Saturday morning we found ourselves at loose ends in Liberia. We drove the hour up there for an 8:15 appointment, by nine or so we were figuring out what to do next.

Seeing as how I've spent the better part of the last 15 days on the road, looking at farms, you might get the idea that I would want to do anything but look at farms. Not so! This is the part of my job that I like the best! We opted to drive around the area north-east of Liberia for an hour or three, just poking around down various roads unknown. It was a nice way to spend a cloudy morning, and Jocelyn got a chance to see an area that really is very different than where we live. The downside is that in the future I'm going to have trouble getting sympathy from her for my long days of driving all over heck and back- truth is that exploring Costa Rica in a 4x4 with some tunes on and no specific itinerary is exactly what so many tourists pay good money to do with their time, and I get to do it with the realistic hope of compensation (note: not the assurance of, which is all that it would take to make it that much better!).

One of Costa Rica's most amazing traits is that in an hour drive you can pass through 3 or more topographies and flora types that seem radically different from each other. Fun stuff. We enjoyed the white "cascajo" of Liberia- chalky stone with a thin cap of dried out vegetation above it, as well as groves of oaky-looking trees in canyons, and full-fledged forest with soaring hardwoods. All within view of a towering volcano.

Unfortunately, we didn't take the camera. Next time.

After a few hours of aimless exploration we ended up back in Liberia at the central market. Despite its not-very-central location (it is by the bus station on the edge of town) this hodge-podge of little shops is usually bustling. I can't help but wonder if walmart's presence across the street is killing the traditional marketplace's business, but it looked busy on a Saturday afternoon, even if not full. The primary emphasis seems to be meat- which makes sense as the sterile meat counter at the big box stores continues to under-whelm me, and must be equally blah to folks living here. There is something reassuring to me about buying meat from a smiling, heavyset fella with a big knife in his paw as opposed to some bewildered teenager with a hairnet and a snarl. For the butcher's sake, I hope that others continue to value his contribution.

We ate a decent (enormous) $9 lunch at a noisy but clean little spot with a view of the bus station. She got arroz con camarones, that could have been called shrimp with rice for the relative proportion of ingredients (yum!), I got a light-on-flavor but heavy-on-spices fried fish fillet that was purported to be mahi but might have been catfish for all I could tell. The fried plantains were perfect. Watching people milling around the bus station might not sound all that scenic, but I enjoy traveling vicariously through others. Seeing all ages carrying all manner of bundles, bags, and whatnot is great imagination fodder.

On the way home we detoured down some more unknown roads, including a brief flyby of the town of Filadelfia. I've driven past their fancy arch (picture coming someday) at least 200 times, and always wondered what the town is like. Yesterday we found out that it is a cute little traditional Tico city. We're already planning a return trip to check it out, but this time, with camera(s) in tow and perhaps some snacks. There are at least two well manicured parks with benches, a long levy to keep the Tempisque river out of town, which also seems to serve as a promenade of sorts, and plenty of little taverns, bars, and shops in which to polish off a frosty beverage, sitting in the shade watching the world slowly pass by in the rippling heat waves.

Taking yet another turn off of the main road, I nearly managed to get us completely stuck in a rutted out ox-cart track in the middle of who-knows-where. The truck wasn't so much stuck, really. It was just that we didn't have much traction, were on a path that was only about 18 inches wider than the doors, and going forward involved straddling a 5ft-deep rut that was about 3 feet wide, with less than 10 inches on one side of it.

This, to me, is about as good as it gets. To the lovely and long-suffering lady in the city-shoes sitting next to me in the truck, it held less appeal. Choosing the better part of valor; with a little smart driving and a few devilish "ain't this great?" grins I reversed up a few hundreds yards of rutted track and rotted logs, to a little gate in the fence, instead of risking much Land Cruiser damage, and a few hours of "how are we getting this out?" time.

We followed a much nicer trail but soon found ourselves at a locked metal gate. Someone had recently invested in a shiny new padlock and a massive length of chain snaked through the 1" steel bar of the gate, then around a rotting but still-solid wooden fencepost.

Jocelyn: "Now what? [implied: All hope is lost]".

"No worries", says I, as I jumped out of the truck and proceeded to untwist the single strand of coaxial cable that was holding the other side of the gate to the tilting fencepost.

Jocelyn: "Been touring many farms recently?" as we drove through laughing at this typically Costa Rican moment.

We finished up the day with some pool time, then a sunset walk with the pooch while the sky and sun amazed us with gold, pink, and blue. Fired up the BBQ for some grilled squash, beets, fresh corn in the husk, and spicy sausage all accompanied by a tasty bottle of "Druid's Fluid" provided by my friend Bob as a thanks for the time he spent visiting a little while back.

Labels: 4wd, 4x4, Costa Rica, day trip, food, land cruiser, liberia