There's a piece of plastic on the outside
of the room-roof and it is loose and flaps and blows on the roof all through the night - but not
at regular intervals. R wakes around 6.
When Eva gets up she suggests we take R for a little go in Dan's kayak on the lake. We head
to the water's edge and go for a little paddle. R is very good - sitting as told in the
middle of the boat and taking it all in without complaint. We don't go far as the wind and
current are quite strong and I'm a bit nervous about navigating our way back among the rocks
if we are tired - but just enough to get the feeling of kayaking. Then the three of us have
a little swim in the lake and R (with floating jacket on) swims from me to Eva and back
again. He isn't the least bit bothered by the waves that keep coming.
After we head back to the house I propose an afternoon walk back to La Finca Mystica so we
can get some nice food and drink cocktails (though I keep that part to myself). Eva and Kuno
agree to come.
In the interim I try to get R to nap as he is being crotchety and difficult, but for some
reason he won't. Again, I fall alseep while he plays in our loft bedroom with a toolbox -
taking every item out and inspecting it carefully.
The walk in the afternoon is a lot longer than I thought and takes about 90 minutes which is
when R falls asleep. We had wanted to stop for another swim on the way but ran out of time
as they stop serving food at 4pm. It is nice to have company on a walk and also people to
help push the chair/ carry R in backpack as necessary. We are bloody hungry by the time we
get to the restaurant and order food. Maggie the American girl from yesterday is there
again and she and R start to lay.
They are getting on nicely for quite a while. Then I wonder if Maggie likes Frozen (like
every small girl and most small boys seem to ) and she says yes, so I get my phone out and
play 'Let it Go' for her and R. R gets in a grump as he wants to sing and doesn't want her
to sing along. Then we play the zombie song and everyone laughs their head off at R's
zombie face and dance which he seems compelled to do. I really want to film it but he's
always playing the song on my phone so I haven't been able to.
Then R gets some chips and he doesn't want to share them. He is very bad at sharing,
especially so with chips. He and Maggie start shouting at each other and then he pushes her
and she hits him back. We pull them both apart but they have a couple more spats. Then
Maggie comes over and shoves a chair into him and it knocks his drink over and spills it all
over our table. For this she is removed by her mother.
She comes back later but won't say sorry, but R says sorry to her (he hit first) and they
have a hug and play nicely again. As we are leaving I tell R he can't have the phone (for
music). He gets really cross and starts throwing a tantrum and I'm already regretting this
call as I know this one could go on. Just as we put him in the backpack, Maggie comes over
and out of nowhere, lands him with a karate kick in the face. She's on target but it's not
a hard kick. R can't beleive it and bursts into tears. I seize the moment and tell him he
can have the phone to make him feel better and all is well again.
As we leave I say to Maggie's dad that he should be proud of his daughter's ability to kung fu kick.
We manage to hitch a ride down the hill which takes half an hour off our journey and get to
walk back along side a beautiful sunset.
I had decided to leave a day early from Ometepe so we have a day between travel days. I
will thank myself for this later. Kuno gives me one of my best travel tips of the whole
trip. Instead of going back to san Jose, Costa Rica's capital - there is a town that's
nearer the airport and has everything you would need before flying home. It's called
Alajeula and that's where we head.
We took a taxi at 7am across island. It took one hour, average speed 25kph.
Next,onto a ferry at 9am - one more hour. R insists on climbing a very steep ladder about
2.5m high. I am behind him but don't help him. I say what I always say - if you can manage
it then ok, but if you can't we stay down here. He manages it, little do I know that the
top deck is crammed full of backpackers who were all watching his little drama from the top.
He gets a big cheer when he makes it and lots of them look at him in awe. One woman says
'well that is a life lesson.' They are all staring and saying how cute he is and I tell
them to spend two full hours with him and then give me verdict.
One of the backpackers has a T shirt on which says 'Life begins at the end of your comfort
zone' - which I like and gives me food for thought about this trip.
Half an hour into the boat trip R says he wants a wee. He has a nappy on as we are
travelling today, but has taken to just pulling then off when he wants to go. So he starts
pulling all his clothes off on the top deck and I object. I can't get the potty out as our
bags are on the bottom deck, I'm not sure there are toilets or if there are that we will a)
find them in time b) be able to use them. In the end we descend, find the very small loo in
a cubicle and he manages to stand and pee into it. One thing I have kept meaning to mention
about Central American loos is they are much lower down than ours - which is a great thing
for potty training little people.
Next is a taxi to Border - one more hour of travel. R sleeps which I'm a bit gutted about
as I was hoping to save his nap for the 4 to 5 hour bus journey later. We are dropped at
the border and run into Dama, the Lithuanian surfer girl from San Juan Del Sur. The timing
couldn't be better as going through long queues with bags and child is very stressful and
she helps keep an eye on everything - as well as giving me someone to talk to while we wait
45 minutes to exit Nicaragua.
A tout collars me for a bus ticket to Alajuela and I go with him as I'm losing my power to
do anything. He tells me the ticket is $12 and once I've agreed and followed him to the spot
he says, oops - it's $14 is that ok? (The ticket eventually says $12 but I pay $14). I
pay in dollars and a money changer the tout is in cahoots with gives me my change in Colones
(Costa Rican money). He short changes me which pisses me off so I take issue with it and
again it's an err.... honest mistake. I was told the bus was at 12.15 which sounds good.
