MONTEVERDE

My first stop was in the cloud forest of Monteverde. The canopy tour, which originated here, was a lot of fun. I slid down cables over the treetops, and the rides were of varying length and steepness. So when I was going fast, it was more challenging to brake. But once I figured out the brake was not just in the hand grip but more about putting my whole weight on the hand grip, I really got comfortable. A little more exhilarating though was the Tarzan swing. As I jumped down into the void, holding onto the rope, I felt my guts drop like a pack of sand. When they caught me on the first swing, they made me spin and that got me screaming. Then on the next swing they spun me in the other direction and I screamed louder. Now I know why Tarzan screamed, a mixture of exhilaration and fright! It took me a while to find my bearings after the thrill...

I had roommates staying with me; a whole family of wasps. There must have been about a dozen of them, piled up on top of each other, in a corner over my door. When I told the front desk about them, she told me not to worry about them because they were not aggressive. Well that was fine as long as they stayed where they were, but when one of them ventured near my bed when I was about to go to sleep, I was afraid it was going to climb on my pillow while I was sleeping. My reaction would have definitely startled it. Fortunately nothing happened and I was relieved about that. As for cockroaches I will tolerate them living with me as long as they do not climb into bed with me. That is where I draw the line. And if they try, I will slap them. So please spread the word: Nico does not sleep with cucarachas OK?

The first time I visited the frog pond was at night and the guide would look for them with a flashlight. The amphibians were hiding in the leaves and using their color as a camouflage. There were many varieties; the poisonous ones tended to be more brightly colored like red or bright green with spots. It is their bright color that tells the predators to beware. The poison comes out through their skin when they are afraid. So what happens when you hold a poisonous dart frog in your hand? Because it is cold blooded and we are warm blooded, it will eventually start to overheat in your hand, and then as it starts to sweat, the poison will seep out of its skin. If you happen to have a cut or wound on your hand, you are in big trouble, but otherwise, just make sure you do not touch your eyes or mouth with that hand. And why is it called a dart frog? Because the arborigenes used their poison for their arrows when they were hunting.

So anyway, there are motherly frogs and there is a frog eat frog world. Some frogs or toads will lay up to 25 000 eggs, those ones are very likely to eat their own babies. Other species will only lay a few eggs, which makes them more maternal. Some come out of the eggs as fully developed frogs whereas most are tadpoles first. The advantage of going to the frog pond is that you are guaranteed to see them as long as you keep on looking and you can figure out their camouflage tactics. It is amazing how they can completely blend into their surroundings. And it is a great exercise for the eyes to try to find them. The first time I went, the guide was there to help us find them, most frogs are active at night and I was surprised to discover that the sounds they make are completely different from the ones I am familiar with. When I returned the next day, they gave me a flashlight and I was on my own to find them. Most of them were asleep so they were more difficult to find but with a lot of patience, I found most of them.

THE ARENAL VOLCANO

On the way to La Fortuna, there was a flock of vultures on the lakeshore. I asked the driver why there were so many of them. He explained that the mudslides had caused a tidal wave that drowned about a dozen cows that were grazing on the shore. The vultures were preparing for a banquet.

The first thing I did when I arrived at my hotel was book a horseback ride to the waterfall, and I fell in love... with Apache. I had only ridden a couple of times since my horseback riding days when I was a teenager and was not sure how I was going to handle the ride. I was given a wonderful horse that was docile yet had a personality. Since I was the only one on the tour, it was just my fourteen year old guide Alonso, and myself. The first thing Apache did when I mounted him was try to walk into the house. I guess he thought he was a person and not a horse. And then Alonso's horse started cantering towards the stable. But eventually when Alonso’s father got us both on the road, the rest of the ride went smoothly. Alonso always stayed behind to keep an eye on me and Apache would accelerate whenever the other horse approached too closely. That is how I got to canter a lot and I needed to relax my hips to accompany the movement of the horse's back under me. I pretty much allowed him to canter whenever he wanted to unless there was a car coming or when we approached a concrete road, in which case I took over the reins. He was very sensitive to my signals and pretty much obeyed me. I felt like I was in total control of my ride for the first time in my life. There were no teachers to tell me what to do or to aggravate me by scaring my horse, or make me ride a horse I hated. I could slow down or accelerate whenever I wanted to and my horse responded well to me. Although I probably got some good training from my teachers, I ended up quitting because I had a stomach ache every night before my riding class. Apache had introduced me to a new riding concept that I was really enjoying.

