Day 1, April 18. Here is a picture of me as we pass through Madrid on our way to Costa Rica. We are in this huge, kilometer long, gorgeous and modern shopping mall that apparently also has some places where planes come and go... The picture comes to you courtesy of Louis.
Another Louis shot of the interior of the Madrid International Mall -- er, airport. It really is a stunning building. Saturday, April 18.
Still Day 1, thanks to eight hours of time difference. This is the gorgeous Hotel Bougainvillea, where we stayed our first night in CR. Our guide, Carlos, met us at the airport and brought us here. It's nice to have someone take care of that when you're off your mind with jet lag. What do you notice about this picture? The gorgeous garden? The happy kids? Or the fact that the suitcase belonging to the guy who took the picture never made it to Costa Rica? THANK YOU IBERIA!
Zoé profits from a quiet moment in the hotel garden to write in her journal. She did a great job, faithfully keeping it up to date throughout the trip. While this garden is of course an exception, we found that a surprising number of houses in Costa Rica had beautifully tended gardens. Even the relatively poor houses in the country had nicely tended yards. The city, of course, is different.
A stunning tropical flower in the hotel garden (I have tons of pictures of the plants; Lidia prevailed upon me to edit them out...).
Same place. Zoé is having her first encounter with a flower larger than her head. She was as fascinated as I was with all the things we learned from Carlos about the plants and wildlife.
The kids in the hotel garden. Did I mention that my suitcase, THE ONE THAT IBERIA LOST, had the sunscreen and the insect repellant? Fortunately, Wildland (the tour company) had reserved the über-guide, Carlos, who was able to lend us some until we could replenish the stocks.
This is a view of the Bougainvilla garden from our balcony. It really is a gorgeous place. Sadly, it's pretty far from San Jose, and there's really nothing in walking distance. The food was good, though expensive; we learned that wine in CR tends to come cheap and Chilean.
A Pooster picture of the mountains that surround the Central Valley, where San Jose is. CR is a country with amazing geology; two tectonic plates meet there and there are tons of volcanoes as well. The countryside is rugged and green.
Day 2, April 19. Slept in until 6 AM. Then took Carlos's van on the Pan-American Highway! We are driving from San Jose to the Arenal volcano, partly via this legendary road that goes from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego.
Carlos's van on the left. We stopped here for a cup of coffee after leaving the hotel on Sunday the 19th. This is the first of a number of pictures that will give you an idea of the landscape.
Carlos turned out to be an absolute gem: He ended up lending me clothes (THANKS, IBERIA); driving us cheerfully all over the country; and giving us enormous amounts of fascinating information on the flora, fauna, and history of Costa Rica. The trip would not have been anywhere near as good without him.
A Pooster shot from the van window. We're not driving all that fast, but I like the feeling of velocity he caught here. As you can see, it is very green in Costa Rica.
Some of the impressive landscapes. On the road we kept passing trucks loaded with tons of pineapples. Funnily enough, the major export from CR is not pineapples or coffee, but computer chips! Intel has a very large factory here.
Another view of the landscape. We are coming down on the far side of the hills that encircle the Central Valley. That peak in the distance is Arenal volcano, our destination.
Guava! There are two fruits in CR that we gringos refer to as guava. There is this one, that the Ticos call guava, and another rounded greenish one that they call guayaba. Carlos stopped to buy this one for us; the fruit is very sweet and it has a texture -- I thought of this but didn't voice it -- of what I imagine it would be like to eat a wad of damp spider web. Substitute "cotton pad" if that makes you feel better. But it is quite delicious.
Arenal volcano! It's new, it has turned the sleepy one-lane town of La Fortuna into a bustling tourist mecca, and it's active. If you zoom in you may see some steam/smoke escaping up near the peak.
Still Day 2, Sunday, April 19. We don the gear and get the explanation to go rappelling down a waterfall with Pure Trek Canyoning. The guides were amazingly good and thorough, but I still pity the folks who had never done anything like this before...
