Sunday, April 22, 2012

Shelter from the Storm

 Day ten had us on another boat. This time with a bunch of locals, as it was Monday and everyone was going to work. We left Drake Bay, travelled up the coast, and up the Sierpe River to a small town called Sierpe. On the way, a pod of Spinner Dolphins joined us and the captain slowed the boat so we could watch. Later when we were going up the river the captain took a short detour through the mangroves. No crocs. 
At Sierpe, after a short wait in the riverside Las Vegas Restaurant, Diego delivered us our Suzuki 4x4. After lots and lots of paper work, we were on our way, now driving through Costa Rica. As we drove north the roads improved and the inhabitants increased, although there was still very little traffic. We passed through several small towns and stopped at a roadside stand to buy some fruit. For $1 we were able to buy fresh coconut water. The owner of the stand took a big machete, lopped the top off a refrigerated coconut, stuck a straw in it and handed it over. "Coconut Water au Natural." A great drink on a hot day.
Within an hour and a half we arrived at Shelter from the Storm, four vacation villas which are located between Uvita and Dominical. This is where we planned to spend our last five nights. The road up (and then down) to the villas is not for the feint of heart, but the view from the top is spectacular. Our hosts, Darryl and Donna greeted us warmly and, even though we were there before our scheduled check-in time, Darryl took us down to the rancho and whipped up a batch of his famous margaritas. We were joined by Kristin and Bill from Chicago who also happened to be checking in. Wouldn't you know it? Kristin is a Kindergarten teacher. Poor Craig. More teachers. We were staying in The Monkey House. We loved our 450 square foot, second floor home. Its best feature was the large covered deck nestled amongst the trees. It was like living in a treehouse. We didn't see many animals from this viewpoint, but we enjoyed sitting out there at all times of the day and night.
Shelter from the Storm is a relaxing place to stay. You can do as much or as little as you want. One day we drove into the mountains in search of hammocks. We were an hour and a half from the coast, and 3200 meters above the ocean which made the weather dramatically different. Not only was it raining, but it was cold as well. Other days we made an effort to visit several local beaches. Our favourite was Playa Arco (Arco beach). You access it, at low tide, from the Parks office at Playa Ballena. We spent several hours there and saw no one else. We had the whole beach to ourselves. Another day we went on the horseback riding tour to Nauyaca Falls. Neither of us are horse people, but after reading all the rave reviews in the guest book, we took a chance. We were not disappointed. Lynda was pleased with her calm, quiet horse who plodded along at a gentle pace. Craig's horse was a bit more spirited, but he was able to keep him under control. The horse that is. Once we arrived at the Falls, we had an opportunity to swim in the water. It was very "refreshing." The ranglers hooked up a rope system which allowed people to climb up the Falls and jump off the cliff into the water. Craig was quick to take advantage of this opportunity and filmed the 30 foot dive with his new "Go Pro" camera. With a little bit of encouragement (and peer pressure) Lynda jumped from 25 feet. She screamed from the moment she jumped to the moment she hit the water. It was all in good fun. (And yes, Craig filmed it from below).
Darryl and Donna are a wealth of knowledge and fun people to be around. The rancho contains a well stocked honour bar, a bbq, a tv and sound system, WiFi and a swimming pool. In the late afternoons, the guests seemed to congregate there to relax and chit chat. We elected to buy our groceries from the local BBM and make simple dinners on the bbq. Although it has almost been 3 years since our year of sabbatical, we rarely choose to eat out in restaurants any more.
It is amazing how quickly time flies. Before we knew it, we were back on the road and returning to San Jose. We had made arrangements with the car rental company to return the vehicle to Casa Bella Rita. Our drive into the city was uneventful, and we were happy that we weren't leaving town. With Easter Holidays approaching and schools on vacation, the Costa Ricans were all heading out of town. Four tolls later we arrived at Rita and Steve's for another enjoyable, if not short, stay. We are very grateful to Rita for arising at 4:30 am to make us coffee prior to our taxi pick-up. These are the little extras that have made their B and B so popular. Craig and Lynda are both in agreement that two weeks is not a long enough vacation. We loved Costa Rica and all the people we met, but with all the other countries out there, we probably won't go back.
Now it is time to start researching the next destination. At this point, we aren't sure where that will be. An added note: we volunteered to give up our seats on an overbooked US Airways flight to San Francisco on our way home. For our trouble we received travel vouchers. We were quite excited about it and are looking forward to using them soon.

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Drake Bay

A mess-up in comunications meant that our boat ride out of the park never got booked, but with day tours arriving every morning we were able to tag along. Arriving at Drake Bay, Miguel met us at the beach, but we had to wait for Lynda as she wanted a fresh piece of fruit and a cold drink from the first sign of civilization, a beachside grocery store.

Our next stay, Finca Maresia had great views from atop a hill next to the north edge of the park. Our cabina was not the honeymoon suite, but the bathroom walls were open to the outdoors for natural ventilation. Big hairy bugs loved the easy access. Every time Craig went into the bathroom, he was startled by something (a huge cockroach, a giant grasshopper and grande hairy spiders.) Miguel, the owner, is also a very good cook, even if he won't admit it. We were both comfortable and well fed.

Miguel had several cats and dogs, but the star was your typical, over weight, Costa Rican Heinz 57, named Kira. If she was in the mood, she would take guests on a jaunt to the beach. We were fortunate to have her and the dog next door accompany us to Playa Cocolito one afternoon.



