Costa Rica, Day One

Day One was a blur of airplanes, cocktails, and a triple-dose of naps.

We got up at five a.m—exactly the time I’d asked the car service to pick us up. We put on whatever clothes were within arm’s reach and raced to the car. At the airport, we said goodbye to Alex, who would be stuck in there until her mid-afternoon flight back to France, the poor girl. We got through check-in and security quickly, and before we knew it were in the air, sleeping again.

We had a change in Miami, where we bought a couple of books (who knew Thomas Pynchon had a new novel out?) and hopped on another plane where I quickly fell asleep again. We landed in Liberia, Costa Rica, where I finally opened my eyes.

The Liberia aiport was about the size of a Wal-Mart. It’s a converted hangar filled with immigration guys who didn’t like the fact that we knew the city—but not the name of the resort—where we were headed. After a few sideways glances, we were finally free to go.
A young man holding a sign that said—now inaccurately—Evan Rowe & Rachel Gainer, led us to a little 5-speed camper van that was to become our first adventure. Most of the roads from Liberia airport to the Riu Guanacanaste resort are unpaved, and we bounced around the Costa Rica countryside like popcorn for the next 45 minutes, passing tiny towns and makeshift rainforest houses. I remember seeing a fence made entirely out of cacti, but we were still in too much of a haze to think to pull out the camera.

The Riu Guanacanaste is a huge resort on the water. It looks a little garish in the afternoon, especially after driving through the desolate countryside on the way there. It can probably hold several thousand, but there are, for whatever reason, only a handful of people here now. We were handed a cocktail while in line to check-in, which I think was the first liquid I’d put in my mouth all day.

We got settled into the room for a bit, learning how to work the safe and the patio door and the lights, before going to explore the premises and find some lunch.

We discovered lunch at a huge cafeteria by the pool. It was kind of like Golden Corral in its attempt to cater to every conceivable desire—pizza, quesadillas, sandwiches, fountain drinks, and beer on tap. We ate quickly and took a walking tour of the premises. There’s a giant, heated, winding pool that overlooks the ocean, with pool-soccer and volleyball, and a swim-up bar. By the way, the Riu is all-inclusive, which means we get three meals a day and all the cocktails we can drink for free. This was not the time for cocktails, though, so we went back to the room for Nap #3.

We woke up around three, and decided to put on our vacation gear and hit the pool. We jumped in straight at the pool-bar, and got some mojitos and found a nice seat in one of the hot-tubs. We were expecting rain, but the weather was gorgeous, and we admired the scenery for a while, occasionally hearing the drunken shouts of other couples, all of whom were married on the same day as us. We had a couple of drinks and decided to head back to the room and grab some money to buy sunscreen, which we didn’t bring for fear of being confiscated at the airport. But this plan only led to Nap #4.

We woke up around six thirty. It was a bit darker, and we walked around the resort, which was now less garish, and in fact, absolutely beautiful at dusk. There was a bit of cloud cover and lightning off in the distance. We went to the pan-asian restaurant (one of about five restaurants at the resort) and got some sushi and fried rice and various other semi-thematic foods for dinner. Then we popped in at the “Sport Bar,” equipped with a dozen flatscreens, air hockey, and pool. We had a drink there and toured the premises more, discovering the casino and a shop that will gladly sell you sunscreen for $25. We passed on that, had another drink at the Sport Bar, and then the rain came.

It poured like I imagine it only pours in tropical climates. We went back up to the room to recuperate. Rachel asked if she could take a little nap. “Wake me up in a little while,” she said. Nap #5 lasted until morning. It rained all night.