Sad day. It was our last day at the most gorgeous place on earth. No more chirpy geckos, no more howling howler monkeys, no more ocean view, no more sloth eating his mid-morning snack in a tree near the spectacular pool. We head back to San Jose today. Greg, Addison and I will be heading home early tomorrow morning.
After our last meal from Stefan (banana pancakes and fruit), we had our last ride with Juan. Juan was our driver, mangrove tour guide, and waiter at one point. He was amazing. He passed us on to another driver who took us some wacky way back to San Jose but got us there in plenty of time for mom & dad's tour of the city. Little did they know the tour of the city that the rest of us would get later.
After we arrived at Country Inn & Suites, Greg arranged through the concierge for a driver. Rather than a taxi, the Hotel contracts with a company that will drive you wherever you want to go for free. Can't beat free, right? Well. Maybe you can. The deal is two stops for free then you have to start paying. We loaded up in the van and headed for our destination. Or so we thought. Pablo, our driver who claimed he didn't speak very good English took us on a mini tour around the city. He showed us their Central Park and some other highlights of the city. He told us what to watch out for and seemed generally helpful. Then the fun began. We drive though some back streets and end up on some very shady looking, not heavily trafficked streets. He points out his parents house and says he lives right next door. Ok. This is getting weird. He said he knew of a place that he was taking us to - he's sure we'd be interested and not to tell ANYone because he could lose his job. This place, he says, has no signs an looks like a house from the front but inside is worth it. "Oh, God. This is where we make headlines" I thought. Sure enough, we pull in front if a double-gated white house and we get out of the car. A too-beautiful girl greets us at the gate and we walk into the house. If I wasn't nervous before, I'm certainly nervous now. We walk into a gallery of jewelry and. knock-off paintings. Two girls in this tiny house waiting to pounce at the slightest bit of interest. He explains to us how gold is made, then we have to watch a video. My skin is crawling and I want nothing more than to leave right now. I even considered just walking out the front door to wait outside, but I couldn't trust what was out there any more. They offer us free drinks - which thankfully no one took him up on and any slight interest in anything they were practically dressing us with it. I disappeared to the patio out back with AJ, Addison and Molly until everyone was ready to go. Then I made a beeline straight for the van.
Our next and final destination was the city. On the way Pablo takes us down a street where some guys were just walking up to cars begging for money. He says they are druggies and not to get mixed up with them. As soon as the sun goes down, they apparently get volatile and start using weapons. Ah, nice. Can't wait to get of this street. He drives us down a few streets instructing us to stay on this street and not go down this other street because of robbers and such. He apparently told Molly and Laura that they could leave their cameras and jewelry in the van if they liked but he had other people to pick up. Huh? Plus he had already pointed out the taxis to us indicating that we'd need them to get back. The whole thing was bizarre. Nobody ended up leaving their things, we took a very short walk through the city and found pretty much nothing but shoe stores everywhere. Greg and I got a taxi back to the hotel and thought Laura, Jim, Molly and AJ would be right behind us, but apparently they didn't get a taxi as easily as we did. Eventually we met up again and went to the cheesy souvenir shop we were looking for - only we walked there...and back. We got everything we needed, ate, showered, and packed. We're ready for our early morning flight and I pray for no troubles.
It's been a crazy day. We're almost glad to be going home mostly because we can't wait to get out of San Jose. Yucky! We're certainly not in Kansas anymore.
It's been a wonderful experience that I can't imagine ever doing this on our own. It was great to spend time with family and I had a blast. An experience of a lifetime that I'll never forget. Thanks to Brian & Kathleen for planning everything and making us feel like royalty and thanks to mom & dad for making it all happen.
-- Post From My iPhone
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