After the canopy tour, the hikes in the cloud forest and the horseback ride, I was ready for a nice bath in the natural hot springs of Tabacon. The water coming down from the volcano is boiling at the top and cooler as you go down the volcano. There were different baths to sit in, some with a Jacuzzi effect, others had a waterfall you could sit under. I got incredible massages from both, and though the place is highly overpriced, it ended up being a cheap massage from the water. I could barely walk when I entered the SPA, since my calves were so sore, but I came out walking normally. Two days later I went to the Baldi hot springs which are a lot cheaper than Tabacon. They are pools of different water temperatures but there isn’t the river streaming down effect of the other hot springs. There was loud disco music playing which to me defeats the purpose of a SPA. But then more Costa Ricans come here and maybe that is what they like. What I really liked there though was the overwhelming scent of ylang-ylang as I walked up the paths from one pool to the next. I later found out that there were only three trees in the whole complex but the scent was so strong that the aroma could be captured over a large surface.

There is a volcano near La Fortuna, the Arenal Volcano. It is still active and on a clear night you can see mini eruptions and lava flowing down the mountain. I was there for three nights and most of the time, the volcano hid behind clouds but on one night, I managed to hitch a ride to a good viewing location. My ride was coming back to pick me up twenty minutes later, I hoped that would be a good length of time to see the eruptions. I did not want to have to wait there for an hour and a half when the next shuttle would come back. The sky was full of stars, the crickets were singing love songs and there were a couple of lovers behind me. Following a thunderous roar, I saw the crimson glowing peak of the volcano and several cascades of red lava rolling down the mountain. It was almost like watching fireworks except that there was only one color and instead of going up, the fireworks were only going down. The whole event was quite magical. Then the clouds started rolling in, like the curtains closing in on the stage after the play is over and my ride arrived in perfect timing.

The next day, I took a volcano tour, we walked to the mirador (viewpoint) but it was raining and there were several groups which were really loud and obnoxious. The volcano either went on strike or the curtains never came up. So we did not get to see much. I was so fortunate that I had seen it the previous day. I really enjoyed the walk through the rain forest on the way to the mirador though.

MANUEL ANTONIO NATIONAL PARK

Although I was advised to avoid the Manuel Antonio National Park, I ended up going there just to see it since it was on the way to where I was going next, and I do not regret it! It is absolutely gorgeous! I think that if you can go there during the off peak season and risk getting a lot of rain, it is worth the trip. Of course the sea lover that I am has found its paradise. As I was walking on the beach, on my left was the roar of the waves, on my right, the crickets singing in the palm trees, ahead of me was the multicolored sunset, and behind me, the beautiful islets of the Manuel Antonio National park. After a nice long walk on the sand, I found a restaurant literally on the beach and had a fabulous fish a la española that I had to share with the mosquitoes. I ate the fish and the mosquitoes ate me.

On my way back to my hotel room, I was treated to a wonderful frog concert on the laguna (small lake). It was an a acapella of at least five different voices that I could discern, some were crickets, some were frogs, and others may have been geckos. Then in the backyard of my hotel, a different frog concert was playing. I was thoroughly soaking it all in. I wish I had a tape recorder... If you add all the sounds together, it sounded something like this:

awatawatawatawatawatawatawatawatawatawatawatawatawtawatawatawata   (frog chorus)

crrr crrr crr crr crrr crr crr crrr crr crr crr crr crr crr crr crr crr crrr crrr crr crrr          (crickets)

tututututu         tutututu                                  tututututu                         tutu       (gecko)

tss-toiiiiing!                 tss-toiiing!                                     tss-toiiinggg!         (soloist frog)

Add to that a water creek and you have yourself a symphony!

