Drake Bay!

Hey all, we've been down in Corcovado and we just now discovered that there is an internet cafe here. I will post our notes from Dec. 28, but pics will have to wait because the connection is very slow. It is now New Year's Eve and we want to wish everyone a happy New Year. We've seen some amazing things here and have now bagged all 4 species of monkey found here in Costa Rica as well as seen chestnut mandibled toucans and scarlet macaws. Crazy. Anyway, hasta luego!

We awoke after a night at Richard's place and decided to make our way down to the Osa Peninsula.

Richard's was ok--it was nice of him to rent it to us, but unfortunately it had a very musty smell. Isaac thought it was due to a lack of p-trap in the shower. We didn't use it, but the pool looked spectacular and the view of the valley was pretty cool.

Anyway, we packed up our things and headed south. The Pacific highway has recently (very recently as in its not finished yet) been transformed from a pot-hole-filled secondary road to the nicest highway we've seen in Costa Rica. Isaac very much enjoyed driving on the smooth surface--although it was punctuated by numerous dirt sections with little advanced warning.



In no time, we had reached Sierpe--the gateway to Drake Bay. So the Osa Peninsula is the very southwestern tip of Costa Rica. At the end of the peninsula is Corcovado National Park. Everything I'd read about the park painted a picture of wild and untamed landscapes. The park boasts having about 400 species of birds, 116 species of reptiles and amphibians and 139 species of mammals. With all this diversity however, comes some travel difficulty. The park itself can only be reached by hiking, boat, or perhaps flight. There are no roads into Corcovado. There are places to stay on the northwest and southeast sides of the peninsula. To trek into the park, you stay in the southeast at Puerto Jimenez (this would have been my choice). If you want to go deep sea fishing or diving and take a boat to Corcovado, you stay on Drake Bay. Since Isaac wanted to see about diving, we went to Drake Bay. Technically, there is a road that goes from the town of Rincon to Drake Bay. All the guidebooks and Internet sights spoke of having to ford 4 rivers to get there. It isn't possible during the wet season. Most advise parking in Sierpe and taking a boat taxi to Drake Bay. Being the chicken that I am when it comes to driving through rivers, we took the latter option. We didn't have any hotel reservations so we stopped into a tourism office to see about finding a place to stay. We were told that most places were full, but we could perhaps stay at Las Cabinas del Jade (or something like that). We spoke to some others that recommended we stay in Sierpe instead, but decided to go with "Rafael" to Drake Bay via his boat taxi. The boat was loaded and waiting so we had to rush to get our luggage and just handed the car over to some young kid who said he would park it for us. (yes it had us a little concerned). The two-hour boat ride took us through a mangrove forest on the beautiful Sierpe River. Unfortunately, upon reaching our destination we were told that there were, in fact, no vacancies at the Jade place. I wasn't convinced that this wasn't known all along, but Rafael directed us to his friend, Huber, who also had cabins for rent. Huber showed us the place which was actually quite nice--very plain and simple--with a nice view of the bay. Note, Neither Huber nor Rafael speak English, so I hope my Spanish gets better during our stay here!



We took a walk to check out some diving possibilities. Unfortunately, we've learned that we need our PADI certification to dive here. Although Isaac got his in Thailand years ago, he never sent away for his card so he has no proof. Huber was hopeful that we could arrange a course for the two of us, but it seems that the dive shops are too busy right now to make that worth their while. Isaac is quite disappointed, but we will try to make the most of it. We were also disappointed to learn that an overnight in Corcovado also may not be a possibility due to the number of people. This is the downside to being spontaneous I guess. On the flip side, while we were walking back up to Huber's, Isaac spotted two gorgeous scarlet macaws on the side of the road. As we sat on our porch we saw tons of birds including a bunch of parrots. Huber tells us that sometimes you can see whales in the bay from our porch--that would be awesome! So we'll make the most of it.

Manuel Antonio

Homo sapien Americanus is the largest and most vocal of the subspecies. They are often found in large groups and can be differentiated by their pale skin, wide girth, and large appetite. I'd love to write that field guide....


