Around The World In 80 Waves

Not for the first time on this trip I got back home to discover a crab had moved into my room!

Now it looked strangely like the crab on the cover of The Fat of the Land album by The Prodigy, so I am going to call him Keith.

As soon as I stepped through the door Keith raised his claws defiantly and then scuttled off into a hiding place, which kind of set the tone for the game that we played for the next twenty minutes.

Keith was an elusive character and I was absolutely shattered when I had gone to my room so wasn’t really in the mood for the game he seemed to be enjoying so much. I certainly wasn’t going to allow him to be crawling around the room and possibly over me while I slept so he had to go.

The way the game worked is that I would pick up some utensil, box lid, shoe or equivalent and approach stealthily. Using the loo as an example, which you can see him hiding behind here, he would then speedily scuttle around the other side rendering my distance maintaining object inaffective. I would then hurry around the other side of any number of objects only for him to do exactly the same going the other way.

Ocassionally I would corner him behind a door or equivalent but with the kind of bobbing and weaving of which Muhammad Ali would be proud, and with strength that his size would not suggest he would grip hold of the base of the door fending off any attempt to free him with his spare claw. I would then rush to grab a more suitable utensil or crab trap such as the bin only to discover he had run back behind the loo or equivalent as soon as my back was turned, and we would be back to square one.

Now I was trying to be cool with the crab and just get it outside, but every now and then he mould make a lunge for one of my flip flopped feet. At first it was funny but after more than 10minutes of this in the heat and humidity and because I was so tired anyway I eventually grabbed my boots (checking to make sure there was not anything funky inside them before putting them on). All I will say is that it didn’t go too well for the crab from there.

Rob 1 Crab 0

Driving south from Jaco to Dominical there is a noticeable change in the scenery.

Everything is more lush and verdant.

The rainforest to my left all the way there was constantly shrouded in mist out of which the occasional lightning bolt could be seen and from which thunder would rumble.

There is clearly a great deal more water about and the rivers now look like they should as opposed to the arid gutters I have been seeing thus far.
It didn’t take me too long to get there because the distance was only 100km.

My base in Jaco has been the Hotel Roblemar which I found after a cruise around all the places on offer here.

I opted for a room without air conditioning, which at times felt like a mistake, even if the free sauna in Central America is doing wonders for my waistline.

On the positive side my room was huge, came complete with its own fridge and satelite TV. Having the HBO channel has allowed me to unexpectedly catch the first of the new series of Game of Thrones as well as a few movies that I haven’t seen, which always puts a smile on my face.

I could also park right up in front of my room, and my motor was looked after by a security guard all night, although I did have to wake him up when leaving for my dawnie yesterday!

The hotel is run and owned by Hugo Robles who is a really cool guy who impressed me first by actually knowing where Wales was as opposed to the usual belief that it must be a suburb of London or something similar.

However I also discover during my stay that Hugo was the first surfer in town after bringing a board down to Costa Rica from Californina in the seventies.

This is confirmed by Hugo’s picture which is proudly displayed in El Paseo de la Surfistas here in Jaco, where pictures of the great and the good of the local surf community are posted along the walls like the Hollywood walk of fame.

Not that I needed any further encouragement to stay here, but the hotel has a pool styled like a ukulele. It has the four strings marked along the base of the pool and is a welcome relief to the relentless heat here.

It seemed only appropriate to get my uke out whilst here and spend an afternoon strumming, whilst cooling my feet. It is good to add a Costa Rican session to my rock ‘n roll world tour.

I got up at 5am this morning and took the car for a quick spin along the coast to Playa Hermosa, which is supposed to be the best break locally.

Although it was super clean it was just dumping on the shore in a Puerto Escondido fashion so I wasn’t tempted into the water there. Huge board snapping potential.

After a bit of a surf safari I returned to Jaco and decided to go into the beach break there where the locals were ripping it up.

There was a really friendly vibe in the water which was packed with North Americans from Canada and the USA, but I didn’t bother with the camera which meant I missed the opportunity for a shot of the biggest face plant of the trip so far after taking off and stacking on one of the bigger waves that break so quickly here. After that I was a tad reluctant to get in front of one, and was starting to get a bit peeved with the wind which had picked up and was causing so much chop on the water.

However I nailed my last ride of the day and the Ticos (as the Costa Ricans are proud to be called) were cheering me on down an epic ride down the line. I got out really stoked and may go for another dawnie here tomorrow for another slice of the action before moving on again.

My headlights were still not working so with the help of my hotel’s manager I found a car parts shop.

Once there and with the help of the Haynes Manual I wisely bought for the car in California, myself and the owner of the operation figured out how to change a light bulb. Whilst you might think this should be a straight forward operation and be wondering why it takes two men to change a bulb it actually entailed unlocking the entire headlamp unit and temporarily removing the Little Green Surf Machine’s eyes! (I’m sure there is a joke along these lines as an aside.) At first glance it looked like it would be a nightmare and especially so with my talent for breaking things by not knowing my own strength, however the whole thing was achieved in under 10 minutes.

The operation was also a car wash so as a reward for good behaviour I treated the car to a proper clean by their valeting staff. The guy did a brilliant job spending nearly an hour, being really meticulous taking care not to miss the sills and such like which is easily done, so when I discoved the cost of the bulbs and the valet was only £12 I tipped him enough to buy a beer, which was well received with the customary ‘Pura Vida’, which seems to be the standard answer for everything, a normal greeting, and the marketing slogan for the local Imperial beer here in Costa Rica.

The finished result was fantastic. I dont expect it to last long but took a few snaps so that I can advertise online on the Panamanian equivalent of Exchange and Mart.

