Uvita, Friday/Saturday

Sat 11th 1252 Not written anything yesterday as either occupied, bored-but-without-K1 or in dorm where impractical/slightly rude.

To fill in a few misc details, I have added an extra two nights to my booking in Bahia Drake - at approx USD11/night if I have to write this off not end of world and if it's decent don't want to end up moving out just as soon as I settle in. Also booked ticket to go see parents when I get back - overpaid by about a fiver compared to booking split tickets but it's Easter weekend and there could be strikes or engineering work or rammed trains and I just felt (albeit reluctantly) I didn't want to take the risk of having to argue the toss with a stroppy train guard over my split tickets if something goes wrong.

My 1.8l milk went off in fridge overnight, luckily I was pouring it into an empty cup to drink some as milk when I noticed. Bit annoying but not end of world.

So Thursday afternoon sitting at table near entrance with coffee and an elderly-ish woman came in and had some trouble with a room she'd reserved. Long story short we got chatting and I was able to assist her a little with some Spanish, she's called Rosemary and has a British accent but was born in IIRC India and married a Cypriot and has lived there for years. Anyway, have chatted quite a lot with her last night and yday night and that also helped me chat with some other people - Laura and Fernando (not a couple), both Spanish (they did let me chat with them a bit in Spanish last night which was nice, once Rosemary had gone to bed), she speaks about four languages and does mountaineering and he is a firefighter on a two year sabbatical and does acro-yoga, so all very inspiring and apt to swell any remote tendency I might have to admire my own achievements. :-)

Writing this while cooking FWIW. Will break off to eat of course.

Got advice on buses to Sierpe when I checked in/from staff while helping Rosemary arrange a bus on to Panama (she left this morning - she gave me her number so maybe I'll find out if she make it) and although there was some confusion over where bus goes and yesterday afternoon I did a practice wait for one of the buses to come through, missed it and asked a local woman on street who pointed me to the other place (I think) I had originally been told by hostel staff, and this morning - happening to be awake early enough - I went and waited for *the* bus I want tomorrow and it came through OK and though not sure he understood me/was paying attention I asked the driver and he said it would be there tomorrow so feel relatively happy about this. I *may* miss the 11ish boats from Sierpe but fingers crossed I won't and with luck I should at least get the 3ish boat.

Oh, Laura did her little party piece of taking the cap off a beer bottle with a plastic soft drink bottle (friction/leverage with the plastic cap) and I was duly impressed, will have to have a play with that at some point when I'm back home.

Yesterday morning got up earlyish to go down to whale tail at low tide. Turns out it's visible for hours either side, but no harm done. Walked trail, got lost, got sick of climate change lectures on all the signs, found the silly metre-high viewing platform (I'm sure it looks cool from high up, as in photos, but it's hard to see when you're actually there), walked out onto the tail - very rocky at "fins" but picked my way round it for a bit.

1357 Come to sit (fully dressed) on sun lounger by pool in shade of a tree - no one else here for some reason.

After walking on tail went for walk up beach, sat on a bent-over palm trunk and watched what seemed to be a nest of hermit crabs in the base of the roots for a while before walking further down beach and back to see crabs again for a bit. Think during walk on trail saw some bright red crabs with red legs but they hid before I got close. Did see and got decentish photos (I hope) of a red crab of the type that normally disappears into its hole in beach sand when you get near - this one was more confident and/or more sluggish and/or was perhaps part way through excavating its burrow.

Stomach was calling to me so went back to hostel and cooked lunch and had coffee. Popped out to get cash (after counting up what I had) for Bahia Drake (which OSM at least suggests is ATM-less) and on way back did the experimental wait for the bus at the wrong place. Came back and spent evening chatting with Rosemary and then later Laura/Fernando also - popped out to see sunset on beach at one point, but got there about 1750 and was told I had 5 mins before they shut so didn't bother. (Wouldn't have paid for beach access just for sunset, but since I'd paid "USD6" (as everyone said, but really 6+tax) for the ticket that morning thought I'd get some more use out of it.)

Got 2x710ml Imperial Original cans on way back from abortive sunset viewing and though I drank lion's share I shared these with Rosemary/Fernando over course of evening. Did have shower despite having had a drink (hardly pissed) and wasn't in bed that late, prob 9-10ish.

As I said earlier happened to be awake in time to get up and try the 8am (nominal departure time from Dominical - takes 40ish+ mins to get to here from there) bus. Bit of chat with Rosemary and to lesser extent another young woman whose name I didn't know and Laura/Fernando this morning. Incidentally general consensus seems to be that Honduras is maybe a bit expensive for what it is and doesn't feel super-safe but Nicaragua and El Salvador are good, and Rosemary at least seems to have heard a lot of good things about Panama, including it maybe not being quite as expensive as CR.

