After observing the local surfers the other day I thought damn I am here already I should give it a try myself. There was a little catch however. I didn't have enough local cash and I didn't want to touch my dollar stash. So I have tried to negotiate an extension of my stay with somewhat complicated cash payment. Luckily for me the owner was saving euros for her trip to Europe.
So I got half of my money back in Dollars and local Colones and the next day I was off to the beach again.
The waves appeared smaller than the other day. I went for a swim two times and waited if I'll see anybody surfing or at least trying. Nobody there. Just some obvious gringo trying his luck dressed in a hoodie...
So I have totally changed the day's plan. I packed my bag for a short trip to Quepos - some six kilometers away.
Quepos is a sleepy little town with biggest attraction being the local bus station - which comes really handy as all the other towns don't even have that...
I was fantasizing about this place for few days as while passing by with a bus it appeared to me that it could offer interesting architecture. Well I wasn't that far from the truth but it was completely different than expected.
I got off the local bus on first occasion to walk through the whole place. Immediately I was thinking - oh what a mistake - there is nothing to see here.
Until I made it back to Ocean. Welcome sign Quepos was greeting passengers driving by and I started to have a feeling I am onto something here. A small harbor was visible on the horizon and I ventured exactly there.
Soon after I have encountered a sketchy looking guy. A surfer type in shorts cutting grass around one house with over sized machete. I was naively thinking I will pass him by unnoticed. Well I was wrong.
I have seen he has a monitoring band around his leg, so I felt relatively safe. On the other hand though when somebody with face tattoos and machete in hand starts shouting something in Spanish at you it is a different story.
He quickly found out my broken level of Spanish will get him nowhere and skipped to offer me weed in English. I politely refused and he - to my surprise - gave me some directions and advice on where to go from there.
It was necessary to cross a river or bay of some sort and there were about five small ferries waiting. I fact constantly crossing from one bank to the other so nobody had even chance to wait.
The other bank was a big mystery to me. I had absolutely no idea what will await me there and started to feel excited. Not for long though as I found out it might be some sort of local ghetto.
Or maybe not - maybe it was just slightly cheaper neighborhood. In any case those locals had it quite good. Even though their homes were more like robust tents they lived literary on the beach. If they enjoyed it or not is a different story as I haven't seen anybody directly at water that day...
I kept walking for quite some time after I felt a bit unsafe. Some grown up dudes throwing balls at each other and acting a bit weird, shouting, were a no pass for me. The encounter would definitely involve uneasy discussion or weird looks and I wasn't coming for any of that. Also I didn't wanted to give anybody a chance to rob me.
Generally there is a visible wealth gap here in this tropical paradise. The real reasons behind it unknown to me, but it surely has something to do with the climate, culture and most importantly politics.
Anyhow I can only recommend visiting this part of Quepos as it is literary the only interesting thing to do there apart from changing buses...
All the best,
Global Local