The Traveling Thread
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Costa Rica just moved up a few notches on my list of places to go 
- Thread starter
- #63
Good pics Isaac looking forward to the read.
My trip down to Costa Rica 03/08.
My dad and I arrived in San Jose, the capitol city of Costa Rica on Saturday, the day before Easter. The easter bunny came early to my house in the states on Friday. Well, the first day we just kinda settled in from the flight. It is only a 3 1/2 hour flight but we were saving ourselves for the days ahead. Sunday I looked at a few cruisers that I had lined up prior to the trip. One was a 82 BJ-45 that my friend Steve wants to buy. Steve( well lets call him Land Cruiser Steve, you will see why soon enough) wants to buy this 45 for us to make a trip down to Chile in the next year or so. We became friends a few years back because we have identical twin 60's. So I looked at it and a few others which I was not impressed with.
Monday was the day to look for cruiser parts. Mike wanted some stuff for his 70, Scott wanted a motor, and I wanted some injectors and an injector pump diaphragm. I started out at Purdy Motors, the Toyota dealership. After taking various tickets and waiting in lines to speak with a parts worker, it was finally my turn. I ask the guy for my and Mike's parts and he says they don't have them in stock and it will take 25 days to order them from Japan. I can understand Mike's stuff because they are cosmetic parts but injectors for a BJ-40 not in stock? What is wrong. Am I in a bad dream. He then informs me that no one else in Costa Rica carries them. Yea right. These old cruisers are everywhere down there, and he is telling me there is no way. So much for help at the dealership. Then, after 6 more hours of driving in San Jose (which is a nightmare, no street signs, over 1 million people) I found my parts. (sorry Mike and Scott, I did look at a few motors and used parts for you guys but they were very trashed out.)
Tuesday we looked at more cruisers and parts with not much luck and lots of frustration. Wendsday we decided to get our supplies for the rain forest and just get the hell out of the big, dirty, and traffic congested city of San Jose. It just wasn't worth the headache of looking for cruisers or parts anymore. I don't really know how to describe it other than chaos and mayhem. Besides, I wanted to get back down to my property and away from civilization (if you want to call San Jose that). This is the real reason for choosing Costa Rica for my retirement home in the first place, far, far away from everyone.
I called up my buddy (San Jose Steve) to help us round up some Home Depot type stuff. This Steve is an ex-pat from Baton Rouge who used to be a stockbroker in the states until the internet bubble crash a few years back. He has been living in San Jose for the last 7 years. "San Jose" Steve was happy to assist us and wanted to come down to the property and check it out. We bought what we needed including a cistern for water supply via rain catcher.
We took our normal route down to the property, through the Talamaca Mountain range and stopped at our friends hotel at the top of the mountain range. The mountain range I think is like 15,000 feet and very cold, especially for being 9 degrees from the equator. This hotel is real cool, it has the feel of a hobbit like hotel, real low ceilings and v shaped door ways and adobe style chimney fireplaces in every room. We couldn't wait for dinner because he has the best grilled rainbow trout in the world. All you have to do is go down to his stocked rainbow trout ponds and pick out the fattest one you want and he scoops it out with laser precision and cooks it with a side of cinnamon glazed plantains.
The rest of the drive down to Golfito was uneventfully. Oh and by the way, I tried to rent a BJ-70 but they were all rented out and had to settle for the 90 series diesel Prado Land Cruiser. Back on topic, Golfito is a small town on the South Pacific coast. It is nestled behind the Golfo Dulce, one of the Deepest tropical fiord's in the world, boasting over 1200 feet deep. Here you can watch whales come into the fjord to mate and give birth to their calves. This jewel of an area has been proclaimed by National Geographic as being the most bio diverse place on the planet. Just to give you an example, the Amazon has over 40 species of trees per 2 square acres. The area enveloping Golfito has over 140! 4 types of monkeys, 110 species of bats, 14 different kinds of humming birds, over 3000 types of insects(I have never been bitten by even a mosquito), and I could go on and on but will not bore you. Just one more bit of biodiversity fact, it has
.3% of the earths land mass and holds 7% of all plant and animal species on the entire planet. Sorry it is my passion, I don't mean to rant. Golfito was settled in the 30's by the United Fruit company, you may know it by Chiquita, the little sticker on your bananas. The United Fruit Company flourished until the mid 80's and established a complete infrastructure for the small sleepy fishing village of Golfito. The homes of the executives that used to work for the company are still there to this day. They are a mix of long house plantation panama style architecture. Really cool, and gives it a unique charm. In the 80's blight ruined the banana crops and stricter labor laws forced the United Fruit Company to pull out. Since then, Golfito has been struggling economically until now. Bahia Escondida, a Huge Marina Project has come into play and has started to build a new mega marina. This is how I found out about this place, because I am a fisherman. It is kinda sad because this town is going to change so much and may become too Americanized for my taste.
