Day 1
After minimal sleep I woke early to catch the 7:45am National Express coach service to Heathrow airport. I took my time getting ready and was soon running late. I was held up at check out because I'd forgotten to grab the tag off my bed, and then again at the tube station because I needed to top up my oyster card. Arriving at <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 />Victoria station a little sweaty and stressed, I followed the signs to the coach station but was soon lost as the signs stopped, leaving the directions to instinct. The last sign said to walk down the street which I was doing but what I thought was the place to be said 'Arrivals Only'. I walked further and saw the departures sign with an arrow pointing that way around the corner. Turning the corner I was greeted with a quiet unmarked street and figured it would be in the same building as the arrivals. Little did I know. I reached the end of the street and knowing I'd passed the entrance I turned back. There in front of me on the opposite side of the arrivals building a bus pulled out, the 551 service to Heathrow, damn!! Thankfully the next service left only 15mins later. Arriving at Heathrow my flight had been delayed an hour, bugger! Time for a banana.
As usual the process at American airports is slow and painful, but being only one more flight away from seeing Leire and starting our road trip adventure in Costa Rica I was still smiling. The passport control officer gave me a bit of a hard time because I'd forgotten to fill out a form but I shrugged it off and headed to the departure lounge.
Arriving in San Jose after 5 hours flight time and a total of 24 hours time in transit with barely a winks sleep, I was eager to get to the hostel and die. But I had more to do. I walked passed the rental car companies but Advanti, the company I had booked with, was nowhere to be seen. Out the front of the terminal were groups of people holding signs, none of which had my name, great! I asked around for directions...
A taxi driver offered to drive me to the car company, no thanks not just yet, and a competitor car company offered a 'better deal', yeah right! I decided to get some cash as the taxi seemed the only option. The exchange house didn’t accept the British £ so I hunted for an ATM. A dodgy taxi man hauled my suitcase up some steps while I took the escalator, he was fishing for a tip. I entered the ATM security booth and swiped my card, how much money do you want? I keyed in an amount, ba bow! Sorry you can’t do that. I entered another amount, ba bow! Sorry you can’t do that. Another amount and another, each time getting smaller and trying both Costa Rican Colones and American dollars, no good. Bah! Defeated I headed back down, halfway down the dodgy fella whistled to me saying he had found the shuttle service my car company operated, great news! Loading my bags into the van the dodgy taxi man was upset I didn’t give him a tip and didn’t seem to care that the ATM didn’t like me.
5 Minutes later I was at the Advanti office signing my life away and feeling completely ripped off, I needed sleep!
A map and quick tour of the silver little 4WD Suzuki Jimny later I was on my way, driving on the wrong side of the road with crazy drivers zooming about trying to kill me. I was soon lost and taking side alleys to escape the traffic and study the map. A few u-turns and close collisions later I magically appeared at Hostel Bekuo, amazing, I was still alive and the car intact.
I looked up at the hostel from the driver’s seat, engine idle, and spotted Leire as she jumped up from her seat behind the window. I beeped the horn and got out to greet her, half excited and half dead. She jumped into my arms and with a buzz of excitement and adrenalin I squeezed her tight. I couldn’t believe it. After all the waiting we were finally here, finally seeing each other face to face, where are we? Costa Rica baby!
My world had suddenly been flipped upside down and it took a while to come back down from the clouds. Leire had already checked in and let reception know I was brining the car, so a fella had already opened the garage door and was waiting for me.
After parking and lugging in my gear I was finally able to relax and I collapsed on the bed. A moment later I sprang back up and squeezed Leire close again, still buzzing from the thrill of seeing her. I wish I could explain exactly how those first few minutes arriving at the hostel and greeting Leire felt, because it was absolutely amazing! We held each other, looked into each others eyes, kissed, giggled and then laughed out loud at how crazy it was to actually be there together, was it all a dream? It sure felt like it, and then, finally, I slept.
