jacko the weblog

Here’s a summary of all of the Costa Rica postings we did over the last couple of months. All blog entries were written by Edie on location.

• Getting There… – From San Francisco to Tortuguero
• Tortuguero – Our first destination, the water jungle.
• The Green Sea Turtles by Night – An egg-laying adventure.
• Tortuguero – Part 2 – More Jungle experiences.
• Tortuguero to Arenal – Getting from the Caribbean coast to the volcano.
• Arenal – A few days around the erupting volcano.
• From Arenal to Monteverde – The wild ride to the Cloud Forest.
• Monteverde – Adventures in the Cloud Forest.
• From Monteverde to Osa Peninsula – From the jungle, to civilization and back into the Jungle.
• El Remanso – The amazing lodge on the edge of nowhere.
• Exploring the Osa Rainforest – hiking and hiking and hiking the peninsula jungle.
• Exploring the Osa Rainforest – Part 2 – More hiking! in the Osa.
• El Golfo Dulce – Boat trip to the Osa Wilderness Sanctuary.
• From Osa Peninsula to Civilization – The last few days and home.

The morning packing also involved some screeching as we uncovered some cockroaches that had been hiding in our things. We carefully re-deposited the lovely bugs in the jungle and kept on packing. We had a leisurely breakfast and then headed out to the airport, a tiny strip of asphalt right next to the town cemetery.

This flight was hairy as we flew into blinding rain and bumpy weather. I was biting my nails when the pilot told us the main airport was closed due to a plane disabled on the runway, so we were diverted to the other San Jose airport. CostaRican Trails found us there and then took us to Villa Blanca, our last lodging. This is normally about an hour’s drive north of San Jose. It was pouring rain, huge gulleys of water ran along side the roads and our drive was about as hairy as our flight. We were stopped under several underpasses where the water was quite deep. Our driver said he hadn’t seen anything like it before! Phew.

We stopped along the way to get some food – we got our lunch around 3:30 – after having breakfast at 630am. We were all starving and not in a great mood. Once satiated, we got on the road again and finally arrived at Villablanca about an hour later. This was a beautiful resort (formally was home to a Costa Rican President) and we had our own little casita. We were delighted to find a fireplace and a huge spa tub. This lodge is located in a small cloud forest and was much cooler than the Osa Peninsula that we had just left. We immediately lit the fire and filled the tub with warm water. Natalie enjoyed her first bath in Costa Rica and Chris and I took turns taking very non-environmental hot showers.

This lodge was very different to El Remanso. Despite being in a rainforest we didn’t exactly feel we were in the wild. The trails were paved in gravel, and descriptive signs were posted near the interesting vegetation. We had fun feeding the hummingbirds, and managed to stumble across a couple of wild pigs near our casita. As we had grown accustomed, this resort was also deserted and we had the dining room to ourselves for a quiet last meal in Costa Rica.

After quiet night’s sleep (no howler monkeys!) and a quick breakfast we were off to the airport. And just like that, our vacation was over. Back to the real world we headed.

See more photos of our last day in Costa Rica!

The Whole Trip: Costa Rica: The Summary

After three days of hiking El Remanso’s property, we decided to book a tour to an animal sanctuary across the Gulfo Dulce. Our luck held yet another day, and we had sunny blue skies for the whole day. We drove into town (the bumpy 45 minute drive over rutted dirt roads) and then met our boat captain. “Rainy Season” has it advantages and we scored a private tour just because no one else was around. The gulf was a smooth as glass and we immediately spotted a school of dolphins – hard to tell but at least 10 or so with two very young dolphins that stayed close by their mothers. They swam with us (rather we boated with them) for a bit and then moved on to discover a lone green turtle hanging out in the middle of gulf.

The Osa Wildlife Sanctuary was created and is operated by Earl Crew (who we learned is from the SF Bay Area as well). It is situated on the edge of the jungle along a beach-front along the mainland shore facing the peninsula. Our boat approached an idyllic, smooth pale beach rimmed with swaying palm trees. Earl was waiting for us on the beach and as we got closer we realized he had a small monkey around his neck. As the boat slid up to the beach we quickly jumped off to get a closer look at this monkey (a baby spider monkey), the likes of which we had been observing from afar for the last two weeks.

The first order of business was to secure our bags in a fenced area and we soon found out why. There were at least 4 spider monkeys running around and these monkeys are very curious and mischievous. The little guy around Earl’s neck, Winkie, was just waking up from a nap and was at first quite gentle and shy. Baby monkeys don’t like to be restrained or held as they typically spend their infancy hanging on to the mommy monkey. So, we were instructed to let the monkeys hold on to us, and to not grab or hold them. This is harder than it sounds because they are so adorable and human-like you just want to give them a hug.