The next morning, I wake up to go see my baby which was at the mechanic. I had been letting my friend "Model Steve" use my cruiser. I promise this is the last Steve and I am serious about their names. This is the only way my wife and I can talk about them and not get them confused. Model Steven is a American who used to be a model in Japan in the 90's when Japan's economy was on fire. He made enough money to retire and did just that, in Costa Rica. I don't know if any of you have seen the movie "Lost in Translation" with Bill Murry but basically that is him figuratively. He called me about a month prior and informed me that my cruiser had a high idle and dropped it off at this mechanic shop. Thanks to Mud, I searched in the Diesel tech and found my problem. I was scared to post there because of my mud name. Man those guys are a tough crowd and especially if you are a sparkplug. Anyway the day of my reunion with my baby and I pop the hood to put my new injector diaphragm pump in and the cylinder head is not in my truck. Oh s**t! What did this A**hole do to my truck without asking me or my friend. I had spoken to the mechanic in weeks past and informed him not to touch a thing and now my cruisers heart was ripped open! He then explained to me that my cylinder head needed rebuilding.... total BS and that it was in San Jose. San Jose! That is 9 hours away and I was there yesterday. Well, like I mentioned earlier my friend "San Jose" Steve was coming down to check out my property, but was supposed to be leaving early this morning. I called him in a mad panic and he had not left. Thank God! Anyway, that afternoon "San Jose" Steve arrived with my rebuilt cylinder head. The mechanic said my truck would be ready in 2 days and I told him that I would be back. I had work to do on the property and couldn't wait.
The next day I took off for the property and "San Jose" Steve and his wife with me. My father had taken horses up to the property in the past and said "no way". He stayed behind in Golfito to buy himself a quad. We know these as 4 wheelers. The rest of the US and the rest of the world call them quads. Steve, his wife, and I made the trip up 2 miles and 1500 feet to the property and I mean straight up. The plan was to have them spend the night and my dad would come up the next day and take them down the mountain via 4 wheeler. Well, like everything else in Costa Rica things don't go as planned, that is the adventure of a 3rd world country. Dolly, Steve's wife took one look at my rancho and said no way in hell she was staying up on that mountain with deadly snakes everywhere and minus the amenities of walls or screens, not to mention no running water or electricity. The horse she rode up on was less corigile and she walked 2 miles on foot down the mountain that afternoon with Steve. That leaves me by myself in the middle of nowhere. Oh well, first time for everything. What am I worried about. They only have Jaguars, the third to largest cats on the planet and mountain lions, Bushmasters and 13 other poisonous snakes. Rum, Ambion, 9 mm's and oozies are my friend.
The next day my father arrived on his new quad in a record time of 30 minutes to the top. Steve had brought his battery powered power tools and we started making counter tops, tables, toilet (you will see the pic of the toilet) and other stuff. Steve and Dolly left late that afternoon and never returned. Dolly eyed a hotel and swimming pool that she liked back in Golfito that suited her needs and wants.
