January 17, 2022 - San Jose to Uvita, Costa Rica

We got an early start this morning leaving San Jose heading to Uvita. Our apartment was on the top floor (17th) on the left hand side of the building. This was our view from the bedroom. There were parrots flying from the trees near the white building across the way every morning.We stopped at the Tarcoles River Bridge to see some of the gigantic Costa Rican crocodiles. We could look down and see them sunbathing below – some of them reaching almost 12 feet long. These beasts are not to be messed with!We stopped at the overlook just before arriving at Jaco and got our first really good view of the ocean.We continued toward Quepos where there are mile after mile of palm oil farms.These immense plantations are African Palms, and their oil production is one of the largest agricultural industries in Costa Rica. Palm oil – not to be confused with coconut oil – is the world’s most consumed vegetable oil. The oil extracted from palm oil kernels (called dates) is used around the world in products ranging from candy and cosmetics to candles, cooking oil, industrial lubricants and even biofuels.

While this road is much better than the ones we were on yesterday, there are still drop offs occasionally along the side of the road. This semi truck must have gotten too far over and down its trailer went! It had just happened before we arrived.Arriving in Uvita about 2pm, we unloaded everything and changed into swimsuits and headed to the beach. We drove to Playa Hermosa. We had a nice walk on the beach and enjoyed watching some of the folks surfing.Tobey and Gary went out and went for a swim.We headed back to the house, got groceries and fixed dinner. After dinner we discovered we had NO HOT WATER!!! Fortunately, after contacting the host, the owner came over and with Tobey and Gary’s help figured out the problem. The hot water is heated by propane and batteries and the batteries were dead. He went to get new batteries and we are back in business now. (with a few adjustments by Tobey!)  Tomorrow is a “chill at the beach” day!