We saw many people at breakfast and through the morning so got in a few more goodbyes. Our task for the morning was to visit a bus station and get tickets for our afternoon bus ride out to Punta Uva where we would be staying for the next six nights. This proved to be fairly easy with the walk taking about twenty minutes and the tickets purchased with minimal fuss. We even managed to find a shop to purchase some CD’s so we could burn a few discs of photos for those who wanted them.
The rest of the morning was spent burning DVD’s. For some reason the laptop isn’t recognising CD’s at the moment, just as well we have a supply of DVD’s for backup purposes I guess. DVD’s were done for Cece, Aaron and Richard and a final one done for Josh so he could show his family what he has been up to for the last few years. These were finished about the time we had to leave in a taxi to get our bus so we said the last goodbyes and then were off on our own for a while.
The bus to Punta Uva was nice enough but lacked leg room, the first ‘comfortable’ and somewhat modern bus we had encountered with such a small gap between seats. The four and half hour trip to the Caribbean coast went smoothly and our driver managed to drop us off at the gate of our accommodation – Pachamama House and Bungalows. Bill met us on the path to the house and showed us to our room, a nice wooden bungalow with a patio space looking straight into the gardens which were an extension of the surrounding jungle. We were given some information on the area and a few ideas for dinner and then left to our own devices. As evening came on we could see fire flies seeming to float amongst the garden plants and when the jungle was alive with the noises of insects and frogs.
As night fell we walked out and visited the Punta Uva beach, howler monkeys calling deep in the jungle. It looked nice in the low light and we saw some large crabs on the path as we approached the sand. Heading back to the road we walked a little further away from Pachamama and down the next side road heading down to the next beach. We ate at a deserted bar/restaurant, just us and the three staff. A few more people arrived as the night rains pounded down and we finished our slightly overcooked sea bass. Bill later told us that sea bass is fished on the Atlantic coast so would have been transported all the way across the country on ice meaning it probably was part frozen and not very fresh…no more sea bass then. The rain eased off and we headed back to our bungalow, stopping to look at a large blue crab eating the squashed body of an even larger lizard. We also saw toads and more crabs on the road, both alive and road kill. At the bungalow we settled into bed, protected from any mosquitoes by the net around our bed and cooled by the small fan.