Anyway, we spent the day today at Manuel Antonio National Park. It came highly recommended by both local Ticos and friends alike. Well, once again....maybe on the off season. I shouldn't be so critical though. We decided to "risk" not paying for a guide in Manuel Antonio. We'd heard that of all the parks in Costa Rica, this one was the one in which the wildlife was most easily seen. I'll say, its like shooting fish in a goldfish bowl! So if you go to a park in the morning--like when it opens (7 a.m for most parks), but don't hire a guide, chances are you will follow behind about 15-20 groups of suckers that DID pay. We simply waited until the herds of H.s. Americanus stalled at a certain point, and then focused our attention in that area. Boy does that ever piss off the guides! Truthfully though, we saw as much using our own spotting skills as we did with the guides'. Overall we saw a boatload of sloths--we think both the two and three-toed variety, white-faced capuchin monkeys, howler monkeys, squirrel monkeys, agouti (like a big guinea pig), a raccoon, a coati, a few ctenosaurus (like a very large iguana), a few basilisk lizards (also called jesus christ lizards because they walk on water), several types of anoles, a pair ofBaird's trogon, a tinamou, a Great Kiskadees, some brown boobies, and I caught a glimpse of a toucan. Pretty fulfilling day! I developed a keen eye for spotting sloths (which by the end of the day were found just about everywhere) while Isaac mastered the trogon spotting. Ok, so we had fun. The beaches left a lot to be desired--perhaps because they were crowded and filled with monkeys that tried to steal our food or because the surf was so raucous probably due to a storm offshore. Anyway, the hikes (minus the initial "trail" which is wider and flatter than most of the roads in Costa Rica) were fun. We managed to spend the entire day there and actually got "escorted" out by a pissed off ranger that found us gawking at yet another sloth! We returned to Plinios to find that there was no room for us for tonight, but the friendly bartender, Juan, called a friend who rented us an apartment for the night. This same friend also happens to know our good friends, the Browns. It pays to name drop!

Vamonos a la Playa!

Merry Christmas! Well our Christmas Eve was blessed with a visit by a large female leatherback sea turtle. She was about 5' tall and goodness knows how heavy (not pictured!). The tracks she left on the beach looked like those created by a small bobcat (the tractor, not the mammal). We watched her finish digging her hole and laying her eggs, but didn't get to stick around to watch her lumber back out to the ocean. She made her appearance at about 11:30 p.m., so just as we had been told. All in all, it was pretty amazing to see such a site.





So I fell in love with Playa Grande. It is slightly north of Tamarindo--a much more touristy and crowded beach--but every bit as beautiful. The sand is soft and there is a rock outcropping to the north full of tide pools. Hermit crabs are everywhere as are a variety of other beautiful shells and "normal" crabs. Further down toward Tamarindo the beach at low tide is chock-full of live sand dollars. I've never seen so many!




The surfing is also pretty good (Isaac was brave enough to rent a surf board, I stuck with the boogie board). The 0.5 km walk from our hotel to the beach was through a short section of jungle complete with parrots, hawks, and howler monkeys.



Luna y Sol is owned by Alex, a very mellow Italian fellow. The pool was immaculate and each cabina had a whirlpool bathtub. So far I'd have to say that if I were going to spend a week somewhere in Costa Rica, I would choose Playa Grande. The downsides are that there aren't that many restaurants (although Luna y Sol cabinas have small kitchens), the beach is off limits after sunset because of the turtles, and, as is the case in most of costa rica, it is not safe to leave your stuff unattended either on the beach or in your car.



After a lovely Christmas, we reluctantly said goodbye to Playa Grande. There is still so much we want to see here and already a week has past. We made the long trek down to Quepos near Manuel Antonio National Park.



The area around Quepos used to be banana plantations, but after some kind of blight in the 70s (I think), they replaced the banana trees with African palms from which to harvest palm oil. There are vast stretches of this monoculture which, to an ecologist, is quite depressing. I'm sure economists would disagree. We managed to have another experience on the way down---a speeding ticket! Isaac got pulled over for doing 80 km/hr in a 70km/hr zone. The police man happily took a $20 bribe in place of giving us a ticket. When in Rome I suppose.