I returned to Golfito a day later than the expected completion date of the cruiser and met with the mechanic. My cruiser was ready, sorta of. None of the turn signals, break lights, windshield wipers, and other stuff that I can't remember or don't want to remember didn't work and they did work before the mechanic from hell got his hands on my cruiser. What did work was my suspension, lockers and little 4 cylinder motor. Man I was in heaven. I hear that Josh is pretty extreme in putting his truck through hell and that his how I treat this one as well. I managed to break the ambulance doors open and crack the fender well on the inside in under 2 hours. My moto is hit it hard and fast when it comes to a very cheap trail rig. It is just fun. I had to chain the doors closed to keep them from flying off in 2 foot pot holes going 30 to 40 miles an hour(you will see pics of chain). Hey, gotta break in the new suspension right?
Back to the mountain and started up in the cruiser. Got half way up and the rain from the morning had washed out a section of my road that was a shear 500 foot drop on both sides and just loose mud with maybe as wide as the truck. I thought if I drove on this section that the whole thing would just collapse. This truck doesn't have a roll bar and I have two kids and a wife at home. I decided to bow out and do the smart thing. Maybe next time she will make it to the top.
The next week or so, my dad and I used a range finder and GPS to map out the property. We had a great time and another experience of a lifetime that we shared together and will never forget. On our way back down the mountain at the end of our trip we discovered that the washout that I decided not to take the cruiser on had completely fallen off the mountain. We had no way out. We had Ariel maps that we had taken along with topographical and GPS maps of the area. We new there was another way out, but it was going to be tough. My father is 58. I am 34 and when I say tough it was tough. Our flights left for destinations that we were supposed to be destined for, while we plotted our way out of the rain forest. Miles and miles with machetes and a few days late we arrived back in Golfito and headed for home.
I know you guys have traveling stories. It doesn't have to be in a Toyota 4x4. Post them up!
My dad and I arrived in San Jose, the capitol city of Costa Rica on Saturday, the day before Easter. The easter bunny came early to my house in the states on Friday. Well, the first day we just kinda settled in from the flight. It is only a 3 1/2 hour flight but we were saving ourselves for the days ahead. Sunday I looked at a few cruisers that I had lined up prior to the trip. One was a 82 BJ-45 that my friend Steve wants to buy. Steve( well lets call him Land Cruiser Steve, you will see why soon enough) wants to buy this 45 for us to make a trip down to Chile in the next year or so. We became friends a few years back because we have identical twin 60's. So I looked at it and a few others which I was not impressed with.
Monday was the day to look for cruiser parts. Mike wanted some stuff for his 70, Scott wanted a motor, and I wanted some injectors and an injector pump diaphragm. I started out at Purdy Motors, the Toyota dealership. After taking various tickets and waiting in lines to speak with a parts worker, it was finally my turn. I ask the guy for my and Mike's parts and he says they don't have them in stock and it will take 25 days to order them from Japan. I can understand Mike's stuff because they are cosmetic parts but injectors for a BJ-40 not in stock? What is wrong. Am I in a bad dream. He then informs me that no one else in Costa Rica carries them. Yea right. These old cruisers are everywhere down there, and he is telling me there is no way. So much for help at the dealership. Then, after 6 more hours of driving in San Jose (which is a nightmare, no street signs, over 1 million people) I found my parts. (sorry Mike and Scott, I did look at a few motors and used parts for you guys but they were very trashed out.)
Tuesday we looked at more cruisers and parts with not much luck and lots of frustration. Wendsday we decided to get our supplies for the rain forest and just get the hell out of the big, dirty, and traffic congested city of San Jose. It just wasn't worth the headache of looking for cruisers or parts anymore. I don't really know how to describe it other than chaos and mayhem. Besides, I wanted to get back down to my property and away from civilization (if you want to call San Jose that). This is the real reason for choosing Costa Rica for my retirement home in the first place, far, far away from everyone.
I called up my buddy (San Jose Steve) to help us round up some Home Depot type stuff. This Steve is an ex-pat from Baton Rouge who used to be a stockbroker in the states until the internet bubble crash a few years back. He has been living in San Jose for the last 7 years. "San Jose" Steve was happy to assist us and wanted to come down to the property and check it out. We bought what we needed including a cistern for water supply via rain catcher.