I had to take a quick run to the restroom and needed my backpack. So, I headed up the hill with my pack and got to the little lodge-like room and once I got there, Sweet Pea, an older spider monkey was waiting for me. She offered her hand to me and I reached out to her, and instantly with her other hand she grabbed a coke from the outside pocket of my pack. She then raced up to the ceiling rafters, hung there and drained the coke. Earl ran up, concerned about me, but I was laughing about the whole thing and more worried about the monkey drinking coke. Earl said she’s eaten much worse and left it that.

As if that wasn’t enough, Chris needed to use the restroom too and once he got into the bathroom (no windows, no ceiling), Sweet Pea joined him and in a display of dominance braced herself against the wall and with both hands, grabbed two handfuls of Chris’ hair and yanked his head back. Chris yelled and the monkey and we could hear the maid yelling at the monkey and Earl ran to the rescue again. Once the monkey was off of Chris, Earl had to restrain the monkey with a broom so Chris could go to the bathroom. Earl later told us that spider monkeys are very strong for their size, for example, Sweet Pea only weighed 15 lbs.

We learned many things about the spider monkeys, they are very smart, they eat fruit from many different trees and their survival depends upon contiguous primary forest, which is still disappearing. Their survival as a species is very uncertain.

Earl also introduced us to a baby howler monkey, Lulu, who was very sweet. As Earl explained, howler monkeys are almost opposite in every way to spider monkeys. They eat leaves and digest like a cow, they aren’t that bright, can easily reproduce and are not endangered. This monkey cuddled up to all of us, and at 102 degrees, it made for a very warm hug.

Next we met a two-toed sloth, different from the three-toed sloths we had spied in trees previously. A very odd and certainly slow-moving animal, it just kind of hung there while Earl gave us some sloth facts. Lots of bones, high calcium density – in fact this particular sloth had fallen about 100 ft out of a tree and had not broken any bones!

Also in residence at the sanctuary were many scarlet macaws, beautiful but loud, and one toucan soon to be released. Another weird animal, a kinkajou, a cross between a rodent and a monkey and a cat. It was very sweet and docile and the fur very soft. Earl told us that Paris Hilton keeps one as a pet and they can easily be purchased in the US – so sad!

Earl also had several wild cats soon to be returned to the wild so we couldn’t see them (a jaguarondi, and an ocelot). He also had several juvenile white-faced capuchin monkeys that were enclosed and quite busy. None of the females can be released to the wild as they will be attacked by groups. However, he did have one male he was taking back to its troop in Torteguero. He will take the monkey and stay with it in Torteguero until a troop answers the male’s calls. Once that happens, they will release the male monkey. White-faced capuchin monkeys are very smart, and even though this monkey has been away for two years they will remember him.

We were very sad to leave Earl and his wonderful menagerie. Natalie was very excited to learn that he plans to accept students next summer for a week-long camp to “work” at the sanctuary. She is hoping she can recruit some of her friends to come with her.

On our boat ride back over the gulf we were thrilled to spot a humpback whale with her calf. Apparently, the whales are only in the gulf in August and September, so we lucked out yet again. The whales surface for just a few minutes to breathe and then descend again for up to twenty minutes. We got to see the whales surface twice. The boat stayed a good distance away, as to not disturb them.

After that amazing adventure we headed back to El Remanso to have yet another wonderful lunch and hang out for the afternoon. Later we decided to do a final hike, the creek hike down to the beach. This involves actually hiking in the creek and tested our mettle, as we had very low clearance thru dense vines and the fear of snakes and spiders stayed on our minds. Chris and Natalie got bit by ants while observing a small rodent. Chris yelled first and then Natalie screeched as if she lost a limb. She stayed quite upset until I walked face first into a large spider web and began doing some screaming of my own. At this, Natalie forgot about her pain and began to giggle at her mother’s foolishness. All in all, this was probably our most difficult hike, not because it was technically difficult, but just because it was very much a jungle!!

Our last evening was bittersweet. We hated to think of leaving, but I was also looking forward to sleeping in a room without worrying about bugs.

See more photos of our day at the sanctuary!

The Next Day: Costa Rica: From Osa Peninsula to Civilization
The Whole Trip: Costa Rica: The Summary

This morning brought steel gray skies, with scant patches of blue. Once again, we feared that our streak of good luck had reached an end. We hiked up to the restaurant and as soon as we sat down for breakfast we spied a pair of toucans in a tree. They are beautiful and have a very distant call. Chris debated for a moment and then decided he would go back for his camera. He did, and once he returned the toucans had flown away. Oh well. Light rain fell throughout breakfast, but fortunately, dried up as we finished and prepared for our morning guided-hike.