I ended up staying two nights at Manuel Antonio and on the morning of my departure, the sun greeted me while I was hiking to an isolated beach. I soaked in the beauty of my secret hiding place while I had it all to myself. As I hurried back to my hotel to meet my check out deadline, I saw tourists arriving with their bathing suits and towels. I felt very fortunate to have seen my little haven alone.

I caught the bus to Domenical which was to take over two hours to travel the forty four kilometers of bumpy road. The roads of Domenical were full of mud and puddles, and I could not find a reasonably priced clean room. One of the girls at the hostel was so rude to me that I decided to skip my horseback riding tour to the most beautiful waterfall of Costa Rica and continued on to Uvita where I knew I had a cheap place to stay. But from there, the tour to see the whales was not available until three days later, so I stayed one night and went on to Puerto Jimenez, a seven hour journey with three different buses. The bus drivers were always helpful in telling me when to get off and where to catch the next bus. I was very lucky that I never waited long for any of my connections.

A Corcovado National Park ranger, whose job was to protect the park from hunters and gold diggers, sat next to me and gave me some advice on what I should plan for my hike to La Sirena Camp. Orlando (that was his name) told me how sometimes the river was so deep, you had to carry your bags over your head to cross it. But he failed to warn me (or I did not understand) about how strong the current was, and I ended up learning about that the hard way. His description of the long eight hour walk through muddy trails brought knots to my stomach, yet I really wanted to do it, I was attracted to the challenge. On the way to Puerto Jimenez, we passed some ravaged hills on the side of the road, damaged by mudslides. The road had just reopened after being closed for about two weeks. And there were no potholes in the road, rather water filled craters. It was much easier for me to relax as a passenger on the bus than if I had driven myself. The bus drove slowly and every bump gave a massage to my weary body. Orlando wished me good luck as he got off the bus, though it was highly likely we would meet again at La Sirena.

CORCOVADO NATIONAL PARK

Puerto Jimenez is a lovely quiet town, the backpackers' gateway to Corcovado National Park. I had read that I should be prepared for the humidity and the mosquitoes, as it had plenty of both. There were plenty of cheap and clean places to stay here and I spent the day organizing my trek into Corcovado. I needed to make arrangements to stay at La Leona tent Lodge the first night, and at La Sirena the next two nights and also fly back to San Jose from Puerto Jimenez in order to have enough time to get to the Caribbean before I had to head back home. I also needed to buy a mosquito net and get my laundry washed, check my email... The next morning a colectivo (public bus) was taking us to Carate which was a forty five minute walk to the entrance of the park.

There were seven of us on the colectivo but except for me, the others were all going straight to La Sirena. Oh well, I thought, maybe some more people were coming the next day so that I would have someone to walk with. For some stupid reason, I told them not to wait for me when we got off because I was so slow. I did not want to delay them. I wanted to get a bite to eat before I headed off. Big mistake! There was a river to cross and I underestimated the current. I had seen from a distance that they had already crossed the river, so I just followed their footsteps... and fell in! Camera bag and all! My adductors (inner thigh muscles) were on strike since the horseback ride and my legs were not strong enough to withstand the current. I was about mid thigh deep. By some miracle which I attribute to my guardian angels, I managed to get myself back up again before I was swept away to the sea. By some other miracle, not much water had gotten into my bag and both cameras were still functioning. I had to hang a lot of things to dry when I arrived at the La Leona tent lodge but most of all I needed to get some rest, nurse my injured leg and drink plenty of water to recover from the shock. Renaldo, the manager of the camp, gave me some camphor balm to rub on my legs, but it was impossible for me to be still that day. I tried enjoying the hammock facing the beach but I was too jittery.