We took our normal route down to the property, through the Talamaca Mountain range and stopped at our friends hotel at the top of the mountain range. The mountain range I think is like 15,000 feet and very cold, especially for being 9 degrees from the equator. This hotel is real cool, it has the feel of a hobbit like hotel, real low ceilings and v shaped door ways and adobe style chimney fireplaces in every room. We couldn't wait for dinner because he has the best grilled rainbow trout in the world. All you have to do is go down to his stocked rainbow trout ponds and pick out the fattest one you want and he scoops it out with laser precision and cooks it with a side of cinnamon glazed plantains.
The rest of the drive down to Golfito was uneventfully. Oh and by the way, I tried to rent a BJ-70 but they were all rented out and had to settle for the 90 series diesel Prado Land Cruiser. Back on topic, Golfito is a small town on the South Pacific coast. It is nestled behind the Golfo Dulce, one of the Deepest tropical fiord's in the world, boasting over 1200 feet deep. Here you can watch whales come into the fjord to mate and give birth to their calves. This jewel of an area has been proclaimed by National Geographic as being the most bio diverse place on the planet. Just to give you an example, the Amazon has over 40 species of trees per 2 square acres. The area enveloping Golfito has over 140! 4 types of monkeys, 110 species of bats, 14 different kinds of humming birds, over 3000 types of insects(I have never been bitten by even a mosquito), and I could go on and on but will not bore you. Just one more bit of biodiversity fact, it has
.3% of the earths land mass and holds 7% of all plant and animal species on the entire planet. Sorry it is my passion, I don't mean to rant. Golfito was settled in the 30's by the United Fruit company, you may know it by Chiquita, the little sticker on your bananas. The United Fruit Company flourished until the mid 80's and established a complete infrastructure for the small sleepy fishing village of Golfito. The homes of the executives that used to work for the company are still there to this day. They are a mix of long house plantation panama style architecture. Really cool, and gives it a unique charm. In the 80's blight ruined the banana crops and stricter labor laws forced the United Fruit Company to pull out. Since then, Golfito has been struggling economically until now. Bahia Escondida, a Huge Marina Project has come into play and has started to build a new mega marina. This is how I found out about this place, because I am a fisherman. It is kinda sad because this town is going to change so much and may become too Americanized for my taste.
The next morning, I wake up to go see my baby which was at the mechanic. I had been letting my friend "Model Steve" use my cruiser. I promise this is the last Steve and I am serious about their names. This is the only way my wife and I can talk about them and not get them confused. Model Steven is a American who used to be a model in Japan in the 90's when Japan's economy was on fire. He made enough money to retire and did just that, in Costa Rica. I don't know if any of you have seen the movie "Lost in Translation" with Bill Murry but basically that is him figuratively. He called me about a month prior and informed me that my cruiser had a high idle and dropped it off at this mechanic shop. Thanks to Mud, I searched in the Diesel tech and found my problem. I was scared to post there because of my mud name. Man those guys are a tough crowd and especially if you are a sparkplug. Anyway the day of my reunion with my baby and I pop the hood to put my new injector diaphragm pump in and the cylinder head is not in my truck. Oh s**t! What did this A**hole do to my truck without asking me or my friend. I had spoken to the mechanic in weeks past and informed him not to touch a thing and now my cruisers heart was ripped open! He then explained to me that my cylinder head needed rebuilding.... total BS and that it was in San Jose. San Jose! That is 9 hours away and I was there yesterday. Well, like I mentioned earlier my friend "San Jose" Steve was coming down to check out my property, but was supposed to be leaving early this morning. I called him in a mad panic and he had not left. Thank God! Anyway, that afternoon "San Jose" Steve arrived with my rebuilt cylinder head. The mechanic said my truck would be ready in 2 days and I told him that I would be back. I had work to do on the property and couldn't wait.