If I didn’t need the car for the last leg of Central America I would be very tempted to sell the car here. I have already turned down several offers of selling the car in Costa Rica where car prices are very high, some which would have entailled a $2,000 profit on the purchase price! I hope the market is as bouyant further down the line.

Jaco is Costa Rica’s main surf town and I am going to hang out here for a few days. There is miles of sand for you to pick a break to surf on, loads of surf shops and plenty of hotels in town, although some of them are asking extortionate money for one night’s stay.

I realise I will not get much sympathy on this but the heat is sometimes unbearable here. My clean shirt was almost wringing wet with perspiration after 5 minutes of just walking in the sun yesterday. I cant drink fast enough to keep up with it and am feeling really drained half the time purely due to dehydration. I have picked the dry season for my visit to Central America, hoping to escape before the rains start, but at times I would simply love a bit of British drizzle to cool me down.

I went for a scalping yesterday to try and help with the heat. After my moustache I had thought my next hirsuite project should be growing a flowing mane whilst I had the opportunity to do so, and have not had my hair cut since LA towards that end. However my hair is so thick that as Clem says ‘The boufant will not be denied!’ and it has been feeling like I am walking around with a woolly hat on my head. It had to go as a consequence

I am not going to get into one on this but you can also imagine my delight when my mobile phone’s internet stopped working again as soon as I got across the Gulf of Nicoya. Does anybody know where I might get a mobile phone company voodoo doll?

Leaving Mal Pais I noticed how low my tyres were as a result of the bumpy drive into town. I also wanted to get some water because it felt like I was actually melting in the heat.

Being the procrastinating champion of the world I sorted these issues out rather than pushing on for the ferry. This meant this was the image that greeted me when I rolled up to the ferry terminal. I had missed it by two minutes. How unlike me?

This of course meant that I was first in line for the next one although that wasn’t for three hours and meant I spent the hottest part of the day trying to shelter from the sun in the oven that my car becomes when stationery. All the while thinking if I hadn’t rushed so much for the first one I wouldn’t have to wait so long for the next one.

There was an air conditioned room on the boat but I preferred to enjoy the sea breeeze whilst taking in the glorious scenery on either side of the Gulf of Nicoya as I crossed it.

Had a bit of an issue finding the road out of town at Punterenas on the other side, and was getting a tad nervous because Dave had spotted that one of my headlamps was out as I left The Green Rooms. The local Police don’t need much excuse to try and exact a bribe so I didn’t want to hand one to them on a plate.

However I was soon on my way towards Jaco crossing a bridge over a crocodile infested river on the way there. Tourists and locals alike are lobbing stuff (sometimes live chickens!) at the crocs in the water to get them riled up. Like a lemon I forgot to take a picture of the action but can only confirm it was brutal. You can see them waiting for the next titbit here.

I got the most amazing surprise soon after when water started falling from the sky. This is a concept which is called rain if I remember correctly, but think it was the first time it had rained on me in nearly four month so I may be wrong! The scenery is getting much more lush the further south I travel into Costa Rica. Rainforests in every sense of the word.

When I bought the Litle Green Surf Machine in San Francisco the stitching on the passenger seat had long since been in a state of poor repair.

This has bothered me across two continents and I will have to sell the car shortly so needed to sort this out in the interests of getting as much as I can for the car when I sell it.

It is not common knowledge that I am actually quite handy with a needle and thread. (Please ask for pictures of my dressing gown if you want proof.) As a consequence I got my sewing kit out in the heat of the day while staying at The Green Rooms and spent an hour or so sewing, which at least tidied it up.

Not a bad job even if I do say so myself.

It should at least pass a casual inspection when people are checking out the motor and give them less chance to haggle me down on the price.

Of late I have been charging around unnecessarily and I decided to remind myself that I am actually on holiday. I did this by following Kevin’s example and just kicking back for a couple of days.

(Kevin is who you see here, and I do know that Kevin is a girl by the way.)

Dave has been showing me how to make bread and I have been enjoying all the good company I have found here, generally with an ice cold beer in my hand.

The two dogs here are great fun and a couple more are regular visitors. As a dog lover I’m loving playing with all of them.

There is loads of other wildlife on show everyday:

• Humming birds
• Squirrels
• Monkeys
• Iguanas
• Geckos
• Lizards
• Birds

I spend a lot of time watching them in the trees from the shade of the house. 

Dave has built a fantastic dining table which everybody can sit around to chew the fat.

I have also been making good use of the toaster here, and my Marmite is a welcome addition to this British household.

Of course it is boiling hot even in the shade but the pool is great for bombing into when it gets too much.

It is a hard life. Sadly I need to push on towards Panama as ever. I hope the other places I find are as comfortable as I have been here.

There is definitely swell around but I’m having a day off to recharge my batteries.

I use the time to explore the local area, buy some fresh fish from the fisherman who landed it and have a few beers at some of the wonderful bars which overlook the coastline here in Mal Pais.

This area has been developed considerably over recent years, but still retains its charm. Mel Gibson, Gisele Budchen, and a number of successful IT geeks have bought property down here and developed designer beach pads to enjoy in their time off.

It is as cool as 32C today so I can cope with riding on the quad bike in the midday sun.

This was one view I enjoyed while exploring the area and contemplating my next move with the aid of a cold beer.

I also replaced my flip flops buying a pair of Reef sandals which have handy bottle openers installed in the soles of each feet. Dont ask me what they cost because I think I got my man maths a bit confused doing the exchange rate, resulting in me purchasing an obscenely priced pair. However I’m sure I will be making good use of those bottle openers in the weeks and months to come!

The rest of the day was spent drinking the local Pilsen beer and have a great laugh with Dave, Tiffany, Svetlana, Rodrigo and Nils back at base.