For some reason Louis ended up going very first, on the first waterfall, which was also the highest (165 ft./50 m.). Lidia and I were scared that he'd balk, but as you can see he looks calm, collected, and a lot cooler than the next one of the group who went down.
There he goes, Louis in space. It may not look it from up here, but it's looooong and there's a lot of spray down there...
And she was worried about Louis...
Zoé, who does climbing as her main sport, was ready for a walk in the (vertical) park. She could probably work as a guide here.
Now that wasn't so bad! However, as you can see, getting wet is part of the fun.
Louis is preparing to change his list of all-time favorite vacation activities.
To this day I have a sneaking suspicion that the guides actually stopped us in the water to make sure that we got a good soaking. Given the fact that Zoé is screaming with laughter, it seemed to entertain all those involved. I think this is the third of the five waterfalls we did; it's about 90 ft./27m.
Zoé was by far the most elegant of us coming down these things. It appears that two years of climbing are starting to pay off! I can't remember the name of the guide behind Zoé. There were six of them, and they were all great. I think he's Christian or Gabriel.
Yes, I too was both getting wet and having fun. You like the shirt? It belongs to Carlos, because IBERIA LOST MY SUITCASE. Carlos lent me the shorts, shoes, and shirt I'm wearing on this day. The underwear is mine, and it's of course the only one I had. CR is damp, and I had to wash it every night. I shall forever associate "Costa Rica" with "uncomfortable chafing."
Wet, warm, and happy. A recurring theme on our trip.
There goes Bingle! As you can see, she's pretty laid back about the whole thing. I should also add that Pure Trek sent a photographer along to take the pictures (you can imagine what condition a camera might end up in). However, they charged $30 for the CD afterward which really ticked us off.
Jeff is modeling A) his excellent rappelling technique, and B) Carlos's shorts. This was the last of the five rappels we did. After this we drove back to La Fortuna, where we soaked in a hot spring and had dinner at its restaurant. After that Carlos drove us up to our hotel, the Arenal Observatory Lodge, where we were too tired to admire the flowing lava and just went to bed.
Day 3, April 20. Up at 5 AM. From our room in the excellent Arenal Observatory Lodge we had this view on the volcano. The lodge was originally built when the volcano started erupting so that the scientists would have a place to stay. It is now the nicest of the hotels in the area, though it is much farther from the town (La Fortuna). We woke up to this view every morning. At about 5 AM, I should add, because of jet lag and the long list of daily activities.
Costa Rica has 900 bird species according to Carlos (who is a professional bird-watcher and often leads tours and gives lectures on the subject). This is due to both the excellent job CR has done in maintaining the rain forest habitats, and the fact that it is a stop on the north-south migration routes. However, the bird that we saw most often was this -- a good old turkey vulture. With lots of wildlife and lots of roads, the vultures stay busy.
On Day 3 we had a two-hour drive to Rio Celeste to look at the famous river. Zoé, Lidia, and I did the last few kilometers on horseback. A nice picture of Z by Carlos.
Louis was briefly on horseback, but was not at all happy. He ended up driving to the end stop with Carlos.
Looking comfortable on horseback, Lidia enjoyed the ride more than Zoé or I who never managed to quite time the bumping of the horse and ended up with very sore posteriors.
Our horseback guide took this picture while Carlos and Louis drove ahead. My horse had a bit of a behavior problem and we ended up in battles of will from time to time. I won them, however, because even if he was smarter I'm more stubborn.
Carlos and Louis in front of the second largest tree in Costa Rica. You start to see here one of the most amazing features of the rain forest -- the trees are absolutely covered with plant life. Parasites, epiphytes, orchids, bromeliads, vines...
A shot up the tree at the different leaves and different shapes created by all the different plants growing on it.
Once off the horses we started a short hike through the rain forest. Here we are going through secondary rain forest; this is land that was once cleared for agriculture and is now reverting. It has thicker and denser undergrowth because the heavy canopy of the primary forest has not grown back to block the light. It takes about forty or fifty years to get to its current condition. Do you still like my shirt? THANKS, IBERIA.
