought I'd (and actually had) allowed ample time I was under time pressure from the 9-940 entry slot at the park which just cast a cloud over everything (eg bus drops you about 5 mins walk from entry, which is fine - I asked driver and he pointed the way and I slightly rudely pushed along feeling the time pressure - but not so good when worried it might be miles and OSM won't show you a scale etc). I was being a bit of a whiny bitch TBH and I'm not 100% sure where it came from. Maybe it was just the time pressure.

Bag checked at entrance but I just had yday's pepsi bottle full of cold water.

I felt I had no energy at all walking round the park. I *think* this is the heat+humidity - maybe I'm not dressed ideally (though not sure that *is* a problem) but dressed same in hardly chilly places like Montezuma. It is all super paved and it's not "hard" to get round in principle, but just everything felt like such hard work. Phone phantom keyboard actions and esp auto delete really playing up BTW.

Incidentally v little breeze on balcony and it would be cooler in dorm where aircon is on (though prob higher than 24/25 as various people asked them to turn it up) but although I'm happy being solo here it also feels nice to sit here in semi-public and be "open" to chat, so to speak.

Mood not helped by park being pretty damn busy; I had been warned, but dread to think what it must be like at weekends. On the narrower paths you often can't get past without (technically) leaving the concrete trail when there's a guide or two with attendant coma of tourists around. I would try to see what guide was showing but usually failed. Didn't see any sloths, but did see some capuchin monkeys, heard but didn't see howlers (neither of those "novel" but still cool, and one capuchin was just slowly puttering along the path among us, super used to people), a black iguana with spines, a cute-ish thing I thought might be an agouti but was probably too small and (perhaps best) a maybe same animal (which wasn't agouti as a guide told someone what it was in Spanish - I probably have it on a video soundtrack) which had dark red/brown fur and was sitting right on the trail eating a seed utterly unconcerned by anyone.

Some of the trails were closed, which is annoying. OTOH not all bad as TBH I was kind of slogging round trying to keep my mental state moderately positive and thinking (with a mixture of anticipation and "edginess" about eg whether kitchen would be rammed) how good it would be to get back to hostel (via supermarket for some extras) and cook myself a monster sausage+rice+veg meal, and also how annoying it was that I'd be hot and sweaty while doing that as eating would make me sweat and clean clothes at a premium so no point showering before cooking+eating. So a bit whiny but not too bad. I was also reminding myself that eg two days ago I was feeling cold in the water at top of waterfall, that I wasn't going to be perpetually hot and sweaty, etc.

Park shuts 4 but I had walked all the trails and was ready to leave about 230. Maybe I "should" have milked it but food+relaxation was too tempting and really I'd just have been miserable. It wasn't a bad day really, and the park is nice enough, although frankly I struggle to see why it's the most popular park in the country. It doesn't seem that special compared to other foresty type places I've been in - maybe the beaches make the difference for some people, but I just kind of looked at them and didn't take too much interest as such.

There also seemed to be very little wind, when there *was* a bit it did help make things feel almost pleasant, but generally pretty still and humid and sticky feeling. The view of serrano point was nice enough etc. Nothing "wrong" with the park as a park, except for its excessive popularity and (for me, in my current state of adaptation/clothing) the heat.

Of course despite gagging for my rice+sausages I saw a fried chicken type stall by bus terminal as we came in and they had empanadas and I fancied one, but I didn't.

Just had brief chat with German woman in kitchen who is cooking herself a big chunk of chicken in frying pan and it's rekindled my desire from other day to buy myself a steak and cook it. I am thinking (partly but not exclusively stimulated by that conversation) I might take it easyish the next couple of days and maybe just wander round town and have an empanada and perhaps watch sunset (apparently good, and may treat myself to a beer) and cook a simple but hearty steak only dinner at the hostel mid afternoon or something.

I *would* like to hike the waterfall at Bijagua but I am not super keen in this heat etc to slog back to Jaco then struggle to find how to get to the fall without a car then hike it then come back here. Jaco is far enough and the buses are infrequent enough etc it's not trivial.

I have also had personal security esp wrt the ferry and this rural place in a couple of days on my mind. I keep telling myself that actually it didn't look that bad round on walk yday, and even the nominally iffy guy who was talking to me was in fact fine, plus I'd be going "one way" when I go to the rural place rather than doubling straight back past anyone iffy, etc. I think (conv just now sort of helping with this) I've just been in super-touristy places so long that very minor "real life" weird local characters (that guy who talked to me, pebble thrower outside mini supermarket, the odd drunk/homeless guy sleeping in a park) feel slightly scary. Woman just now who had been agreeing with me about sketchiness yday said she felt fine walking the few minutes back from harbour bit to this hostel after sunset and that there were loads of tourists round there etc.

I have until midnight tomorrow to cancel the rustic place but it *will* be a kind of adventure plus a nice little "do very little" break which may be what I kind of need in this flat spot. I shouldn't let an *actually fine* encounter like the one with the guy who spoke to me and walked with me put me off, just because it was superficially scary.

FTR the grey trousers have gone in for the "pro" wash today.

I have this vague "I should be doing more" feeling but I don't think it means I "should" . I've been doing plenty - my time in Montezuma was pretty active, going up the falls twice and also that long hike up the beach chain to the other falls twice. And although not super strenuous, both yesterday and today had a "must be up to do something at a specific time" element which is a tiny bit of a psychological strain (over dramatic phrasing but just trying to get idea across).

Shopping today for second cooked self meal was 1648, so it's roughly 7k for the two days, and that includes (not healthy, but "nice" ) 2x1.5 pepsi and a big watermelon chunk when compared with paying roughly 7k for two casados (seen quite a few places here advertising 3.5k, prob including juice). I didn't cook in order to save money, it was an experiment (confidence-ish) and also a way to enjoy a different and "substantial" meal.

I spoke to guy who I was speaking with yday afternoon while cooking this afternoon, he was cooking too but had mostly finished when I started. Don't know his name or nationality - he seems to live in US but he seems to have a vaguely French accent to his English.

I guess also sitting out here in mildly sticky weather on balcony (but at least with clean clothes) may help acclimatising.

I forgot to note weather while in Montezuma but assuming it hasn't changed, for tomorrow  AccuWeather has 32C with "RealFeel" 36C and 32C shade. While for Quepos they have 34C with RF 40 and 36 shade. (No actual humidity number shown for these "day as a whole" forecasts.) So I guess this does back up some kind of idea that it really is "hotter feeling" here - if RF is remotely accurate, it's as hot in shade here as it is being in direct sun in Montezuma.

RG makes no mention of "bijagual" and based on a quick web search that is the right spelling for the waterfall place.

2204 Bed. Quite lot of chat. Casual touristing tomorrow, will set alarm for 930 but it's not critical and prob wake up earlier and if I feel tired I'll sleep in.