Fernando mentioned last night some waterfalls and he mentioned again this morning so after he showed me where and found on OSM I trogged over there once everyone else had left. Maybe 45 mins walk each way. Maybe supposed to pay 2k entrance and tho couldn't find "free" way in Fernando had mentioned they were so lax and unorganised I slipped down the steps and had a quick look at a pretty enough but not amazing fall maybe a couple of metres high and back out to the road without paying. There's a pool you can go in and maybe a natural waterslide and *another* entrance lower down the road has photos of people jumping off top off a huge-looking fall but fuck it, I had a quick look and Fernando had said it wasn't that big, so maybe photos are misleading or maybe we both missed/were too cheap to pay for access to the big falls, but this is not exactly something widely billed as an attraction so suspect didn't miss much. Didn't want to do all the water park type stuff of course as can't swim. I think for me the main thing was making the effort to walk over and back and "do something" today.

Got food to cook at Super Tatiana on way back, also a CRC600ish can of Bamboo Mojito which I had seen advertised (albeit in margarita form, which might have preferred but they didn't have) which I will have later - wasn't going to drink today but this isn't much and is at least novel.

FWIW while waiting to check in first day saw poster for language exchange in park near here, but it was that morning 8-10am so I'd missed this week's by a few hours - at least I noticed the poster.

If I haven't already said feels like my digital camera is on the way out. After being OK despite all the mud/dust it experienced, some time in the last week or so the lens cover has stopped opening fully and I have to use my finger to do the last bit (which in turn doubtless smears and/or scratches the lens further). It *may* recover but not super optimistic, and the lens was already scratched even before this trip started and I think picked up more. We'll see what happens. Not ideal but I had of course already been toying with stopping carrying a traditional compact camera and using a (third?) smartphone instead.

Incidentally been giving blue RS top a no-soap wash every time I have a shower - it's thin enough I can easily get it mostly dry during time I'm showering and it's dry enough to wear by morning. Wearing fresh uw every day though, that's more awkward to dry quickly (esp in dorm) and I think I'll be fine until I get to Bahia Drake when I can maybe do a proper hand wash and/or splurge on proper laundry.

Talking to Rosemary this morning about the place the Australian guy recommended near PJ and someone else sitting at table said he'd been volunteering there for a couple of weeks (he hadn't seen any Australians) and it was good and generally backed up what Russell had told me. So I may think about going, but we'll see. I do still want and intend to go to PJ anyway, but looking at map and roads other day I do wonder if going there is slightly "artificial" and requires a tiny bit of backtracking - not a big deal if so, we'll see how it goes. OSM shows an ATM in PJ anyway, FWIW.

Have moved to dilapidated stone table and seats a bit back from pool, didn't lose lounger  (tho have now) but sitting up - albeit on this hard stone - more comfortable. Did some fiddling with SD cards to back up photos, although if not already noted have lost access to my own server to do just-in-case upload backups to for not clear reasons which I can't really investigate remotely.

1737 Still out here. Mostly alone but not quite. Not bothered about that.

FWIW the one thing that stops Rosemary being vaguely inspirational wrt getting old myself is that she doesn't have travel insurance because it gets expensive as you get old - probably also doesn't help she seems to be on an extensive and genuinely open-ended trip. I don't know if it's truly unaffordable in general/for her or if she just feels it's not a good gamble - didn't like to get too personal. She did tell me an interesting and mildly hair-raising story about breaking her leg and arm in China and not having any insurance.

Not that she isn't vaguely inspirational anyway, but this little fly in the ointment makes me less confident I'll be able to emulate her as I get older, as I suspect I'd be too edgy to travel without insurance of some sort. (We did agree personal belongings cover is mostly a waste of time. She apparently got badly messed around by one company, had to provide proof of purchase for everything by snail as well as e-mail and ended up with about fifty quid for her trouble.)

1819 On lounger by pool, it's dark now and pool lights didn't really reach my rickety stone table. Charged camera battery earlier FTR.

1822 Rosemary made it no problems :-)

I have a feeling I've got slight sunburn on my head, prob from taking cap off in imperfect shade while sitting at that table this afternoon. Oh well, fingers cross it's nothing major.

1906 Back on my stone table in dark as it was giving me a pain sitting on lounger. Some mildly (not their fault) Americans talking about Obamacare in Spanish and English in pool. Having a coffee and will have my mojito (maybe chilling it in freezer a bit, but not dared put it in there yet lest it burst/I forget) later. Vaguely live-ish music coming from distance, slightly mournful sounding but also kind of cool. Remember same kind of thing first night here actually.

Not seeking out chat. Some other people cooking in kitchen but no one really speaking. Perhaps a bit lazy of me but it's quite nice to have a quiet-ish evening - don't think I'm making excuses. Perhaps although it's true I'm not desperate for a chat, it is also lazy because with it being my last night I sort of feel I don't want to make the effort as I'm leaving tomorrow.