A view up the stream. The density of the plant life is overwhelming.
That root-like thing hanging down is the amazing Strangle Fig. It starts from a seed in pile of bird or monkey droppings, and extends its roots down to the forest floor. It takes nutrients from the tree to grow, and once it makes it down to the dirt it encircles the tree entirely, absorbing its nutrients and minerals and eventually killing it and toppling it over. "Strangle Fig." Who would have guessed?
Zoé and Louis by an ant hill. Carlos found a soldier ant here, and showed us its two impressive mandibles. Apparently the natives used them to bind wounds -- grab an ant, stick it's head on the cut so it bites the two sides closed, and then twist the body off. Though it dies, the mandibles stay locked. This was used in pre-hispanic times by hunters and warriors to treat emergency wounds. Zoé and Louis declined my request that they demonstrate.
Now this is Rio Celeste. That blue is the natural hue of the water; it comes from the minerals in the rocks over which the stream passes. The minerals reflect this color light back.
More of Rio Celeste. The local story is much more appealing than the leeched minerals. According to legend, this river is where God washed his paintbrush when he was finished coloring the sky. I love that.
The waterfall at Rio Celeste through the eyes of Louis.
This is Jasmina, the sister of the young man who was our equestrian guide. She offered to take Zoé for a little trot around the garden. Actually she offered it to Louis first, but he was too shy. Zoé was brave to finally accept; I don't think her rear end was any less sore than mine. We returned to Arenal after this, and relaxed until dinner. Bed came quickle due to jet lag.
Day 4, Tuesday 21/04. We were up at 5:30, and watched an amazing number of birds outside the Arenal Lodge. In the center of the photo is a gorgeous blue hummingbird, which was too small and far for my camera. However if you zoom and scroll you can get a fairly good look.
A coati! This is the CR equivalent of a raccoon, and it's a related species. The slices of watermelon on the stand to the right are there to attract birds for viewing. I took a ton of bad pictures, and Lidia prevailed upon me to leave them out.
The kids, of course, wanted to take it home. This is a full-grown relative of the ocelot; it's a wild cat native to Costa Rica. This one has been somewhat tamed as it lives in proximity to the lodge.
Our first stop on Day 4 was a national park with hanging bridges strung through the forest canopy. The bird is actually a native of Africa, but there were a number of them here.
Costa Rica. It is green, rugged, volcanic, and beautiful.
A carnivorous flower known as a Dutchman's Pipe. Second only to the Strangle Fig in the Rainforest Cool Name for a Plant Competition.
The hanging bridges. Carlos and the family in the distance.
Okay. Zoom this one, and look under the log about two-thirds of the way up. That ribbon is a coral snake, one of the deadliest snakes in Costa Rica or the world. Earlier in the morning as we left Arenal we spotted a baby Fer-de-Lance; they are not only lethal but also very aggressive for snakes. And apparently the young ones are the worst, because they haven't yet learned that they don't need to inject all the venom to kill their prey.
Amazing roots -- you'll be seeing more photos on this theme. These typically start their growth on top of fallen trees, and maintain that shape even after the old tree has rotted away. Note again the plethora of plant life growing on it.
A shot of the rain forest canopy.
Another view, interesting for the leaf patterns. Carlos told us that an acre of rain forest generates about 200 gallons of water per day. I think I mentioned that warm and wet would be recurring themes...
Plants growing on plants growing on plants. A shot of some lianas and vines.
More canopy. Don't worry, I'll stop this soon.
We are about 65 ft./20 m. up in the trees here (not so high -- at one point we were crossing a bridge 190 ft. /60m. above the forest floor). You can see the wealth and variety of plants that grow on the branches and bark of the trees. There is a species of frog that climbs trees to lay its eggs, placing them in the relative safety of water that has collected in these plants.
It's poisonous snake day! Here we have run across a Jumping Pit Viper, though only a baby. Apparently it will wait for hours or days in that position, waiting for prey to wander by.
Just in case you thought Poisonous Snake Day was over, that screaming yellow vine is an Eyelash Viper. Or so they say. None of us wanted to get close enough to check the eyelashes.
