Montezuma

The original route planned to Montezuma from Playa Ostinal had to be
reworked because the some river along the way was too deep even for
our SUV, Zorra, to cross. We're driving along the "highway"; a dirt
road with a higher ratio of pot holes to road and I am being highly
entertained by Agent Ashley. Every time we go over bumps in the roads,
especially when we're taken by surprise, Ashley's whole body goes limp
and she flops around with truly amazing dexterity. I've nicknamed her
Agent Rubber Bones. She claims that this ability has saved her from
getting hurt on several occasions because she doesn't stiffen up. As
always when I'm driving, there is a driving challenge. While coming
around a bend, we come up to a dump truck, just in time to see it dump
a huge load of rocks across the center of the road, effectively
creating an instant roadblock. There are deep ditches on either side
of the road and of course, the rain kicks in. The dump truck drives
away and the three of us are looking at each other wondering what
we're supposed to do. There are some other worker guys milling around
and pointing at stuff, including our car. We're all laughing at the
randomness of this situation as I try to figure out how to say, "push
down the mountain" in Spanish. A few other cars join the waiting party
and we all watch some guys on motorcycles go into, get stuck in and
then get out of the muddy ditches. Rural entertainment, I guess.
Eventually a backhoe comes rolling out of nowhere and gets straight to
work smoothing out the rocks to make the road passable again. By this
point, there are five or six cars waiting to pass. As I see the huge
tires of the backhoe mucking through the rocky mess all I can think to
myself is that I don't want to be the guinea pig driver to cross the
newest road in Costa Rica. The backhoe rolls back and forth a few
times, pats the rocks down with the front scoop thing for good measure
and then blows out of the scene. The guy in charge of this mess looks
at me and motions me across. Of course. I put the car in super 4-wheel
drive, the signal to Zorra for adventure, and creep across the mess.
We made it; onwards to Montetuma!
Montezuma is more populated by hippies and travelers than the rest of
Costa Rica. It is surprisingly international for being such a small
town. We roll in to town and find the first hotel on our list and
promise to bargain shop. We get the grand tour of the hotel, find out
we can afford to have our own private balcony and we're sold. We're
really terrible at bargain hunting when we can't stand to be in the
car any longer. We enjoy showers, a nice dinner at the local
restaurant that also plays movies and then poke around in the shops.
Bed time!
The next day, we go on a horse tour. Our guide leads us to the beach
where four horses are waiting for us to hop on. We're headed for a
waterfall, so we're wearing our swimsuits under our clothes as well as
the usual heaps of bug spray. We walk along the beach hearing the
ocean on one side and monkeys chattering in the trees on the other.
Our trail wanders in and out of the woods, up and down slick rocks and
in front of some beautiful huge houses. We arrive at the beach where
it is OK to canter and our guide tells us that if we get that feeling,
we're free to run here. I trot ahead, feeling out my horse and my
comfort level, since it has been a while since I have ridden. There is
that feeling! I gather the reins, squeeze in my heels and we're off.
It is just me and the horse running down the beach, the wind in my
hair. It feels wonderful! When I reach the end of the beach, I wait
for the others to catch up and we continue on. Eventually, just before
we reach the waterfalls, it starts to pour. The capacity of the sky
here to produce water is astounding. I feel like a fire hose just
sprayed me. We decide to turn around before the falls because the
trail will get too dangerous for the horses. We didn't get to swim in
the waterfalls, but from the status of our clothes and hair, we
practically went swimming on top of the horses.