Back in Manuel Antonio

It was raining a lot in Quepos/Manuel Antonio when I first arrived back this time. A hillside slid down and wiped out some houses near the gas station in town and for a short while closed the only station in town. That panicked some drivers but the station reopened quick enough so that there really was not a problem. The bridges north of town flooded and isolated the towns of Quepos and Manuel Antonio for several days. The stores quickly ran out of goods to sell since all the goods come into town by truck over the bridges. At one point a big tree came floating down the river and the city thought that it would take the bridge out completely but it just slammed into the bridge and then slid under it and went out to sea. The bridges were terrible and it would not have been a loss if it had gone down. It was built out of left over rails from the trains that used to carry bananas to the port from the banana farms before the banana blight wiped out the local banana business. Now the banana fields have been replaced with palm oil trees. Vietnam created a good market for palm oil to be used in the making of napalm for the war. now everywhere you look there are palm oil trees in the Quepos area. The processing plant is a major polluting eyesore on the road between Quepos and Parrita to the North. They burn the dead palm fronds to make the oil from the nuts so it is a self sustaining business that uses very little fuel. The nuts are brought to the plant in oxcarts and some tractor pulled wagons. There are common sights on the road to Quepos.

I found a house to live in near the top of the hill in Manuel Antonio. It was a brand new house just built by the owner in a nice family complex. I was one of only two non family members living in the compound of 10 or 11 houses. I never had to worry about thieves or anything because someone from the family was always around to guard my place when I wasn't home. I liked the security that offered. The house was a two bedroom with a living room and a kitchen dining room with one bath with a shower in it. One of my old girlfriends immediately found me and wanted to move in with me. Her and her 13 year old daughter were basically homeless at the time so I let them stay with me for a while. Living with a kid again was not my idea of fun. Girls at that age are at their absolute worst behavior and this girl was no exception at the time. All her teachers and everybody said she was the perfect child but at the house she was a total hormonal mess. One night she got up and made herself some food. She finished off 2 pounds of cheese, a loaf of bread, half a kilo of hamburger, a couple liters of juices and all the ice cream and sweets in the house. She also left the kitchen in a disaster zone. I had to laugh but I also could not allow that type of behavior or she would weigh a few hundred pounds real quick. I talked it over with her mother and we worked out a plan to prevent it from happening again like that.

Having a girlfriend and her daughter living with me curtailed my flavor of the day fun somewhat but did not eliminate it entirely. I just went to their place or did it when my friend was out of town which she was often. She had relatives all over the country and she went to see them sometimes. I had plenty of time for myself. I mostly hung out at the beach again. I really love the beach at Manuel Antonio. The palm trees lining it and the nice quality of sand with just the right amount of people to make it interesting but not too crowded. The police patrolled it to prevent nudity but there were still plenty of people that flaunted the rules. I played in the surf for a couple of hours a day to keep myself fit. I also walked along the beach. Walking in the sand was like going to physical therapy for me. It was very helpful for my leg pain and mobility problems. I would kick back on the sand and get nicely heated up then go walk for a while then so surf to cool down. The routine was improving my health and keeping my weight down too. Plus I met lots of dates at the beach. My friends were all amazed at the way I would just go pick a prospect out and go talk to her for a while then go have a date with them. The Ticas never say no. That is all you have to know to be successful, easy as picking grapes.