As stated previously, my day started around 1 or 1:30 AM with the return of the late night revellers to the hotel. Rather than waste the time, I did a bit of research in spending the last couple of days in the Costa Rican capital of San José, instead of the beaches surrounding Quepos.
At our scheduled 7AM departure, we were met with a 24 seat mini-coach to transport the 5 “Avocados” and myself the proposed 5-hour journey to the base of Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio – you farqin beauty!!!’
After stop on the bridge at River Tarcoles to view a shit ton of American Crocodiles, I sought Sonia’s assistance in swapping the two nights in Quepos for two nights in San José. We got a hold a G Adventures customer service representative who informed us that I would lose all ongoing or further services, including accommodation, transport, transfers, meals and all other activities should I chose to leave the tour, by heading to San José. I’m like OK, forget about it then.
Not sure if it was due to traffic or road conditions or not having to was for an extra 18 passengers to complete their 15 minute road stops in under an hour or what, but we arrived in our hotel just on 11, an hour ahead of time. We got squared away in out rooms and as ½ of the “Avocados” we going to spend the arvo on a catamaran, Lila aka Miss Daisy and myself decided we’d rent a car after a bit to eat and go exploring, similar to what we did in Roatán.
I mention all the aforementioned detail as this is where I say that I actually do believe that seemingly random events, can culminate into a life changing moment – read on.
Sonia had sent the group a few recommendations to go visit, including places to grab a feed at. Lila had chosen Tiquicia Delicias where I select the lunch special of Fajitas that were actually pretty good. While eating and chatting, I heard the sound of cutlery and crockery being rattled around on the table next to me. I glance over and see a man face down in his main course, which in all honesty took a couple of seconds to register as being odd and not comical as for some reason the thought of the Monty Python skit in which a patron summons the waiter with “Waiter, there’s a man in my soup”.
I look around his table to see that he’s dining alone and that he’s not moved – that’s when the penny drops that fella’s in trouble. I walk up to him, shake him on the shoulder asking if he’s all right while lifting his face out of his lunch and getting no response at all.
This is when all those seemingly wasted mind numbing hours of employer mandated First Aid and First Responder training kicks in and I begin stepping through the Dr ABC (which stands for Danger, Response, Airway, Breathing & Circulation) procedure while I’m lifting the guy out of his chair an yelling for someone to call an ambulance.
I place ol’ mate on his side, tilt his head back, notice his eyes had rolled back in his head, his lips were blue and could feel no breath or pulse. I open his mouth, remove the trapped food and retrieve his tongue, which produced a raspy attempt with inhaling, which stopped after several attempts, but there was no exhaling.
I cleared some other foreign debris from his mouth and was joined by a local guide at which point we made the decision to perform CPR, as he still had no pulse. We had just completed two full cycles when I felt a faint pulse and light breathing and was placing him in the recovery position when two firemen, from the station up the end of the street arrived.
Not long after that, the Ambo’s arrived and found his blood pressure to be 80 over 50, sugar counts really low and decided to cart him off to hospital.
I was talking to the guy to try and ascertain if he had any known conditions, allergies, was on any medications or any had previous incidents – which he said he collapsed two days ago. Lila was a godsend, as she was translating to the responding teams and got hold of the fellas local friend to meet him at the hospital.
I paid the lunch bill and both Lila and I walked slowly around the block in silence and looking at each other, taking in all what just happened. Truth be told, it was an emotionally overwhelming moment where tears were welling up in my eyes and trying so hard not to lose it. Lila made the comment that they said the guy got to the Pearly Gates, but they were not accepting new residents.
Got to say that I’ve been involved in plenty of medical emergencies, first aid or accident assistance and this is the first time I’ve had to go full blown CPR mode.
With somewhat conflicting heavy hearts and happiness, we headed in the general direction of our hotel, running across some of the biggest Iguana’s I’ve ever seen, fossicking around in the garbage strewn local river that runs down the street.
Rather fortuitously, we walked past the local Budget rental agency that was reopening after lunch and enquired about a vehicle for the day. Lila negotiated a fee of $35 for a Toyota Yaris that upon first inspection would have been utilised as the Student Driver vehicle, but hey – sure beats walking.
First stop was Parque Nahomi, where the security guard put us on to a sloth hanging out at the entrance. From there it was a couple of inadvertent laps of the 5 block downtown before locating the entrance to Parque Nacional Manuel Antonio. We swung back out the other side of town with the notion of checking out Dominical, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) away to the south.
Talk about déjà vu – as we passed the local hospital, I noticed they were loading a passenger into a twin engined aircraft and as clear as day, on the stretcher was the fella from lunch. Talk about trippy.
A little further up the road we saw a young lady with her daughter on the road, trying to hitchhike. On a whim, we turned around and picked them up and with Lila’s help, we found out that the woman had travelled the 40+ kilometres (25+ miles) from her home in seeking employment. Felt so much better for turning around.
We got to the beaches of Dominical just before the heavens opened up so decided to head back to see if we could catch a sunset and a feed at El Avion, where the brilliant sunset was accompanied with an equally great meal.