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Saturday, April 21, 2012

Parque Nacional Corcovado

On day five, at 6am, we met Nito, our guide for the next few days, when he arrived in 4x4 taxi from Puerto Jimenez. Together we drove for about an hour to the end of the "road" at Carate. Then we loaded our packs onto our backs and walked 4km along the coast to the park entrance, at La Leona Ranger Station, where we paid our fees and had a quick cup of coffee. Once all the formalities were done we continued hiking another 16km on to Sirena Ranger Station in the middle of Corcovado National Park.

At this point it is worth mentioning that the hike into Sirena is known to be quite arduous due to the heat, the sunshine and several beach walks which do not afford you the protection of the jungle canopy. Most people return the way they came, which allows them to carry a lightweight day pack. Since we were exiting via boat to Drake Bay, we had all of our belongings with us. We were very conscious of packing light after our hiking trip in Nepal last year, but still, each pack weighed approximately 27 lbs.

Thankfully, the day was overcast and not as brutal as it could have been. As we walked Nito identified all the species that we spotted, monkeys, birds, frogs, and even a couple of anteaters. Just before we reached the Station a funny thing happened.

After 7 hot, sweaty hours of hiking, we arrived at the Rio Claro. The distance from shore to shore was about 100 metres. "Where's the boat?" Lynda asked Nito. Nito smiled and replied, "Take off your shoes." The water was barely moving, but it was chest deep in some spots. Halfway across there was a big splash. Again Lynda questioned Nito "There aren't any crocodiles in here are there?" Nito again smiled and said "No, don't worry". The next day, while out on a walk with Nito, he showed us a croc resting in the middle of that river.

Sirena Station is the main ranger station in the park, with power, overnight dorms, washrooms and cooking facilities. It all sounded good except the BBC was there shooting an episode called "Night Creatures". Time to rough it. Nito arranged granola and pasta for meals, and we slept on the deck under a mosquito net. Not too bad actually, as Corcovado is an amazing place and it was truly Nito's world. We took walks at dawn and in the evening. Highlights included a pair of cranes that performed a dance on a river bank when a third crane showed up, an ocelot that Lynda saw disappear off the trail, and the elusive tapir that was grazing in camp when we returned from our walk. There is only one drawback to the jungle. Ticks. Lucky for us, Costa Rican ticks don't have Lyme disease. They're just invasive and itchy.


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Costa Rica, March 2012

 A year has passed since our adventure to Nepal last March. Sadly, there was no time to blog in Nepal and no time to blog once we returned home. That chapter of our traveling journey remains unfinished. In an attempt to avoid a similar pitfall, we are using the quiet evening hours to chronicle this trip. Our original plan was to go to the Cook Islands in the South Pacific. Last June, armed with hundreds of thousands of Aeroplan points, we were unsuccessful in securing reasonable flight times to this dreamy destination. So we went back to the drawing board. Costa Rica was a possibility, but Craig had already been there for a week in the late 1990s. Clearly, this was going to be a different kind of vacation, so once he assented, we found the flights and made the booking.
 After nine months of waiting, we boarded a US Airways flight to Phoenix with great excitement. For one of the few times in our lives we were traveling First Class. Admittedly, First Class on US Airways is not First Class on British Airways, but the seats are bigger, and we only had to share the bathroom with 12 people and the flight crew . Also worth mentioning was the rich, moist chocolate cake they served. It was delicious. Once in Phoenix, we changed planes and flew directly into San Jose. We were booked into a room at Casa Bella Rita, a very highly ranked bed and breakfast on TripAdvisor.com. The owners, Steve and Rita, were supposed to pick us up or send a representative to get us. In this case their representative was a shiny red taxi and driver. There is always something unnerving about arriving after dark, having no idea where you are going and putting blind faith in someone else to get you to your destination safely. After about 20 minutes of winding roads and toll booths we arrived at Casa Bella Rita. Happy St. Patrick's Day! Steve and Rita were having a small gathering with some of their ex-pat friends. After the introductions, we settled in with plates of food and some cold beer.
 At 9:45 am the next morning, we got into another taxi and headed to Pavas airport. We decided to trade 8 hours of car travel for 1 hour of flying on Nature Air. It was a bit unnerving, seeing as how the plane was so small, but the windows were huge and we were easily able to pick out coastal landmarks, the Osa Peninsula and Corcovado National Park as we flew south to our destination. Landing at the Puerto Jimenez airstrip, we were welcomed by colourful signs painted on the side of the graveyard and our driver Frank in his 4x4, from Bosque del Cabo. For forty five minutes, Frank drove us the last few bumpy miles.
 Our assigned cabina perched atop a cliff overlooking the Pacific, turned out to be the honeymoon suite. It was cute with a covered wrap around deck and outside shower facilities. Over the next few days we unwound, enjoyed fabulous meals, dipped in the pool, and took both guided and unguided walks around the 750 acre jungle property. Many animals call this place home, including coatis, sloths, toucans, macaws, and ants. After taking a primary forest tour with Phil, we have a whole new appreciation for the tiny, hardworking ants.
Poison Dart Frog
 While at Bosque del Cabo, we experienced a little adrenaline rush on an afternoon of rappelling down four successive waterfalls. Our guides were very experienced in all the safety procedures, as well as trained to spot the vicious fer de lance snake which camouflages itself in the dead brown leaves along the side of the river. Lucky for us, there were no snakes on this trip, only frogs.

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