After the Hanging Bridges we went for a mountain bike tour. You may note in this photo that I am wearing a new t-shirt, though I still have Carlos's shorts because IBERIA LOST MY LUGGAGE. Carlos's shoes may or may not have dried out by now...
We had a nice ride around part of the base of the volcano, including a snack of the ever-present pineapple. Louis decided that he could bike all the way back up the volcano to the Lodge, so we let him. Wiser heads (Lidia and Zoé) watched from the car while I walked with him to photograph. Behind us is the bike guide (it is a guide-rich country) who can't keep up.
Bravo! Louis makes it back to the Lodge. Thanks to Moises, Louis now also wants to start doing mountain biking and join the club back home.
Day 5, Wednesday, April 22. Up at 5 AM. We left Arenal early for a long drive out to the northeast of the country. The landscape changed in one important way; instead of following pineapple trucks we were now driving next to banana plantations. We stopped for a pause at a processing plant. The banana bunches are hanging on rails, slung in from the fields that way.
Here they take the sorted and washed bananas and box them. And no matter what the commercials may say here is the truth: There are boxes and stickers for Dole, Chiquita, and Del Monte. They all come from the same plantation!
If there are tourists, there are salesmen. This one has coconuts, and a pet...
Here are the tanks where the bananas are sorted (right side). Ones of the correct size and shape go through the baths (insecticide, fungicide, sealant, etc.) to the left to be boxed and shipped to the USA. The ones on the right go out the conveyor belt to the truck for the local market.
Louis liked the Rhinoceros Beetle and the coconut. Louis was also our ambassador and diplomat, as two of his three t-shirts had the names of famous football stars (Del Piero here). Trust me, there is no better way to meet people around the world than to drag along a cute kid wearing football t-shirts.
Here is a view of the banana plantation, showing the rails that they use to take the bananas from the trees to the factory. The bunches are already wrapped in blue plastic to protect them as they grow.
No, it doesn't do that naturally.
Another view. We drove for roughly 15 miles/20 kilometers along the plantation, on something that could only be called a road because there were no trees on it.
We stopped at a sort of farm/garden to view plants. The best thing there was this hummingbird feeding its young. After this we took a boat ride / picnic / boat ride and ended up at the Tortuga Lodge in Tortuguero.
That afternoon we took a walk in the rain forest behind the lodge. That bright red dot is a poisonous frog. They're not poisonous to the touch; in fact, the guide basically gave us handling instructions that reminded me of cooking with chili peppers. Don't play with it, wash your hands well afterwards, don't touch your eyes, nose, or mouth. We saw hundreds of these.
A termite nest on a tree. They were quite large, and quite common. Apparently people eat them as a cure for various ills. We did not.
An ugly picture of a beautiful spider. It had spun a huge web across the path.
A view up into primary rain forest canopy.
We spotted a lizard known as a "Jesus Christ Lizard" because it can scurry on top of the water.
We also ran across a group of Howler Monkeys, and were able to get quite close. Apparently each troop 'owns' a few acres of forest, and they move around it constantly.
Howler and baby, in the forest behind Tortuga Lodge. After this we returned to the lodge, had an awesome game of Marco Polo in the swimming pool, and ate a great fish dinner.
Day 6, April 23. Today was our grand canal tour of the rain forest where the Tortuguero River flows to the sea. As it turns out we traveled right at the end of the dry season / beginning of the rainy season. Our two nights in Tortuguero were much like this. Lidia somehow manages to look cute while wet in a poncho.
Good natured in spite of it all... We saw huge numbers of birds and flowers. Carlos was with us, as well as a dedicated pilot/guide. We also saw cayman and crocodiles.
I was attempting to take pictures, and Carlos lent me an umbrella to help. I gave up after a while, but Carlos persevered.
This is what the forest and the water look like; more or less impassable. Apparently the conquistadors found the Costa Rican rain forest so daunting that they ended up going south to Panama, crossing to the Pacific there, heading north, and conquering Costa Rica from west to the east.
