Walking tour of Puntarenas (pronounced “Pune-tar-rane-us” meaning “sand point “)

Always on the lookout for another adventure, we decided to try a walking tour of Puntarenas. This small town is located across the Gulf of Nicoya about 1hr via ferry from Playa Naranjo.  The significance of this little town centers on tourism and the cruise ship dock where numerous small kiosks sell everything from the usual souvenirs to a Churchill, not statues of the English PM, snowcones! Matter of fact, historians say that Churchill’s were actually started in Puntarenas by a man named Joaquin Aguilar Esquivel, who apparently resembled the other Churchill. To be a true Churchill the drink / slushy must contain condensed or powdered milk and be over 12oz. Sometimes a little flavoring may also added.

OK, enough about the snowcones, now on to the walking tour.  First we need to get there so a $1.87 and one quick 1hr ferry ride and there we are.  The ferry also takes cars but we were going to walk this one and left El Haut Rod back at the bar by the ferry building.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ferry ride was slow and relaxed for some. Others found the ride terrifying!

 

First impressions are that this is a tourist town, clean, well, groomed beaches, several bars and restaurants and lots of little shops and kiosks that would be selling souvenirs, that is if they were open. Remember way-back-when in our post about Ireland and traveling during the off-season, well traveling to a cruise town when there isn’t a cruise ship docked is the same. Closed due to low traffic. Good part is that there aren’t crowds to fight for that special seat by the window when we have lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The town is small, reportedly only 3 miles long and 5 blocks wide, should be walkable. First thing we noticed was that it got hot, quick. Collette glowed while I preferred to sweat while we made our way through the streets. Not many shops or kiosks open, again no cruise ship. The beach was pristine, almost too clean to be a public beach (hear that Santa Cruz!) and there are plenty of restrictions, no nude sunbathing (bad), no dogs or cats, no trash (good), no drinking (what!). We did stumble on the world’s smallest fort. It is a one-man fort built by a local man who felt that if Ponce De Leone comes back, he’s going to be ready!

 

 

Had to stop in at the local mercado and see what delicacies were offered. Pretty nice market, vegetables, meats, fish and all looked very fresh.  In the back there are a few stalls that serve prepared food but we were saving ourselves for something more local.

 

 

So not to labor over a short trip that was pretty uneventful, Puntarenas was an easy walk. We did stray off the tourist streets and ended up down by the fish processing area and “lower income” housing. That’s where we found one of the world’s great mysteries. We had read about these years ago but never came across one until now. You will recognize it in the picture right away. Yep, a pot hole so big that it goes all the way to the other side of the earth. You could actually look down this thing and see the stars shining on the dark side. Best part about this was there isn’t any barrier or warning, must be quite a surprise to drivers at night and provide a great deal of entertainment for the locals. Not to mention a little income for the crane operators who recover your car.

 

 

 

 

There was one other important task we needed to do while in Puntarenas and that was find a coffee pot. The house has a French press coffee maker which is not our preferred method of making morning stimulation. Can’t figure out if it’s called a French press to insult the French for another incompetent device, or if they are taking credit for another incompetent device. Either way, not for us so the mission was to find an electric coffee maker. And that we did! Blessed little white coffee maker with a removable basket to hold the richest coffee grounds. Couldn’t get the 9,000C out fast enough!

Got the pot, (yeah, we’re from Colorado so better be clear about the “pot”) so back to the ferry and the quick ride home. But before we do, lunch time!

We chose the San Lucas Beach Club, looked pretty local and just a tad touristy. Menu was pretty good, if you can read Spanish. We read a little Spanish so we figured out chicken strips for me and pescado (fish) for you-know-who always orders fish. Thank goodness it was fried! Wash this fine meal down with a couple of Imperials and tequila sunrise’s and the day is over.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stroll back to the ferry building to buy our return tickets and head for home. Even though that sounds straight forward, there were a couple of “huh?” moments. Like when we went to buy our tickets at the “boletus” and found out there are actually two “boletus”, one for Paquera and one for Playa Naranjo, almost had a real adventure!  Bought the correct ticket and then headed for a local bar to wait until 2:30pm for the boat to leave, had an hour so no problem. Well, second confusing point, tour book says the ferry leaves at 2:30pm, the guide book at the house said 4:00pm, and the small piece of paper taped to the wall of the kiosk said 2:30pm through March. Slammed our drinks down and got on the boat. Didn’t want to miss this one and have to wait for a few hours for the last one of the day. Easy ride back, bar was open and so there was music to entertain us all the way. There was a problem with a broken volume controller for the music, stuck on 1,000db. (Damn, did I just say the music was too loud?) Ears started to bleed so we went down to the lower level to snort some diesel exhaust and relax for the remaining 59 minutes.

Made it home, showered and hit the pool. Pretty good day.

Some of the sites in Puntarenas