January 29, 2023
Day 1: A Solo Sojourn to Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center
<< Previous page: Arrival
My bladder wakes me up pretty early and I realize that I slept surprisingly well. I don’t know why I’m surprised, because I was utterly exhausted last night, but I guess I assumed I’d not rest sharing a room with a stranger and sleeping on a strange mattress. Doris and I both awake around the same time and rise to get dressed and start our day. I check the weather– lows in the 60s and highs in the 80s– and wonder why I brought any “warm” clothes to begin with. I think I should have just packed shorts, skirts, and dresses and now I’m stressed that I didn’t pack enough of those!
Once dressed I venture out into the common area and find many of the other guests are already stirring at this early hour; it’s only 7am. Three Costa Rican women are in the kitchen cooking eggs, rice, and beans. They speak to me in Spanish and I again kick myself for not buckling down and becoming more proficient. “No cafe, si huevos,” I manage to choke out. They continue to speak to me in Spanish so I just say “Si!” to everything and figure I’ll take what I end up with. What I end up with is a delicious plate of scrambled eggs, rice and black peans, and plantains along with some juice since I said no to the coffee.
After breakfast I order an Uber to take me to Rescate Wildlife Rescue Center— an animal sanctuary that rescues and rehabilitates wild animals, in addition to providing a permanent home for animals that are unable to be released into the wild.
Field note: most hostels in Costa Rica seem to have options for securing your belongings if you will be away from the hostel for the day. Garden's House had lockers in each bedroom and you were given a lock and key on check-in. A hostel I stayed at later in the trip had a locked storage room accessed via keypad that only staff members had access to, and also had locking cabinets at each of the bunks.
As my Uber takes me further and further from the city center I begin to worry: what if I get out here and cannot call an Uber or taxi? I paid for an international plan for my phone, but it hasn’t been working. I actually begin to become extremely anxious about this since the drive has been about 15 minutes and we are far from town now. I attempt to easy my anxiety by convincing myself that this is a tourist attraction, and surely someone will speak enough English for me to ask about WiFi, and if my phone will not work surely I can use theirs to call a taxi. My worries were for nothing, as I arrive and find that the receptionist not only speaks English, but the Center also has great WiFi, as does the restaurant on site. I pay the fee and set about walking around the Center on a self-guided tour.
The Center is absolutely beautiful, with native plants and wildlife all around. Palms and banana trees, hibiscus and bamboo, and countless other trees and plants that I cannot name create a canopy that allows just a bit of sunlight to sprinkle in. The exhibits begin immediately with multiple free-range parrot and macaw species. Even not knowing Spanish, I’m able to learn a lot from the exhibits as most of them have descriptions of the species on display in both Spanish and English. The Center has over 125 species of animals on display, and all of these are animals that cannot be released into the wild and are considered permanent residents. This is only a small percentage of the animals that live here, though. Most of their animals are in rehabilitation programs and will eventually be released into one of the Center’s protected habitats around the country.
I spend a couple of hours wandering the grounds and taking in all of the animal exhibits, then decide to eat lunch at the on-site restaurant before heading back into town. Prices here are a little higher than normal for Costa Rica, but proceeds support the Rescue’s mission and I’m happy to pay a few extra colones for a good cause. The servers speak some English and ordering is a breeze: I order Casado with fish, a traditional Costa Rican lunch, and a Guaro Sour, an alcoholic drink made from sugarcane liquor. Both are absolutely delicious.
I exit the Center and order another Uber. I’m headed to the Alajuela City Mall– which was recommended by my host yesterday and seems like a place I can find a phone charger. This honestly turns out to be a mistake. The Mall is huge and very busy, since it’s a Sunday. It’s very much like what I remember American shopping malls were like in the earlier 2000’s — sparkly, bright, full of advertisements and people trying to sell you things you don’t need. It’s cleaner and more modern than I remember our American shopping malls being, and it’s also surprisingly pet friendly! I see several dogs browsing with their owners, all on leash and very well behaved.
The reason it was a mistake is that, although there are dozens of WiFi networks showing up, none of them are free/public. I cannot find a single network that I can connect to for even a few minutes– or even for a small fee!– so that I can order an Uber back to Garden’s House. I do find a kiosk selling phone chargers and use my limited Spanish and Google translate to purchase a two-port one that will serve me well for the duration of the trip. However, after making that purchase I quickly become overwhelmed and realize that I’m going to have to walk back to the hostel. I’m a bit apprehensive about walking the streets in an unfamiliar foreign city, but I happen to exit the Mall at the same time as a group of students and they give me a bit of courage that I can do this, too. Google Maps aren’t working so I open my old faithful trusty Gaia and use it to navigate back to the hostel, which thankfully I’d had the foresight to pin in the app.
Field note: when traveling to a new country, or any new place really, go ahead and drop pins/waypoints at the addresses of places you expect to stay, whether that is a hotel, hostel, or campground, and download the area you will be traveling in for offline use. I use Gaia GPS, and was able to use it to navigate even when my phone wouldn't work.
As I navigate the maze of streets en route to my hostel on foot, I’m thankful today is a warm, sunny day. I’m actually enjoying the walk as I happily soak up the sunshine after being in cold, rainy Texas for the past week. Traffic is pretty wild here, and pedestrians don’t have the right of way, so I’m diligent about street crossings and watching for motorists and motorbikes as I make my way down city streets, into a residential neighborhood, and finally to the front door of my hostel. Quite proud of myself, and also exhausted, I retreat to my dorm and take a nap.
Following an hour long siesta I decide to Uber out one more time for dinner. The host at my hostel recommends a restaurant called La Calle, and I take him up on it. I order a shrimp sandwich that is absolutely divine, and have a mojito (why don’t I drink mojitos more often, this was delicious!) and a second drink called a “perfect strawberry” which was quite perfect. After dinner I briefly contemplate stepping into a cantina across the parking lot from the restaurant for another drink, but decide against it and Uber back to the hostel. I arrive back at Garden’s House to find I’ve acquired another dorm mate while I was gone, a woman from Belgium named Karen who has been in Costa Rica for two weeks. She returns home tomorrow. She speaks some English so we are able to converse about her time in this country. I suspect it will be another early night to bed for me. I’m wiped out from a day of bouncing all over Alajuela!
Next Page: Day 2: The San Jose Central Market >>
Adventure Like A Girl 
Leave a comment