1913 Someone in pool - a Spanish woman? - just said "¡Hostia!" and it reminded me of Guinxu somehow. :-)

1921 What gives this distant music a vaguely live feel is that the same song seems to go on practically indefinitely, I don't know why.

Going to pop into kitchen and put mojito can in freezer. Still drinking coffee (from "La Bruja Zarate" cup :-) ).

I actually think this table is wood, having felt under it. But the uncomfortable but sort of cool "hear no evil" monkey stools seem to be stone/concrete.

Who knows how I really come across, but thinking back to how I used to be in these situations, I think I am genuinely kind of relaxed and not "scared" about being around the strangers eg in the kitchen or feeling "apologetic" for barging in and I don't feel that lurking inferiority or loneliness in the same way I probably used to.

In the unlikely (both given I'm sitting here and as it doesn't seem there are that many people suitable for bumping into) event someone *does* want to chat to me that's fine - though I would also kind of like to enjoy my mojito solo in a bit - but I don't feel desperate for chat or edgy about being alone or whatever. Probably helps I've been fairly lucky with this last couple of days and before that in the first Quepos hostel etc.

1945 "Cumpleanos feliz" from live-ish sounding music - latin rock style - so maybe it is really live. Seems pretty competent anyway.

Genesis playing tinnily from nearby, presumably on someone's phone speaker. "Two hearts living in just one mind" , fairly sure it's Genesis. :-)

1958 Having mojito - not perfectly chilled, but cool anyway, had been in fridge all afternoon before I put it in freezer half an hour ago - out of a childish glass with a cheerful looking cartoon cow on I noticed earlier which rather appeals to me somehow.

2013 Finished mojito. Cow glass still has barcode on base so snapped it for some reason.

Will be vaguely sad to leave here, which is probably not a bad sign. Who knows how it would have panned out, but don't regret not ending up at my "original" hostel here with those people I knew vaguely from first Quepos hostel - things worked out really well socially here on the whole.

Incidentally social stuff here did not depend on dorm. People in dorm have been on the whole decent and considerate (asking about turning light off etc) but I have (kind of out of decency and kind of out of being in bed etc) scarcely seen their faces or spoken with them in general.

Will probably treat myself to some milk in the cow glass - has to be done :-) - in a bit and then move towards bed 9ish. Not super early start but if I can get up earlyish I can maybe have coffee to get bowels moving before I leave. May be slightly awkward packing stuff up in dorm without waking people up but it won't be super early and I can prob cart a lot of stuff outside door and pack there. Not intending to try to shove stuff in tonight as bound to want it tomorrow morning.

*Slightly* edgy about journey tomorrow, including some suggestion in guide book the boat trip can get rough and some people don't like it (and I think there's cool-but-alarming prospect of crocodiles too) when you get to mouth of river, but probably be fine - even if I feel sick and/or nervous, it is a pretty routine trip of course.

Did ask staff earlier how much it costs roughly and was told they'd get an answer but not had chance to speak to them yet. Not end of world.

There is a cat here (haven't been able to stroke it) and it's charging round the garden. Also a nice black dog called Osa which has let me stroke it, though also occasionally goes a bit disconcertingly mad barking at new people coming in.

Should say I'm not super tired but very slightly so and as want early start and not much to stay up for (as usual) it seems reasonable-ish to go to bed 9ish.

2044 Having milk, out in garden on non-stone-after-all table.

Think I already said but if I didn't: somehow the Osa peninsula occupies the same mental space as Tierra del Fuego/Patagonia, presumably because it is kinda-sorta isolated, and I therefore sometimes find myself thinking it's going to be a bit chilly or something.

Offered to help Rosemary out to her taxi to bus terminal with bags. Her main backpack seemed to weigh a ton, she said it's fine once she has it on but she can't lift it on herself and has to get someone to help her. Was/am a bit tempted to point her at onebag.com but she's obviously such an experienced traveller I worry it might go amiss.

2056 No point milking it (no pun intended), going to go in and shower etc and move towards bed.

2131 Bed. Only one in dorm, which feels unusual at this time. Live music increasingly obviously live, hand clapping from audience. But it stopped and seemed to be replaced by a voice gabbing on (but not sounding like a rabble-rousing speech) for quite a while earlier.

FWIW don't know if "everyone else" is out but what is perhaps kind of nice is that earlier didn't feel like huge groups of new friends hanging out together - couple talking maybe-Italian at table near kitchen, few people sitting alone etc, all very vaguely companionable but not as if I was the only loner.

As I say, will be a smidge sad to leave but no amazing reason to hang on even if I hadn't already committed to leaving. Uvita itself not super fun or amazing sights to see etc, but pleasant enough and with lucky meetings in hostel definitely had a better time here than I expected when I arrived.

Fingers crossed all OK tomorrow...