The next day I took off for the property and "San Jose" Steve and his wife with me. My father had taken horses up to the property in the past and said "no way". He stayed behind in Golfito to buy himself a quad. We know these as 4 wheelers. The rest of the US and the rest of the world call them quads. Steve, his wife, and I made the trip up 2 miles and 1500 feet to the property and I mean straight up. The plan was to have them spend the night and my dad would come up the next day and take them down the mountain via 4 wheeler. Well, like everything else in Costa Rica things don't go as planned, that is the adventure of a 3rd world country. Dolly, Steve's wife took one look at my rancho and said no way in hell she was staying up on that mountain with deadly snakes everywhere and minus the amenities of walls or screens, not to mention no running water or electricity. The horse she rode up on was less corigile and she walked 2 miles on foot down the mountain that afternoon with Steve. That leaves me by myself in the middle of nowhere. Oh well, first time for everything. What am I worried about. They only have Jaguars, the third to largest cats on the planet and mountain lions, Bushmasters and 13 other poisonous snakes. Rum, Ambion, 9 mm's and oozies are my friend.
The next day my father arrived on his new quad in a record time of 30 minutes to the top. Steve had brought his battery powered power tools and we started making counter tops, tables, toilet (you will see the pic of the toilet) and other stuff. Steve and Dolly left late that afternoon and never returned. Dolly eyed a hotel and swimming pool that she liked back in Golfito that suited her needs and wants.
I returned to Golfito a day later than the expected completion date of the cruiser and met with the mechanic. My cruiser was ready, sorta of. None of the turn signals, break lights, windshield wipers, and other stuff that I can't remember or don't want to remember didn't work and they did work before the mechanic from hell got his hands on my cruiser. What did work was my suspension, lockers and little 4 cylinder motor. Man I was in heaven. I hear that Josh is pretty extreme in putting his truck through hell and that his how I treat this one as well. I managed to break the ambulance doors open and crack the fender well on the inside in under 2 hours. My moto is hit it hard and fast when it comes to a very cheap trail rig. It is just fun. I had to chain the doors closed to keep them from flying off in 2 foot pot holes going 30 to 40 miles an hour(you will see pics of chain). Hey, gotta break in the new suspension right?
Back to the mountain and started up in the cruiser. Got half way up and the rain from the morning had washed out a section of my road that was a shear 500 foot drop on both sides and just loose mud with maybe as wide as the truck. I thought if I drove on this section that the whole thing would just collapse. This truck doesn't have a roll bar and I have two kids and a wife at home. I decided to bow out and do the smart thing. Maybe next time she will make it to the top.
The next week or so, my dad and I used a range finder and GPS to map out the property. We had a great time and another experience of a lifetime that we shared together and will never forget. On our way back down the mountain at the end of our trip we discovered that the washout that I decided not to take the cruiser on had completely fallen off the mountain. We had no way out. We had Ariel maps that we had taken along with topographical and GPS maps of the area. We new there was another way out, but it was going to be tough. My father is 58. I am 34 and when I say tough it was tough. Our flights left for destinations that we were supposed to be destined for, while we plotted our way out of the rain forest. Miles and miles with machetes and a few days late we arrived back in Golfito and headed for home.
I know you guys have traveling stories. It doesn't have to be in a Toyota 4x4. Post them up!
- Thread starter
- #66
Awesome read bud, any stories I could tell would be cup cakes compared to that 
Man, I'd like to check that place out. Sounds like fun. How are you going to make a road back up there now? Do you worry about people messing with the property, or is it so secluded that it isn't a problem?
Another from your photobucket. It can be done
lol
Great story bud
me
Another from your photobucket. It can be done
lol
Great story bud
me
Hey, Wrong thread, that is for the thread of shame! The mechanic didn't hook up my alternator and I found out the hard way. Look closely at the front. I am being towed. Battery is dead and I am about to jump start her.
LOL.. well it's the traveling thread... even if you were traveling under rope power.
Call me and I'll tell you again how to post up those pics w/o attaching em all.
me
I am hiring a bulldozer. It will take some time but I knew of this problem and it just so happened when I was there. I will use trees from the property to "bridge" so to speak. I have someone who takes care of the property, well actually he is supposed to, but.....when you are not there..........
I came 6 inches from stepping on this hog nose pit viper. I walked right by him and was returning down the trail 5 minutes later and saw him. His belly seems to be full. Game over if you don't have medical attention in 4 hours. I was 5 hours from help. Definitely shook me up a bit.
Awesome read bud, any stories I could tell would be cup cakes compared to that
I doubt that. Every story is unique and different. Post up.