For the rest of my life, when I hear the words "forest primeval" I'll pretty much have this in mind. This river system empties into the Caribbean, so the kids got their first view of that sea.
A White-Faced Monkey -- the second of the three species we saw on our trip. Apparently these are vicious little guys; Carlos once saw one tear at the head and eyes of a boa that was trying to crush it, ripping the flesh off and finally killing it.
Jeff indoctrinates his children into "The Lord of the Rings." Louis amuses himself. Jeff is sporting another new t-shirt plus some sandals that he bought BECAUSE IBERIA LOST HIS LUGGAGE.
The view from our room. There were no windows, just a sort of loosely woven plastified cloth that actually worked brilliantly as mosquito netting. As you may have guessed the air was quite humid and the clothes that we washed in an enormous orgy of cleanliness at Arenal were still damp. Certain thick socks were beginning to smell like salad sauce...
A view from in front of our room. Our two nights here were very pleasant, in spite of the rain.
Lous and Zoé play ping-pong in the lobby of the hotel; Louis declares that this is also a sport that he would like to do next year.
A view from the restaurant out to the pool. The thatched roof covers an area where half-a-dozen hammocks are hung. It was a wonderful place to stay except for the $12 margaritas.
Day 7, April 24. We left the next morning after another huge breakfast (fresh tropical fruit, eggs and bacon, pancakes -- what we ate pretty much every single day of our trip). This was the puddle-jumper that we took back to San Jose.
A view from the air over the mouth of the Tortuguero River. the beach runs about 15 mi. / 22 km long, and is a reserved habitat for sea turtles. We went to a museum/center in the town of Tortuguero, where for $25 the kids adopted a turtle and named it Jessica.
Flying in to San Jose. In a country of 5 million people, 2 million of them are stuffed in here, in the Central Valley around San Jose.
There are more puddles to be jumped -- at San Jose we said good-bye to Carlos and boarded this de Havilland DHC-6 Twin Otter. The plane was built for flying into backcountry Canada, and is about as fragile as a sledgehammer. We are now heading down to spend three nights at Drake Bay on the Osa peninsula. Yes, Francis himself did cruise through there some time ago.
Zoé practices her paparazzi airplane entry pose, in the event that she should become rich and famous.
Have I mentioned that Costa Rica is rugged? They have dozens of active volcanoes, and much of the landscape either looks like this--
--or looks like a greener version of it. No wonder the conquistadors headed south.
NatureAir brings us down to Drake Bay, on the Pacific side of Costa Rica.
Two cars took the passengers and dropped them off at the hotels around the town of Drake Bay (Bahia Drake to the locals). Picture of the other car crossing the bridge...
And that is a shot back at the bridge we just crossed. We had a sense that things were going to get quite rustic.
The car dropped us here, and we took a boat to our hotel. It is a fundamental rule of travel that any hotel that must be reached by a boat is a good one. Our hotel here, La Paloma Lodge, was no exception. It's run by an expat American named Nicole who was efficient and kind and generous. Better yet, at La Paloma they charge for laundry by the load, not by the piece like the bandits at the Arenal Observatory Lodge. What would have cost $80 at Arenal cost $4 here.
That afternoon we took a kayak trip up the river that empties into Drake Bay. Lidia has tried her hand at candid photography, catching me in the new swim trunks I'm wearing BECAUSE IBERIA LOST MY SUITCASE.
Louis proved to be a dab hand at kayaking. He firmly stated that he wished to take up kayaking next year as well. Lidia and I will be looking into night courses.
Fun was had, and no damage was done. It turns out that the river has crocodiles in it, but they are actually quite safe. As Osa peninsula is protected, and there is an abundance of local fauna, the crocodiles can find plenty of their traditional foods to eat and do not attack humans.
Our first night there we went out on a night Bug Hike with the Bug Lady. This was one of our first finds; one of the most photographed frogs in the world. The guides were amazing at finding these things. We also got pretty good at finding frogs and lizards, though we did it by leaving on the light outside the door of our room...
