The Land of Monkeys | Our Getaway to Puntarenas

Even though we are tourists in a foreign land we promised ourselves that we were not going to live like tourists. As retirees the touristy things which cost visitors so much of their vacation budgets are off limits for us: no deep-sea fishing, zip lining, or dining at five-star restaurants (at least not very often.) This does not mean we are not enjoying ourselves. We travel around our host country and enjoy the sights and culture, but our retirement budget requires restraint and adjusting our expectations and cash outlays.

The Covid-19 restrictions require periodic getaways and, following guidelines, so we decided to return to the southern zone of the costal Pacific—the Puntarenas Providence; Jacό, Playa Hermosa, Quepos, Dominical, and Uvita. All were beach destinations and we struggled to choose between staying on or near the beach or places in the mountains overlooking the beaches. After browsing the listings on the Airbnb and VRBO websites we settled on the tiny Buena Vista Beach Resort in Quepos near Manual Antonio National Park.  Buena Vista has eight guest quarters right on the beach with a Tiki Hut style thatched-roof bar and restaurant and sand—lots of sand.

Since we were still in the age of social distancing and restrictions during the Coronavirus, we were only one of two or three families staying at the Resort during the week of our visit. Rates were deeply discounted because it was still the “green season” (a phrase the hotel brochure used instead of the ubiquitous “rainy season”) so another feature of our stay was rain—everyday rain but not all day—the early mornings were glorious—custom made for walks on the beach—the afternoons and evenings were usually wet.

In the evenings there was a strong breeze off the Pacific, so the staff spent mornings raking the palm leaves and other debris off the sand and into piles outlining the Buena Vista property boundaries. Each night we sat on our terrace and enjoyed the wine we brought from home and watched the white-faced Capuchin monkeys moving from tree to tree along the beach front.

Beaches were open from 5:00 am – 9:00 am which is not as bad as it sounds since we were staying on the beach. There was plenty of time for beachcombing in the golden hour of the day, before breakfast was served out of the Tiki Hut bar.

We planned our days between those spent on the beach and those driving. Costa Rica has country-wide “circulation” restrictions based on even-odd and last digit license tag rules. Even numbered plates can drive on Sunday but not Saturday. The ending digit of your plate determines the one weekday you are restricted from “circulating”. 

Rental cars have no restrictions and can drive seven days a week; everyone else can drive Saturday or Sunday and four weekdays. It is a way the government holds down the flow of traffic and keeps people social distancing at stores and markets. To enforce the restrictions Transito Policia issue citations and can remove the license plates from the cars of violators. What a buzz kill!

On one of our drive days we took a day trip south, down the coast to the beach towns of Dominical and Uvita (pronounced U-vee-tah), then over the costal mountains to San Isidro El General. San Isidro is a large Central Valley city (35,000) midway between the capital city of San Jose and the Panamanian border town of Paso Canoas.

Both Dominical and Uvita have expat communities. Uvita is a tiny village of 1,000 residents and maybe 500 students. It has a two-mile long beach of pure white sand and is a noted area for sighting humpback whales in the wild. (Rumor has it Humphry, of San Francisco Bay area fame, retired to this area of Costa Rica.) Dominical is noted for its large, year-round waves. It was a quiet fishing village and now has become a destination for tourists and surfers.

Because of their sea-level locations, the climates of Uvita and Dominical are much hotter than those in the Central Valley. In Costa Rica, altitude makes all the difference if you are looking for temperate weather. We may have to pass on these beachfront areas to get the climate we want.

As we were returning to Quepos from our southern tour we stopped at the iconic landmark, El Avion restaurant and bar, featuring a rescued C-123 Fairchild perched high on the hilltop above the Pacific Ocean. For those who do not remember the story of the Iran—Contra Affair, it is detailed on the website of El Avion.

“Our Fairchild C-123 was a part of one of the biggest scandals in the 1980’s. The Reagan Administration set up a bizarre network of arms sales to Iran designed to win the release of US hostages held in Lebanon and raise money to fund the Nicaraguan, counter-revolutionary guerrilla fighters, commonly referred to as the “Contras.” 

The scheme came to an ugly end in 1986 when this plane was shot down in Nicaragua. Years later the owner of El Avion, Allan Templeton, purchased the remains of the C-123 and transported it by ocean ferry to its final resting place where it was transformed into its current role as a bar in Quepos, Costa Rica where the view is awesome, the margaritas are cold, and the food can't be beat. 

Unlike the Iran Contra Affair, El Avion lives on in the mountains of Costa Rica. Try it out. Everyone in town knowns where it is so it shouldn’t be hard to find.