The roads of Costa Rica
So, before we ever got here, Laura decided she would drive. She thought Sully will freak out and demand that everyone in the car be silent so he can concentrate. She thought Sully will lose it. Where would she get an idea like that?
Now that I have peeled my fingers off the dashboard I can tell you a little bit about the roads in this country. Costa Rica is about the size of West Virginia and at first glance has similar twisting, mountainous roads. After a couple days of staring out the windshield, West Virginia has nothing on these roads. When we left Alajuela in our 4wd Hyundai Santa Fe we thought, "we got this!"At first we did. The roads were paved. Although they were winding, every bridge is single lane and travel was slow we were doing okay. After a few snafus because of the complete absence of signage we got on the right road to Hotel Linda Vista. It was gravel, but not too bad. But, around every corner they seem to get progressively worse. It is unbelievable how steep the roads are, like motocross track steep. The experience of getting here was so crazy we were actually afraid to leave. We kept saying there's no way a road could.. it does. We cringe at the sight of mountains ahead because we know we are going to go straight up them and straight dien the other side.
The road to this house is unbelievable. No lie, there are parts that are more than 45 degrees with potholes, dirt and rocks. The driveway is like a roller coaster. Only you drive down the hill slowly so you don't crash into the house. It is made of cinder blocks laid hole side up almost like a ladder for you car. It totally reminds me of a roller coaster ticking up a big hill, only in reverse.
Laura and Emmy have decided that there are always less potholes on the other side of the road. Everyone here drives on whatever part of the road has the least amount of potholes, oncoming cars wait like it's single lane. Emmie's car is small, narrow and bouncy. She can drive between the potholes. Our Santa Fe is wider and lower, like a panther. Laura has to pick which pothole to hit. Our Santa Fe is hardly a match for these car swallowing potholes. We bottom out, bones are jarred, people shout and we are only going like 25 mph. Then, there's pavement, "the great deceiver". We drive onto a patch of pavement and breathe a sigh of relief just in time to drive into a two foot ditch across the road. Yesterday, we took a wrong turn on the way back from snorkeling in Montezuma. It was the nicest dirt road we have driven yet. It was single lane and hardly had any potholes. We kept stopping and asking people if we were on the right road. Shouldn't this be a traumatic experience? What is this thing?
Laura said, "I sure hope we don't have to cross any rivers." That was right before we had to cross a creek. Alden wanted to turn around, but Laura drove right through it. The second creek was more complicated. I had to scout it first. There was a lot of mud, a drop off on one side and potholes, but Jeffe de Calle, our car, went right through. Then, came the hills, like straight down a mountain on a dirt road, like almost vertical roads. The one we came down to get to the beach road puts that steepest street in San Francisco to bed early with no dinner. Thankfully, it was paved. We keep thinking, "How do they do this in the rain?" "How do you even get a car in that driveway?"
Now that I have peeled my fingers off the dashboard I can tell you a little bit about the roads in this country. Costa Rica is about the size of West Virginia and at first glance has similar twisting, mountainous roads. After a couple days of staring out the windshield, West Virginia has nothing on these roads. When we left Alajuela in our 4wd Hyundai Santa Fe we thought, "we got this!"At first we did. The roads were paved. Although they were winding, every bridge is single lane and travel was slow we were doing okay. After a few snafus because of the complete absence of signage we got on the right road to Hotel Linda Vista. It was gravel, but not too bad. But, around every corner they seem to get progressively worse. It is unbelievable how steep the roads are, like motocross track steep. The experience of getting here was so crazy we were actually afraid to leave. We kept saying there's no way a road could.. it does. We cringe at the sight of mountains ahead because we know we are going to go straight up them and straight dien the other side.
The road to this house is unbelievable. No lie, there are parts that are more than 45 degrees with potholes, dirt and rocks. The driveway is like a roller coaster. Only you drive down the hill slowly so you don't crash into the house. It is made of cinder blocks laid hole side up almost like a ladder for you car. It totally reminds me of a roller coaster ticking up a big hill, only in reverse.
Laura and Emmy have decided that there are always less potholes on the other side of the road. Everyone here drives on whatever part of the road has the least amount of potholes, oncoming cars wait like it's single lane. Emmie's car is small, narrow and bouncy. She can drive between the potholes. Our Santa Fe is wider and lower, like a panther. Laura has to pick which pothole to hit. Our Santa Fe is hardly a match for these car swallowing potholes. We bottom out, bones are jarred, people shout and we are only going like 25 mph. Then, there's pavement, "the great deceiver". We drive onto a patch of pavement and breathe a sigh of relief just in time to drive into a two foot ditch across the road. Yesterday, we took a wrong turn on the way back from snorkeling in Montezuma. It was the nicest dirt road we have driven yet. It was single lane and hardly had any potholes. We kept stopping and asking people if we were on the right road. Shouldn't this be a traumatic experience? What is this thing?
Laura said, "I sure hope we don't have to cross any rivers." That was right before we had to cross a creek. Alden wanted to turn around, but Laura drove right through it. The second creek was more complicated. I had to scout it first. There was a lot of mud, a drop off on one side and potholes, but Jeffe de Calle, our car, went right through. Then, came the hills, like straight down a mountain on a dirt road, like almost vertical roads. The one we came down to get to the beach road puts that steepest street in San Francisco to bed early with no dinner. Thankfully, it was paved. We keep thinking, "How do they do this in the rain?" "How do you even get a car in that driveway?"
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