There were two guides, a bug expert and a reptile/amphibian expert. The latter found this, a Smoky Jungle Frog. It holds the same place among fauna that the Strangle Fig holds for flora in the Cool Names competition. However it is venomous; if you pick it up it starts discharging huge amounts of highly irritating mucous and apparently lets off a scream like a fire alarm. This defense mechanism makes mammals drop it and flee, though crocs apparently take it as a signal that the Osa Diner is holding a 2-for-the-price-of-1 special.
Zoé found a boa constrictor on the walk. She pointed and said, "What's that?" and the guide was impressed. This one had fed recently and was a bit sluggish.
An arachnid that uses two of its legs to sense nearby movement. It then leaps and grabs its prey with two large front mandibles. I chose not to hold it.
One of the world's coolest spiders, called a Net-Casting Spider. If you zoom in, you will see that the spider is on a web but it is also holding a small, square piece of web in front of it. When it senses a nearby prey, it uses its forelegs to cast this piece of web and trap it.
Day 8! April 25. Up at 5:15. We took a boat ride down along the peninsula to a ranger station in the Osa Peninsula National Park. There, a great guide named Randall took us for a walk in the rain forest. Here you can see it is primary forest with lesser undergrowth. On the left you can see a very large series of Strangle Figs slowly taking over a larger tree.
More Howler Monkeys. Randall taught us an interesting fact; monkeys' behavior is (of course) heavily dependent on their diet. If they eat leaves with caffeine or chocolate analogs they get excited and aggressive. However, if they eat leaves of a certain species of philodendron (like these trees), they basically get wasted. So we passed a troop of Howlers that was hanging out in the trees, too trashed to do anything.
More amazing rain forest roots. We saw a lot of Leafcutter ants on this tree, busily hauling pieces of leaf down into their nest to grow fungus for food. The workers that do this are accompanied by smaller ants called minims that also have a critical job: Cleaning off the leaf so it's free of foreign fungi and other ants' eggs, plus protecting the worker from a type of fly that lays eggs which burrow into the worker's brain and eats it.
This is a beautiful spider. I also selected not to handle it, though Randall did. Photo by John Mensch, of the Mensches.
Pausing at the halfway point. We were accompanied on the walk by John and Holly Mensch, a couple from Pennsylvania that we ended up seeing a lot of. There was a big Canadian wedding party at our lodge, and other than that it was us and the Mensches. John also took the picture of the wasted Howler monkey that you saw a few photos back.
A view up the creek at the halfway point on our walk. We also saw some Spider Monkeys on this walk but didn't manage to get a decent picture. They are in danger in the region because illegal gold miners hunt and eat them. Apparently the Spider Monkeys, who eat primarily fruit, taste much better than the monkeys that eat leaves.
The Pacific!
In case I hadn't mentioned it, I would like to note that Costa Rica is rugged and volcanic. And have I told you about Iberia?
The beach, walking back to the ranger station where we started the hike.
This is what happens to the coconuts that we don't eat.
A macau! These were once all over Costa Rica, but as their main diet is almond nuts their numbers thinned dramatically when the forests were cut to grow pineapple and banana. They are making a comeback in protected areas like this. This species is also monogamous, even posthumously. If a mate dies, the surviving bird does not find a new one.
After the nature hike and a great picnic lunch, we walked upstream a bit to this waterfall. Randall caught us for posterity, including the shirt from Carlos that I am still wearing BECAUSE IBERIA LOST MY SUITCASE.
The great news is that we are going swimming after our long, hot hikes. The bad news is that this guy is just above the pool where we'll swim. Our guide, of course, guaranteed that it was safe...
He doesn't look evil, he just looks... expectant. Thanks to John for the photo.
Spocks, Mensches, and a handful of Canadians frolic in the water. The crocodile is in the pool above us, and won't make it further down the river until the rainy season raises the water level.
Everyone else is gone, and Zoé still wants to swim.
Louis and I playing in the waterfall. It made for a wonderful massage.
