June 9, 2017 - Journeys

Journeys

Last week, I planned to visit the Botanical Gardens, but it rained a lot (I seem to give a lot of weather reports in my blogs).  This week, the skies were clear, so after business was taken care of on Monday and Tuesday, I headed for the toborochis in the Botanical Garden.

After a Starbucks’ coffee, I walked to Iralá, part of the First Ring to catch a trufi.  I’ve mentioned before that trufis are group taxis that have a set route and a set price.  Once I learned their routes, I took advantage of the cheaper price.  The First Ring is an almost circular road that encircles the old, colonial city of Santa Cruz.  A taxi where I was headed would normally cost 10 Bs. (about $1.40), but a trufi would be just 2 Bs. (ab out $0.30).

I took the trufi to the Melchor Pinto statue, then I looked for a second trufi.  There is one that takes the route from Los Pozos Market to the little town of Cotoca, about thirty minutes away.  It is further, so the rate is 5 Bs.  About three-fourths of the way, at the very edge of Santa Cruz, is the Botanical Gardens.  I wrote an imaginative blog about that visit, that was posted yesterday, June 8.  It was hot and humid, but the cool of the forest was enchanting.

After about two hours, dripping wet from sweat, I debated what to do next.  Go home or go on to Cotoca for lunch?  I decided I would wait just five minutes for a trufi on the Cotoca side of the highway.  If nothing stopped for me, I’d cross the road and head for home.  It was less than two minutes that an empty trufi pulled over, so I was going to Cotoca.

It was just a few weeks since I last visited Cotoca.  I was too hot and sweaty to be a tourist.  I wanted to find a nice breezy spot to relax, eat a little, and write.  I found that in a little restaurant on the plaza called La Pascana.  In looking in the door, I could see it would not be the La Pascana from Santa Cruz, but the place was full of locals, always a good sign that the food will be good.  I had chicken with a side of rice, noodles, and fries, because that was the only thing on the menu.  But it was very good.

I walked around for just a few minutes, exploring a park nearby and giving some coins to a man on a bench that looked more frightening that helpless.  I was ready to go home.  There was a micro, a small bus, that passed me, so I hailed him.  The cost to Santa Cruz would be just 3 Bs. and it was comfortably empty.  A block later, ten kids got on board.  Another block added a dozen more.  Two blocks later and a dozen more.  It was crowded.  I didn’t notice any of the kids paying for the ride, so I am guessing that the public buses also act as school buses, giving kids a ride for free.  Before long, all the kids had gotten off and I began to drowse in my seat.

Total cost for my day was 9 Bs. for three trufis, 10 Bs. to get into the Botanical Garden, 19 Bs. for a chicken lunch, and 3 Bs. for the micro, for 41 Bs., a little less than $6.  Not bad, I’d say.