"Nature never did betray the heart that loved her."
-William Wordsworth, poet of the Romantic Era
September, 2015 - The descending trip from Costa Rica's higher parts back to the sea was a much quicker commute than the climb, I'm guessing gravity offered it's fair share of assistance...
A series of switchback roads lead towards the peninsula town of Puerto Jiménez, doorway to sanctified Corcovado.
A series of switchback roads lead towards the peninsula town of Puerto Jiménez, doorway to sanctified Corcovado.
Now is a good time to mention that we get lost (a lot) while backpacking. Sometimes it's just such a funny scenario that I laugh and laugh. Sometimes I feel so embarrassed, I blush, and shy away from opportunities to bolster my confidence in exchange for a small sacrifice of dignity. Sometimes I feel so annoyed and frustrated that I shut down, and wait for someone else to fix the problem.
In this instance, while entering Puerto Jiménez, I just recessed within myself.
To explain deeper: For me, efforts associated with social expression and communication are highly taxing... In other words, voicing thoughts effectively requires a large and continuous expense of energy and concentration, almost like treading water in the middle of a lake with anchors strapped to my feet.
Most who have met me wouldn't believe that being gregarious takes work, for me, but I actually did spend my younger school years observing extroverted behaviors in my peers, and learned to mimic the look of it, thinking (rightly so) that it would help lubricate my social aspirations.
Most who have met me wouldn't believe that being gregarious takes work, for me, but I actually did spend my younger school years observing extroverted behaviors in my peers, and learned to mimic the look of it, thinking (rightly so) that it would help lubricate my social aspirations.
Over the years, I became more accustomed to upholding a consistent communicational persona, allowing me to more easily navigate society and appeasing mores and folkways.
But it is exhausting. Often worthwhile, but exhausting.
But it is exhausting. Often worthwhile, but exhausting.
Typically, I carry that weight and don't put it down. Sometimes, however, I just feel so uninspired, and so dimmed, and so danged TIRED, that I don't want to make that huge push... I just want to sink beneath the water's surface and not breath for a little while.
This happened in Puerto Jiménez. I stopped pushing myself to be communicative, which also meant I was shamefully unhelpful to my travel companion, who, as usual, picked up my ever-growing slack and figuratively carried us to our guide's home near the football field-sized cement slab of a local airport.
Thank you, Daniel, as always, for saving the day.
Our guide, Nito, is our previous host Margarita's brother, and his housemate is a Parisian named Tico... Truly... A Frenchman living in Costa Rica legally named "Tico." What are the odds????
Thank you, Daniel, as always, for saving the day.
Our guide, Nito, is our previous host Margarita's brother, and his housemate is a Parisian named Tico... Truly... A Frenchman living in Costa Rica legally named "Tico." What are the odds????
By bed time, I was feel more rejuvenated (the culinarily authentic, Italian-chef concocted, Tico-inspired ("Tico" the culture, not the Frenchman) pasta dinner from a nearby soda (café/convenience store) certainly helped).
So THIS is what dawn by the bay looks like? Definitely worth the 4AM alarm... We knew we'd be in uninterrupted jungle for three days straight, and we prepared accordingly: Raingear, extra clothes, waterproof camera bags, basic toiletries, plenty-o-water, and nine no-cook meals all found their way into our packs while the rest of our regular equipment found a place on the floor in Tico and Nito's spare room.
We planned to rendezvous at a small panadería (bakery) at 0500. So we finished our packing and hit the hay by 2300. No movie night for us tonight!
We planned to rendezvous at a small panadería (bakery) at 0500. So we finished our packing and hit the hay by 2300. No movie night for us tonight!
The next was the first of five pre-dawn days that followed. Just to reach the border of the reserve, it took an hour-long, four-wheel-drive car bouncing along one-lane plank bridges, over roughly carved dirt roads, and through running riverbeds to a stop-station at a truly stunning beach, where we hiked ANOTHER hour-and-a-half to the river that marked the entrance to Corcovado.
The road to Corcovado
From what I can gather, with the exception of a couple ranger stations where explorers rest, there is literally nothing spoiling this land...
The "trails" (although they could sometimes scarcely deserve the name) were rough and rugged, without gravel or boardwalk, and lacking any kind of guidance or markings in many areas.
I didn't mind at all... :-)
The "trails" (although they could sometimes scarcely deserve the name) were rough and rugged, without gravel or boardwalk, and lacking any kind of guidance or markings in many areas.