Chillin' ... Zoé spent a lot of her spare time in water this vacation, dipping whenever possible into the sea, the rivers, and the hotel pools.
Zoé once again refusing to leave her swimming hole.
Zoé and I at dinner. The dining room was a big, high, completely open bungalow-style building with bar and couches. There was even a small library, where Louis started reading Harry Potter and the Sorceror's Stone. Photo by Mr. Mensch. T-shirt because of Iberia.
Day 9, April 26, up at 6:30 to head out to Caño Island. It's also a protected reserve, about 45 minutes by boat from Drake Bay. We spent a lot of time watching pods of dolphins frolic when we neared the island.
Zoé does her scuba Discovery Dive! She is now officially a member of the PADI diving association, and she actually did a second dive after lunch with the instructor and me. We hope to add this to her list of sport, so that I will finally have a buddy to dive with. While she was down there she and Sandra, the instructor, saw no less than ten sharks as well as stingrays, starfish, and a host of other marine life.
The return to Drake Bay. One thing that was amazing on Caño was the number of Hermit Crabs. The beach seemed to be alive with them; from little tiny ones up to golf-ball sized. There were some parts of the beach where dozens of them would gather, exchanging their shells for bigger ones.
Lidia on vacation. La Paloma Lodge was, in case I haven't mentioned it, very nice. We lazed around the rest of the day, had another great dinner, and generally enjoyed life.
The view from our bungalow at La Paloma.
Day 10, April 27. Up not so early -- 7 or so -- to go ziplining in the forest canopy. Great exhilaration, but very noisy. No wonder you can't do it inside the national parks.
Louis takes off! Once again, the guides were incredibly helpful and friendly (and careful with our security). They also introduced us to another tree with a great name: Walking Palm.
The Flying Zedmiester! The ziplines were great; there were 13 of them plus a brief forest hike. The longest was 400 meters (1/4 mile). We owe many thanks to a Canadian couple, Suzie and Luc, who were along with a camera and sent us these pictures.
The rest of the day was hanging out -- Louis and Zoé spent most of it in the pool. Here is the upstairs of our bungalow at La Paloma -- lacquered exotic wood floors, mosquito nettings, tons of windows and light and breezes. Louis is playing FIFA on the DS; we let him do this in particular in the early morning as he was awake an hour before everyone else. He had already finished the Artemis Fowl books he brought, and was starting Harry Potter.
The bathroom with open-air shower. I want one of these for the summer back home. As you can see, it was a beautifully done bungalow.
The downstairs, with the hammock now occupied by Zoé. We spent three nights at La Paloma, eating very well and enjoying the fact that the margaritas were only $4. They provided their own guides for everything -- Randall for the hikes, Sandra for scuba, etc. -- which is why Carlos didn't come with us. Some of his clothing did, however, and finally got the good washing it deserved.
Day 11, April 28. Up early for an early flight, as it is unfortunately time to leave. Zoé says goodbye to Drake Bay, which was definitely her favorite part of the trip.
John Mensch posing at the "airport." Yes, this is where you go to take the plane back to San Jose. We didn't have tickets, they just checked our names from a list on a clipboard.
Louis with John and Holly. 'Bye guys!
Another Twin-Otter plane. Coming back over the hills into Central Valley the plane got tossed around quite a bit. But it was funny; I felt totally secure inside it. Nothing creaked or moved, the plane just bounced a bit until the pilot stopped it.
A view of Drake Bay and La Paloma Lodge from above. The problem is that the lodge is hidden in the trees, and all you can see are the lodges of a neighboring hotel. You get a better view of the lodge on Google Earth than you do from the plane! Photo credits go to Zoé for this one.
Carlos came to meet us at San Jose, and we drove from there to Guayabo, the only major historical site that has been excavated. There are over two hundred other sites nearby, but the government has decided for the moment to leave them to the rain forest. This one was an important religious center and a major crossroads of trade between the Toltec civilizations to the north and the Inca to the south. Artefacts from as far as Mexico and Peru have been found here.
