Costa Rica Part 2: Playa Uvita

Finally part two of our Costa Rica holiday in words and photos are ready for you to lap-up.

It really seems like an eternity has past since our adventure in Central America. However, the gorgeous tastes of guanabana juice, palmito and mora berries are still fresh on my palate.

Once we left La Joya del Sol we headed for the coast, which was about an hours drive away. We stayed in a spectacular villa in Playa Uvita. It felt so luxurious to be there especially after having roughed it for a week. The space was so beautifully decorated inside and out, that our own private outdoor jacuzzi just put the icing on the cake for us.

The time in Playa Uvita went far too quickly. We filled most of our days with visiting all the local beaches and munching on the fresh local cuisine. The beaches were breathtaking, picturesque beyond words and the ocean was like hot bath water. Nearly all the beaches we visited were desolate. I couldn’t believe that there weren’t more people there soaking in the luminescence.

Of course not to leave you in suspense (I am sure you have all just been hanging off your chairs to hear this one!) I’ll recap our breakdown story. As mentioned before we hired a 4x4, which turned out to be rather tatty. Claude and I were uncertain if she was going to be able to handle all the rough bounty of the countryside. On our last day driving back to San Jose she conked out on us in the middle of an off ramp road. She just stopped. A lorry (truck) driver was behind us hooting his horn. When he realized we were broken down he and his mate parked their lorry in a safe place, hopped out and helped us push our 4x4 out of the building traffic.

Zenchai knows more about cars than Claude or me so it was a huge blessing to us these kind men were willing to help us out. They checked the engine, put some water in it and tried a few other things that are beyond my mechanical abilities, but to no avail she wasn’t going to start. So they generously called our car hire people. After a little to-ing and fro-ing it was decided we would need to get a taxi for the last 60 kilometers of our trek.

To me this situation was the Universe’s way of blatantly reminding me of the goodness in all people. Although they didn’t speak any English (and my Spanish is not much to write home about) we were able to communicate in the universal language – the language of kindness, graciousness and love. So thank you lorry drivers wherever you are and whatever your names are!

My overall impression of Costa Rica is that it is a great place of magnificence. The roads were terribly bumpy, but the awesome scenery surrounding you soon makes you forget that you are being jumbled around on the inside of the car. I was also really amazed by the sheer amount of ‘Se Vende’ (for sale) signs on land. I am sure this is largely due to Costa Rica being a very desirable location for expats, which has pushed the land/housing prices through the roof. Maybe my surprise is more at the volumes of property holders that are trying to cash in on this boom.

But with that I will close this chapter on my travels to Costa Rica. The sunshine streaming through my window is definitely helping my heart ache less for sunnier pastures.