This was amazing hike, called the ridge trail. Right at the start, we spotted more toucans in the trees and Chris finally got his shots. We walked a bit up the lodge access road before turning off on the trail. From the road we saw howler monkeys, more white-faced capuchin monkeys and then Natalie spied a really cool white caterpillar. Just before turning off the road we saw yet another coati, nosing around. We turned onto the ridge, so it was mostly flat trail, but the jungle was dense around us, so new views to be had until we reached the view-point. Along the way we spotted many indigenous plants and animal. The walking palm in an amazing tree which our guide said was talking over the jungle. It has the ability to “walk” by sending out stalks in the direction of light, something the other trees can’t do. Near the very end of the hike we came upon a troop of spider monkeys. We first spotted two adults who were embracing each other perched on a tree limb. When they moved apart, we realized the one of the monkey was a female and had a baby hanging on her tummy. We heard lots of movement in the trees and we loitered for about 15 minutes surrounded by a troop of at least a dozen monkeys. Chris spotted a rare Gulfo Dulce dart frog (black with orange stripes), the only dart frog indigenous to the Osa Peninsula.

Our hike ended at the beach. Gerardo headed back up the lodge and we stayed to play in the creek and ocean for a while. Natalie and Chris busied themselves building a dam and I decided to capture some alone-time in the jungle. I hiked back up the hill, intending to hang out for a while and watch the spider monkeys and eat a small package of cookies. Just as I sat down on a rock and started to eat one cookie a coati popped out, about 10 feet away. I freaked and started back down the trail, stopping every few feet or so to find him following me. I made it back down to the beach (finishing the cookies along the way!) with the coati still in hot pursuit. The coati stood and watched us, sniffing the air for a while, but with the cookies gone he soon lost interest and disappeared back into the trees. The lesson here? No picnicking in the jungle.

A long hot trudge back up the hill to our cabin, a shower later and we were finally seated for lunch, a fantastic ham and veggie pizza. We decided we were all hiked-out for the day and retreated to hang out at the cabin. Just minutes after we settled in to read and relax we heard some rustling in the leaves. It was capuchin monkeys in the trees behind our cabin, so we raced downstairs with camera in-hand to watch the troop work its way past. Two very small monkeys were quite cute, surrounded by presumably older bigger monkeys. Once again, we found ourselves at the center of a troop of at least 15 monkeys swinging and eating, and most interesting, vocalizing to each other with high-pitched squeaks. Fantastic!

While outside the cabin we noticed that 4 proboscis bats had taken up residence on the outside of the window/rain tarps. We could get to within a few feet of them before they would flutter to the other side of the cabin. Cute little critters. We finished out our just hanging out, enjoying the magnificent view. After another wonderful dinner we dozed off to the rhythmic sounds of the jungle.

See more photos of the day!

The Next Day: Costa Rica: El Golfo Dulce
The Whole Trip: Costa Rica: The Summary

We all slept wonderfully to the orchestrated sounds of the jungle (cicadas and “mysterious pling-pling creatures”) and woke up to beautiful blue skies, the pounding of the surf and the distant hoots of the howler monkeys. It was funny to lie in bed and listen to the alpha male give his distinctive roars. For such a non-threatening monkey, he has a very scary sound (think King Kong).

After a quick hike to the lodge for a wonderful breakfast we decided to take the beach, waterfall, and tide pool hike. Immediately after leaving our cabin and heading toward the beach we came upon an anteater busy smacking around a log with his hind-quarters facing us. Less than 10 feet away he didn’t seem bothered by us at all. He was quite cute and had a graceful, economical way of moving despite his odd appearance. We watched him continue to nose around and then scamper around some trees.

Our next spotting was a Turkey-like bird (oops! Forgot to look that one up). The trail down to the beach was steep with slick red clay-like mud overlaid by big jungle leaves – in other words, very slippery. A few sharp rocks were thrown in for good measure. However, we all made it down the hill intact and the trail opened suddenly onto a vast sand beach. It was spectacular and we were completely alone as far as we could see in either direction.

We were greeted by a coati nosing around at the juncture between the sand and the jungle. Well, not so much “greeted” as “ignored by”. A bit further we spotted a second coati nosing around. Another hundred yards was the lagoon which marked the turn-off for the creek/waterfall hike. We hiked in and up the creek (the creek “was” the trail) and just a few minutes in we spotted several peccaries (wild pigs) crossing the stream ahead of us. The have a reputation for being very fast and shy, so we consider ourselves lucky to have spotted them (Natalie gets credit for pointing them out – she was often the first to spot animals, with those bright eyes of hers).