I didn't mind at all... :-)
You race raging tidal waters around craggy cliffs and climb their crumbling faces and can't trust the very rocks you're clinging to.
You follow your guide and wind around trees thick as Mini Coopers with exposed roots like enormous octopus tentacles. You watch out for fer-de-lance snakes and venomous spiders and pumas and scorpions.
You circumnavigate the fallen giants of tree skeletons (and whale bones, as it turns out) who finally lost their footing to Darwin in the rapidly changing landscape that is a lowland jungle.
Some parts of the forest surprisingly looked similar to National Forests back in the United States. Maybe this part resembled Nicolette and this section echoed Hoh and this area reminds of Kettle-Moraine.
Some parts of the forest surprisingly looked similar to National Forests back in the United States. Maybe this part resembled Nicolette and this section echoed Hoh and this area reminds of Kettle-Moraine.
Other parts, however, were straight out of story books and fantasy novels... The pitted, coffee-colored rock outcroppings that reach out from the shore into the rip-tide riddled waves, for example, hearkens back to the Dragon-riding stories of Pern from fiction author Anne McCaffery (remember, mom?).
And the ancient, gnarled hands of trees that gripped tightly to boulders and hillsides spoke of Ents watching the world age.
And the ancient, gnarled hands of trees that gripped tightly to boulders and hillsides spoke of Ents watching the world age.
It took some time for the magic of our circumstances to sink into my brain. As has happened so many times, unrealistic expectations held fast to my judgments and refused to relinquish them for some time. Once they did, however, I was able to see more clearly how special this place truly is.
We saw more plants and animals than we would at a zoo, including:
We saw more plants and animals than we would at a zoo, including:
     |  Coatis, peccaries, tapiers, orchids, macaws, tragons, mangos, sharks, caiman, coconut trees, herons, bats, Corcovado spiders the size of your palm, poison frogs, all four Costa Rican species of monkey, army ants, basilisks, iguanas, geckos, fer-de-lance snakes, anteaters, two-toed sloth, humming birds, crabs, lobster, tree boas, eagles, alligators, beetles, anoles, red-eyed tree frogs, pelicans, anemones, toucans, skinks, urchins, biting bees, NON-stinging bees (still surprisingly aggressive and frightening), sea cucumbers, leaf-cutter ants, surfing fish, buzzards, ibus, sea turtle eggs, and more. It really may have been a once-in-a-lifetime experience.  |      |
More than anything, the place was remarkable and special for it's unique biological signature on the planet.
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A thousand, enormous thanks go out to our incredible guide, Nito, whose passion and knowledge enriched our experience tenfold. Nito: You have our sincere gratitude! And our fervid loyalty.
  |  Nito chased away a large pack of coatis who had dug up a nest of sea turtle eggs. We sadly say those eggs torn and strewn about the sand, but he re-buried the ones that might have survived. |
Our time there ended with a brutal hike back to civilization. We brought back hundreds of photos, a few sea-soaked stories and tree-lined tales to deepen our understanding of Costa Rican riches, and a lot of sore body parts.
 In case you're wondering, this is the face Daniel makes after a furious wave pins him to the cliff-face we're scaling and dowses everything he owns in saltwater... |
Our guide, Nito, expertly navigated the rocky terrain and managed to keep his shoes dry the entire time! I gave up... And waded in the waters rather than worry...
The time comes to say farewell to Costa Rica. 18-20 hours or so on buses and a rough-water ferry will bring us from the Osa Peninsula to the volcanic island of Ometepe in Nicaragua, where we will wait to hear back from a family we contacted about interviewing.
Costa Rica means "Rich/Delicious Coast," and it truly is a richly packed land of many vibrancies and treasures.
I'll drink that freshly cracked coconut milk any day....
I'll drink that freshly cracked coconut milk any day....
A thank you was earned this week for Debi & Jeff (Millet), Kathy, David, his family, and Char, who were so so terribly helpful in giving us this great week. Another thank you to Laurene, for taking the time to talk to us about our cause and submit our story to the Belize Globe. Thank you!
She included a link to our fund-raising page, here. Feel free to visit and help us see this project through!
She included a link to our fund-raising page, here. Feel free to visit and help us see this project through!
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Like the photography?
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Click the links and take a gander at our internal gallery or Instagram account!
LOVE it? Visit Daniel's store here!
There is more to see than a post has room for!
Click the links and take a gander at our internal gallery or Instagram account!
LOVE it? Visit Daniel's store here!
So... Where were we????