THE FLIP FLOP LIFE

This is an automatic google translation of an original post in Spanish

On Thursday night we finally received the good news that the money had arrived in Costa Rica and that they were giving us the car. Yabadabaduuuuu! We could already leave behind the thunderous noise of Alajuela trucks, cars and buses and go to enjoy the silence on the beach.

The owner of the little house we were heading to in Guanacaste had sent us the GPS coordinates of the accommodation. When putting them on google maps, we got something strange, like the house was in the middle of the forest, with no road or highway in sight. Anyway, we said to ourselves. We will solve it when we arrive. Surely at the end there is a path or something.

We left Alajuela around 12 noon, which initially gave us room to get to the house by day and look for the house. In the end, between stops to stretch our legs, road works and container trucks on one-way roads, we arrived at the Beach (south of Tamarindo) when the sun was already low. And just as it usually happens as soon as you’re in the middle of nowhere, the GPS stops working… Holy shit! The owner of the house had given us the phone number of the man who takes care of the house, so I decided to call. I get the answering machine. Double shit!. It is almost night and we are in the middle of nowhere, with the car loaded up to the brim and not knowing where to go. We start to panic.

And it is at that moment when the car, which was climbing a 45º slope on a dirt track… stalls. Argggggggg !!! I try to start it and nothing, it doesn’t work. Of course, I begin to think that we have been scammed with the car and that the battery does not work because it does not make contact … Cold sweat. And suddenly, a heartbreaking roar next to my window. GRRRRRRRRRAAAAUUUUUUUUUU

And faaar, faaaar away, I hear Frank say something. He’s saying something important to me, but I’m in such a state of panic that I can’t hear him… something about howler monkeys and the car’s start-up block. Oh right !, when trying to start the car again, I have not put the safety magnet in the corresponding place to unlock the car’s electrical system. Et voilà! The car starts. I put first, the 4 × 4 and we left the slope while the howler monkeys continue protesting because we have bothered them with the noise of the motor.

At the end of the hill, there is a super luxurious house … with people. So we stop to ask. Spanish? English? Non, pas de tout! A Little English, says a very tanned man. We asked about the house, and it sounds like Chinese to him. And while we’re showing him the google map, the guy who takes care of what is going to be our little house calls us (the one who didn’t pick up the phone). And he gives us instructions “Tico style”. From thebar, the first dirt road on the left, 75 meters take the path on the right and 250 meters, our house will be on the left. Wooden gate.

Much better than GPS! In two kicks we are in front of the house and I begin to breathe. Frank, who until now has been the living image of self-control, looks me in the eye and says, ugh! I thought we had to sleep in the car.

The last rays of the sun have already disappeared on the horizon and it is beginning to get dark, but we have already arrived. And it was worth it! The house is spectacular, very spacious and comfortable and surrounded by nature and away from traffic. Finally we can enjoy the silence and start the holidays!