Louis looking over the exit of an underground aqueduct. The aqueduct is a square meter, and carries water underground from several hundred meters away. The site was the most important pre-hispanic religious center in Costa Rica, but was empty by the time the conquistadors came. War with neighboring tribes drove them away. The pool in front was used for religious rites; downstream were other pools for common use like drinking and washing.
Here, the guide that led us through the site (right) is showing us a piece of the road. Carlos, Lidia, and Louis are busy being impressed. This road is seven metres wide, one meter high, and runs for 13 mi./21 k. down into a nearby valley. There is another, similar road that runs over 50 mi./80km. all the way to the eastern coast, near Limon. And these were built without horses or wheels. Look at those rocks, and be amazed.
It was a site for rituals as well as for the training of shaman. This is how one would have entered; up these stairs and then through a narrow passage where one by one the supplicants would give offerings. The backdrop would be a high, peaked building belonging to the chief shaman that was perfectly framed by the volcano behind it (invisible in the fog, unfortunately).
Day 12, April 29. We spend the night at a beautiful hotel named the Casa Turire, near Turrialbo. The next day was rafting day!
The guy at the back steering was so good that we probably could have sunbathed, drank beer, and still made it down. But the paddling part was fun. This river is also called the Guayabo, like the site where we were yesterday. As it is the end of the dry season the water level was a bit low, but we only got stuck once.
He taught us how to high-five with raft paddles. As you note, the company that runs the outings also provides a paparazzo to catch these moments. So the trip was our raft, the photographer in a kayak, and a third guide in a safety kayak in case anything went wrong.
No, Louis, you cannot add rafting to the list of sports for next year.
Action shot! Costa Rica is a mecca for white-water kayaking and rafting; there is a lot of business with North Americans who come down to do exactly this kind of thing.
One of the key commands we were taught (we had about a 20 or 30 minute safety course at the start) was "Get down!" Sometimes when things get bumpy you want to have your center of gravity very low.
A pause to refresh ourselves. Lidia went first,
then Louis,
then Zoé,
and finally me. It was about as fun as it looks.
What was hilarious -- and I mean, really hilarious -- was that after the rafting the three guides put on chef hats and proceeded to lay out an enormous, amazing buffet lunch. As you can see, the tropical fruits are an important part of the meal at least twice per day. Strangely, none of us lost much weight in spite of the number of activities we did.
The steersman and the safety kayak paddler initiate Louis. They were a great bunch of guys from an outfit called "Connoisseur Rafting," run by Costa Rica Expeditions. You can get it without the lunch, of course.
Carlos and Lidia enjoying the lunch. Most of the Costa Rica history and lore in these captions comes from Carlos; the trip would have been significantly less educational without him along.
Day 13, April 30, the day we flew out. We stayed at the Bouganvillea again, and took a cab into San Jose to see the town. It has a bad reputation among Ticos, but the parts we saw were charming. This is in the modern art museum; we also went to the Jade Museum (quite impressive).
More modern art. This day we were left to our own devices; the rest of the trip was organized by Wildland Tours, who are rated #1 for adventure travel by National Geographic. Given the quality of the places that we stayed and the activities we did, it's hard to argue with that ranking.
More modern installations.
It's not a banana republic, though. The army was abolished in 1948, so Costa Rica has been able to put a lot of money into its social security and public health infrastructure. After all, armies in that part of the world tend to mostly be used for coups, so what government would want them around?
Our last meal in Costa Rica was lunch at the News Café. That's my beer, not Zoé's. The kids are rapt, watching Manchester United play Arsenal.
A funny thing happened on the way back to pick up our bags. We wanted to stop and buy a shirt of the local football hero, Centeno. The taxi driver ended up getting us inside the stadium, where we watched a scrimmage match and one of the players got everyone to sign a shirt and a ball for Louis. It was a great way to end the trip, and a high note that underscored the friendliness of the country.
Louis back home in his memento shirt and ball. Thanks to Wildland and Carlos for a great trip. Fortunately, my suitcase was waiting for me at the Nice Airport. Apparently it had been lost, found, sent to Brussels, and returned. Hello??
