Tues Aug 15
Today is my 30th birthday! And I wasn’t feeling great. Yesterday’s medical ordeal left James and I both exhausted and worn. I felt so much better than yesterday, but still had some pain and discomfort. Javier came around 8am to retrieve the bikes and we said our goodbyes. He wished me a happy birthday- so nice of him to remember! Then we moved into our new Airbnb. We had gotten a free extra night because we had a leaky shower for most of our stay, but we had to change units because other guests were coming into ours. So we moved to the unit at the end which was more private but much smaller. For two people it was snug, but for just one night it was perfectly fine. Like our other unit, there were a lot of centipedes that managed to sneak their way in.
After a restful morning, we decided to go out for a birthday lunch. We ended up hiking unintentionally by sort of getting lost on our way. We followed Google Maps, taking a different route, a short cut, into town but apparently it was more of a private farm trail through someone’s land. Even though it took much longer than expected, it was a nice scenic hike. We had our adopted beach dog, Maddi, with us happily exploring the trail.
Towards the end of our walk, Maddi got attacked by 3 farm dogs. They charged out, barking and beelined straight for our sweet, helpless little girl. In the first second when we saw them we both sort of froze up but tried to ignore them as oftentimes dogs will come out barking, defending their territory but then easing up once they realize there is no threat. But these dogs went straight past us and after Maddi who was cowering by the side of the road. She didn’t try to defend herself at all and the other dogs ganged up on her. Two of the dogs didn’t seem malicious, they were only following the aggressive alpha dog that was snapping and angrily barking. In the end, James managed to get the aggressive dogs away by shouting and swinging his t-shirt at them. The whole thing was probably over in 10 seconds. The farm dogs ran away, someone on the property had called them back.
After a thorough inspection, Maddi was fine. The dogs didn’t maul her, they really only surrounded and scared her. She had a tiny nick on her snout and the other dogs’ saliva was on parts of her coat, but there was no blood or any serious injuries. She was shaken, as were we. For a second I thought the dogs were going to rip her apart. She is so sweet and didn’t stand up for herself at all.
A Canadian woman appeared, all concerned and apologetic. This is where we learned that this wasn’t a public trail. She was so sorry, and explained that her dogs just aren’t used to seeing anyone come up here and so they were wary of strangers. She then pointed the way to town, still a good 30 minute walk away. Google Maps really led us down the wrong path!
We finally got to the restaurant and 10 more dogs came out barking and went after Maddi! To be fair, the restaurant was just off Calle de Perro Loco, Crazy Dog Street. These dogs weren’t aggressive at all, they were a mix of little terrier type dogs. But still, they were a pack of dogs barking and running at Maddi. If she hadn’t just had that terrible dog gang-up, she probably would have run towards them, tail wagging and butt sniffing. But now she was on high alert, and uncomfortably stood her ground and avoided direct eye contact with the dogs, which actually seemed to make the curious dogs suspicious of her and bark more. Finally the owner of the restaurant called them off and we all sat down at a table outside.
Maddi curled up under James’ chair, her new protecter. We all shared: costillas (pork ribs) and pargo entero (whole snapper). The ribs were slowly smoked for many hours and the snapper came with a luscious salsa caribeño. The plates came with salad, gallo pinto (mixed beans and rice), patacones (double fried green plantains) and 2 glasses of sangria- complimentary because here it was Dia de Madre (Mother’s Day).
We walked back this time taking the main road through town. Lunch was really good but I still wasn’t feeling great. We finally got back, showered and had a little siesta. Then we woke up, did more laundry and researched rental cars options in Costa Rica. We were originally thinking of going out to dinner but honestly we still stuffed after our late lunch so we just had some yogurt and honey and called it a night.