Costa Rica 2002

Click here to go back to Thursday's report.

Friday, September 27th, 2002

Friday was planned to be a big day. This was going to be our tourist day. We planned to go to the beach, and then to drive far to the north to visit another volcano, the Volcan Arenal which is a VERY active volcano. In order to get all of this in one day, we had to get up early and leave from the house early. So we ate a quick breakfast of tortillas and cheese and got in the car. We had SEVERAL people riding in the car with us. There was Rusty and I and Moises and Maritza, there three kids, Moises, Sara, and Isaac. Our two college buddies, Kenji and Walter, and one more little boy, Ricky. So we had ten people in a seven passenger car. Needless to say it was a little cramped.

Although we left at a recently decent time in the morning from Moises house, we had to run by Walter's house to pick some things up. Walter had not planned on going on the trip with us and needed some items. This took a little time away from our trip, but we were soon on the road. We took a main road out of the Central Valley and headed west to the Pacific Ocean. Our goal was to get to the town of Puntarenas which was on the coast. We stopped for some rest and refreshment about half way at a little tourist hut. It was nice to get a break from driving. The roads are very narrow there and the speed limit is in kilometers so we were usually going only 30-40 miles per hour and sometimes slower depending upon the traffic. Here is a map of Costa Rica with the major points of interest that we visited. http://centralamerica.com/cr/maps/mapcosta.htm

Regardless of the obstacles we reached the town and found a lovely park on the beach. I proceeded to drive on the sand and we got stuck. However, I kicked our vehicle into four wheel drive and we were OK. (I am so glad we got the 4x4!) The beach was beautiful and we enjoyed playing in the sand and water for a little while. There were several shrimp boats on the horizon but the beach was basically deserted. The sun was shining very nicely there and it was quite warm. Probably in the 90s. This was a contrast from being in the high altitudes of the mountains in the Central Valley and it was welcomed.

Moises, Jr. lost is shirt in the ocean and we had to go buy him another one before we ate, so we did a little tourist shopping. We also bought Maritza a tourist shirt and she became known as Maritza tourista. We ate lunch in Puntarenas at a cafe. The food was not quite as good as the home prepared meals that we had had all week, but it hit the spot. The owner of the establishment was very happy that we stopped at his place and he invited us all back to eat there again sometime and personally handed each of us a mint.

After this we got back into the car and headed for the Volcano Arenal. We were going to be hard pressed with time to get there to see it during the day, but our goal was to get there about dusk so we could see the lava coming out of the crater. The kids did not know that this is what we were planning on doing and Moises and Maritza wanted to surprise them at the last minute. We ended up coming back the way that we came for a little ways. This time, instead of going down from the mountains, we were going up into the mountains and it was enough to tax my patience waiting behind some of the trucks that were driving less than 5 km per hour. This is slow. Very slow. But we had to be patient as it was basically a one lane road with a stripe down the middle. We finally made it to the turn off and headed into the tropical rainforest. And rain it did. For the next two hours we were pelted mercilessly with rain, rain, and more rain as we made our way into North Costa Rica. Fortunately, the rains started to die down around 6:00 PM and that was exactly about the time we came in sight of the volcano. The kids erupted with excitement. We were able to see the volcano and even some of the lava coming out of the volcano. I was able to put my video camera on night vision and we really could get the infra red light coming off the top of the crater. We made it to the National Park area and took our picture (in the dark) at the National Park sign. After all, you can't say you have been there unless you have a picture in front of the sign, right? After this, we headed back, but not to home.

While we were in this area, Kenji and Moises had the idea of visiting some of our brethren and sisters that lived up here. We stopped in a small town near the Volcano called Fortuna. There we met a couple who were starting up a congregation. There were eight members in that town and they were meeting in this gentleman's garage. We had some refreshments there and visited with them for about 30 minutes. Then we went further down the road to visit another couple. The problem was they lived off the main road and no one really remembered how to get there. So we took a turn off and went down a dirt road. The road that we were on was rocky and bumpy. We went over a bridge that looked like it had been rolled over a couple of times and had ended up accidentally connecting these two roads together. But we made it over. Rusty was starting to get scared that someone was going to come out of their house and have a go at us with a shotgun or that the Sandanistas were going to confiscate our vehicle. But we eventually found the road that we were looking for and ended up in the right place.

This family was a typical Costa Rican farmer. He grew bananas, sugar cane, and a couple of other types of vegetables that are typically grown in that part of the world. The family here was very hospitable and invited us in for supper. We had the typical Costa Rican food of beans and rice. But we also had fresh fried plantain bananas and these were wonderful. We were also able to eat some sugar cane fresh from the cane, something that I have always wanted to do. We learned from this man that there was a local church in this area and that they had recently conducted a campaign to do Bible studies. The response they received was overwhelming. Almost all of the doors on which they knocked were interested in having a Bible study. The congregation there is overloaded with spiritual work to do and they want to do more. It was refreshing to hear that this man and his family were all Christians largely due to his influence. We had a wonderful evening there and ended up staying until about 11:00.

We left and made the long arduous journey back to Tres Rios that evening. We arrived at about 3:00 AM Saturday morning tired and exhausted. We had to get up in a few hours to get to the airport to catch our flight.

Saturday, September 28th, 2002

I will append Saturday's activities to Friday's because there was not much to say about Saturday. We made it to the airport where we bid a teary goodbye to Moises and Maritza. We purchased our departure tax stickers and made it through customs. At the terminal we ended up buying last minute souvenirs from our trip.

Our flight back to Dallas went very smooth. It was a beautiful day. Out of the windows I saw both the Yucatan Peninsula as well as the coast of Texas with a GREAT view of Galveston bay. I had fished in that bay before and so it was interesting to see it from about 30,000 feet!

On the flight back we were sitting next to a Costa Rican national who was going to the East Coast (I forget where) to be with her daughter for a while. I gave her my card and information and she gave me hers as well. Later I passed this along to Moises so that he could possibly set up a Bible study with her.

When we arrived in Dallas we were whisked through customs and got back into the United States without incident.

The flight from Dallas to Springfield was uneventful as well. We were in a small turboprop job and it was loud. Despite the noise, we were able to get a little nap. Once we got back in Springfield, we had to have an American hamburger from Steak and Shake. Boy was it good! Rusty drove us home and we got home that evening about 8:00 P.M. It was a good drive, but we were both exhausted. I went to bed early so I could get some sleep to preach the next day.

Beyond September 2002

All in all our trip to Costa Rica was wonderful. It was an opportunity that I would not trade for anything. The congregation here in Berryville has since expanded its work in Costa Rica and we are now planning on starting a new congregation in the town of Cordoba. We are currently in the process of buying additional materials for this congregation. Several other churches in the United States have heard of this work thanks to the good word that has been spread about it. They are cooperating with us to support this new effort. This work is under the oversight of the elders of the Berryville church of Christ.

End of Report