The creek trail up the waterfalls was not challenging and we all enjoyed the cool water on our feet. Access to the waterfall involved a short scamper up some rocks and then voila, a small knee deep pond with a 70 ft waterfall! Surprisingly, the water felt very cold but we all forced ourselves to stand in it for the photo op. But it was still an incredible feeling to get pounded by a natural waterfall.

We made our way back down the creek trail to the beach where we were shocked and a bit disappointed to find two other people on the beach! We decided to hang back a bit and let them get a nice distance ahead of us and then we pretended we were all alone again. We then headed down to the tide pools, which the lodge staff had referred to as nature’s hot tubs. They weren’t kidding. These tide pools were huge and the water warm, warmed by the sun. We took a soak in a few of them and it was delightful. It was getting time for lunch so we headed back up the beach and back up the breathtaking (literally) hike to the lodge restaurant. The fifteen minute hike down translates to a 3thrty miute hike back up! Lunch was a potato quiche-like pancake accompanied by a fresh salad. Every meal, lunch and dinner at El Remanso was unique, interesting and delicious.

We then decided we would take a short hike around the lodge property to check out some different waterfalls. This short hike turned out to take us over two hours due to a wrong turn. The hike was beautiful and somewhat strenuous – it was either going up or down on slick leaf-covered ground. We did get to two beautiful waterfalls (both short) and got to hike for awhile in the cool creeks, always a welcome relief for hot feet. At one waterfall, Natalie and I were posing for a picture we both spied a white-faced capuchin monkey in the trees behind Chris – he snapped a shot of us in an open-mouthed excitement over the monkey. We watched these two flit around and fade into the jungle before heading off to find the second waterfall. Walking up through the stream a short ways we found it. Much smaller than the rest but still refreshing to see and soak in. At this point we decided to take a more adventurous route back to the lodge, but after 10 minutes it felt like the trail was not leading us in the right direction. Instead of continuing farther and farther into the unknown we made the decision to turn around and backtrack our way home. Twenty yards from the trailhead we encountered two more (possible the same as before) white-faced capuchin monkeys. This time they were much less pleased to see us. In fact they were quite perturbed. One of them came to within 15 feet of us flashing his fierce teeth and shrieking. This was definitely too close for comfort, especially since none of us was completely sure that this beast was not going to bite one of us. Finally we made a dash for the road, shrieking monkey chasing us overhead. While we were looking back at the little demon, Gerardo, the resort guide, came up to help us out. He explained that the capuchins, aside from being territorial, interpret the showing of teeth a sign of aggression, and they match that aggression with aggression of their own (lesson being: don’t smile at monkeys!).

Because two grueling hikes in one day didn’t seem to be enough we arranged for a night hike before dinner (in Costa Rica, sunset is early and dinner is late). Gerardo decided to take us down to the beach in hopes of spotting a sea turtle. So back down the hill we headed, but this time in complete darkness. This hike as short on wildlife. Neither the sloth, nor the sea turtles, nor the jaguarondi decided to show themselves. We did see several types of frog, a huge crab and heard many (many!) stories about poisonous snakes. Natalie never tired of hearing them, and Gerardo seemed to have an endless supply. This was after we were warned to watch every step we took, because we were more likely to step on a poisonous snakes in the evening. It was a fascinating thing to be in the middle of the remotest of rainforests illuminated only by our flashlights, hiking in our tevas, expecting to get bitten by a pit viper or a super poisonous fleur du lance at any moment. This was no Club Med vacation! Somehow we survived the deadly critters and the arduous hike back up the hill. Dinner was waiting and it was an amazing roasted chicken dish. After dinner there was one thing to do. And that was sleep. And sleep we did.

See More Photos of this day’s adventures!

The Next Day: Costa Rica: Exploring the Osa Rainforest – Part 2
The Whole Trip: Costa Rica: The Summary

When we arrived at the lodge, the weather was wild, pouring rain, strong wind along with a bit of lightning and thunder. We had a sinking feeling that our luck had run out. How dare it rain us, never mind the fact that we were in the rain forest in the middle of the rainy season. The lodge manager, Danny, greeted us warmly and took us down to our cabin. This was a hike down a hill (Natalie counted about 450 steps down from the lodge restaurant). Danny told us as we walked down the hill in the pouring rain that as there was only one other couple staying at the lodge and if the weather was too much for us in our open-air cabin, we could always move up the hill to a more enclosed cabin. Nice to know but we were determined to get “away from it all”.