We arrived at a hotel that came highly recommended by our friends, the Browns. The name of the hotel is Plinio (or Plinios) and it is owned by a charming German couple, Hans and Sabena. We shamelessly dropped the names of our friend's step mom and were instantly treated like family. We weren't able to land a coveted 3-story room, but we're quite comfortable in our little 2-story bungalow. I have to say the pool doesn't come anywhere close to Alex's at Luna y Sol in terms of cleanliness and the noise of the highway isn't the same as the noise of the Howler Monkeys, but there is a terrific restaurant with a great bartender, Juan, who graciously allowed Isaac to beat him at chess. Tomorrow we're off to Manuel Antonio National Park!

Monteverde to Liberia

Ok so we liked the night hike so much we awoke the next morning to go on another hike in Monteverde. (This proved to be a little more difficult than it sounds because the hotel was having it's annual Christmas party for the employees. Ticos like to party and it was quite loud that night! However, we managed to make it to the 7:30 tour. Our guide promised us Quetzals so we were hopeful. Our first Quetzal sighting was a female, a short way into our hike. She was pretty impressive and quite beautiful. As is the case with most birds, however, she paled in comparison to her boyfriend. After hiking to a waterfall and back---and visiting this really awesome tree---

which is actually a strangler fig that has completely killed it's host tree (they send roots down from the top--tarzan vines) so the inside is completely hollow.

We finally got a gander at not one, but two or three male quetzals. Here is the picture Isaac got--isn't he lovely? After a long visit to the hummingbird feeders (amazing!) we rushed back to check out of our hotel and get on our way. We did manage to stop at Sofia's--a really amazing restaurant in Monteverde--highly recommended!

So we drove back down the sketchy dirt road (which seems much less sketchy when its not raining) and headed toward our first couchsurfing hosts in Costa Rica who lived in Liberia. On our way we caught our first glimpse of Howler Monkeys on the side of the road.



I don't show it here, but there was actually a "mono crossing" sign (monkey crossing) beneath the tree in which we saw these little boogers. I guess they like it there.

Anyway, we made it to Liberia which is a large-ish town in Northern Costa Rica and we found our house--The Gato Tribe! Los Gatos consist of Reba, Jorge, and their daughter Ama. They were delightful. They have just finished building a beautiful house and were nice enough to take us to a gorgeous waterfall the next day at the confluence of two rivers. One river has crystal blue water and the other is clear. There is also a place where little six-year-old girls (and 36-year-old girls) can jump off into the water.


That evening Jorge, Ama, Isaac and I all headed to the movie theatre to see Avatar (movies are only like $3 there--and Wednesdays are 2 for 1! We said our goodbyes on Christmas Eve and headed for the coast.

Isaac and I wanted to find a place near Tamarindo because we had heard there was good surfing there and, more importantly, because we had read that this is where the Leatherback sea turtles come to shore to nest. There are many sea turtle nesting places in Costa Rica, but only the Leatherbacks are active at this time of year. Luckily, we managed to find a little cabina at Luna y Sol in Playa Grande and we're now waiting patiently for the turtles to come ashore (they say the average wait is 5 hours---ugggh! I don't know if I'll make it until midnight. Maybe since it's Christmas Eve, the turtles will be generous?

Arenal to Monteverde

Sunday we said farewell to El Silencio. We had a nice time near the volcano, but it was time to move on (and we couldn't get a room for another night in our hotel!). A few more shots of the hotsprings and our little cabana before we mount our trusty Bego and gallop off to Monteverde!!



Notice how much happier I am with the use of my hands!

On our way around Lake Arenal, we decided to stop at Los Puentes Cologantes (Hanging Bridges). We had read some good reviews of the place, so we decided just to take a self-guided tour.



This little pit viper was the only no avian wildlife that we observed on the trail (and it was shown to us by the man at the gate) but the walk was beautiful all the same.

From Hanging Bridges we drove around Lake Arenal which was pleasant and stopped to eat at a German Bakery in Nuevo Arenal. From this point on, the driving got muy interesante! First we crossed a bridge that, no kidding, had a sign warning drivers that it was not reliable. Then we began a bumpy trek up a rocky/muddy road (the first part being in a fairly thick fog at dusk) to Santa Elena. I am NOT a good passenger in such situations! At long last we made it Santa Elena and found a room at Hotel Poco a Poco. The hotel was not our first choice, but after switching from our first room (it had a balcony that didn’t lock and was easily accessible from the road), we found it to have everything we needed (although the internet service isn’t that great.)