As I stepped over yet another six lanes highway of red ants carrying leaves in one direction and zigzagging their way back in the other direction, I wanted to get to the end of that story. The highways were always so long I could never see the end of them, but that day, I had the time to look for it. So on one end they were in the bushes cutting bits of leaves and Manuel explained to me that they were taking the leaves to the holes they lived in (of course I could not see inside them) and piling them to allow them to ferment so that they could then use the juice for food. Ants never stop working and they work really hard. I guess they would be good employees if I ever needed some hard working ones.

So here I was, grounded in this beautiful beach view camp, unable to rest and forbidden to swim because of the riptide. Hiking was not a good idea either and I had not brought anything to read. Finally Geiner from the more posh campground next door came to keep me company. Since he had a couple of hours off before he had to go back to work, we decided to go on a small hike up the hill to enjoy the view from the top. We saw several tiny green and black poison dart frogs, they were so cute. That night he offered to take me to see the turtles after he got off work. The sea turtles come on to the beach at night to lay their eggs and bury them into the sand. Unfortunately there are poachers who try to steal them to sell them to people who believe those eggs have aphrodisiac qualities. The eggs are also vulnerable to predators like coatis, raccoons, ghost crabs and coyotes. Within the National Parks like Tortuguero, the eggs are dug out and kept in a safe place until they are ready to hatch. When the time comes, they will put them on the beach at night time. Because the brightest light is that of the shimmering ocean, the phototropic baby turtles naturally know to head for the sea, which is vital for their continued survival.

I was the only guest staying at the La Leona tent lodge so the employees invited me to join them to celebrate Mercedes’ (the cook) birthday with some Cabernet Sauvignon in a carton. They barbecued some pork but I could not even try it because I was already full from my dinner. I hung out with them as they told me tales of tourists being swept away by the waves or being eaten by sharks or dying of dehydration because they did not want to drink the water from the river. They told me I was muy valiente (very brave) to be doing this hike alone. I had no intention of turning back, bad leg or not. I also had no idea what I was getting myself into. Renaldo showed me some big frogs that were hanging around the camp, they were not shy. When Renaldo put his foot on one of them, it did not budge. A little later he called me again to come and see another animal, oh yes, another frog! No, with his foot, he pushed it into the gutter (plop) and took me see a big crab that he had left food for. Why do crabs walk sideways? Because they always need to be facing their enemy, they will never turn their back on them (and I guess they cannot walk backwards?) And why did Renaldo kick the frog? Because it always comes into the living room uninvited. By the time Geiner arrived at 8:30 pm, I was getting sleepy and the tide being high, we were going to have to wait a while before the turtles were to come on the beach. I ended up having to give up on the idea of seeing the turtles since I had a long day ahead of me: a seventeen kilometer hike.

The next morning, I arrived at the entrance of the park and was told once again that I was courageous to be doing this hike alone. Again, I ignored the warning, convinced that my guardian angels were there to protect me. The guard explained to me that I would have to cross two major rivers (gulp), that some of the paths were in the forest, and that at times I would have to walk on the beach. There was a part when I would be on the beach that if the tide was too high, I would have to wait if the waves hit the rock. And when I reached the Rio Claro, I would need to take the path up river to a spot that indicated the best place to cross. He wished me good luck and off I went, quickly passing a couple who was on a day hike, they were not going all the way to La Sirena.  I later found out that, two hours after my departure, they closed the park and would not let anyone else in because of the rain.

I soon arrived at the Rio Madrigal and opted to wait for the couple to cross the river with them. I watched them as they negotiated the best place to cross. He would point to an area and she would waive her hand as if it was not a good idea.  He threw stones in the water. Does that indicate the depth of the water? A little up river he stepped in and his whole leg disappeared, she helped him out. He pointed to more options, she indicated that no way was she going. I wondered if the fact that I had told her that I had fallen in the previous river had made her more cautious. Finally they crossed at an area which was only deep to above knee level though the current was still quite strong. When they reached the other side, I called out to them to help me across. It was his pleasure! As he held my hand, she took a picture of us and gave me a supportive smile. Thank you both!