Now, our cabin was truly amazing! We had booked La Vainilla, the “honeymoon suite”, a private hut about 200 yards down the hill from the resort and on the way to the beach. It has two stories, the bottom floor enclosed with a bed and bath and the top floor completely open to the elements, with bed and bath. No walls, just railings on three sides offering a 270 degree panorama of a rainforest valley and the Pacific ocean 1/2 mile away. The beds were enclosed in mosquito netting, but oddly enough there are no mosquitoes (being on a hillside, there is no standing water on the property, and hence no mosquitos). The nets are to keep other interesting creatures from joining you during the night.

The first afternoon here temperature-wise it was warm. The rain had stopped but it was very, very humid. Edie felt chilled, bundled up in long pants and a sweater and then crawled into bed. Chris and Natalie took a hike down to the beach to check out the surf, and on the way back spotted some bats. We then headed over the restaurant for dinner, a huge steak with mashed potatoes. We were all wiped out and fell into bed around 8pm.

Lying in the dark, listening to the jungle all around, none of us said anything at the time, but we were all thinking, “what have we gotten ourselves into?” Would we survive four days of this? But it turned out that the best of our vacation had yet to come…

See more Photos of our El Remanso Lodging.

The Next Day: Costa Rica: Exploring the Osa Rainforest
The Whole Trip: Costa Rica: The Summary

Though we weren’t looking forward to the drive out, we were convinced that it couldn’t be worse than the drive in to Monteverde. And we were right. It was only “just as bad”. An unexpected surprise was spotting 3 howler monkeys hanging out in a tree right next to the road. We didn’t actually spot them so much as hear them. The male howled at us as we drove past. We stopped, got out with the binoculars and the camera and got a great view of the male. Natalie engaged him in a howling session which Natalie seemed to enjoy more than the grumpy monkey.

Eventually we reached paved roads again. Rejoice! But the joy soon faded with the realization that the remainder of our trip would be on winding two-lane mountain roads. And, no matter how many slow plodding trucks we risked our lives passing, we invariably wound up behind another one. We arrived at our destination not a moment too soon, the Xandari Resort and Spa. We were able to check in upon arrival and after getting our bags to our room, headed straight for the open-air restaurant. Xandari was our stopover between rainforests. This resort, set in the hills has beautiful views of Alajuela, a suberb of the Capital City, San Jose. We were joined at lunch by the resident cat that managed to snag a good size chunk of Natalie’s chicken off the table! Edie retired to the room to relax and read a bit, while Chris and Natalie explored the 40-acre resort grounds (once a coffee plantation) hiking a hilly trail discovering an exotic sculpture garden, three beautiful waterfalls, an organic garden and a bamboo forest. The unique animal sighting of the day was an armadillo waddling along the trail.

For dinner we decided to be a little adventurous and explore the town of Alajuela. Based upon a recommendation from the resort staff we braved the rain and a wild taxi ride to get to a restaurant called La Mansarda. This second floor restaurant was quite lively, with a very accommodating wait-staff. Very laid-back, and as far as we could tell truly authentic (and delicious) Tico food. The highlight of the evening though was the live music. A solo guitar player treated us to hits by Chris Isaak, the Beatles and an oddly cool medley of Pink Floyd.

The next morning we checked out and had a leisurely transfer to the airport. We flew on Sansa Air in a small prop plane that holds about 12 people. The weather was cloudy but our flight was smooth and the views beautiful. We were supposed to land first at Drake’s Bay, but the local weather forced the plane to skip that stop and head straight to Puerto Jimenez, our destination. Hooray for us, a non-stop flight! (and too bad for the other 8 people on the plane who were hoping to go to Drake’s Bay. We like to think they got there eventually).

We landed in the rain (shock! In Costa Rica!) and an El Remanso welcoming committee was waiting for us. They loaded us into their Land Rover and we headed out. The hour-long drive (over unpaved roads) took us aross rickety bridges over rivers, through rivers where there were no bridges, up steep muddy hills and past miles of cattle ranches. We were somewhat surprised at all the cattle since we had formed the image of the Osa Peninsula in our minds as completely untouched. But, just as the rest of Costa Rica, the untouched (if such a thing really exists) is held in pockets identified as National Parks. Leaving the farmland behind we finally entered the jungle. Several miles later we reached Our lodge, El Remanso.

See More Photos taken between Monteverde and Osa!

The Next Day: Costa Rica: El Remanso
The Whole Trip: Costa Rica: The Summary