We are shepherded across the car park and while waiting, other passengers tell me it's
12.45.
Finally we all get in and set off. Drive for 5 minutes, then all get off again, plus all our
bags and stand in a queue for 90 minutes to get into Costa Rica. Thankfully I made swift
buddies with an American girl travelling alone and have also run into an English couple who
we've met a couple of times on our trip (only ever for brief conversations) - so between
them, they help me deal with queues, bags, bureaucracy and a toddler. I COULD NOT have got
through that on my own. R is very good - but he's still two. I quiet him with a boiled egg
and some crackers I've bought from the women who sell stuff from baskets at the border.
I am telling Regan about all the kids R has played with on our trip and note that he has played beautifully with all the indigenous kids and the only fights have been with tourist kids. She observes that the key difference is possessions and I realise she is right. Where there is just sand and water and space to play in, they run wild with their imaginations, copying each other. The moment possessions are involved there are dramas and disputes and parents need to keep getting involved with the bickering. I feel a John Lennon moment coming on.
R interrupts our conversation saying he wants a wee and a poo and again starts pulling his shorts and nappy
down. I dump all my bags with Regan, the American, vault the barriers with R and race to
the loo. There's a queue (DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND: MY CHILD IS POTTY TRAINING, THIS IS AN
EMERGENCY). we wait our turn but in the end R gets stage fright and can't produce anything
this time. I say it's ok and he has nappy pants on so it's ok to go in his pants if it's
easier. He doesn't want to though.
Finally we make it on to the bus for Alajuela. After all the waiting and queuing, the irony
is I have less than a quarter litre of water and know this must last. Mentally I have a
5pm arrival in my head. The journey drags on and on and on. R is very self contained for
the first three hours but then starts jumping on my head, pulling at me, scratching me and
really getting on my nerves. At 5pm there's a stop for everyone to get off and buy food.
There's some nice smelling meat kebags going so I show them to him and say will you eat one
if I buy you one. He says yes. I buy one. He won't eat it. I'm furious. While I try to
get some food for me and a drink for R I have to abandon R to a table by himself. There's
absolutely no other way of managing. Regan sees him and goes to sit with him. When I join
them and he's not eating his meat I tell him I'll give it to Regan if he won't eat it. He
screams in protest but still won't eat it. I give half of it to Regan. The other half goes
to waste.
We don't arrive at Alajeula till 7.30. At 6.45 R pooed and then fell asleep, so I get to
spend the last 45 minutes of the trip next to a stinking toddler. But a sleeping one. He
sleeps as we get off the bus and into a taxi, which we share with Regan to a backpackers
hostel she says is ok. When we get there, nothing about it works for me, so even though I'm
shattered from 13 hours of travel, I call another place and R and I get a taxi there.
I put R to bed and start to look for Ully. No Ully. No Ully. No Ully. Those of you who have
spent any time with R when sleep is necessary will not that it is the opposite of No Ully No
Cry. I forgot to say above that we lost Ully No.2 at the Nicaragua border, but I realised
just in time and was able to get Ully no.3 out without any drama. Ully No 1 disappeared
some time ago. I don't know where. At this point, I become frantic.
I empty every single bag we have and go through it meticulously. No Ully. I ransack the
pushchair in case it's fallen down. No Ully. I scour the hostel and street outside. No
Ully. I know I have about 3 hours until this is a full on crisis as R sleeps heavily for
his first three hours, then if he wakes in the night and can't find Ully he starts asking
for him. I bought him a mini Ully (which we call 'cute Ully') as a reward for sleeping in
his own big boy bed for 7 nights, but he hasn't shown much interest in it. We still have
cute Ully so I figure we can get through tonight and he might not notice in the night that
Cute Ully is not Ully.
I try and figure out if I can say Ully was so excited about going home that he went on ahead
and left Cute Ully for R. Will the narrative keep him happy and give him something for his
imagination? Or should I just be honest and say we have lost Ully but we will find him back
in England - where I think Grandma has a spare and if not, the good people at JellyCat make
plenty. But I am not optimistic. Especially about the flight.
In the end, I just need to tell someone about this, so I go the front desk and explain to
the girl. The Spanish word for rabbit is ''conejo'. I really struggle to remember it
because it sounds like a swear word to me - a bit like a mix of connard and cajones. But now
it is firmly imprinted in my mind. I explain that he has spent every night with this bunny
(or his clones) since he was a few months old. The woman offers to call the other hostel we
stopped at and ask if they have found it. They say no. Then she calls the central office
of the red taxis which serve Alajeula, describes our two journeys and they say they will try
and track the drivers down. Then the phone rings.
It's the other hostel. The receptionist went outside and found Ully on the corner of the
street, just where we got into the taxi. PRAISE BE. I am elated and relieved and give thanks
to all the bunny gods for their help in returning this very important little brown piece of
fluff to us.
In the morning R asks for Ully and we go to the other hostel and retrieve him. So perhaps
life does begin at the end of your comfort zone. But not if there's no Ully it doesn't.
_______________________________________________________________________________---
I still have one day (today) to write about which I will do from England - or maybe Miami airport when we change planes if there's time. Tomorrow is the last day I will wake up to your comments of encouragement and feedback while still travelling with my two year old - so please make them good ones.