I continued on at a steady pace and it soon started to rain. I ran into a couple of girls who were coming from La Sirena, totally drenched, they had no rain coat or umbrella. They were five hours in, I was three hours out. It was 11 am, plus five hours should get me in at 4 pm, before sunset which was at 5 pm. As the rain poured stronger, I decided to take shelter under a rock facing the beach and enjoyed the scenery. I soon realized that the rain was not going to subside so I continued on. I spotted a soaked hawk on a branch and thought of taking a photo of it. But by the time I tried to focus on it, it had turned around and flown away. As I turned to get back on the path, I saw four silhouettes walking on the beach, they quickly caught up with me and Orlando was one of them. My knight in shining armor had arrived! Not one, but four! But if I was to walk with them, I was going to have to speed up my pace, so Orlando and eventually Placido as well took some of my heavy gear from my backpack. We walked mostly on the beach because the paths in the forest were flooded and muddy, which made the hike longer and harder, and I was enduring my blisters under my feet. Placido stayed at my side as I needed a break and Orlando was waiting ahead. We finally reached the Rio Claro and it looked nasty! It was brown and the current was extremely strong! There was no way I was crossing that river! But to them, there was no way I was staying behind. I was scared, very scared. So Orlando grabbed my camera bag and hung it around his neck, Placido took my backpack and held it under his arm, and each of them took one of my hands. The level of the water was almost to my waistline (it can sometimes reach the neck!) The current was so strong that every time I lifted one foot to take the next step, my leg went flying up. If it hadn’t been for the two strong pillars holding me with a death grip, I would have been taken away by the river, out to the sea, then swallowed by the riptide and finally eaten by the sharks. Not a good way to end a vacation. What would I have done without them? Probably sit all night in the mud, under the pouring rain, and cried. Thank goodness for my guardian angels. Orlando later admitted that he was afraid that if one of them had slipped, we would all three have been swept away.

There was still some walking to do and Orlando wanted to go back on the beach which was longer. I preferred the shortcut which ended up being in a flooded and very muddy path. I worried about the snakes but Placido reassured me not to worry, the snakes like dry places. We finally arrived at La Sirena at 3 pm, ahead of schedule. Again I was told I was brave to have ventured on the hike alone, I admitted I was totally unaware of the threat of the Rio Claro (or maybe I was in denial). I thanked the heavens for my safe arrival and had a restless night, under perpetual rainfalls, because my adrenalin level was so high from all the excitement.

There was a knock on my door at 6:25 A.M., just before breakfast. It was the stationmaster. He told me a group was leaving in a few minutes and that he strongly advised that I leave with them because if I stayed another night as planned, I would have to hike back alone and he did not think it was a good idea. I wasn’t sure my body was ready to hike another twenty kilometers and I was sure the paths were going to be flooded, but I agreed that I should take advantage of the group, especially since they were being accompanied by a ranger. I gulped my breakfast down, quickly packed and caught up with the group which had already left. They were waiting for me on the other side of the Rio Claro. Again two strong pillars helped me across, thankfully. The rain finally stopped and the earth quickly soaked up the water. The paths were surprisingly not too muddy. We arrived at the Park entrance of La Leona, a seventeen kilometer walk, in four and a half hours! The ranger had us walking at a steady pace and we took a couple of shortcuts. We did not see too many animals, just a couple of coatis, but I enjoyed every creek I walked in, cooling off my feet and cleaning them from the mud. We were supposed to walk another three kilometers to the bus stop at Carate but unfortunately, the rain had washed out one of the bridges on the road, so we were going to have to walk another seven kilometers, two more hours. We took a lunch break and slowly made our way to the next bus stop. We arrived at 3 P.M. with an hour to spare before the bus was supposed to pick us up. But it never came...