I will post the next day here because we didn’t get any pictures :(

We wok e up early on Monday morning and headed to Santa Elena Cloud Forest Preserve. This Preserve is supposed to have all the wildlife found in Monteverde, but also has spider monkeys. It is a smaller piece of property that is owned by the town of Santa Elena. Money from the reserve goes to funding the schools in the village. We took the 7:30 a.m. guided tour. It was already raining pretty hard and I soon fell back in love with my new Goretex Marmot jacket! Well we walked for about 3 hours in a beautiful forest, but I’m afraid we didn’t see much in the way of wildlife. We did see a Crested Curasou, a tarantula, a crested flycatcher, and scads of hummingbirds (including violent crowned wood nymphs and green hermit). No spider monkeys. Our guide, Henry, informed us that the “dry season” in Costa Rica really only applies to the Pacific Side (hmm something they don’t mention in the guide books). Since then, I’ve searched the Internet and found numerous time frames given to the “wet” and “wetter” seasons here. Not sure who to believe. In any case, it’s pretty wet here and we never took the camera out of the case.

Anyway, we came back to the hotel and took a nice nap while the rain pelted the roof. We awoke and decided to get some food and then get ourselves to Monteverde Cloud Forest Preserve for a guided night hike. Dinner was at Chimera, a fabulous little Tapas Restaurant on the way to Monteverde. The food was truly delicious. I had a coconut mojito that was splendid and Isaac had some kind of eye-popping mango drink that was made to look like a person (just trust me). So in good spirits we headed to the preserve.

Our night hike proved to me more fruitful than the morning session. First off, our guide, Juan Carlos, was so enthusiastic; it was hard not to get excited. He managed to make aphids sound like the coolest thing anyone could expect to see in Monteverde. We saw the aforementioned aphids, blue-eyed anoles, an orange-breasted trogon, a summer tanager, lots of nectar-sucking bats, a green tree frog, another tarantula, some bioluminescent mushrooms, some kind of tinamou (can’t remember the species), a white breasted robin, a leaf-mimicking aphid, and an Olingo (like a ring-tail cat). Isaac and I also saw some raccoons on the way out. Overall, we were pretty satisfied (oh yeah and the rain stopped!) and we might go back for a morning hike before leaving for Liberia tomorrow.

Canopy Tour

Ok, so when we decided to come to Costa Rica, one thing that immediately came to my mind was the zip line thing that seems to be a "must do" for tourists here. Neither Isaac nor I was too terribly interested in yelling "pura vida" at the top of our lungs whilst crashing through the forest on a sketchy cable with a dozen other Americanos. When we asked at the front desk of El Silencio what we should do for our day in Arenal though, the answer from Diego (we think he might be the owner) was "Canopy Tour". Without a doubt, he said this was the best thing to do in Arenal. When I suggested that maybe we weren't interested he actually looked a little hurt. After much discussion--there are so many things to do around here-- we decided to take his advice and booked a canopy tour with horseback riding.


Well ladies and gentlemen...we had a blast! First of all, there were 8 people on the tour including ourselves. Four were Ticos (folks from Costa Rica) and the other two were remarkably another couple from Flagstaff! The Ticos were hilarious. They really know how to have fun. There was much whooping and hollering. There wasn't much viewing of wildlife--although apparently others saw a toucan ( I seemed to have missed that one), but I have to say that we had a good time. Sadly, the rain scared Isaac into not bringing his camera. We did buy the CD of pictures from one of our guides, but as our netbook doesn't have a CD-Rom, we can't share them just yet. After about 10 ziplines varying in length from 130m to 980m we went to a little native Maleku thingy-ma-bob. I can't really say a village because it wasn't really a village. It was just a life sized model of a village. After visiting the maleku we hopped on our horses for the craziest trail ride I've ever been on!

