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| There are quite a few of these large painted rocks lining the main road in Las Quebradas, the artist is a local artist named Guillermo. Nice work, Guillermo! We dig! |
We were fortunate enough to have a couple of lovely places to stay in the sleepy but sweet village of Las Quebradas, a fifteen-minute, 175 colones ($0.32 US) bus ride up the mountain from San Isidro de el General. Bus service is quite regular, running nearly every hour of the day (except Sunday), leaving San Isidro's Municipal Bus Station at 10 minutes past the hour and departing Las Qubradas at 45 minutes past. Be aware, there is a gap mid-day in which no buses run here...you can either wait it out or walk about 15m minutes down the hill to the village of Morazán- the bus leaves there approximately every twenty minutes and you can board it by waiting under the big shade tree across the road from the football field. Your best bet is to ask one of the locals when/where to board the bus- they know the schedule quite well!
When we arrived in Las Quebradas, we spent a few nights in a two-room cabin on a dirt road off the main road that runs through town. The weather was hot during the day (maybe 85ºF- the sun was INTENSE), but it rained in the afternoons/evenings and the temperature dropped to the low 50's. We had to borrow jackets from our friend there! It was the only time we needed to bundle up in our entire time in Costa Rica! The Quebradas River flows over a waterfall directly behind the cabin, and we were treated to the constant SSSSHSHHSSHSH sounds of the water rushing by. We were told a sloth frequented the cabin, but we never saw it. What we did experience, though, was a persistent Brown Thrush tap-tapping on the South and West-facing windows every morning. No idea what it was up to, but it appeared to be on a mission. Butterflies of all shapes and colors filled the air all over town, as did birds I'd never seen before.
Later on, we dog-sat at our friend Leslie's cabin down another dirt road just off the main road (about a 10 minute walk from the original cabin). As will happen when caring for a dog, I found myself enjoying walks down dirt roads and climbs on the river rocks to keep our dear ward Paloma happy, healthy, and tired enough that she didn't gnaw our hands off.
We love Las Quebradas. It's a fantastic little place to relax....and we felt totally safe while we were there! We bought most of our groceries at the feria and at grocery stores in San Isidro, but there is a small grocery store in town (directly across the street from the school) in case you need essentials. There's at least one liquor store, a 'police station' that looks more like a blue-painted clubhouse for no more than four people at a time. There's just one bar in town- it's called Pelo's and it doubles as the town's restaurant. Pelo's is run by a nice fellow called Maynor, and he throws a tremendous karaoke shindig every Sunday evening. The Yogi was feeling adventurous and treated the whole bar to a lovely rendition of Hey Jude!
We also met Carlos, a local dairy farmer who will sell you eggs and milk direct from his hilltop granja (farm), and a lovely lady who runs the hair salon in a bright purple building next door to the grocery store. We also found a rock with a hand-painted sign advertising a home-based nail salon (a couple of houses up the hill from the main painted rock welcoming you to Quebradas) and a chocolate factory owned by a British expat named Rosemary a couple of houses up from that (on the right side of the road as you go up the hill). The paved road becomes dirt track just up the hill from that, but if you keep going up you'll find a fork in the road at a bridge. Go over the bridge and stay left at the next fork (200 meters- follow the signs), and you'll find the Centro Biológico, a tract of land preserved as a wildlife corridor and buffer zone to protect the area's water supply. It's a hot, steep uphill walk of about an hour, but you can probably drive the route there in under 10 minutes. Beautiful scenery and lots of wildlife await you on the hiking trails there. The Biological Center also takes volunteers...click here to go to their website if you'd like to learn more: Centro Biológico "Las Quebradas"
Do be aware, though, because it's such a tiny, close-knit place, everyone will know all your business....and I do mean everybody. I was even approached by a complete stranger at the bus station in San Isidro and asked if I was the 'morena' (brown girl, I suppose) staying in Quebradas with the 'blanquita' (small white one, kind of). I was totally thrown off...but, yes, that was us. Apparently, we were the talk of the town. Mister stranger man turned out to be very sweet, and even asked if I could teach him English. I would've helped him out, but we had only two more days until we headed further south and even farther from the beaten track to Playa Zancudo.
Sure, Las Quebradas is small, but there are at least a couple of handfuls of North American/European expats that call it home. We met a few of them, all really nice people. They proved to be an incredibly helpful good time! Our new friend, Carol, even accompanied us to her dentist in San Isidro because I didn't trust that my Spanish vocabulary would be applicable in a dentist's office! A kindly gentleman called Tomás (he's from the US, so his name might have originally been Thomas) gave us more information about Latin American travel, wild edibles, holistic health, and gardening than you can shake a stick at. We were treated to Chilean wine, cheese, crackers, and figs at an informal back porch get-together within earshot of the lovely river. Needless to say, Las Quebradas will always occupy a happy place in our hearts!