At 4:30 pm there were twelve people (including an illegal Costa Rican gold miner) waiting for the colectivo to Puerto Jimenez. At 5:15pm a car came from Carate to drop off someone at a house nearby. We asked them for advice and finally the gold miner promised to come back with a solution. They ended up radioing in to a hotel who called the colectivo company to come and pick us up. According to the gold miner, they should arrive between 7 and 7:30 pm. By then, the night had fallen, there were dozens of fireflies performing an aerial ballet around us, the frogs were serenading and we worried about the possibility of unwelcome guests: snakes. We walked to the next rio (river), another two kilometers, just to kill time. And then we waited, and waited. I told jokes, others shared the rest of their food, and we considered walking back in the flooded road to Carate to stay in a $100 a night hotel which nobody could afford. At 8 pm, we were losing hope, and the hotel seemed to be a better option than sleeping in the middle of the road with the mosquitoes and possible rainfalls. The colectivo finally arrived! He was on his third roundtrip of the day (four hours each way), I did not quite understand why he never met us at 4 pm, but we were all grateful that he was there.

In route to Puerto Jimenez we got a flat tire. The poor driver was on all fours, in the mud, trying to change the tire, which delayed our arrival even more. By the time we arrived, most of the town was asleep, including the hotel where I had left my bags. A kind American expatriate who had overheard the situation on the radio met us when we arrived and helped us find a restaurant and a hotel. After a meal and a cold shower, I was asleep in seconds.

I relaxed one day in Puerto Jimenez because my flight to San Jose wasn’t until the following day. I chatted with the Chinese owner of the restaurant where I had lunch and she gave me some tips on how to make a good Ceviche (raw fish cooked in lemon juice). Then the guide who had helped me organize my trip to Corcovado National Park came over for a beer and we had a long conversation about Costa Rica. He explained that about fifty years ago, the government had decided to start protecting the rainforest and the animals, especially the endangered species. They taught their citizens an ecosystem which brought them to an awareness of the beauty of their country. Tourism was not a goal in those days but today, the support from foreign visitors is helping them continue with their project. I found the concept to be very inspiring, to do what you believe in and not have expectations of a specific outcome, because you never know what will happen. Another important point about Costa Rica is that they decided to stop spending money on military matters and instead educate their citizens. As a result, the literacy rate in Costa Rica is close to 96%, the highest in Latin America.

I then went for a short walk down to the quiet beach harbor and marveled at the solar designs in the sand that were carved by the crabs’ walks. I found a quaint restaurant that would be a perfect spot to have a farewell dinner with the group that had walked with me from La Sirena, the name of it was La Sirenita, the Little Mermaid. They made the best beans anyone had eaten in Costa Rica, and my beef had an Italian flavor, with olives. And of course, the rain joined us for dinner. We were again treated to yet another frog recital on our way home. I am going to miss them terribly. Fortunately, I bought a CD with the nature sounds of Costa Rica; the frogs were invited to the recording.

The next morning, I was summoned to show up at the airport fifteen minutes before the flight with only a confirmation number as my ticket. I watched the SANSA one engine airplane land like an albatross, clumsily struggling not to fall on its nose. I had booked my flight on Nature Air whose airplanes had two engines and a much better safety record. The flight to San Jose was mostly in the clouds, the few clearings allowed me a last glimpse of this beautiful country. I was planning to continue on to Puerto Viejo on the Caribbean side but there was a yellow alert there because of flooding and they had to evacuate some parts of the area. I had a few hours to kill in San Jose before flying home that same day. The taxi drivers tried to rip me off. They wanted $20 to take me to the center of town. I told them I would take the bus. Guillermo finally bargained down to $5. In the car he tried again to give me a “good deal” by staying with me while I visited the museums and then take me to the other airport for my ongoing flight. I let him know that I was quite happy to take the bus. Realizing that he was not going to make business with me, he finally offered to drop me off at a really nice, traditional and cheap restaurant to have breakfast. He then showed me two museums within walking distance from the restaurant and even showed me where to take the bus to the airport. He was a decent guy after all.

My journey through Costa Rica was not exactly a vacation; it was more like an adventure. I would not advise visitors to have fixed plans when they go there, especially during the rainy season. But without rain, Costa Rica would not be rica (rich).

Bonus: Iguana  Iguana 2   Tarantula