This is one of the shorts that I saw at the Montezuma International Film Festival. A very cool (stop animation) wall painted animation done on the walls of buildings on the streets of Buenos Aires.
More info at Blu’s blog.
Posted in Costa Rica 2008
Tagged animation, Blu, Buenos Aires, Costa Rica, film, Montezuma, Montezuma International Film Festival, movies, Muto, shorts
It was kinda gloomy out and I didn’t want to hike far and get trapped in the rain. I saw a few people gathering for the bus so I asked what time the bus was, I was told 11:30 so I grabbed my stuff from the hotel and went back to the bus stop.
A few people showed up at 11:30 but no bus. A few more show up at Noon but no bus. At 12:10 the bus showed up and lots of people showed up by 12:30 (which was the correct time). Turns out this is the one time of day the bus is generally on-time since they stop to get lunch when they arrive here. Why all those others thought it was 11:30 and 12:00, I have no idea, they said those times with no hesitation. I really wish “I don’t know” was part of the Costa Rican vocabulary.
And now that it’s all uploaded, I realize the ocean looks kinda washed out. But I swear it’s right there…
(FYI, I am not in Costa Rica)
Here’s a quick video of the crowd gathered for the sunset and (of course) the sunset. This was at the north end of Jaco, almost in front of Clarita’s on the beach.
Watch the beach sunset video in HD!
Taking a break from riding the scooter all over. I’m somewhere south of Jaco but north of Quepos, Costa Rica. Looking at a map, maybe somewhere near Parríta. Just a beautiful ride and a great day! I think I did about a 120 km and it was a blast.
Watch the video in High Definition.
Just some photos of some of my meals from the lower Nicoya Peninsula. I thought they looked and/or tasted nice.
Big breakfast from the Soda Monte Sol in Montezuma, Costa Rica (2200 colones, just under $4). There is cheese in them Scrambled eggs! Server very fast!
Shrimp and Rice (Camarón y arroz) from a place in Cobano, Costa Rica (right next to the “big” grocery store). It was delicious, had lots of shrimp and it was cheap ($5 if I recall correctly).
Posted in Costa Rica 2008, food + drink
Tagged breakfast, Costa Rica, dinner, Food, Montezuma, puppy, Soda Monte Sol
So Cobano is a nearby town of Montezuma it’s about 7 km away. It’s kind of the centralized place for the bus transfers, a few more restaurants, way faster Internet and some larger stores. Also it’s the nearest bank, ATM, pharmacy, gas station, hardware store, appliances, bicycles, etc. Even with all that, it’s pretty small. I was waiting for the bus the other day and shot this time lapse footage of the main intersection.
Here’s the direct link to the above video.
I also shot this photo of the sky as the sun was setting. I thought the colors were great!
It’s a great ad, but I’m wondering if everyone looking at it knows what the dial is for? Click for the full ad.
When I talk to younger kids at school they don’t actually know what “dial” means since all their phones have buttons. Sometimes I’ll find a kid who says their grandparents have a phone like that (actually they usually say “Grandma”).
So riding the bus in Costa Rica is cheap and it’ll take you anywhere. The problem is figuring out when the bus is going to be running.
In the bigger cities this doesn’t appear to be a problem, if you miss a bus another one will be by soon and if it’s not the right bus it’s still heading in the correct direction, just hop on. In the more remote areas (such as Montezuma) they probably don’t come more than every two hours so if you miss the bus it’s a pain.
The people closest to the bus stop seem to have the most reliable information. Restaurants and internet cafes have it written down, but they wrote it down ages ago. My trickiest problem is asking “when is the next bus?” and they tell me “it’s in 20 minutes” but that’s too soon for me so I try to find out about the bus after that and it’s no good; I have to come back in 25 minutes and ask again to get the info for the bus after that :)
The appears to be no schedule posted, even at the bus station in Cobano (a central town in the lower Nicoya Peninsula). I did notice the bus that goes from Montezuma to Cabuya to the National Reserve does have a schedule taped to the window (4 trips a day) with pricing and everything; as an added bonus, it generally seemed to be leaving Montezuma at the correct time! More info below.
Pricing is cheap though. In San Jose I took a bus for about 150 colones (28 cents) but honestly I don’t know far that would have taken me, it was in front of me heading the right way and it kept going once I got off. In Montezuma, it’s 300 colones (55 cents) to go to Cobano which is 7 km. away (a very hilly/dusty walk).
You can get a direct bus all the way to San Jose from Montezuma, but you might not get a seat and there isn’t any A/C but I think you can do it for about $8-ish (maybe $10 including the ferry ride). CORRECTION: The direct bus does have air conditioning; if the directo bus in Montezuma does not have A/C, when you switch onto the directo in Cobano that one has A/C (and little controllable vents like on an airplane), I’ve taken it three different times now and it is an excellent value (it seems like it will stop at the SJO Airport [you must ask/tell them!] or San Jose at the Coca Cola bus terminal (updated March 2012; I think I paid just under $14 and that included the ferry ride). Continue reading
Posted in Costa Rica 2008
Tagged bus, Cobano, Costa Rica, customer service, Montezuma, public transportation, ride, San Jose
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