The mud was thick and the rocks were quite slippery. I basically gave up trying to guide my horse knowing that she probably knew better than I the best way to get through it all. One of the guides was behind us whooping and swatting at the horses so much that they were trotting much of the time. At one point, my horse found her way on the wrong side of a large log and actually jumped over it. I've never jumped on a trail horse before! We even cantered some--also quite unusual. The whole time these riderless horses were also being rounded and driven by a very vociferous dog. It was quite an adventure! Luckily, we did manage to get a picture of me on the horse--note how well I can use my hands while staying warm!


After the excitement of the morning, we took a mellow stroll through the butterfly and frog sanctuaries on the same property. Isaac caught a few shots of the creatures.



For the evening's activities we decided to visit Baldi Hot Springs for a dip and some dinner. Many of our friends and couchsurfing contacts recommended Baldi as an inexpensive alternative to Tabacon. It is a short walk from our hotel so we booked a "tour" (everything is a tour here--even though we had no guide and walked ourselves).

Baldi is a series of hotsprings ranging in temperature from 156 degrees Fahrenheit to 92 degrees Fahrenheit. There are swim-up bars and water slides and when we arrived, there were lots and lots of people and children. It wasn't exactly what either Isaac nor I had in mind and we found ourselves longing for the serenity of the little hot spring pool at our hotel (neighboring AC unit and all). When we first arrived at the front desk we asked about dinner. The woman told us we could purchase dinner for $9 each. Well dinner was the Costa Rican equivalent of Golden Corral. Ok it wasn't that bad (or that big) but it wasn't good either. It was a buffet in which the attendant told me, "no hay carne" in the Gallo Pinto, but what he meant to say was, "no hay MUCHO carne".

After dinner we were determined to get our money's worth at the hot springs so we went back up the trail. They were much quieter this time and all in all much more pleasant. We had read that the water slides were dangerous and Trip Advisor has some tails of hospital visits, but Isaac managed to try them all without a scratch. I tried all but the most dangerous one and since I didn't drown or come out bleeding, I would say they are fairly safe as well. I felt that the temperatures posted outside the pools were somewhat exaggerated and the feeling was of being caught in a Putt Putt Golf water hazard, but I can see the appeal....in the off season.

El Volcán

We started today by picking up our new friend, the Daihatsu Bego! After a few scary minutes driving around Alajuela, we finally managed to get the heck outta dodge.


After a long set of deliberations, we selected El Volcán Arenal as our first destination. The folks at the car rental place told us the "fast way to go" (which looked suspiciously on the map to be a windy secondary road),
but turned out to have some really nice scenery(and also to be a windy secondary road).


We didn't have any specific plans for Arenal. All we knew is that we wanted hot springs. I have been suffering from a very painful knot in my neck/back and Isaac was tired of me whining about it. We had many recommendations and read some reviews. The most famous (and one of the most expensive) resorts in the area is El Tabacon. We didn't want to throw down $300/night so we settled on a place that gets great reviews in Trip Advisor, Silencio del Campo.

The hotel is situated next to the Volcano, on the western side which is supposed to be the side with good views of the lava at night. It is not a hotel, but a set of beautiful little cabins. There is a swimming pool, bar, restaurant, and most importantly--a hot spring pool. Now once upon a time, it probably was quite Silencio around here, but unfortunately a gigantor of a hotel has been built right next door and all you hear day and night is the whirring of the air conditioning units from that place! I wonder if the owner's are thinking of changing the name?

The place is really lovely, however. We had a dip in the hot spring, a massage (which felt more like I was being prepared for roasting rather than massaged--but oh well), and a good dinner. Now we're relaxing to the sounds of frogs, geckos, and ....well, the AC from the hotel next door!!

Passengers

Today was the first day of our Great Costa Rica Adventure!

Prior to our departure, Isaac and I were discussing footwear. Now, I have to say, neither one of us is what you would call "fashionable". I still wear clothes that I was wearing 10 years ago and Isaac, well if you know Isaac, I needn't say more.

But we went for trendy for this trip. We couldn't resist the attraction of the new "non-shoes"--vibram fivefingers. So far, we have found them to be quite comfortable, but more than that, quite the conversation starter!

The other passenger on our trip is my birthday present from my dear brother.

It gets quite cold in the airport
But look how well I can use my hands!!!


That's right, we're bringing the "cult of snuggie" to Costa Rica.

Welcome to Costa Rica!