Thanks so much, Quebradas! I suspect you'll see us again someday!
xo. The Farmer.
When we arrived in Las Quebradas, we spent a few nights in a two-room cabin on a dirt road off the main road that runs through town. The weather was hot during the day (maybe 85ºF- the sun was INTENSE), but it rained in the afternoons/evenings and the temperature dropped to the low 50's. We had to borrow jackets from our friend there! It was the only time we needed to bundle up in our entire time in Costa Rica! The Quebradas River flows over a waterfall directly behind the cabin, and we were treated to the constant SSSSHSHHSSHSH sounds of the water rushing by. We were told a sloth frequented the cabin, but we never saw it. What we did experience, though, was a persistent Brown Thrush tap-tapping on the South and West-facing windows every morning. No idea what it was up to, but it appeared to be on a mission. Butterflies of all shapes and colors filled the air all over town, as did birds I'd never seen before.
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| Birds are, clockwise from left: Blue-Gray Tanager, Shining Honeycreeper, Cherrie's Tanager (female), Cherrie's Tanager (male) |
Later on, we dog-sat at our friend Leslie's cabin down another dirt road just off the main road (about a 10 minute walk from the original cabin). As will happen when caring for a dog, I found myself enjoying walks down dirt roads and climbs on the river rocks to keep our dear ward Paloma happy, healthy, and tired enough that she didn't gnaw our hands off.
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| Leslie's little Tica dog...equal parts sweetheart and monster. She's perfect! |
We love Las Quebradas. It's a fantastic little place to relax....and we felt totally safe while we were there! We bought most of our groceries at the feria and at grocery stores in San Isidro, but there is a small grocery store in town (directly across the street from the school) in case you need essentials. There's at least one liquor store, a 'police station' that looks more like a blue-painted clubhouse for no more than four people at a time. There's just one bar in town- it's called Pelo's and it doubles as the town's restaurant. Pelo's is run by a nice fellow called Maynor, and he throws a tremendous karaoke shindig every Sunday evening. The Yogi was feeling adventurous and treated the whole bar to a lovely rendition of Hey Jude!
We also met Carlos, a local dairy farmer who will sell you eggs and milk direct from his hilltop granja (farm), and a lovely lady who runs the hair salon in a bright purple building next door to the grocery store. We also found a rock with a hand-painted sign advertising a home-based nail salon (a couple of houses up the hill from the main painted rock welcoming you to Quebradas) and a chocolate factory owned by a British expat named Rosemary a couple of houses up from that (on the right side of the road as you go up the hill). The paved road becomes dirt track just up the hill from that, but if you keep going up you'll find a fork in the road at a bridge. Go over the bridge and stay left at the next fork (200 meters- follow the signs), and you'll find the Centro Biológico, a tract of land preserved as a wildlife corridor and buffer zone to protect the area's water supply. It's a hot, steep uphill walk of about an hour, but you can probably drive the route there in under 10 minutes. Beautiful scenery and lots of wildlife await you on the hiking trails there. The Biological Center also takes volunteers...click here to go to their website if you'd like to learn more: Centro Biológico "Las Quebradas"
Do be aware, though, because it's such a tiny, close-knit place, everyone will know all your business....and I do mean everybody. I was even approached by a complete stranger at the bus station in San Isidro and asked if I was the 'morena' (brown girl, I suppose) staying in Quebradas with the 'blanquita' (small white one, kind of). I was totally thrown off...but, yes, that was us. Apparently, we were the talk of the town. Mister stranger man turned out to be very sweet, and even asked if I could teach him English. I would've helped him out, but we had only two more days until we headed further south and even farther from the beaten track to Playa Zancudo.
Sure, Las Quebradas is small, but there are at least a couple of handfuls of North American/European expats that call it home. We met a few of them, all really nice people. They proved to be an incredibly helpful good time! Our new friend, Carol, even accompanied us to her dentist in San Isidro because I didn't trust that my Spanish vocabulary would be applicable in a dentist's office! A kindly gentleman called Tomás (he's from the US, so his name might have originally been Thomas) gave us more information about Latin American travel, wild edibles, holistic health, and gardening than you can shake a stick at. We were treated to Chilean wine, cheese, crackers, and figs at an informal back porch get-together within earshot of the lovely river. Needless to say, Las Quebradas will always occupy a happy place in our hearts!
Thanks so much, Quebradas! I suspect you'll see us again someday!
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